The idea of multiple motives for the coverup with potential enmeshment and personality disorders at play -- did the desire for attention and fame play a significant role?

This idea relies more on interpretation of accounts provided of John and (mostly) Patsy's behaviors that can be observed in interviews, interrogations, and understood through testimonies by people who knew them and their general history that is available to us.

In the "A Normal Family" playlist, available on "The Ramsey Case" YouTube channel, the narrator goes in depth on the possibility that Patsy had an enmeshed relationship with Jonbenet. This kind of attachment style can be observed in many "stage mom" types, which when asked by Larry King in the 2000 interview also available on YouTube (the one without Steve Thomas) Patsy does not completely deny being. Once I started doing a deep dive on Patsy to build a sort of character analysis, there were several instances that indicated not only is the idea of enmeshment supported by her behaviors but she also had what to me seems to be a bit of a histrionic personality through her behavior.

I'm not going to focus quite as much on John in this post, but I've seen several comments speculating that he could have been a bit narcissistic, and I don't disagree. He seems to be rather self-serving and compliant but only in the sense that he seems to recognize that straying from this appearance would be detrimental to himself. Given that a Ramsey did murder Jonbenet, one would have to consistently lie in order to carry on the cover up, but one thing that I notice John does is "virtue signal" when one might expect him to express regrets about certain actions that could have been done differently. He gives off a sense of self-righteousness where it doesn't always seem appropriate. I think this could be him wanting to give off the idea of high moral character to his audience.

Now to my point, I think that Patsy was the one that ultimately decided to go through with a coverup at any means possible. For this to be true it does not matter who did the head blow, it could have been any of the three and intentional or unintentional. The majority of us here believe that Patsy was the author of the ransom note, so it is fair to say that she at very least was involved with the coverup. And then there's the fibers intertwined in the ligature around Jonbenets neck that were consistent with the material that made up the sweater Patsy wore that night through the following morning. Another piece of evident that ties Patsy to the coverup, to a much higher and unthinkable degree.

If Patsy had an enmeshed relationship with Jonbenet it may have been a less horrific idea to apply the ligature because she may have viewed her daughter as an extension of herself. What might have motivated her to go to such lengths to cover up a head injury versus calling for an ambulance instantly? Well, in the case that Patsy did have Histrionic Personality Disorder with an unhealthy enmeshment style relationship to her daughter then there could have been an added motive to this. If she felt that Jonbenet was beyond saving then that could have made her feel like she had no more purpose in life. She was living vicariously through her daughter to a what most people would consider an extreme degree. Patsy had gone through cancer treatment which in conjunction of the trauma of having cancer likely took a huge toll on her mind and body. Patsy may have felt she wasn't in her prime anymore and would never be able to experience joy again in the way that she did when she saw her daughter up on that stage. The trophies around the house were a testiment to Patsy and Jonbenets success in pageantry and I think patsy truly beloved her daughter had a shot at being Miss America someday. And to be clear, in histrionic personality disorder it doesn't matter if the attention fianed is good or bad necessarily, but she likely knew the attention to Jonbenet would be positive. So even if she had some negative attention from people who thought she was bad, the coverup may have still been the obvious route for her.

So with her daughters either perceived death or impeding death, Patsy may have felt like she had lost her purpose in life. To call an ambulance would mean having to explain what happened and surely her life would be over at that point. To be seen as a horrible mother that let this happen AND to lose her daughter? Unthinkable. It seems possible that Patsy saw a very alluring alternative that ultimately she did everything she could to attain. If Patsy made this look like a horrible ransom kidnapping gone wrong, Jonbenet could become even more famous than she would have if she became Miss America. And Patsy would get the attention and sympathy she would need to get through this -- which is the main component of histrionic personality (need for attention).

Patsy's histrionic personality can be observed through reading the ransom note. It is elaborate, dramatic, and like something you would see in a movie. That's just it, Patsy may have seen this event from then going forward as her and Jonbenets own movie. This motivation also helped her go through with the more heinous parts of the staging to accomplish giving the appearance of a truly horrific event that could only be done by a pedophilic monster.

This could be an unpopular opinion, but to me Patsy's demonstration of B-rated (in my opinion) acting skills begin in the 911 call. Not only does sound like the hysterics were overdone but the distancing language makes it seem disingenuous. But in Patsy's mind could this call have been the opening scene of a movie similar to "Ransom" and the like?

I did not go into depth on how John and Burke may have played a role here because: 1. This only an idea about how certain psychological factors may have been a motive for the coverup, particularly for Patsy, 2. I am not sold on any theory as to who killed Jonbenet and selling you all on a certain theory is not the point of this post and 3. I really think that regardless of who did the fatal head blow, this motive for a coverup could still be true based off of the information available on Patsy and my general perception of her proceeding actions and persona.

And to be clear, I think there were likely other motives at play as well, including but not necessarily limited to: covering up SA and wanting to avoid any negative consequences such as destroying their imaging or potential criminal charges. Patsy was believed to have been the one who added the sexual undertones to Jonbenet's dance routines, which was mentioned in Perfect Murder, Perfect Town. And she had her daughter dress as Marilyn Monroe - a sex symbol - for Halloween. And before that even a "sexy" witch. With the idea of enmeshment and Patsy possibly feeling as though she had passed her prime, Patsy may have seen Jonbenet as a way to express her sexual self -- though I will admit I am being highly speculative here. It's hard to say just how far she took that, if it were true. I don't think Patsy should be ruled out for the possible perpetrator of the apparent chronic SA observed in JonBenets autopsy.

This is just my opinion, but Patsy appears to embrace the acting aspect of the coverup whereas John just seems more to be doing what needs to be done for his best interest. I feel the need to make it clear that I DO think Patsy was devestated by Jonbenets death, regardless of how it happened. Two things can be true at once. I just think that she chose what to her seemed like the best path to continue gaining a sense of meaning and worth in her life.

Edit to add: I can make another post on how I feel John may have agreed to go through with a cover up, and may have even been completely on board, but I want to first know if that would be something people would be interested in hearing. I have no idea what the reception of this post will be. As for Burke, I am more reluctant to make posts on him in general because I truly see him as a victim regardless of any possible role he played in his sister's death - accidental or otherwise. He was a child and at 9 years old his brain was not nearly developed enough for us to appropriately speculate on his character. My goal here is not to make anyone seem "evil" or even "bad", just trying to theorize how the inner workings of the psyche of the ones involved may have played a role in the decisions made. I can acknowledge that I have no idea how I would respond to such a dire situation, and I think that's the case for most people interested in this crime. So black and white thinking is not productive.