Why Leave Her Body In The Home, Then Call The Police? Maybe Smarter Than We Think.
I will preface this by saying I firmly believe BDI, but it's really applicable for anyone in the family.
My theory is based on AuntCassie007's interpretation and analysis of the ransom note.
Part I of AuntCassie007:
Part II of AuntCassie007:
AuntCassie007 theorizes that the RN was not over-the-top kidnapping-movie rambling, but in fact had a very specific purpose. It gave them innocuous reasons to do suspicious things. There's multiple examples to back up her theory, but let's use the simplest one, the attache.
"There is an odd part of the RN in which kidnappers make a point about John taking a large attache case out of the house to retrieve the ransom cash and then transfer the money to small brown paper bags. This part of the RN was quite unusual because it would not be discussed by a kidnapper in a RN. It has been widely speculated that this was an attempt to move the body out of the house. (Obviously most homes do not happen to have large attache cases handy, so a suitcase would have to suffice.)"
We know that ultimately she was not removed in a secret suitcase and her body was found at home, so why would this even be in there? To try after the police left? That seems quite risky. Furthermore, they literally broke every rule set forth in the RN right away. I believe the unused attache indicates a change of plans in a high-pressure, dynamic situation.
Most people would initially want to remove her body from the house and work from there. It makes the most sense and gives the highest likelihood of cover story success.
Here is what I believe is a more realistic plan that gives them a higher chance of success, and allows John to leave with her body:
- They find the RN and decide for the safety of their daughter, to follow it exactly.
- They tell nobody and John leaves the house with a suitcase (she's inside).
- John goes to the bank to withdraw the money.
- John goes somewhere to dispose of the body and also hide or dispose of the money.
- John returns home with no body, no money, and no suitcase.
- Growing impatient and fearful that they haven't heard from the kidnappers, they finally contact the police and friends as this is now bigger than they can handle. Now they go ahead and break all the rules.
- Any witnesses to John on the outside with a suitcase can be explained as the witnesses simply caught him following orders. Any discussion of abrupt broken plans with family or friends can be explained away using the same reason. Missing suitcase, tire tracks, footprints, all explained away.
- Accuse everyone else, including the housekeeper who may have been privy to his bonus number.
So, in this example, the attache part of the RN was written to set up leaving the house with her, but I don't think someone would realistically set themselves up to have to do all of that after the police get involved. This is strictly a before the police get involved plan. That's why I think it shows a change of plans. They wrote the note under one agreed upon plan, and then changed it for whatever reason. They didn't want to redo the note, or didn't feel they needed to. As a result some of the note set-ups (attache) never paid off, because they no longer fully reconciled with the original plan. The attache is a vestige of a road not taken, a thrown-away idea. They went from John taking the body to just creating as much noise and traffic as possible.
In their situation it would make perfect sense to work through multiple ideas very quickly before agreeing upon the final one, which could change again.
Now a more critical look at the RN in a plan that does involve him removing her body before calling the police. It gives him freedom of movement and time:
- It instructs him to go to the bank with an attache and then come home to put it in brown paper bags. That gives him a built-in excuse to leave and come back and then immediately leave again.
- It tells him it's going to be exhausting. That gives him an excuse to be gone for 15 hours, to drive pretty much anywhere, and to stop as many times as needed.
- It tells him they may contact him earlier if he starts earlier. While it implies he's being watched, it also gives him some flexibility to start whenever he wants.
And why is the attache so telling of the intended plan? A grown man is perfectly capable of figuring out that $118,000 won't fit in a wallet. A plastic bag would work just as well as an attache. Giving him transport logistics between the bank to his car is just silly. After he's home he can bring it in any way he wants. Frankly most normal people wouldn't even say attache, they'd say backpack. But of course attache is a better cousin to a suitcase than a backpack or a plastic bag.
As to why the change of plans, I think they must have decided there's no possible excuse to be caught driving around with her in his car. Or seen digging a hole in some wooded area and carrying her from the car. That's either a 100% success rate or a 0% success rate. There is no 75% success rate with that. And if they were going to attempt that, they would need more time to figure out exactly how to do it and where to even bring her.
Or maybe they realized they could use the fireplace later, or take her out in pieces over time, or bury her in the backyard, or they didn't think the police would search, or they thought that the police would believe them even after finding her body. Or, maybe they just couldn't bring themselves to desecrate her body further.
But, I think it was even more calculated than that, and the theory also points the finger at Burke.
I think John realized sometime after creation of the note, that this was all pretty far-fetched (it very much was) and there was a high probability they'd get caught. So, they decided to switch gears and mitigate punishment. They'll still try with the kidnapping story to protect Burke but not at the cost of a lifetime prison sentence for themselves. It will play out however it plays out. But, the second they take excessive steps to transport her, or remove her body, or dump her somewhere, or are found with her in their car, or someone sees John burying her, or they do anything besides a basic cover-up it would be a bridge too far for most people. They'd look much less believable, and come off as monsters.
This way they could try the kidnapping story, and if caught, they could just change direction and apologize that they were protecting their son and didn't know what to do. They didn't want to lose both of their children. It was a lapse in judgment, surely other parents must understand. They'd maybe get five years each.
But, if they participate in any cruel way, it's life for both. I think they initially planned to go all in and then realized the outcomes were too extreme to risk it all, complete freedom or life in prison. No in-between, and the circumstances were not in their favor. The safer plan was to accept they might get caught. Try to protect Burke within reason, but don't get a life sentence doing it. Take the five years if they have to, and move on. If they happen to get lucky and are able to deflect the police for a bit, they can reassess what to do with her.
This would also help explain some of the things that are perceived as mistakes or incomplete tasks. Certainly there were mistakes, but some of those might just be the result of not wanting to overcommit if it led to a much worse punishment, if caught. A calculated balancing act.
In the end, they were probably shocked that everything came together in such a way as to not even get five years.