Ramsey murder case
The Ramsey murder case revolves around the tragic death of six-year-old JonBenét Ramsey, who was found in her family's Boulder, Colorado home on December 26, 1996. Her death was caused by blunt force trauma and strangulation, prompting a complex investigation that generated extensive public and media interest. Initially reported as a kidnapping, the case included a ransom note demanding $118,000, raising questions about potential intruders or family involvement. Despite extensive scrutiny, law enforcement struggled with procedural missteps and differing approaches between the Boulder police and the district attorney's office, leading to no indictments after a grand jury investigation in 1998.
Over the years, numerous theories emerged, including a controversial claim by a teacher in 2006 who confessed to the murder but was later cleared. In 2008, advanced DNA testing exonerated the Ramsey family, complicating the narrative. Notably, a 2013 revelation that a grand jury had initially voted to indict the Ramseys reignited public fascination. The case remains unsolved, with various documentaries and media portrayals continuing to keep JonBenét's story in the public eye, reflecting ongoing debates about justice, media influence, and family dynamics in high-profile cases.
Subject Terms
Ramsey murder case
The Event The murder of a six-year-old and its investigation
Date December 26, 1996
Place Boulder, Colorado
JonBenét Ramsey’s murder generated sensational press coverage, largely focused on JonBenét’s appearances in child beauty pageants. This media attention reflected Americans’ rising interest in criminal investigation and the American justice system.
Six-year-old JonBenét Ramsey, daughter of Patsy and John Ramsey, was found dead in the basement of her parents’ home in Boulder, Colorado, on the morning of December 26, 1996. A blow to the head had fractured her skull; she had been strangled with a cord tied around her neck and tightened with a garrote.
Patsy Ramsey had called police early that morning to report JonBenét missing. Patsy had found a ransom note demanding $118,000 and promising that the kidnappers would contact the Ramseys before 10:00 a.m. After several hours had passed with no contact from the kidnappers, Boulder Police detective Linda Arndt asked John Ramsey and his friend Fleet White to search the house. Ramsey found JonBenét’s body lying on the floor of a small basement room. The first uniformed officer on the scene had searched the house but had not opened the latched door to that room; a friend had opened the door in a later search but had not entered the room and seen the body.
John Ramsey was president and chief executive officer of Access Graphics, a wholesale computer parts company owned by Lockheed Martin. Patsy Ramsey was involved with community and charitable activities, and the Ramseys regularly attended Boulder’s St. John’s Episcopal Church. The couple also maintained large homes in Atlanta, Georgia, and Charlevoix, Michigan. Patsy was a former Miss West Virginia and Miss America contestant, as was her sister Pam. Along with Patsy’s mother, they had begun entering JonBenét in child beauty pageants, and she had already won several titles. Patsy spent thousands of dollars on singing and dancing lessons for JonBenét, as well as custom-made costumes. News stories distributed photographs and video showing six-year-old JonBenét posing and performing wearing elegant, flamboyant showgirl outfits, high heels, and makeup. Investigators wondered if a child molester or pornographer might have found JonBenét’s pageant appearances sexually provocative, leading to a pursuit of the child resulting in her death.
Boulder Police and District Attorney
Investigators were divided as to whether John and Patsy Ramsey should be considered suspects. Handwriting experts eliminated more than seventy people as possible writers of the ransom note, but could not definitely say Patsy had not written it. The garrote used to strangle JonBenét was made with the broken handle of an artist’s paintbrush belonging to Patsy.
Boulder was an affluent, politically liberal community whose police had little experience with murder cases. District attorney Alex Hunter preferred to negotiate plea bargains rather than prosecute defendants in court. The police failed to completely search the Ramsey home, interview the Ramseys, or secure the crime scene, and later rejected offers of help from both the Federal and Colorado Bureaus of Investigation. While Boulder detectives assembled a case against Patsy Ramsey, Hunter’s office hired its own investigators, allowed the Ramsey attorneys to review police files and physical evidence, and insisted detectives treat the Ramseys as victims rather than suspects.
Ramsey supporters argued that an intruder had entered the Ramsey home through a broken basement window. The layout of the home was complex; Boulder detectives argued that an intruder could not have maneuvered through the mansion in the dark to locate JonBenét’s bedroom or the basement room where her body was found. Hunter’s investigators believed JonBenét could have been killed by anyone already familiar with the home. Neither the duct tape on JonBenét’s mouth nor the cord used to strangle her could be matched to anything belonging to the Ramseys.
In 1998, Boulder County convened a grand jury to decide if there was sufficient evidence to support any indictment. After thirteen months, it was announced that no charges would be filed based upon the evidence.
Impact
The Ramsey case generated intense public scrutiny and tabloid coverage. The Ramseys were unable to counter images of Patsy as a stage mother and JonBenét as an oddly mature-looking child beauty queen. Boulder’s legal officials could not collaborate to solve a murder among the city’s elite. Detailed in countless media outlets, their failure contributed to the American public’s growing concern about the effectiveness of the American justice system.
Subsequent Events
Patsy Ramsey died of ovarian cancer on June 24, 2006. In August 2006, an American substitute teacher named John Mark Karr confessed to killing JonBenét. Witnesses placed him in Alabama at the time of the murder, however, and Boulder authorities announced that he would not be charged. In July 2008, the Boulder district attorney’s office announced that new deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sampling and testing techniques had cleared all members of the Ramsey family. In 2013, released documents pertaining to the grand jury ruling in 1999 revealed that the grand jury had actually voted to indict Patsy and John Ramsey on charges of child abuse and assisting the murderer, and that the district attorney at the time had been the one to decide that no charges should be filed due to insufficient evidence; this development once again renewed interest in the case.
Twenty years after her murder, JonBenét Ramsey's unsolved case still fascinated the public and remained an open investigation. The television network CBS has put together a true crime anthology series that focuses on a different crime each season. The first season, The Case of: JonBenét Ramsey explored the Ramsey case and premiered in September 2016 to coincide with the twentieth anniversary of JonBenét's death. Involving original investigators from the case as well as new experts, the limited series followed these figures as they reexamined evidence with new available technology and hindsight to draw their conclusions and share their theories on the murder twenty years later. After efforts that included reconstructing the Ramsey home/crime scene, the consensus reached by the investigators was essentially that Burke Ramsey had accidentally killed his sister in a fit of rage, and that his parents had then helped him to cover up the murder. Only days before the premiere, Burke had appeared on The Dr. Phil Show to give his first interview with the media since the murder, still defending his innocence and that of his parents. In a documentary that aired on A&E that same month, a conclusion was drawn in support of the belief that Patsy and John Ramsey were rightfully exonerated because the intruder theory had been abandoned too early in the investigation. It was also reported in April 2016 that director Kitty Green was planning to direct a documentary and narrative feature film on JonBenét's life and case.
Bibliography
Bardach, A. L. “Missing Innocence: The JonBenét Ramsey Case.” Vanity Fair, October 1997, p. 322.
Douglas, John E., and Mark Olshaker. “The JonBenét Ramsey Murder.” The Cases That Haunt Us. Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2000.
Francis, Enjoli. "JonBenet Ramsey's Brother Breaks Silence 20 Years after Her Murder." ABC News, 12 Sept. 2016, abcnews.go.com/US/jonbenet-ramseys-brother-breaks-silence-20-years-murder/story?id=42038990. Accessed 21 Nov. 2016.
Gentile, Don, and David Wright, editors. JonBenét: The Police Files. American Media, 2003.
Martinez, Michael, and Faith Karimi. "Court Papers: Grand Jury in 1999 Sought to Indict JonBenet Ramsey's Parents." CNN, 25 Oct. 2013, www.cnn.com/2013/10/25/justice/jonbenet-ramsey-documents/. Accessed 21 Nov. 2016.
McDonell-Parry, Amelia. "3 Big Ways The Case of: JonBenet Ramsey Got It Wrong." Rolling Stone, 20 Sept. 2016, www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/3-big-ways-the-case-of-jonbenet-ramsey-got-it-wrong-w440970. Accessed 21 Nov. 2016.
Ramsey, John, and Patsy Ramsey. The Death of Innocence: The Untold Story of JonBenét’s Murder and How Its Exploitation Compromised the Pursuit of Truth. Thomas Nelson, 2000.
Schiller, Lawrence. Perfect Murder, Perfect Town. HarperCollins, 1999.
Thomas, Steve, with Don Davis. JonBenét: Inside the Ramsey Murder Investigation. St. Martin’s Press, 2000.