THE MURDER OF JONBENÉT RAMSEY

INTRODUCTION

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A recent trend on TikTok has users posting about either their favorite unsolved murder case or a brutal case they find fascinating. Some of the most popular of these include the brutal murder of Junko Furuta, the Hello Kitty Murder, the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, the death of Elisa Lam, the murder of Jun Lin, and the alleged conspiratorial death of Princess Diana. All of these cases have their own unique characteristics that intrigue true-crime readers. As a result of this trend, I became inspired to write about the case which I find the most interesting of all the cases I have read about: the murder of JonBenét Ramsey. Ramsey’s case is very well-known as it contains many loopholes, pieces of evidence, and a mirage of dark twists and turns. And yet, the case remains unsolved over 20+ years later.

OCCURRENCE

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JonBenét Ramsey was only 6 years old at the time of her death. She was known to be a child beauty pageant queen in her family, having won numerous titles over the course of her lifetime. Her body was discovered in her home in Boulder, Colorado on December 26th, 1996. The circumstances of her discovery have been widely known as being extremely peculiar.

Prior to the discovery of her body, JonBenét’s mother, Patsy Ramsey, discovered a 2 and a half page long ransom note in their home. At the time of the ransom note discovery, it is speculated that only the immediate Ramsey family were present in the house (Patsy Ramsey, father John Ramsey, and brother Burke Ramsey). Police were called after the note was found. Initial investigations concluded that no one broke into the house, and this is further corroborated by the fact that snow was piled outside the house. Kidnapping was also eventually ruled out once JonBenét’s body was discovered.

The discovery and state of her body baffled investigators. She was found inside the Ramsey’s residence, in the basement by her father John. Her mouth was covered with duct tape, cord was wrapped around her wrists and neck, and she was partially covered with a blanket. Police state that at this point in the discovery, they believe the crime scene had already been heavily contaminated with as relatives of the Ramsey family arrived and compromised evidence in the house. Police were also questioned about why they did not search the house initially, but they stated that the contents of the ransom note implied that JonBenét was not in the house.

EVIDENCE

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A mountain of evidence was found in the crime scene, so I felt it would be appropriate to create a section for evidence. To begin, JonBenét’s autopsy concluded that her death was a mixture of strangulation and blunt force trauma. She was not raped, but there is speculation that JonBenét endured sexual assault - her vaginal area was injured and appeared to have been wiped during her murder, although no semen was found at the crime scene. As for her strangulation, it is believed that a broken paintbrush found in Patsy’s art supplies box was used to tighten the cord found around JonBenét’s neck and used to strangle her. However, parts of the broken paintbrush were never found by investigators during their search of the house.

The autopsy also showed that JonBenét had undigested pineapple in her system, meaning that she must have eaten the pineapple a few hours before her death. Patsy and John do not recall feeding JonBenét pineapple, but photographs of the house showed a bowl of unfinished pineapple in the kitchen. Burke’s fingerprints were found on the bowl. JonBenét’s pajamas and underwear also contained DNA of an unknown male outside of the Ramsey household; an FBI database search proved to be unsuccessful in matching the DNA with someone. Years later however, it was concluded that this DNA may in fact be irrelevant. Investigators discovered that unopened packages of underwear contained DNA from workers at the warehouses where the underwear is produced. This strongly suggests that the DNA on JonBenét’s pajamas may be irrelevant, thus opening the case to a new set of suspects.

Mysterious markings were found throughout her back. Investigators initially did not know what caused the markings, but later discovered that a toy train track owned by Burke Ramsey aligned perfectly with the markings on her body.

Back at the crime scene, two sets of unidentified footprints were found nearby. Near JonBenét’s bedroom, a rope not belonging to the Ramsey household was also found. Despite this evidence suggesting a break-in occurred, the snow outside the house did not bear any footprints. Recall that investigators did initially state that no one could have broken into the house as well.

The ransom note contains a series of contradictions and inconsistencies. The note asked the Ramseys for a ransom of $118000, or else JonBenét would be beheaded. This amount was similar to a bonus John received from work the year prior, suggesting that someone may have been stalking John. The note was apparently written by a “foreign faction” and signed with the unknown initials S. B. T. C. However, one extremely chilling detail about the note was that it was written with pen and paper inside the house, meaning that someone must have broken in without the Ramseys knowing. Or did someone really break in? This note suggests that someone broke into the house, wrote the ransom note, and then killed JonBenét in the basement of the house, all while the other Ramseys slept in the house. This made police question the ransom note. Patsy’s fingerprints were found on the note, to start off. Furthermore, a practice draft of a note was also found in the house. Handwriting analysis suggested that Patsy Ramsey wrote the letter, but other experts disagree with this.

THEORIES

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The most popular theories suggest that the family killed JonBenét, but as for which family member killed JonBenét changes depending on who you ask. Some believe that the entire family took part in the killing. But others also point to individual family members.

To begin, Patsy Ramsey was believed to have accidentally killed JonBenét and then later strangled JonBenét to cover up the accidental killing. Skeptics point out that If Patsy did fake the ransom note however, she would have also faked the strangulation after the accidental killing, but evidence suggests that JonBenét was strangled while she was alive. Furthermore, recall that the DNA found on JonBenét’s pajamas did not match any of the Ramseys DNA, but that DNA may also not even be relevant to the case as noted before.

Some point to Burke Ramsey as being the killer. Burke’s fingerprints were found on the bowl of pineapple that was inside JonBenét’s system after her death, and the train track markings also point to Burke. People behind this theory suggest that Patsy and John helped cover up Burke’s crime with the ransom note, and of course, the fact that many people would be skeptical to believe that a child would commit a horrendous crime. In a recent interview with Dr. Phil, many point out that Burke’s mannerisms, including breaking eye contact and smiling, further suggest that he knows critical details about the case that have not been told to police.

Finally, we have the father, John Ramsey. John is believed by some to have sexually assaulted JonBenét and then killed her as a way to make her not speak. Evidence that points to this include the fact that investigators believed that JonBenét may have been sexually assaulted by her autopsy. Furthermore, it is reported that JonBenét has visited doctors multiple times for yeast and vaginal infections she endured, providing more speculation that the father sexually abused JonBenét. Besides this, there is no other evidence pointing to John.

The entire family were deemed not suspects after DNA evidence from JonBenét’s pajamas and underwear indicated that they did not murder her. However, recall that investigators found DNA of warehouse workers on an unopened package of underwear. This effectively puts the entire family back onto the suspect list. Besides the family, other suspects were also named during the investigation.

Bill McReynolds was a man who dressed up as Santa Claus for entertainment. He is known to have visited the Ramsey household 2 days prior to JonBenét’s death. Other interesting details regarding McReynolds is that his wife wrote a play about a girl being molested and killed in a basement - similar to how JonBenét died. McReynolds allegedly was heartbroken about JonBenét’s death, but ultimately, there is no evidence tying him to the murder.

Gary Oliva was a neighbor of the Ramseys who was arrested years later for charges on child pornography. He was also previously arrested for drug charges, and police found that Oliva carried a picture of JonBenét with him. When questioned about this, Oliva stated that he was very sad over her death and carried the picture as a way to remember and honor JonBenét and her legacy. Striking evidence popped up when Michael Vail, a friend of Oliva’s, claimed that Oliva called him and stated that he hurt a little girl in Boulder, Colorado - the city where JonBenét was murdered. Police analysis found that no other little girl was hurt in Boulder besides JonBenét that night, so this evidence does point to Oliva as being a suspect. Furthermore, Oliva had previously attempted to strangle his mother with a cord - similarly to how JonBenét was strangled with a cord. Despite this evidence, Oliva’s DNA did not match the DNA at the crime scene, and so he was dismissed as a suspect.

Finally, a false confession did occur from a man named John Mark Karr. Karr fled to Thailand in an attempt to evade child pornography charges in California. He maintained an email relationship with a professor to which he falsely confessed to murdering JonBenét. However, in one particular email, he referred to Patsy by her nickname “Neddie,” and it is very bizarre as he should not even know that piece of information, and it is unknown how he knows Patsy’s nickname. Regardless of this, he did not murder JonBenét and there is no evidence pointing to him. In fact, police were able to identify that he was in a completely different state at the time of JonBenét's murder.

Even with an overload of evidence and suspects, the murder of JonBenét Ramsey continues

to captivate millions as individuals develop their own theories regarding what happened that

day.

SOURCES

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Death of JonBenét Ramsey (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_JonBen%C3%A9t_Ramsey#Evidence)

JonBenét Ramsey (https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/jonbenet-ramsey)

JonBenét Ramsey (https://www.crimemuseum.org/crime-library/cold-cases/jonbenet-ramsey/)

JonBenét Ramsey (https://criminalminds.fandom.com/wiki/JonBen%C3%A9t_Ramsey)