The murder of JonBenet Ramsey in December 1996 shocked the United States. The six-year-old seemed poised to upstage her mother’s modeling career, having won multiple local and national modeling titles. Initially, authorities assumed JonBenet had been kidnapped: they found no trace of her at her home and a ransom note demanding $118,000 for her return.
About seven hours after she went missing, JonBenet’s father, John Ramsey, found her lifeless body in the basement of the house. The medical examiner concluded that JonBenet died from strangulation and head trauma. JonBenet’s parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, were the police’s initial suspects.
A grand jury recommended the prosecution of JonBenet’s parents
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John Ramsey began searching the house for clues after the author of the ransom note failed to call at the stipulated time. Ramsey found JonBenet’s body in the basement, an area police hadn’t searched before. He said ABC News:
“He [white] blanket was wrapped around her. Her hands were tied above her head. She had duct tape over her mouth. I immediately knelt over her, touched her cheek, and immediately removed the tape from her mouth. I tried to untie the cord that she had around her arms and I couldn’t untie the knot”.
Police considered the parents prime suspects, which is not unusual, according to former FBI agent Brad Garrett. “When you start with kids this age, when they die, they tend to die at the hands of their parents,” Garrett said. 20/20.
The situation did not look promising for John and Patsy. The ransom note was written on Patsy’s notepad and contained the figure of $118,000. Ramsey had just received a $118,000 bonus from his company. Coincidence?
Additionally, the makeshift garrote used to strangle JonBenet featured one of Patsy Ramsey’s paintbrushes. John and Patsy’s reluctance to speak to authorities increased the suspicions surrounding the couple.
“I mean, we’re grieving the loss of our son…and then someone accuses you, you just can’t believe it’s happening,” Patsy said. CNN. “We were outraged. We were shocked. How could they think that? We were a normal family,” John added.
Unbeknownst to John and Patsy, a Colorado grand jury voted to indict the couple on counts of child abuse resulting in death and aiding and abetting a crime. The grand jury alleged that JonBenet’s parents put her in danger and aided the killer:
“Each parent provided assistance to a person, with the intent to hinder, delay, and prevent the discovery, arrest, apprehension, prosecution, conviction, and punishment of said person for the commission of a crime, knowing that the assisted person had committed and was suspected of the crime of first degree homicide and child abuse resulting in death.”
The prosecutor declined to press charges against John and Patsy, citing insufficient evidence. In 2008, a new prosecutor cleared JonBenet’s parents of any involvement in the murder of their daughter. DA Mary Lacy sent a letter to the family, saying:
“The new scientific evidence convinces us to say that we do not consider your immediate family, including you, your wife Patsy and your son Burke, to be under any suspicion in the commission of this crime.”
JonBenet’s mother passed away in June 2006 due to ovarian cancer.
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In 1993, doctors diagnosed Patsy Ramsey with stage 4 ovarian cancer. In the late 1970s, Patsy rose to fame by winning the Miss West Virginia pageant.
Patsy battled cancer and had a recurrence for a decade. The cancer recurred in 2002, causing her death in June 2006. She passed away at her father’s home with John by her side. Patsy didn’t live long enough to see the family exonerated.
JonBenet’s family is hopeful that the authorities will find the girl’s killer. John Andrew Ramsey, JonBenet’s half-brother, said ABC News:
“I think it’s very important that people understand that this case can be solved. There’s a narrative out there that this is an unsolved homicide and we just have to accept it as fact, and that’s not the truth. If we take advantage of the evidence [and] If we follow the facts, we will find this killer.”
John lost the race for Michigan State Representative in 2004
In an attempt to move on with their lives, John and Patsy moved into their summer home in Michigan. John ran for a seat in the Michigan House of Representatives, but lost to Kevin Elsenheimer.
John Ramsey married Jan Rousseaux in 2011 and lives with her in Michigan. He also believes that the DNA tests will help find the killer of his daughter. he told a nbc affiliate:
“I think the people who are in charge of the investigation are focused on [the DNA evidence]And that gives me a lot of comfort. The most important thing is that we now have very, very strong evidence, and that has always been my hope, at least in the recent past, that it will eventually lead us to the killer.”
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn