'08
JonBenet’s parents Patsy and John Ramsey. Patsy died of cancer in 2006
Nearly 12 years after a six year old girl was sexually abused and murdered in her parent’s home in an affluent suburb of Boulder, Colorado, the DA’s office has revealed that DNA evidence uncovered using new technology has cleared her entire family of the crime.
JonBenet Ramsey was murdered the day after Christmas in 1996. The case was plastered all over the news for months. Video clips were played ad naseum of JonBenet competing in child beauty pageants and the media speculated who would commit such a horrible crime against a privileged little girl. Although there was only little or no evidence that pointed to her father or stepfather as the perpetrator, many people believed that it must have been a coverup by the family.
New DNA has been discovered on clothing worn by JonBenet at the time of her death which comes from an unrelated male and fully exonerates the Ramseys. The advanced scientific method used to find traces of the murderer was only recently developed. It’s called “touch DNA” and enables scientists to extract and test DNA from skin cells that are shed when an object is touched.
The Boulder County DA’s office has issued an official statement and apology in light of this new information. It also sounds like there is little chance that this DNA came from contaminated evidence, because it matches a drop of blood found on the scene.
On Wednesday, the Boulder County district attorney, Mary T. Lacy, said definitively that the whispers about prosecutorial plots and favoritism were fantasy. A new technique of analysis, Ms. Lacy said in a letter to JonBenet’s father, John Ramsey, has found DNA traces, unobtainable by earlier methods, of an unidentified male on the long johns JonBenet wore the night she died.
The DNA is not from a member of the Ramsey family and is almost definitely that of the killer, who would have presumably removed or otherwise handled the long johns, Ms. Lacy said.
The genetic material matches that from a drop of blood found on JonBenet’s underwear early in the investigation. The authorities determined then that the blood was not from a member of the Ramsey family but could not say whether it came from the killer, Ms. Lacy said.
The letter to Mr. Ramsey said the new evidence “has vindicated your family,” adding, “No innocent person should have to endure such an extensive trial in the court of public opinion.” It said specifically that neither Mr. Ramsey nor his wife, Patsy, who died of cancer in 2006, nor their son, Burke, was “under any suspicion in the commission of this crime.”
Two years ago, Ms. Lacy’s office announced with great fanfare the arrest of a suspect, John M. Karr, after what Ms. Lacy described at the time as “several months of a focused and complex investigation.” But Mr. Karr’s DNA did not match, and less than two weeks later Ms. Lacy announced that he had been cleared of suspicion.
The methodology that led to Wednesday’s announcement, called “touch DNA” analysis, is essentially a way of looking for traces of genetic material that earlier methods would have overlooked.
[From The NY Times]
This is long overdue news for this family. JonBenet’s mother, Patsy Ramsy, died of ovarian cancer in 2006 at the age of 49. Her father John is still alive, though, and says he’s grateful for the DA’s continued effort in the case, and their statement and apology.
As for why there was such suspicion on the family, CNN’s Mary Snow said that John Ramsey told her that “People found it hard to accept people would come into a home and murder a child this way.” And that “The case became an entertainment event for the media.”
Now that prosecutors have the DNA fingerprint of the killer, maybe they’ll be able to find the real murderer.
Here’s a clip from CNN on this breaking news:
Written by Celebitchy
Posted in Crime, JonBenet Ramsey
27 Responses to “DNA evidence clears entire family in death of JonBenet Ramsey 12 years ago”
-
It’s about time.
It was fairly obvious that no way did those parents stage Jon Benet’s death by garotting to cover up an alleged bed wetting incident turned violent. The bashing in of her head couldn’t have occured during this scenario at all. It had to have happened as she lay dying with her heart weakly pumping…AFTER the garotting had choked her and she lay dying.. Why?…because when there is blunt force trauma severe enough to crack open a skull there would be lots of blood. And there wasn’t in the house.
Those parents have been under that umbrella of suspicion…glad to see they have been vindicated. -
Agree, such a horrible thing to go through on top of the circumstances of the loss of their child. Very poignant that his wife didn’t live to see this.
-
and OJ didn’t do it either
A case based on a tainted crime scene with no viable leads so they just closed the books instead.
Child beauty contests are creepy and weird, I don’t care what people say.
-
So sad. And so much sadder for the younger brother who endured so much–as did his mom and dad.
-
I watched Patsy and John on Larry King live many years ago and I couldn’t help feeling that if they are innocent, what a gross miscarriage of justice that they are going through this. This should never happen to any one.
I am so glad it is finally over for them. So sad Patsy could not be here at this moment. Wherever she is, I hope she is smiling. The media should apologise for what they did to this family. Enquirer especially, they built one conspiracy after another. Not caring that they are hurting this family or that these people are human being and in the absence of concrete proof, they should be given the benefit of doubt.
-
the Boulder police made a right balls up. it’s too late now, her mother is dead and the family went through hell.
at the time, a guy who’s one of the best leading crime detectives had a look LONG after the crime & the parents were convicted and said there was still enough evidence at the house to prove a single man did it. He even discovered who he thought that man was, yet the boulder police were not interested [rather just blame the parents without any proof] The detective was so incensed he made a programme about it, aired in the Uk at least. Nothing was done about his incredible evidence. Now all these years later they say he was right? Too late. too little, too late.
The boulder police owe a considerable sum to her father and his son. AND a huge public apology. at least.
-
While I agree the police did the family a great injustice let us not forget the fact that the parents pretty much pimped out their daughter and that may be a major factor in the deadly assault that lead to the untimely death of this child. A tradgedy all the way around.
-
dna evidence may have “cleared” them, but i still wonder what they really know bout that night, that they havent told…
-
I’m honestly NOT meaning to be confrontational here, but just because there is another human’s skin cells on her pants, why does this clear the parents? Couldn’t someone else at some point have touched the pants? Or had something to do with the crime, but didn’t kill her? I guess it shows that, yes, an unrelated person touched her pants at some point, but it doesn’t clear the parents or tell what happened, does it? Skin cells don’t tell what happened to her at all.
-
Cici…its her UNDERWEAR not her pants.. enlighten me… how would another person’s skin cells get on ANYONEs underwear? THAT is why it clears her. Logic. Her parents had nothing to do with it. The DA at the time watched too much LA Law. It was so ridiculous. She should be disbarred for the way she behaved. I mean, if we are allowed to chase down innocent people literally to their grave on CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE then their should be an equal punishment when the chase is wrong.
This country is making a complete mockery of innocent until proven guilty and mens rea. ESPECIALLY mens rea.
I expect it from gossip pages but NOT by attorneys, police officers, and judges.
And for that, someone should be disbarred.
-
Child beauty contests are creepy and weird, I don’t care what people say.
I agree 110%.
-
Silly Lilly - I said i wasn’t trying to be confrontational so you don’t have to get riled. The article said the skin cells were found on “long johns,” which many children wear as pajamas. It’s not exactly panties, you know. However, I missed that the cells matched DNA found on ACTUAL underwear earlier in the investigation. Sorry, but sheesh.
-
Hear, hear, Jack and Lola. And Lola, wherever Patsy is, I hope she’s with JonBenet.
-
While the Ramsays may have been vindicated, they did nothing over the years to help prove their innocence. They were uncooperative with the police from the beginning, and it irked me when they put their book out…with THEIR faces on the cover instead of their murdered daughter.
-
Mikw, Far as I know, the book publisher decides what goes on the cover of a book. Hopefully they choose something the author likes, but normally the author would not dictate what the book jacket looks like.
-
I think the whole “un-naturalness” of the beauty pageant thing contributed a lot to the finger being pointed at the parents. It’s a ritual sexualisation of small girls and strikes a very uneasy and just plain wrong note with most people. So when the child is killed in what looks like a ritual, sexualised way, alarm bells ring. The way they had handled Jon-Benet during her life made the Ramsays an obvious target in her death. And then there was all that weird business with the ransom note and Patty’s handwriting (anyone recall that?) and the way they tried to leave town as soon as the body was found.
So even if it now looks like they were innocent, there was plenty to put them in the frame other than police incompetence.
-
Finally they have cleared their name - I always thought that they were innocent and it’s unfortunate that inadequate police work has allowed the killer to go free on this one…such a sad story.
-
Child pageants aside, what would these people have had to gain from this? Nothing. The really seemed like loving parents and they were loaded, they had nothing to gain. Even if it was an “accidental” death, they would have just dealt with it, like say OJ did. When you have this kind of money, you simply have no reason to put yourself through this kind of hell. I honestly believe that it eventually killed Patsy.
-
I don’t know why people keep saying that the Ramsey’s were uncooperative with the police. They answered all the police’s questions and submitted DNA samples, clothing, fingerprints, full access to their house etc. right from the beginning. They asked for lie detector tests but at the time the Ramsey’s were grieving and too distraught. After the police tried to hold Jon Benet’s body from burial as a “ransom” in return for lie detector tests was when the more adversarial relationship began.
-
I’m still not buying it. There are too many other things that just don’t add up. And the fact that someone else’s DNA was found doesn’t mean the parents did not have a hand in things. I am certain that the Dad killed her, and that the mother helped him cover it up.
-
Further proof that the American media is completely retarded.
I’m an American.
-
Its great that they’re not guilty and all. But they were SO weird. I think it was hard to believe their innocence sometimes because they seemed pretty cold and just all around suspicious. The crime was too brutal to be done by the parents though… and im glad some evidence has come forward.
-
i don’t think the parents killed her but the whole thing is so suspicious. why would someone take the time to write a ransom note in the house? why choose christmas eve to break into a house when the routine of the family would have been unpredictable? who “kidnaps” a kid for ransom and kills her right away - in the wine cellar her own home? how would someone with no connection to the family know where that wine cellar was -even their maid didn’t know it was there! what kind of parents discover their daughter is missing and call their friends BEFORE they call the police? i don’t think we’ll ever know what happened to that poor girl.
-
Maybe they pimped their daughter in more ways than beauty pageants.
I don’t buy it.
How does evidence of another person “completely exonerate” the parents?
-
@ AC: “the crime was too brutal to have been done by parents”?! do you ever watch the news? what some parents do to their children makes jack the ripper look like a great guy who loved the ladies!
-
@AC
I always found them to be cold, too. That’s what made them suspicious to the public, not just the weird beauty pagaent thing. I dunno, maybe they were just being WASPs? Seemed bizarre, though.
How could you function after losing a child this way, let alone conduct all those interviews in a cold, matter-of-fact way? I know everyone handles grief differently, but most of us were absolutely baffled by their behavior.
Abby:
velvet elvis:
geronimo:
vdantev:
Ms. K:
Lola:
Jack:
duda:
Cici:
Silly Lilly:
Bodhi:
UrbanRube:
Mikw:
PJ:
Carrie:
Linda:
Ron:
Lauri:
Shane Robb:
AC:
kate:
saintdevil:
Amy:
Leave a Reply
Celebitchy aims to be a friendly, welcoming site where people can discuss entertainment stories and current events in a lighthearted, safe environment without fear of harassment, excessive negativity, or bullying. Different opinions, backgrounds, ages, and nationalities are welcome here - hatred and bigotry are not.By commenting you agree to our comment policy
Use the "Report this comment as spam or abuse" link to ask the moderators to delete a comment if it's offensive. If your comment disappears, it has been eaten by the spam filter. Please e-mail cbcomments at gmail.com to get it retrieved.
Get an icon next to your name by signing up for a free Gravatar
Wow. I am thrilled for them. I remember reading John Ramsey’s book many years ago and my own parents scoffing at him, calling him a murderer and such. I just knew, in my core, that he was not guilty. The voice and factual information presented in the book were so sincerely believable.
I am so happy to know he can finally put much-needed closure to this horrible tragedy. The poor man has been haunted for years by false accusations and has lost not only his cancer-stricken wife, but endured the horror of knowing his little girl was brutalized by a sick pervert (who remains unpunished).
Report this comment as spam or abuse