JonBenét Ramsey

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JonBenét Ramsey 



JonBenét Ramsey 

Born August 6, 1990

Atlanta, Georgia, USA 

Died December 25, 1996

Boulder, Colorado, USA 

JonBenét Patricia Ramsey (August 6, 1990 – December 26, 1996) was a six-year-
old girl and beauty pageant contestant who was found murdered in the basement 
of her parents' home in Boulder, Colorado, United States, eight hours after 
being reported missing. The case drew national attention in the United States 
when no suspect was charged and suspicions turned to possible family 
involvement. The tantalizing clues of the case have inspired numerous books 
and articles that attempt to solve the mystery.



On August 16, 2006, the case returned to the news with the arrest of 41-year-
old John Mark Karr, [1] an American schoolteacher in Bangkok, Thailand. After 
being apprehended, Karr reportedly confessed. However, doubts have been raised 
regarding the veracity of his confession; Karr's ex-wife provided an apparent 
alibi, stating they were both in Alabama at the time of the murder.[2]



Contents [hide]

1 Life 

2 Murder case 

2.1 Clues 

2.1.1 Ransom note 

2.2 Later developments 

2.3 John Mark Karr 

3 Defamation lawsuits 

4 Speculations 

5 References 

6 External links 

 





Life

 

JonBenét RamseyJonBenét Ramsey was born at Northside Hospital in Atlanta, 
Georgia, and moved with family to Colorado when she was a year old. Her name 
is a combination of her father's first and middle names, John Bennett. Her 
mother, Patsy Ramsey, enrolled her daughter in a variety of different beauty 
pageants in several states. In addition, she funded some of the contests in 
which Ramsey was involved. Patsy Ramsey was herself a former beauty queen, 
having held the title Miss West Virginia 1977; her sister was Miss West 
Virginia 1980. John Ramsey, JonBenét's father, is a wealthy businessman, 
president, and chief executive officer of Access Graphics, a computer services 
company. The family had a lakefront summer home in Charlevoix, Michigan.



Ramsey held a number of child beauty contest titles, including (in 
alphabetical order) America's Royal Miss, Colorado State All-Star Kids Cover 
Girl, Little Miss Charlevoix Michigan, Little Miss Colorado, Little Miss Merry 
Christmas, Little Miss Sunburst, and National Tiny Miss Beauty.



John Ramsey stated that he found his daughter's body in the basement of their 
fifteen-room home in Boulder on the day after Christmas, December 26, 1996.



Ramsey's grave lies in Saint James Episcopal Cemetery in Marietta, Georgia, 
next to the grave of her mother, who died of ovarian cancer at age 49 in 2006.





Murder case

On December 26, 1996, Patsy Ramsey (according to her own testimony) discovered 
that her daughter was missing after finding a two and a half page ransom note 
demanding $118,000 inside the family residence. Despite specific instructions 
that the police and friends not be contacted, she telephoned the police and 
invited over family and friends. The local police conducted a cursory search 
of the house but did not find any obvious signs of a break-in or forced entry. 
The note suggested that the ransom collection would be monitored and JonBenét 
would be returned as soon as the money was obtained.



In the afternoon of the same day, Boulder Police Detective Linda Arndt asked 
Fleet White, a friend of the Ramseys, to take John Ramsey and search the house 
for "anything unusual." John Ramsey and two of his friends started their 
search in the basement first. There in the wine cellar John found his 
daughter's body covered in a white blanket. He carried her body up the stairs 
and placed her onto the floor of the foyer. Arndt then moved the body to the 
base of the Christmas tree. Later that evening, the police authorized the 
removal of the body by issue of a search warrant. Typically, this procedure 
would be performed under consent of the parents.



The results of the autopsy revealed that JonBenét was killed by strangulation 
and a skull fracture. A garrote made from a length of nylon cord and the 
handle of a paintbrush had been used to strangle her; her skull had suffered 
severe blunt trauma; she may have been sexually assaulted. The official cause 
of death was asphyxia by strangulation associated with craniocerebral trauma. 
The other half of the paint brush was found in a tub of Patsy Ramsey's art 
supplies.[3] It was noted by experts that the construction of the garrote 
required a special knowledge of knots. Autopsy also revealed that the child 
had eaten pineapple only a few hours before the murder, of which her mother 
claimed to be unaware.





Clues

Police investigations within and around the residence discovered the following 
clues which were, by some, interpreted as evidence of intrusion:



two dissimilar footprints in the wine cellar that did not match any of the 
shoes in the residence 

a third footprint of an unknown person on the outer part of the window of the 
room by the wine cellar (John Ramsey stated that the window was 
malfunctioning) 

a possible footprint on a suitcase, placed directly below the same window 

a rope that was foreign to the residence found on the bed of the guestroom 
located near JonBenét's room 

physical marks on JonBenét's body that suggested the use of a stun gun 

blood sample on JonBenét's underwear that did not match any known suspect 



Ransom note

Investigators determined that the lengthy ransom note was written on a pad of 
paper that belonged to the Ramsey family. A Sharpie felt-tip pen similar to 
the one used to write the note was found in a container on the Ramseys' 
kitchen counter, along with other pens of the same type. [2] According to the 
Federal Bureau of Investigation, on the same pad of paper, a practice sheet of 
the ransom note was found. No fingerprints could be detected on the note. The 
text of the note had many odd features, including the fact that $118,000 was 
demanded. Perhaps coincidentally, John Ramsey earned a bonus that year of 
$118,117.50. Also during investigation of the home, police reported that John 
Ramsey's Bible was found on his desk in his office open to Psalm 118. The 
police regarded the ransom price a suspiciously low amount of money in 
proportion to John Ramsey's income.



Several handwriting samples were taken from a number of suspects who might 
have written the ransom note. Forensic analysis cleared everyone except for 
Patsy Ramsey, whose writing style bore some resemblance to the ransom note [3] 
[4] .





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Later developments

In December 2003, forensic investigators extracted enough material from a 
mixed blood sample found on JonBenét's underwear to establish a DNA profile. 
The DNA belongs to an unknown male. The DNA was submitted to the Federal 
Bureau of Investigation's Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), a database 
containing over 1.6 million DNA profiles, mainly from convicted felons. The 
sample has yet to find a match in the database, although it continues to be 
checked for partial matches on a weekly basis.



Later investigations also discovered that there were more than 100 burglaries 
in the Ramseys' neighborhood in the months prior to JonBenét's murder, and 
that 38 registered sex offenders were living within a 2-mile radius of the 
Ramsey's home.[4]



JonBenét's mother, Patsy Ramsey, died of ovarian cancer on June 14, 2006,[5] 
at the age of 49. She had been battling cancer off and on after first being 
diagnosed in 1993. She had a recurrence in 2003. She was aware at the time of 
her death that the Boulder County (Colorado) District Attorney's Office was 
investigating a suspect in Bangkok, Thailand.





John Mark Karr

Wikinews has news related to: 

Arrest made in JonBenet Ramsey murder caseMain article: John Mark Karr

On August 16, 2006 41-year-old John Mark Karr, a former school teacher, was 
arrested in Bangkok, Thailand in connection with the 1996 slaying of JonBenét. 
Authorities reportedly tracked him down using the Internet after he sent 
emails regarding the Ramsey case to Michael Tracey, a journalism professor at 
the University of Colorado. [6] Once apprehended, he confessed to being with 
the girl when she died, and he stated that her death was accidental. When 
asked if he was an innocent man, he responded, "No." [7]



Experts have since said that the way in which JonBenét was killed makes it 
unlikely that it was an accident [8]. According to Lt. Gen. Suwat 
Tumrongsiskul of the Thai immigration police, Karr claims he was also the one 
who wrote and left the ransom note in the Ramsey home demanding $118,000. John 
Ramsey had received a Christmas bonus in that exact amount. There are claims 
that Karr sent a letter to Mrs. Ramsey before her death apologizing for what 
had happened. Karr will be taken within the week to Colorado, where he will 
face charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping and child sexual assault.[9].



Many early news reports about Karr's communications with authorities rely 
heavily on quotations from Lt. Gen. Suwat Tumrongsiskul of the Thai 
immigration police, but the accuracy of Tumrongsiskul's accounts of those 
communications is apparently questionable. Although he orignally reported that 
Karr confessed to drugging JonBenét, Tumrongsiskul subsequently recanted that 
report.[10] Furthermore, although he initially reported that Karr said he 
picked JonBenét up from school, Tumrongsiskul later said he based that report 
not on Karr's interrogation but rather on a documentary he had seen.[11]



Some doubt has clouded Karr's confession[12], in part because there were 
several reported inconsistencies in his story. According to Tumrongsiskul, 
Karr claimed that on December 26th, 1996, he picked up JonBenét from school 
which is impossible since schools there were closed due to the Christmas 
break. However, Thai police have since denied that Karr made any such claim. 
Furthermore, Karr's ex-wife, Lara Karr, claims the couple spent that Christmas 
season together in Alabama[13].





Defamation lawsuits

Several defamation lawsuits have ensued since JonBenét's murder. Lin Wood was 
the attorney for John and Patsy Ramsey and has prosecuted defamation claims on 
their behalf against St. Martin's Press, Time, Inc., The Fox News Channel, 
American Media, Inc., Star, Globe, Court TV and The New York Post.





Speculations

In 1999, the Governor of Colorado, Bill Owens, told the parents of JonBenét 
Ramsey to "quit hiding behind their attorneys, quit hiding behind their PR 
firm". Bill Owens has not made a public apology for his allegations to 
JonBenét's father John Ramsey or to her now deceased mother, Patsy.[5]



Case speculation by experts, media and the parents has supported different 
theories. For a long time, the local police supported the theory that her 
mother had accidentally killed JonBenét in a fit of rage after the girl had 
wet her bed on the same night. Another theory was that John Ramsey had been 
sexually abusing his daughter and murdered her as a cover. John Ramsey's son 
Burke Ramsey was also targeted by speculation, and asked to testify at the 
grand jury.[6]



The Ramseys have invariably held that the crime was committed by an intruder, 
and hired John Douglas, former head of the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit, to 
examine the case. While being paid by the Ramsey family he concluded that the 
Ramseys were not involved in the murder. He also concluded that it was 
unlikely that anyone would resolve the case. He detailed his arguments in his 
2001 book, The Cases That Haunt Us.



Due to the lack of evidence, a grand jury did not indict the Ramseys for any 
crime. Not long after the murder, the parents moved to a new home in Atlanta.





References

^ Arrest Sources: Arrest made in JonBenét Ramsey case. CNN (August 16, 2006). 

^ Cracks in Karr confession fuels skepticism. Denver Post (August 16, 2006). 

^ JonBenét: Anatomy of a Cold Case - Court TV 

^ Erin Moriarty, JonBenet: DNA Rules Out Parents, 26 March 2005. 

^ JonBenét Ramsey's mother dies. MSNBC/AP (7 April 2006). 

^ No Forensic Evidence Currently Links John Karr to JonBenet Murder. Crime 
Library (August 17, 2006). 

^ http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/08/17/ramsey.arrest/index.html 

^ http://www.newsobserver.com/110/story/476477.html 

^ http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060818/ap_on_re_as/jonbenet_ramsey_105 

^ http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/J/JONBENET_RAMSEY?
SITE=TXBEA&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT 

^ http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/J/JONBENET_RAMSEY?
SITE=TXBEA&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT 

^ http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18082006/140/doubts-jonbenet-confession.html 

^ [1] 

Hickey, Eric. Encyclopedia of Murder and Violent Crime. 

M., Ronald and Stephen T. Holmes. Profiling Violent Crimes. 



External links

JonBenet Ramsey Case Encyclopedia (wiki) 

True Crime: JonBenét Ramsey 

Crime Magazine: The Murder of JonBenét Ramsey 

The Smoking Gun - JonBenet Ramsey Case Documents 

Timeline in JonBenet Ramsey case 

JonBenet Ramsey murder case, an investigative analysis - The Crime library 

FindAGrave.com: JonBenét Ramsey 

Long Observer article 

"JonBenet Ramsey Murder Case: Here We Go Again" by Alden Loveshade 

Statement from John Ramsey about the arrest of a suspect in Thailand 

Nation Knew JonBenet Only In Death 

JonBenét Ramsey at the Notable Names Database 

JonBenet Ramsey Investigation About.com 

Text of emailed message from John Mark Karr to journalism professor expressing 
his love for JonBenet 

Arrest made in JonBenet slaying - Washington Times 

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JonBen%C3%A9t_Ramsey"

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American children | American murder victims | Beauty pageant contestants | 
Murdered children | People from Atlanta | People from Boulder, Colorado | 
Unsolved murders