JonBenet Ramsey Murder Case By: La Portia Moultrie

     

          Just imagine attending a funeral of a six-year old child. Jon Benet Ramsey was an American Beauty pageant queen born on August 6, 1990, and was killed in her home in Boulder, Colorado, on the night of December 25-26, 1996, at the age six. Let us take a deeper look into Jon Benet’s death, and who killed her. The death could have been done by either the mother, father, or the brother.

   Externally Jon Benet Ramsey was a young and beautiful, six- year old who- enjoyed playing dress-up as a beauty queen. Every time Jon Benet competed in the pageants her make-up was flawless. Her hair was in curls. She wore ribbons, and hats to match her dresses, and costumes. “Jon Benet Ramsey was a dream child that was smart, talented, and blessed. She was entered into every child beauty pageant possible. Wearing lipstick, heavy make-up, and provocative costumes that cost thousands of dollars. Her hair was bleached, and teased. Jon Benet flirtatiously paraded down run ways, exuding a sophistication beyond her years” (“Smith”).          

             Internally Jon Benet Ramsey was a happy little girl. Every photo that was posted on the internet of Jon Benet she really did not seem to be worried or upset about anything. The picture of Jon Benet on vacation showed her smiling and laughing (Attachment 1). There was no actual evidence that she did not love her family. To many friends and associates suggested that someone in the Ramsey family might be responsible seemed a little incredible. “There was never anything wrong in the home,” said Joe Saportas, who lived next door to the Ramsey’s in Atlanta, where they lived until 1991” (“Hewitt and Bane”). Saportas said “I would leave my kids with them anytime” (1). A photographer Randy Simmons, spent a day shooting a portfolio of Jon Benet and recalls being struck by the uncommon devotion between mother and child.

The first conspiracy theory, did the mother Patsy Ramsey kill her daughter Jon Benet Ramsey? Jon Benet was said to “have soiled her clothes”: (Janofsky). Patsy Ramsey also was said to have strangled Jon Benet in a panic on Christmas night 1996, after accidently causing a serious wound to Jon Benet’s head. (1) “A detective Steve Thomas concluded that Mrs. Ramsey did strangle Jon Benet” (“Hewitt, and Bane”). Her lawyer, L. Lin Wood disputed the accusations calling them “fiction and utter nonsense” (1), and other Boulder officials are believed to have views that differ from Mr. Thomas’s. Mrs. Ramsey’s lawyer, Mr. Wood said in an interview that Mr. Thomas’s theory “is refuted in it’s entirety by medical evidence” (1). Patricia Ramsey, Jon Benet’s mother, a former Miss America, contestant reported her daughters’ death after finding a ransom note located on the stairs of their Boulder, Colorado, home. A note that was thought to have been written by Patsy Ramsey for $118,000 was never proven true. A handwriting expert was said to “have analyzed the note and compared it to Mrs. Ramsey’s handwriting, and it did not match” (1). Before being indicted on charges of her daughter Jon Benet Ramsey’s death, Patsy Ramsey died of ovarian cancer in 2006.

            The second conspiracy theory, did the father John Bennett Ramsey kill his daughter Jon Benet? John Ramsey was a very wealthy businessman. In 1989, John Ramsey founded the Advanced Product Group, one of three companies. He became President and Chief Executive Officer of Access Graphics. That was one of three companies merged together. In 1996, Access Graphics grossed over $1 billion that got him “Entrepreneur of the Year” by the town of Boulder, Colorado Chamber of Commerce(Flanagan). Soon after his daughter Jon Benet’s death, he was temporarily replaced so that he could mourn over her death. John Ramsey was a suspect in Jon Benet. He was suspected of staging the crime scene to protect his oldest child, Burke Ramsey, from killing his little sister, Jon Benet. After Jon Benet was found in the basement with a broken skull and a garrote around her neck, several reports suggested that John was an abusive father (1). John Benet’s ex-wife, Lucinda Pasch, his brother, and his sister-in-law all gave statements to the media defending John’s character. Also, two of his children from his first marriage told interviewers that “their dad has always been a loving and gentle parents” (1). In 2008, new DNA evidence seemingly exonerated John Bennett Ramsey.    

            The third conspiracy theory, did Burke Ramsey, Jon Benet Ramsey’s nine- year old brother kill his little sister? Twenty-five people were asked and out of the twenty-five people, fifteen said yes. Acquaintances wonder if all the attention lavished or focused on Jon Benet, however innocent and well meaning, had not left brother Burke Ramsey feeling slightly left out. One neighbor recalls that Jon Benet seemed to get all the attention (1). “Hers was the name everyone heard all the time,” says Diane Hayes, a Colorado, Springs mother who met the Ramsey’s through pageants. “I do not think Burke ever got much of a reference” said Diane Hayes, a neighbor.  The photographer, Simons recalls Patsy telling Burke of Jon Benet, “This is not just my daughter this is my best friend(Fore). Judith Phillips, a family friend for more than ten years, told The Sun how she had often seen flashes of Burke’s temper and believed the theory that he was the culprit: “Burke was quiet, reserved, and very into computer technology. I had seen him have emotional outbursts” (Iggulden). Judith first met the Ramsey’s when the family lived in Atlanta, Georgia. They became neighbors again when the Ramsey’s moved to Boulder several years after Judith and her family had relocated to the town. Judith said: “When Burke was born he was the absolute apple of Patsy’s eye” (Iggulden). Then, along come this little girl who stole all the attention. “He could well have been very jealous (1). Judith also claimed Burke hit his sister with a golf club a year before her murder, leaving her with a scar on her cheek” (1), Phillips also added “To me it seemed odd they would give a big television interview but not work with police” (1) Judith admitted: “I agree with the theory that Burke killed Jon Benet but I do not think he meant to do it” (1) Burke’s voice can be heard asking: “What did you find?” (1) His parents have always claimed he was asleep at the time.  

“Not much else is known about Burke Ramsey these days, but just recently Dr. Phil McGraw aired a three-part interview with Burke to coincide with a docuseries on: The Case of Jon Benet Ramsey” (McGuire). “He’s going to be talking about the incidents of violence, of hitting his sister in the head with a golf club. He is going to talk a very significant answer about a bowl of pineapples that was found on the table in the house that was not there when everyone went to bed” (Iggulden). Pineapples were found during the autopsy in Jon Benet’s stomach. He is also going to talk vey specifically about how the pineapples came to be in Jon Benet’s stomach the night she was found dead”. Dr. Phil said, “Burke was socially awkward, and laughed, and smiled throughout the interview” (1). After all the evidence the conclusion is that Burke Ramsey could have murdered his six-year old sister, Jon Benet Ramsey.            

Now again imagine attending the funeral of a six-year old child. The case of Jon Benet Ramsey was never solved and a lot of unanswered questions still hang in the balance. This case has been twenty years in existence. As of today Jon Benet would have been twenty-six years old, and may never get justice.

 

Works Cited

Dailymail.com, Khaleda Rahman Fore. "'Burke Did It': Crime Show Claims Jon Benet Ramsey WAS Killed by Her 'violent' Older Brother and Her Parents Covered It up after the

  Flanagan, Mara. “Jon Benet Ramsey DNA Evidence Exonerated Three Major Figures In The Investigation.” Romper, Romper, 18 Sept. 2016, www.romper.com/p/jonbenet-ramsey-dna-evidence-exonerated-three-major-figures-in-the-investigation-17470.

Hewitt, Bill, and Vicki Bane. "Read PEOPLE’s Original 1997 Story on the Jon Benet Ramsey Murder." PEOPLE.com. Time Inc., 06 Nov. 2015. Web. 27 July 2017. 

Iggulden, Caroline. “Friend of Beauty Queen Jon Benet's Family Backs Theory That Her Brother Killed Her.” The Sun, 26 Sept. 2016, www.thesun.co.uk/news/1851552/friend-of-jonbenet-family-backs-theory-brother-killed-her-and-parents-covered-it-up/.

Janofsky, Michael. "Jon Benet's Mother Was Killer, Detective Says." The New York Times. The New York Times, 09 Apr. 2000. Web. 25 July 2017.

Siblings 'clashed over a Midnight Snack of Fresh Pineapple'." Daily Mail Online. Associated    Newspapers, 21 Sept. 2016. Web. 25 July 2017   

Smith, Carlton. “Death of a Little Princess.” Goodreads, St. Martin's, 1997, www.goodreads.com/book/show/1154940.Death_of_a_Little_Princess. Accessed 20 July 2017.