Jon Benet Ramsey By Claudia Williams

       Here is a murder that puzzled the world.  The murder of a little diva in the making, Little Miss Jon Benet Ramsey.  Her murder captured the hearts of the world.  Jon Benet Ramsey was born 1990 in Atlanta, Georgia.  She and her family moved to Boulder, Colorado. There are several different theories about who murdered Jon Benet Ramsey, but we are going to look into three of them:

1.      The town drifter Gary Oliva

2.      The family’s very own housekeeper Linda Hoffman-Pugh (Lovitt).

3.      Her mother Patsy Ramsey

Based on the information we find, we will get a step closer to who strangled and murdered this little angel.

Jon Benet was a generous and giving person. Breanne Griego said “that Jon Benet would bring other Barbie dolls for the other girls to play with” (Poppen 1). Thumper Gosney also said that “they would disappear for 30 minutes at a time and play with Barbie dolls” (Dailymail.com 1). Bill McReynolds, a Santa in Boulder, remembered her as a giving person who had an “angel spirit” (Poppen 1). He thought of her this way because of the “star dust“she gave him (1).  I see her being a generous and giving person by the way she shared her toys and gave them gifts.

            Jon Benet was also a compassionate person and had great concern for others. One of Patsy’s friends said of Jon Benet that, “she was compassionate. The other kids at school always wanted her to go with them to the school doctor. Kids really liked her” (Poppen 1). Jon Benet showed compassion and concern for others by the way she took pride in taking them to the doctor’s or nurse’s office.

Jon Benet was a caring and loving child. Griego said, that “she was always everyone’s best friend” (Poppen 1). Griego also said, “she was just a really nice fun-loving kid” (Dailymail 1). People seen her as a loving little girl because of the care and love she showed to them or others.

 

Jon Benet was a playful young lady.  Phillips said that Jon Benet and her daughter made mile-high ice cream cones (Poppen 1). This showed her playfulness as she navigated back to her parents with the mile-high ice cream cones. Phillips also said, that “at the family Christmas party, she seen little Jon Benet playing with her big brother Burke” (1). The playfulness is what you see during the family Christmas party.

Jon Benet was a talented little girl. Griego said “she was a strong competitor and she really likes being up on stage” (Poppen 1). She had loads and loads of talents; “she loved to sing and dance with her friends”, said Phillips (1). She showed her skills in the pageant competitions. She won so many titles: Little Miss Colorado, National Tiny Miss, and America’s Royale Miss (Biography 1). If you look at the pageant pictures, some of them are taken from the talent section of the pageant.  In these pictures you see her posing with her hula hoop.

 

This little girl was smart. Phillips, described Jon Benet as a “real watcher, observant and curious” (Poppen 1). Jon Benet was observant of everything around her, from how she walked the runway to showing her curious side of how to perfect her craft. This is why she was one of the favorites of the judges.  

Jon Benet was a spoiled little girl.  Dee Dee Nelson-Schneider said, that “one day Jon Benet said to her mother that she didn’t have enough dresses, so Patsy took her shopping and let her get some dresses” (Boulder Daily 1). This is just how spoiled she really was. Always getting her way.

 In the cold case files of Jon Benet Ramsey, there have been many theories and suspects. Right now we are going to continue to look into the three people from earlier:

                        1. The town drifter and child sex offender Gary Howard Oliva.

                        2. The family’s very own housekeeper Linda Hoffman-Pugh (Lovitt 1).

3. Her very own brother Burke Ramsey (1).

Based on our information we will be a step closer to who strangled and murdered Miss Little Jon Benet Ramsey. The brother is the one we will be looking at in more detail.

            The first conspiracy theory suggests that “Oliva was among suspects who rose to police attention after the murder of child beauty queen Jon Benet in 1996” (McGhee 1). Gary Howard Oliva had a bad reputation in town— convicted child sex offender and town drifter. “The convicted pedophile had been living in the area on and off when police allegedly found a magazine cutout of Jon Benet Ramsey in his backpack after he was apprehended on drug charges in 2000” (Lovitt 1). “Soon after, Oliva's high-school friend Michael Vail stepped forward with an allegation supporting Gray’s suspicion. Vail claimed that not long after the murder, a distraught Oliva had called him on the phone and confessed to his longtime pal that to have ‘hurt a little girl. I have hurt a little girl’ ”(1). Oliva was also rumored to have possible connections to a theory that links the marks found on Jon Benet's body to an encounter with a stun gun” (1). This is all circumstantial evidence; more concrete evidence is need to convict Mr. Oliva.

            The second conspiracy proposes that Linda Huffman-Pugh the family housekeeper committed the murder. “A knife that Linda Huffman-Pugh kept hidden in a cupboard on the second level of the home was found by police in the basement, where Jon Benet’s body was discovered” (“Ramsey Housekeeper Doubts Intruder Theory 1”). “He (Burke) didn’t (clean up his act) and about a month before the Jon Benet’s slaying, she took away the knife and put it in a cupboard over a sink near Jon Benet’s room” (1). “The Huffman-Pugh theory asserted that the housekeeper led a trusting Jon Benet down into the basement that night in attempting to trick employers into leaving money for her ransom (It’s possible that she could have seen John Ramsey’s pay stub for $180,000 as a holiday bonus and chosen that as her demand)” (Lovitt 1). “So far, all evidence implicating her in the case is circumstantial at best, and she has never been formally accused of this crime” (1).   The story sounds a little fishy, it looks as if they were trying to make a case and couldn’t. It’s because there was none. Huffman-Pugh is incident.

            Our last conspiracy theory points to Burke Ramsey, Jon Benet’s big brother. At the tender age of 9, he was showing signs of “Antisocial Personality Disorder a ‘pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence’” (“Who Killed Jon Benet 1”). “These antisocial behaviors commonly include ‘aggressive conduct that cause or threatens physical harm to others people or animals’ ” (1). “They may display bullying, threatening or intimidating behaviors, start fights, exhibit physical cruelty, and use potentially deadly weapons” (1). Burke Ramsey has been showing these signs and the family has just been overlooking it.  “Judith Phillips, 64, a Ramsey family friend for more than ten years, told ‘The Sun’ how she had often seen flashes of Burke’s temper and believes the theory he is the culprit” (“Murder Finally Solved 1”). “Judith said,’When Burke was born he was the absolute apple of Patsy’s eye. Then along came this little girl who stole all the attention. He could well have been very jealous” (1). “Photographer Judith also claimed, ‘Burke had hit his sister with a golf club a year before her murder, leaving her with a scar on her cheek” (1). “Now, in a CBS documentary ‘The Case of Jon Benet Ramsey’, a former investigator for Boulder’s District Attorney gave his theory that the little girl and her brother clashed over a snack of fresh pineapples” (1). “Crime scene footage showed a bowl of pineapples and a glass of iced tea bearing Burke’s fingerprints” (1). The autopsy report says, that “The proximal portion of the small intestine contains fragmented pieces of yellow to light green-tan apparent vegetable or fruit material which may represent fragments of pineapple” (Autopsy Report 4). “The TV documentary also pointed out two red marks on Jon Benet’s lower back could have been made by a piece of Burke’s toy train track” (Murder Finally Solved 1). “The new probe suggested Burke may have poked his sister with the track when he realized she wasn’t moving” (1). “These measure up to one inch in length by one-sixteenth to one-eighth of an inch in with. On the left lateral aspect of the lower back, approximately sixteen and one-half inches below the level of the top of the head are two dried rust colored to slightly purple abrasions” (Autopsy Report 2). “Judith admitted: “I agree with the theory Burke killed Jon Benet but I don’t think he meant to do it” (Murder Finally Solved 1). “To date no one has ever been charged for her murder, and the investigation remains open over two decades after her death” (Jon Benet Ramsey). I a survey I done at the College of the Mainland, out of the 20 people I asked who do you think killed Jon Benet Ramsey 75% of the people think Burke, Jon Benet’s big brother did it out of a fit of rage over her eating some of his nighttime snack of fresh pineapples.

In conclusion, we looked into the town drifter and child sex offender Gary Howard Oliva with no real evidences. We also looked at the family’s housekeeper Linda Hoffman-Pugh who had no real motive to do this to this little girl. Lastly, Jon Benet’s very own big brother Burke Ramsey, who had the most likely reasons:

1.      He was the apple of their parent’s eye and she stole the spot light from under him, and it just grew from there.

2.      Burke signs of aggressive behavior like hitting Jon Benet in the face with the golf club.

3.      The final straw was when Jon Benet ate some of his fresh pineapple, and he did not feel like sharing. This made him so angry, that he pushed her against the counter. Was Burke trying to kill her? No, but he pushed her so hard that it killed her, and in his disbelief, he poked her with his train track to wake her up. That is why she has those to bruises on her. Burke had the means to do it, and the motive was his jealous, and hatred. And he had the opportunity.

The reasons why this case is not solved is because of all the mistakes that were made; the mother planting stuff, the police letting people walk all though the house and the father moving her body from where it was found. In addition, Burke’s lying played a part in why the police couldn’t come to a conclusion.

 A survey was done at the College of the Mainland.  People were asked “Who do you think killed Miss Jon Benet Ramsey, child beauty queen: Burke her big brother, Linda the family’s housekeeper or Gary Howard Oliva, the town drifter and child sex offender?  Out of the 20 people that was asked “Who do you think killed Jon Benet Ramsey 75% of the people think Burke, Jon Benet’s big brother did it out of a t of rage over her eating some of his nighttime snack of fresh pineapples.

 

	Burke	Linda	Gary
1	X
2	X
3	X
4	X
5			X
6	X
7	X
8	X
9	X
10	X
11		X
12	X
13		X
14		X
15	X
16			X
17	X
18	X
19	X
20	X

 

                                                                                Work Cited

“Autopsy Report” United States.Office of the Boulder County Coronor. Forensic Outreach. August.2016. Web. 1 November 2017

Article from BoulderNews Ramsey Archive, web.dailycamera.com/extra/ramsey/1997/12/26-2.html.

Biography.comEditors JonBenetRamsey Biography.comwebsite May22,2017www.biography.com/people/jonbenet-ramsey-12986606.October2,2017

Diamond, Stephen. “Who Killed JonBenet?” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 18 Jan. 2017, www.psychologytoday.com/blog/evil-deeds/201701/who-killed-jonbenet.

Lovitt, Bryn. “Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey? 8 Possible Suspects.” Rolling Stone, Rollingstone, 12 Oct. 2016, www.rollingstone.com/culture/lists/who-killed-jonbenet-ramsey-8-possible-suspects-w443881 

McGhee, Tom. “One-Time Person of Interest in JonBenet Ramsey Case Held in Boulder on Child Porn Charges.” The Denver Post, The Denver Post, 21 July 2016,www.denverpost.com/2016/06/22/jonbenet-ramsey-child-porn-boulder-gary-oliva/.

Ramsey Housekeeper Doubts Intruder Theory, web.dailycamera.com/extra/ramsey/1999/0803crams.html.

Reporter, Dailymail.com. “JonBenet Ramsey's Pageant Friends Remember the Slain Beauty Queen 20 Years on as a 'Fun-Loving' Girl Who Had a Bright Future and Would Have Thrived at College.” Daily Mail Online, Associated Newspapers, 13 Sept. 2016, www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3787893/JonBenet-Ramsey-s-pageant-friends-remember-slain-beauty-queen-20-years-fun-loving-girl-bright-future-thrived-college.html.

“UK Justice Forum.” Friend of Beauty Queen JonBenet’s Family Backs Theory Brother Killed Her., miscarriageofjustice.co/index.php?topic=7653.0.www.rollingstone.com/culture/lists/who-killed-jonbenet-ramsey-8-possible-suspects-w443881

Worthen, Meredith. “JonBenét Ramsey.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 22 May 2017, www.biography.com/people/jonbenet-ramsey-12986606.

Zaret Alli Krupski Staff Writers, Elliot. “Daily Camera's First JonBenet Ramsey Story: 'Missing Girl Found Dead'.” Boulder Daily Camera, 2017 Digital First Media, 25 Oct. 2016,www.dailycamera.com/news/jonbenet-ramsey/ci_30505165/jonbenet-ramsey-first-story-boulder-newspaper.