JonBenet Ramsey By:Amy Hartzog

JonBenet was brutally murdered in 1996. Many conspiracy theories evolved over the years. The first theory is: Did JonBenet parents kill her? Did Burke kill her? Or did an intruder break in and kill her?

 Let's dig deeper into theory one. According to McClish, December 26, 1996, Patsy walk downstairs and found a three-page ransom note that demanded a “Withdraw $118,000.00 from your account” (1). Patsey called 911 to report her child went missing and that there was a ransom note that was left behind, even after the note stated, “Speaking to anyone about your situation, such as police, F.B.I., etc., will result in your daughter being beheaded” (McClish 1). Patsy never informed the police that if she contacted them her daughter's life was endangered.   

Hours later when the police and investigators showed up, John Ramsey was the one to find his daughter's body in the basement, which was the first place he looked. He removed the tape from his daughters' mouth, covered her in a blanket and brought the lifeless body upstairs which could have destroyed any evidence of who killed the little girl. This put John on top of the list of suspects. Police officer Arndt told Mr. Ramsey to “leave everything exactly as it is” (Locker 1). Arndt also suspected the father's behavior which was quite strange the morning the incident happened. She told interviewers, “Some believe it's strange that intuition alone would lead a person to an admittedly unused part of the home” (Lovitt 1).  Also, according to Edwards suspicion grew when the questions became blunt, as in, “why mom and dad did not check their own basement before calling the cops?” (1). 

Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey both told police that Burke, the brother of JonBenet, was not involved in the situation at all and that he was asleep the whole time. During the time when Patsy called 911, Burke was awake and was heard in the background of the 911 call saying, “what did you find” (The case of: JonBenet Ramsey 1). Coupe Studios analyzed the tapes and determined that there were four people in the house, but only three of them alive (1). This theory provides information that someone in that household killed JonBenet and that her parents might be covering up for someone or trying to keep someone safe.

This leads to the second theory that Burke Ramsey was the murderer of his little sister. At the time of his sister's death, he was 9 years old with behavioral problems. Burke had a police interview after his sister's death! He was very fidgety while being asked questions by the police officer. Burke was sitting in all different positions on the chair and could not stop moving around.  Many people act in different ways when they are nervous. There is a possibility because Burke was nervous that his little sister just died. Burke knew he was being looked at for the death of JonBenet, "I know people think I did it” (Taylor 1). Burke was being accused and may have just been scared. On JonBenet’s 20th anniversary, her brother Burke spoke out after 20 years of silence. “Blows my mind...You won't find any evidence because that’s not what happened” is what Burke told Dr.Phil. Burke just wanted the world to not forget about JonBenet on the 20th anniversary of her passes away. He wanted to make things right after being silent for so long (1). Burke was a boy who probably was pushed aside when JonBenet was born.

 The night the murdered happened, Burke was eating pineapples and James Kolar claims, “Burke lashed out at his sister with a torch when he realized his fruit had been taken” (Reynolds and Collins 1). A chief investigator for the District Attorney in Boulder also revealed that “Burke had scarred his sibling just one year earlier after whacking her with a golf club” (1). Burke also had an interview 13 days after his sister's death and was asked to draw a picture of his family, while drawing the picture he only drew his mother, father and himself. He was asked why he didn’t draw his sister and Burk replied, "I don't really know what was going through my head, but she was gone, so I didn't draw her" (Al-Sibai 1). This seems heartless and odd that he would draw a family picture without his little sister only a few days after she passed away.

Burke was called for an investigation back in 1997, which had people thinking he was the killer. Burke was asked if he had any secrets and was asked about them and he refused to answer, “because then it wouldn’t be a secret anymore” (Locker 1). Burke decided to finally come out on his sister’s 20 anniversary of her death to Dr.Phil, after his silence for many years. He was asked many questions, his answers and grins had everyone wondering. The main one was about the toy or object that was used to kill JonBenet. Burke only remembered “I had some toy that I wanted to put together. I remember being downstairs after everyone was kind of in bed and wanted to get this thing out” (McClish 1). Burke stayed in bed the whole time the police were at the house. Dr.Phil told him it seemed odd to most people that when the police officer came into his room he didn’t even react, Burke commented, “To be fair, I didn’t know that it was a police officer. I guess I kind of like to avoid conflict. I guess I just felt safer there. I'm not the worried type...I guess part of me doesn’t want to know what's going on” (McClish 1). With all the facts and Burkes actions, he is the one who could be the killer of JonBenet.

The third theory of the JonBenet case is, did someone break in and kill her? There were many overlooked clues at the crime scene, like the intact cobwebs in the basement windows. If someone tried to creep through, then it would have been brushed off. Also, the abrasions to JonBenet's lower back matched a toy similar to the one found in the basement that belonged to Burke. 

Many intruders get straight to the point with what they want or what they are demanding. They wouldn’t sit down and write a three-page ransom note. According to experts, it would have taken “21 minutes according to recreations done by experts, putting the supposed kidnappers at serious risk of being caught” (The JonBenét Ramsey Case: Spotlight on the Ransom Note 1). The notepad and pen that were used to write the note were found in the Ramsey’s household. This evidence shows that an intruder couldn’t have killed JonBenet and that it must be someone in the Ramsey family and all fingers point to Burke.

Work Cited

 Al-Sibai, Noor. “Burke's ‘Secret Interrogation’ Video Is Tragic.” Bustle, Bustle, 25 Apr. 2018, www.bustle.com/articles/183846-burke-ramseys-drawings-without-jonbent-are-very-telling-of-how-tragic-his-familys-loss-i

“The Case Of: JonBenet Ramsey - Never Before Heard Audio.” YouTube, YouTube, 18 Sept. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=izUi0zZFZ5M.

 Edwards, Blake. “The Most Bizarre Things about the JonBenet Ramsey Case.” NickiSwift.com, Nicki Swift, 16 Apr. 2018, www.nickiswift.com/4778/bizarre-things-jonbenet-ramsey-case/.

Jensen, Erin. “CBS Investigative Panel Pins JonBenet Ramsey's Death on Her Brother.” Detroit Free Press, Detroit Free Press, 20 Sept. 2016, www.freep.com/story/entertainment/2016/09/20/cbs-panel-burke-ramsey-killed-sister-jonbenet/90730438/.

 Locker, Melissa. “Lifetime's 'Who Killed JonBenet?': 10 WTF Moments, Fact-Checked.” Rolling Stone, 25 June 2018, www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-recaps/lifetimes-who-killed-jonbenet-10-wtf-moments-fact-checked-106243/.

 Lovitt, Bryn. “Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey? 8 Possible Suspects.” Rolling Stone, 25 June 2018, www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-lists/who-killed-jonbenet-ramsey-8-possible-suspects-129125/the-father-129265/.

McClish, Mark. The JonBenet Ramsey Ransom Note - Statement Analysis®, www.statementanalysis.com/jonbenet-ramsey-murder/ransom-note/.

Reynolds, Emma, and Danny Collins. “Chilling Claim JonBenet Ramsey's Parents Asked Bizarre Questions after Thinking 911 Call Was Over.” The Sun, The Sun, 21 Sept. 2016, www.thesun.co.uk/news/1818979/chilling-claim-jonbenet-ramseys-parents-could-be-heard-asking-bizarre-questions-after-mistakenly-thinking-theyd-hung-up-911-call/.

Taylor, Sarah. “Things You Didn't Know About JonBenet Ramsey's Brother.” NickiSwift.com, Nicki Swift, 14 Aug. 2018, www.nickiswift.com/24575/things-didnt-know-jonbenet-ramseys-brother/.

“The JonBenét Ramsey Case: Spotlight on the Ransom Note.” The Forensic Outreach Library, 1 May 2018, forensicoutreach.com/library/the-jonbenet-ramsey-case-spotlight-on-the-ransom-note/.