The Death of JonBenét Ramsey by Heather Schaub

     The death that became a sensation in the late 1990’s is leaving everyone wondering and arguing about who was involved. JonBenét Ramsey was a beauty queen born on August 6, 1990. At the age of six, JonBenét was murdered. By who? No one knows. There are were and are multiple suspects and theories about who could have done it such as her own parents, her brother, Michael Helgoth, the town electrician, John Mark Karr, the school teacher, Linda Hoffman-Pugh, the housekeeper, Bill Mcreynolds, the town Santa, or was it the known sex offender who lived down the street from JonBenét, Gary Oliva. Let’s look at the case that remains a mystery to this day. 

JonBenét Ramsey’s character was a fun loving little girl. After her death, her pageant friends opened up about their relationship with JonBenét. Breanne Griego, a friend that won the Little Miss Colorado crown with JonBenét;  

stated that she was a fun-loving kid – she would have had so much fun at college. She would have been the center of everything at college. She’d be the older version of her six-year-old self. She’d be a confident girl. She’d be beautiful and she would enjoy everything that she chose to do in life.(“20 years after her death, JonBenét Ramsey’s pageant friends open up about ‘fun-loving kid’”) 

 All her friends remember her as being a sweet and a caring girl and a girl who loved to sing and dance and had many friends (Poppen 1). JonBenét was one of those kids who people never had to worry about. Even though she was not perfect, she wasn’t a stingy kid like most six year-old kids tend to be. Her parents and her friends parents always trusted her with her friends to play well and not cause any trouble because of her sweet and generous personality. She always shared her toys and treats with all her friends who she played with.  Her friends from school always wanted her to go with them to the nurses office because she was friends with everyone(Poppen 1). Patsy and all the other moms always trusted JonBenét and her friends to play “appropriate” games when they hung out with each other(Poppen 1). 

While being a fun loving little girl, JonBenét was also a really big competitor. She won numerous pageants that she participated in. Some of the pageants that she has won are Little Miss Colorado in 1995, America’s Royale Miss, National Tiny Miss Beauty, and Little Miss Charlevoix(Poppen 1). Ramsey won her very first pageant in 1994 at the Colorado State All-Star Kids Pageant(Poppen 1).  JonBenét and her family only liked to participate in family fun type of pageants not the really big ones like high powered pageants. Her mother, Patsy Ramsey, stated that pageantry activities were only a "very small part of JonBenet's life" that occurred on a "few Sunday afternoons(Poppen 1).  When JonBenét started pageants she wasn't in the big ones that were very serious but after a few years she started to do big competitive pageants and became a high powered pageant queen that wore feathers, bling, gilded and sequined costumes, and a lot a heavy makeup(Poppen 1). Her personality always remained the same and never changed from the little girl that she was with her sweet and caring personality.  Her pageant friends now say that she would be the same type of person that she was when she was six with the same spunk and everything; 

'She was a smart fun-loving kid — she would have had so much fun at college. She would have been the center of everything at college. She had a bright light about her. She was just a really nice fun-loving kid,' she said. 'She'd be the older version of her 6-year-old self. She'd be a confident girl. She'd be beautiful and she would enjoy everything that she chose to do in life.”(JonBenét 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). 

All JonBenét’s friends and family have all expressed their liking about her and her personality. 

JonBenét Ramsey was unexpectedly found murdered the morning after Christmas in 1996. Her mother, Patsy Ramsey, claims she found her daughter's body strangled and tied up in the basement of their home in Boulder, Colorado. The next question was who killed her? There are many suspects for this mysterious case: 

1. 1. Her Parents, John and Patsy Ramsey. 

2. 2. Her Brother, Burke Ramsey. 

3. 3. The School Teacher, John Mark Karr. 

4. 4. The Housekeeper, Linda Hoffman-Pugh. 

5. 5. The Town Santa, Bill McReynolds. 

6. 6. Neighborhood sex offender, Gary Oliva. 

7. 7. The Electrician, Michael Helgoth.  

There is also a theory that she never died and that her and her parents faked her death and stayed hidden till she came out as the famous singer, Katy Perry. There are a bunch of suspicious people who could have possibly killed her, but no one can figure out who did it.  

The first possible suspects are her parents, John and Patsy Ramsey. People suspect it would be her parents because when the evidence from the cops were released there was no footsteps in the snow outside of their house by their basement where the person that “broke in” supposedly went to. The broken window looks like it was broken in from the inside and not the outside. “some claim she physically punished JonBenét for peeing the bed and accidentally killed her, so she staged a kidnapping in order to cover it up” (Wittmer 1).  Since the Ramsey’s threw away a lot of the evidence like the tape off the mouth of the girl, everybody thinks the staged it and ran off to another state to hide. The ransom note that was found by the mother was stating that they had JonBenét and asked for a certain amount of money back that turned out to be the exact amount of Johns bonus for work. “In order for her safe return, the kidnappers demanded a ransom of $118,000 – almost exactly the same amount as the bonus that John had recently received.” (Crime Museum).  

Another theory was that it was her brother, Burke Ramsey, who could have possibly killed her. Friends of JonBenet’s parents said the two would go downstairs into the basements and play inappropriate games so people will think that because there was another person's DNA in her underwear when they examined it. Also, that he accidentally hit her upside the head with a flashlight and it knocked her out so hard that she died from it. When they were doing her autopsy, they found pineapple in her stomach and come to find out they were eating pineapple together before they went to bed (Lovitt 1): 

“Some theorists believe that he killed JonBenét when he angrily threw a flashlight at her                         head. There was a blow to JonBenét's head and a flashlight in the kitchen, where the                             two kids had allegedly eaten pineapple before bed. It was discovered that JonBenét had                       eaten pineapple shortly before being killed.” (Wittmer 1). 

Burke never spoke about his sister's death until twenty years later when he appeared on a Dr.Phil show and he still never really said anything and was just being blunt the whole time and refused to answer some questions that were asked so people found him extremely suspicious after the interview.  

John Mark Karr, the school teacher, was another suspicious suspect because he claimed to have been with the Ramsey’s the night she was murdered. John had previously been arrested for child pornography which made him a higher suspect. “John Mark Karr, who has been arrested on multiple charges including child pornography, claimed that he was in the Ramsey house the night of the murder and saw JonBenét die, but isn't the one who murdered her.” (Wittmer 1). He claims that he knew the identity of the killer was keeping it a secret by staging a fake scene to confuse the cops in order to let the killer escape. “Karr claims that he still knows the identity of the killer. He says that he staged the crime scene in order to throw the police off the track of the real killer.” (Wittmer 1). Unfortunately, he was cleared from any charges because nothing from the crime scene matched his DNA or anything. 

Linda Hoffman-Pugh was they family’s housekeeper and people suspect it would be her because she always had a key to the house. Lindas profile did not match the one the cops were trying to look for, but they were suspicious when she made multiple claims that Patsy was the one that killed JonBenét “She then testified in front of a grand jury for a total of eight hours including a statement against Patsy that read, "I think she had multiple personalities. She'd be in a good mood and then she'd be cranky. She got into arguments with JonBenét about wearing a dress or about a friend coming over. I had never seen Patsy so upset” (Lovitt 1) Patsy stated that Linda was struggling with money and had asked to borrow a couple thousand from the Ramsey's but got really upset and aggravated when they wouldn’t loan her the money. So, they believe that she led JonBenét into the basement and wrote a ransom note to get the money that they wouldn’t give her. “The housekeeper led a trusting JonBenét down into the basement that night in an attempt to trick her employers into leaving money for her ransom” (Lovitt 1). Linda was only a conspiracy theory because of the way she asked for loads of money and was trying to seem like she was covering up something by trying to put all the blame on the mother of the child the day of the murder. 

The town Santa, Bill Mcreynolds, is yet another possible suspect because he was rumored to have paid a little too much attention to JonBenét and set a private visit from Santa and picked her to be his “special visitor” the week before Christmas. “McReynolds was rumored to have paid a little too much attention to JonBenét, going so far as to arrange a secret visit from Santa Claus on Christmas. Supposedly, he had chosen JonBenét to be his "special friend," going so far as to bring a vial of glitter gifted to him by the six-year-old with him into heart surgery” (Lovitt 1). According to some people he gave JonBenét a card that had a very suspicious note written in it. “He reportedly gave JonBenét a card that said, "You will receive a very special gift after Christmas." The vagueness of this message in the card has led some to believe that he was behind the murder” (Wittmer 1). He had become a theory because of the weird and unusual stuff he said to the little girl and the things he did around the girl and her family so nobody trusted him after the death of JonBenét. 

Gary Oliva was a neighbor that had been previously arrested and registered as a sex offender. When police searched his house, they found a cut out of JonBenét from a magazine in his backpack after being arrested for drugs in 2000. “The convicted pedophile had been living in the area on and off when police allegedly found a magazine cutout of JonBenét Ramsey in his backpack after he was apprehended on drug charges in 2000. He was soon released, but suspicions remained” (Lovitt 1). It has also been stated that after JonBenet's death Gary called a high school friend, Michael Vail, and told him “hurt a little girl. I hurt a little girl” (Lovitt 1). Michael also told the news that the knot that was tied around JonBenét's neck was the same kind of knots that Gary used to attempt to choke his mother. Oliva also had a stun gun with him, at the time of his arrest, which made the same marks as the ones found on the little girl's body. Oliva is a part of the theories because of all the suspicious stuff he has done and the stuff that was found around him that is linked to JonBenét's murder (Lovitt 1). 

Michael Helgoth, the town electrician, was known to raise hell and cause trouble. He is a suspicious person in the murder because he involved himself in a property debate with the Ramsey's and everyone thinks that he kidnapped JonBenét in revenge for getting in trouble with the Ramsey's. “tied to an alleged property dispute involving the Ramsey's. Could that have served as possible motivation to seek revenge on the family and kidnap JonBenét? It’s been speculated that once the 26-year-old Helgoth caught wind that he could be a suspect in the case” (Lovitt 1). Helgoth was found dead after a couple of days after JonBenét's death and it turns out he had committed suicide, so people found that weird that he was a suspect a killed himself. People think that was his way of getting out and avoiding trouble.  

The last conspiracy theory is that JonBenét could be Katy Perry. The reason being is that if you put a picture of JonBenét and Katy Perry next to each other they have a lot of similar features on their face. People think that after JonBenét's “murder” the family went into hiding for a long while and even moved states until JonBenét came back as Katy Perry. People also say that JonBenét's parents and Katy Perry's parents look the same also (Lovitt 1). The only downfall about this conspiracy theory is that JonBenét was boring on August 6, 1990 while Katy was born on October 25, 1984 so there is a pretty big age gap between the two so that’s what makes people believe that she isn't Katy along with some other difference that don’t add up but then there's a lot of evidence to prove that she is.  

After examining the death of JonBenét, who was murdered mysteriously the day after Christmas in her home, there are still a bunch of possible suspects that turned into conspiracies about who killed her. 

1. 1. Her Parents, John and Patsy Ramsey. 

2. 2. Her Brother, Burke Ramsey. 

3. 3. The School Teacher, John Mark Karr. 

4. 4. The Housekeeper, Linda Hoffman-Pugh. 

5. 5. The Town Santa, Bill McReynolds. 

6. 6. Neighborhood sex offender, Gary Oliva. 

7. 7. The Electrician, Michael Helgoth.  

Two decades later and her death remains as an unsolved case to this day. Her family are the top suspects in this case that might have been involved and just covered it up. Being 22 years later how are they ever going to find out the truth about who killed JonBenét?  

 

Works Cited 

• Crime Museum “JonBenét Ramsey.”, www.crimemuseum.org/crime-library/cold-cases/jonbenet-ramsey/. 
• Jancelewicz, Chris. “Katy Perry Is JonBenét Ramsey? Offensive Internet Conspiracy Theory Claims Singer Is Murdered Pageant Darling.” Global News, Global News, 26 Feb. 2016, globalnews.ca/news/2542472/katy-perry-is-jonbenet-ramsey-internet-conspiracy-theorists-believe-singer-is-murdered-pageant-darling/. 
• “JonBenet Remembered as Caring, Compassionate Kid.” Article from BoulderNews Ramsey Archive, web.dailycamera.com/extra/ramsey/1997/12/26-2.html. 
• 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-housekeeper-129416/. 
• Reporter, Dailymail.com. “JonBenet Ramsey's Pageant Friends Remember the Slain Beauty Queen 20 Years On.” 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. 

• Sullivan, Kristen, and Erica Brosnan. “25 Wild Celebrity Conspiracy Theories.” Newsday, Newsday, 2 Nov. 2017, www.newsday.com/entertainment/celebrities/celebrity-conspiracy-theories-from-the-katy-perry-jonbenét-ramsey-rumor-to-elvis-in-home-alone-1.13966803. 
• Wittmer, Carrie. “All the Theories about Who Really Killed JonBenét Ramsey.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 3 May 2017, www.businessinsider.com/who-killed-jonbenet-ramsey-theories-2017-4#john-mark-karrs-acquaintance-4.