Murder is an inhumane act, but the murder of your own child? Now that’s cruel. On the night of December 26, 1996, in Boulder, Colorado, the adorable, innocent, six year old, JonBenet Ramsey was brutally murdered in her own home. She was reported missing hours after her death and found about eight hours later in the basement of her home. The American child beauty pageant queen was found with a broken skull and had been strangled. A garrote was found around her neck. The official cause of death was asphyxia by strangulation and a traumatic brain injury due to the blow to her head. Her death was classified as a homicide and caught the eye of nationwide media. So who killed her, you might ask? There is said to have been more than one person involved. Perhaps the brother and the parents, others conclude just her parents were to blame and some say and intruder broke in and ended her life. To this day the case is still an open investigation with the police department of Boulder, Colorado, so let’s explore these theories.
She had the picture perfect family and her whole life ahead of her. Sadly her life abruptly ended before she saw her seventh birthday. She was born August 6, 1990, the daughter of a socialite and wealthy businessman (Worthen). She was a well-known beauty pageant queen in her area. She is not your average kid either, how many six year olds do you know that are beauty queens?
Assuming she was mainly driven by her mother’s desires to follow in her footsteps, she wasn’t known to be a rebellious little girl, she never acted out in any way that showed she was uninterested in participating in these pageants. She had to be somewhat motivated to do them due to the fact she is still a young child. Most kids her age would lash out into a temper tantrum if they were being pushed to do something they did not want to do, which brings me back to the conclusion she had no problem dressing up as a princess and prancing around on stage. Although she was only 6, we can’t help but wonder, is this really the life she wanted? Was she being pressured into participating? Did she want to be normal and go to her friend’s birthday party instead of the pageant? Sadly, we will never know.
Despite the opinions of others, her parents obviously saw no harm in entering her into a life of glam and spot light so early. Some may think her life in the spotlight will ruin her future, and gave it the title of sexualizing young children. It can be seen as subjective and just flat out wrong to put your kids through that. The fact Patsy Ramsey was also a beauty queen in her childhood makes perfect sense as to why JonBenet is now competing as well. Her mother was the one who lived to see JonBenet in pageants. Her father always claimed to remember his daughter as a normal kid, raggedy hair, shorts and a t-shirt running and hiking with her brother Burke (Chang).
Although her father’s image that remains in his head of his little girl seems completely normal, we see her life as very different from how the rest of us were raised. The Ramsey’s were quite wealthy and JonBenet was provided with everything she ever needed. From having a luxurious home that was plush with everything she needed for a happy life, to winning five pageantry titles by the age of six (Worthen). Her sudden, tragic death did not stop anyone from seeing the potential and light in JonBenets eyes. She was a beautiful young girl. Her blonde hair and blue eyes were undeniably cute. She weighed in at only 45 pounds and was about 4 feet tall (Schiller). We think small and fragile when we hear those measurements, yet that was average for her age.
She was the cute six year old girl we will always think of her as. Her death stunned the world permanently. She was a flame that was blown out to quick. Pageants and fame will forever be her title. Everyone misses her dearly, except the cold hearted murderer who ended her life. The image you don’t want of a young girl stuck in your head, is now plastered around the world of social media and the news for generations to come, never to be forgotten. One day, the truth will be revealed and the killer of JonBenet Ramsey will be brought to justice and her family will be at peace, unless someone in her family was to blame.
Throughout the newsletters and ongoing theories of how JonBenet Ramsey, an innocent six year old, was murdered in her own home, some specifically stood out to many people. Including one saying Burke Ramsey, her older brother, was one to blame alongside their mischievous parents that covered his tracks. Burke was nine years old at the time of the tragic event. Was he even capable of something so inhumane? They claim to say the reasoning behind Burke murdering his own sister, was over a bowl of pineapples. She had attempted to eat some of his midnight snack and out of anger he grabbed a flashlight and hit her over the head, killing her. Some say it could have easily been an accident, yet others say it wasn’t.
After coming to the realization that her only daughter had gone missing, Patsy Ramsey called 911 to report the so called kidnapping of her child (Jenson). The 911 call was only a few seconds long, but after Patsy thought she had hung up the phone, there were 6 seconds of what sounded like a conversation between three people seeming to be Patsy, Burke and Jon investigators say (1). During those six seconds, they claimed they heard Patsy say, “Were not speaking to you” and “what did you do? So help me God.” which seems like the 911 call reporting that JonBenet being kidnapped was rehearsed (1).
After investigators had arrived at the Ramsey’s home in Boulder, Colorado, they searched the house, finding a ransom note. The note seemingly came from someone who had kidnapped JonBenet somehow in the night. It contained information on how the Ramsey’s could safely bring their daughter back home, yet certain aspects of the note caught the attention of forensic linguist, James Fitzgerald (Jenson). He claimed the note was clearly staged. There were numerous spelling errors and a ransom that called for $118,000 (1). That specific number caught the eye of many. Why that specific number. Well we could all ask that, knowing the $118,000 was a raise that Jon Ramsey, JonBenet’s father, had received recently and not many knew of the money he had been given. As well as when compared to Patsy’s own handwriting, most letters matched. The note was said to have been written by Patsy herself to cover up the murder of her daughter by her only other child, Burke. The ransom note indicates both Patsy and Jon were involved in the covering up of her death (1). Most family members are very much involved with the case of someone near and dear to them, except the Ramsey’s were the complete opposite. Don’t you find that odd? As Burke was interviewed, reporters say he was “evasive” and “emotionless”.
Although many fingers pointed to Burke in this rough time, there are still reasons he was never said to be the prime murderer in the case, accident or not. The evidence against this theory of Burke being at blame, is that JonBenet was not only murdered but sexually assaulted as well. DNA tests were taken to determine the sick person behind this, yet no one was found guilty (1). Jon and Burke were tested and both were negative matches. Meaning neither one of them could have been the one to sexually assault her. Also alongside Burke’s pure emotionless interviews, awkwardness doesn’t prove guilt. So to this day the case still lies cold.
A second theory, similar to the first is that only Patsy and Jon Ramsey were to blame for the death of their daughter, JonBenet on the night of December 26. Although we argue both parents are the main suspects, only Patsy Ramsey was the one who did the brutal act in this point of view. Jon was just there to cover up his wife’s actions. It says JonBenet and Patsy got into an argument over the six year old wetting the bed (Janofsky). The dispute between the mother and daughter ended with Patsy striking JonBenet over the head, inflicting a serious head wound (1). At that point Patsy panicked. She proceeded to strangle her own daughter and Jon chose to protect his wife after witnessing her murder their only daughter. Once the deed was done, they had a major problem of what to do with her body. They staged a kidnapping to make it seem like JonBenet was taken in the middle of the night, which results in the reasoning behind the odd ransom note. Both Patsy and Jon were interviewed and denied any involvement in the murder and insisted she was murdered by an intruder (1). Yet the fact the basement door was said to be well hidden in the Ramsey residence that no intruder would have ever found it (1).
Many and many interviews later, Linda Hoffman, an ex-housekeeper of the Ramsey household, testified against Patsy and claimed she was the person behind the murder of JonBenet (McPhee). Hoffman claims the blanket wrapped around JonBenet was fresh out of the dryer and that only Patsy would have known that (1). Along with a Swiss army knife that Hoffman had taken away from Burke at one point and hid it in a linen closet, yet it was found in the basement with JonBenet’s body, “Only Patsy could have put that knife there.” Hoffman said (1).
Although this theory has been looked over many times before, there are also many reasons why Patsy was never found guilty. Knowing JonBenet was sexually assaulted and she was tested for DNA, Patsy simply could not have been a part of such an act being a woman herself, it is merely impossible. During the tough times after her death, suspects went through lie detector tests and Patsy passed hers with flying colors, investigators said (Marple). She was also known to be a loving and very caring mother to both of her young children (1). After JonBenets death, she kept Burke out of the media’s sight for nearly 20 years. Was she being the caring mother she was said to be, or was there a darker secret that she didn’t was Burke exposing?
The third and most interesting theory to come about from many perspectives, is the intruder. This theory has many reasons for and against it, so don’t get too confused here. After DNA tests were taken indicating none of the Ramsey’s were responsible, for the assault at least, eyebrows were raised thinking of the fact maybe they weren’t really guilty. On the night of December 26, the Ramsey’s admitted they failed to set their home security system before bed (Marple).
Investigators reported to have seen at least seven windows and one door open during the night of the crime (Marple). Which leaves possible entry ways for someone other than the Ramsey’s to enter their home. Snowfall was slightly fresh, yet the sidewalks were uncovered, leaving an easy pathway with no track marks left if an intruder was to break in easily unidentifiable the next day (1). Although there were no known footprints leading to an intruder, footprints were found in the basement where JonBenet was found lifeless, the shoeprints did not seem to match anyone living in the Ramsey’s home (1).
Jonbenet’s body was found tied up, wrapped up and duct taped 8 hours after her reported time of death. The duct tape used to keep her from screaming, had been torn on both sides, as detectives searched the house for that kind of tape, it was nowhere to be found, leaving them to believe the Ramsey’s were not to blame for putting it on her (Marple). The same thing happened with the rope used to tie her wrists together, the type of rope was not present in the Ramsey’s home and there were no signs of it ever being there in the first place (1). A possible murder weapon was found on the north side of their home, a baseball bat lying in the snow had matching brown fibers on it that matches the carpeting in the Ramsey’s home (1). Along with every other object found, a suspicious suitcase and scuffmarks from that exact suitcase were found in the basement with her body, not belonging to the Ramsey’s (News).
With every odd aspect pointing towards an intruder, reasons as to why this theory seemed impossible to some is because for starters, the crime scene was completely tampered with. Things were moved before pictures were taken, if there had been any footprints from an intruder, we wouldn’t be able to tell since they had been trampled over and over again by first responders and other officers that investigated the scene. The basement windows had undisturbed cobwebs on them showing those windows had not been opened and were not an option for an intruder to have used entering or exiting the house with no signs of forced entry standing out in the investigation. The murder of JonBenet took place in the basement, meaning she was moved from her bedroom down there with no signs of struggle or force (News).
In a survey conducted by high school students and teachers, 65% said her death was not from an intruder. If her murder was caused by an intruder, they were unable to tell if it was someone they knew or if it was a total stranger. If it was a random person who took Jonbenet’s life and broke into their home it would have been quite difficult finding their way around the Ramsey’s very large home, entering unwelcomed and unnoticed. Unless it was someone who already knew their way around.
JonBenet Ramsey, the beloved six year old sweetheart, brutally murdered, sexually assaulted and left for dead the night of December 26, 1996. The death of the child beauty queen has been and always will be a terrible tragedy nationwide. To this day, the case is still unsolved. After the recent death of Patsy Ramsey, we possibly could never the truth. As years have passed and no conclusions have been found, we all stick to conspiracies that have been made:
- Burke Ramsey, her older brother, was the murderer and Jon and Patsy covered it up
- Patsy was the main culprit and Jon chose to protect his wife
- An intruder entered possibly unnoticed and murdered the young JonBenet
It has now been over 20 years since JonBenets sudden death. People debate whether her murder was done by someone she calls family or a complete stranger. Although substantial evidence points to a family member being at blame, the murder mystery case will likely remain unsolved. It will always be a sad realization knowing JonBenet will never experience life, laughter and love past the age of six.
Citations
(P) Chang, JUJU. “JonBenet Ramseys Father Regrets Letting Her in Pageants.” ABC News, ABC News Network, 13 Mar. 2012, liveblog.abcnews.go.com/.
(P) Janofsky, Michael. “JonBenet's Mother Was Killer, Detective Says.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 9 Apr. 2000,www.nytimes.com/2000/04/10/us/jonbenet-s-mother-was-killer-detective-says.html.
(P) Jenson, Erin. 'The Case Of: JonBenét Ramsey' Pins Her Death on Her Brother Burke. 20 Sept. 2016,www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3797692/Burke-did-Crime-claims-JonBenet-Ramsey-killed-violent-older-brother-parents-covered-siblings-argued-pineapple-midnight-snack.html.
(S) Marple, M. “Patsy Ramsey.” JonBenet Ramsey Case Encyclopedia / Patsy Ramsey, Apr. 207ADAD, jonbenetramsey.pbworks.com/w/page/11682497/Patsy%20Ramsey.
(P) McPhee, Mike. “Ex-Housekeeper Says Patsy Ramsey Killed JonBenet.” Ex-Housekeeper Says Patsy Ramsey Killed JonBenet, Denver Post Staff Writer, 6 July 2001, rense.com/general11/benet.htm.
(P) News, ABC. “Det. Says Ramsey Photos Indicate Intruder.” ABC News, ABC News Network, 30 Apr. 1970, abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=93419&page=1.
(S) Schiller. “The Body.” JonBenet Ramsey Case Encyclopedia / The Body, 1999, jonbenetramsey.pbworks.com/w/page/11682513/The%20Body#GeneralAppearance.
(S) Worthen, Meredith. “JonBenét Ramsey.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 22 May 2017,www.biography.com/people/jonbenet-ramsey-12986606?_escaped_fragment_=
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