Tuesday, December 12, 2017

JonBenet Ramsey Conspiracy Theories. By: Caleb Gendron

JonBenet Ramsey Conspiracy Theories Essay
 
 
            How could a horrific tragedy happen to the Ramsey's? On December 26, 1996, the six-year-old beauty queen, JonBenet Ramsey, was found murdered in her own Colorado home (Worthem 1). Here are conspiracy theories that can be drawn towards Ramsey's mysterious murder: 
1.) JonBenet's parents are held responsible (Lovitt 1). 
2.) Her older brother, Burke, killed her out of jealousy and rage (1). 
3.) Convicted pedophile, Gary Oliva, committed the murder (1). 
The investigation is still progressing to this day, so let's examine on how each suspect could've led to Ramsey's murder. 
            JonBenet Ramsey was a young child pageant queen who was murdered in her Colorado home. Her murder shocked the whole country and is still after twenty years, under investigation. She was a unique figure in the United States due to the fact that she was a young celebrity at the time. A six-year-old gaining worldwide attention doesn’t happen often. “According to rare home movies, she seems to be playful, happy, and wealthy” (“JonBenet Ramsey Documentary”). According to the video footage in the documentary, she was sliding down on a sled on a snowy hill and playing with her expensive toys, demonstrating how playful she was. While every time she’ll look at the camera, she’ll have this bright smile on her face indicating how happy she was. Moreover, her father was a wealthy businessman and supported the family throughout. Living in a big house and receiving everything she asks for represents how wealthy the Ramsey family is.
Nonetheless, “JonBenet was well-coached and competitive” (“JonBenet Ramsey Documentary”). Since she was winning a gigantic amount of child pageants at a young age, it shows how well-coached she is for the competition. JonBenet didn’t show any competitive emotion, but to get up on that stage and successfully win against other pageant competitors, JonBenet’s competitiveness had to be extremely high.
Even though JonBenet won many pageants before her death, did she do it for herself or for her parent’s glory? JonBenet was confident and happy during competition, which shows in video footage of JonBenet performing in pageants with a huge smile and showing no nervousness whatsoever (“JonBenet Ramsey Documentary”). However, what we see on the outside is not what we can see on the inside. However, JonBenet possibly felt nervous before performances and most likely didn’t enjoy doing pageants. Due to the fact that Patsy Ramsey, JonBenet’s mother, had cancer at the time when JonBenet was competing at pageants, it’s clearly theoretical that Patsy could’ve forced her daughter to perform and win for her glory.
Although JonBenet Ramsey was so loved by the world until her death, her parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, were considered enemies to the citizens when JonBenet Ramsey was brutally murdered. According to the documentary here is what three people commented about John and Patsy Ramsey:
1.)    Psychotherapist Dr. Robi Ludwig: “she (Patsy Ramsey) sexualized her and put her at risk. How could you put your up there and make her vulnerable?” (“JonBenet Ramsey Documentary”).
2.)    The media: “portray the Ramsey’s as monsters, who served up their daughter to pedophiles” (“JonBenet Ramsey Documentary”).
3.)    Journalist, Michael Tracey: “focusing on the pageant video’s, was a way to retrace the argument that the Ramsey’s sexualized their daughter. Questioning their involvement in the murder” (“JonBenet Ramsey Documentary”).
JonBenet was being manipulated and used by her parents to win pageants for their glory. It’s clearly reasonable that Patsy’s cancer was a way to make JonBenet do these pageants, so she could win for her mother. The parents are obviously showing grief and melancholy on their daughter’s death, but they still remain on the radar for looking who truly murdered JonBenet Ramsey. Now let’s take a look at the conspiracy theories and the prime suspects of this case.
 
 
            In the JonBenet Ramsey murder case, there are conspiracy theories that follow: the first conspiracy theory is JonBenet’s parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, are responsible for her death. There are some key points that can possibly lead to the John and Patsy being the true culprit:
In the early morning hours of December 26, 1996, shortly after 5:00 AM, Patsy Ramsey woke up in her Boulder, Colorado home to find a ransom note on her kitchen staircase. The note, addressed to her husband, stated that their daughter, six-year-old JonBenet Ramsey had been kidnapped. The kidnappers, according to the note, demanded a ransom of $118,000 for JonBenet’s safe return, which was almost exactly the same as the bonus that Patsy’s husband, John Ramsey, had recently received. When Patsy went to JonBenet’s room and discovered that she was not there, she and John called the police to report JonBenet missing at 5:25 AM, despite the ransom note’s threat that JonBenet would be killed if the police were notified. According to the ransom note, the kidnappers would be calling John Ramsey to give him instructions to deliver the ransom money, which he and Patsy were already working on gathering when the police arrived to their home. That call never came. However, police immediately suspected that John and Patsy were somehow involved in their daughter’s disappearance. From the moment that police began investigating the case, they made a number of errors that are suspected to be the cause for the continued cold case status. First, they did not do a full search of the property. Second, the investigators did not seal off the area, which allowed friends and family of JonBenet to come and go as they pleased, potentially corrupting a crime scene. Third, one of the detectives assigned to the case asked John and a family friend, Fleet White, to search the house on their own that afternoon. John and Fleet began their search in the basement, and it ended there when they found JonBenét’s body, eight hours after she was reported missing. (“JonBenet Ramsey”)


 
The second conspiracy theory is JonBenet’s older brother, Burke Ramsey, murdered her: after JonBenet was found brutally murdered in her Colorado home, there was an immediate suspicion that the Burke could be a suspect of the murder. During an autopsy on JonBenet, “a piece of partially digested pineapple found in JonBenet's intestines” (Pollack, Hilary). Even though Patsy Ramsey denied JonBenet digesting the pineapple: Burke’s fingerprints were found on the bowl (“The JonBenét Ramsey Case: Spotlight on the Pineapple”). Also there’s another theoretical point that Burke could be the murderer:
Based on some unusual behavior that Burke exhibited in interviews with child psychologists in the days following her death, and on previous incidents of violence that he committed toward his sister—including hitting her with a golf club a mere week before she was found dead in the family basement—the team believes that a scuffle between the unsupervised siblings over the coveted pineapple led to Burke hitting his sister with a blunt object and subsequently killing her. After she snatched a piece of pineapple from the bowl, they propose, Burke could have struck her with a heavy flashlight, intentionally or unintentionally bashing in her skull. (Pollack, Hilary)
Even though the family was a possible suspect in this case, they were not convicted or indicted due to lack of evidence. Some people may explain that the family loved JonBenet unconditionally that they wouldn’t kill her. But due to the theories explained above and behavior they portrayed, it’s theoretically possible that John, Patsy, or Burke Ramsey are guilty for this horrific murder.
 
            The third conspiracy theory to JonBenet’s case is Gary Oliva, a convicted pedophile (Lovitt, Bryn). Gary Oliva “had been living in the area on and off when police allegedly found a magazine cutout of JonBenet Ramsey in his backpack after he was apprehended on drug charges in 2000. He was soon released, but suspicions remained” (1). When JonBenet was found murdered in her home, there was drops of blood on her underwear, suspecting sexual assault. After DNA testing, Oliva was cleared from the testing (1). Some people suspect Oliva to be the culprit of this case, but investigators explained that there were no footprints outside the home and it had to be an inside job (“JonBenet Ramsey Documentary”). It’s clearly impossible that Oliva is a suspect, even though he’s had a criminal record.
            Investigators have shown that the people listed above are prime suspects in this case. But the real culprit has to be JonBenet’s older brother, Burke. Not only does the pineapple bowl evidence possibly explains Burke is guilty, but did Burke kill JonBenet out of rage and jealousy? Another twist is that the parents could’ve covered up the murder committed by Burke. There are many theories on how JonBenet was brutally murdered, but the investigation has tied it to John, Patsy, and Burke Ramsey.
                        The murder on December 26, 1996, shocked the whole nation. JonBenet’s murder currently remains unsolved. Her mysterious murder led to three conspiracy theories:
1.)    JonBenet's parents are held responsible (Lovitt 1). 
2.)    Her older brother, Burke, killed her out of jealousy and rage (1). 
3.)    Convicted pedophile, Gary Oliva, committed the murder (1). 
Even though most of the evidence could lead to JonBenet’s older brother, Burke, being the murderer. There is still lack of evidence to this case to make an arrest, explaining why this case remains unsolved.
 
 
Works Cited
brother-kill-her-over-a-piece-of-pineapple.
www.biography.com/people/jonbenet-ramsey-12986606Worthen, Meredith. “JonBenét Ramsey.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 22 May 2017,


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