In December of 1996 just a day after Christmas, the young
and beautiful Jonbenet Ramsey was found dead in the basement of her home.
Jonbenet was a six year old pageant queen living behind her mother's’ legacy of
“Miss West Virginia”. During the investigation of Jonbenet’s death the Boulder
Police Department made many mistakes that potentially aid in the following
theories. After Jonbenet’s death, there
have been many theories as to what has happened to the young pageant queen. The
first theory is that her brother Burke, and her parents are helping cover up
the murder, the second theory is that her mother Patsy killed her, and lastly
another theory is that Jonbenet is not actually dead but is the Katy Perry.
Now, let’s analyze these theories and understand the likeliness that her
brother, Burke, is the killer.
Though JonBenet was just six years
old, many believed her to be reliable in a time of emotional need, “JonBenet
Ramsey holds great compassion and seeks to be of service to others. She is a
healer, and capable of giving comfort to those in need” (Shlomo 1). Countless
people expressed their memories of JonBenet of always remembering her strong
concern for others.
Many children at school would ask JonBenet to
accompany them to the school doctor when they were afraid of going solitarily
(Poppen). With JonBenet only being just six years old, everyone was amazed
about how much gratitude and compassion such a young child could obtain.
JonBenet also started to engage in the
pageants to follow her mother's history of competing in such a scene, “JonBenét
first became excited about participating in pageants after seeing her mother on
stage at a pageant reunion” (McGuire 2). JonBenet's father originally thought
of the pageants to be outlandish. Ramsey once stated he “remembered his
daughter as a bit of a tomboy, always wanting to hike and play outside with her
older brother Burke...I see her, you know, in shorts and t-shirt and hair kind
of scruffy and just kind of a kid," (1). Growing up with an older brother,
JonBenet always steered towards activities typically young boys do,
participating in a pageant scene was odd at first but it was a dream she
aspired to take part to be just like her mother. As JonBenet began
participating in the pageants she became quite successful by winning several
titles:
The
6-year-old contestant took home first place for Little Miss Colorado, Little
Miss Charlevoix, Colorado State
All-Star Kids Cover Girl, America's Royale Miss, and National Tiny Miss Beauty.
PEOPLE also reported in 1997 that Ramsey won the local Little Miss Christmas
beauty pageant. For a 6-year-old, that's an impressive list of wins it's no
wonder that Ramsey's often remembered as the 6-year old pageant queen.
(Lindley)
The
young girls who once competed with JonBenet now are grown up and tell those who
will listen what they recall of the young crown winning star. Former friend
Thumper Gosney recalls the spunk and personality JonBenet took out on the
pageant stage (Inside Edition).
“Pageants were a big part of our lives and there was such a stigma. I
didn’t want to go there for a while, not because of the pageants, but because
of the media and the stigma” stated another close friend of JonBenet (1).
While, participating in such a scene
one typically engulfs an egotistical persona. An ideology that everyone should
focus only on them, and JonBenet obtained such an attitude because of her
participation in these pageants, and the simple fact that she consistently won. She had won quite a few pageant
titles, “thanks to her bouncy blonde hair, poised smile and glittery costumes”
(Biography). Winning every time gave Jonbenet the ego that she is better than
everyone, her father expressed that he wanted JonBenet to lose some pageants so
she could comprehend that you do not win at everything that life brings you
(Casarez). Her father, John Ramsey understood that important qualities within
parenting is to teach a child how to accept and embrace failure and that is
something JonBenet fell short from experiencing as her life was ripped away at
such a young age.
The
first most known theory is precisely that JonBenet’s big brother Burke murdered
her in a passionate fit of rage. Burke Ramsey was precisely nine years old at
the considerable time of his charming sister’s discovered murder; Burke is
naturally thought to have promptly thrown a flashlight at JonBenet’s head out
of anger. During JonBenet’s autopsy, it was allegedly discovered that she had
merely eaten pineapple right before she was brutally killed, many believe that
Burke was enraged because she snatched a bite of his midnight snack:
Burke
was eating this midnight breakfast when his sister wandered downstairs,
snatched a bite, and was subsequently hit in the head with what might have been
a flashlight. This is corroborated by the pineapple found in her stomach and
the shape of the injury on her head. (Lindsay)
Burke
had in the past been known to act out violently towards his younger sister. A
more initial incident of brutality that Burke committed toward JonBenet “—including
striking her with a golf club a mere week before she was found deceased in the
family basement” (Pollack). Burke inevitably tended to act out and be violent
towards his deceased sister, JonBenet, whether it was because the maturity
levels were different or, just simply Burke being merely a more elderly brother
who picks on his sister but has gone a little too far one terrible time. It is
overwhelmingly thought that Mr. and Mrs.
Ramsey are covering up for their son in fear they would have lost both of their
children. As Patsy Ramsey called 911 the operator was allegedly convinced it
was staged or rehearsed as Patsy is heard saying 'OK, we've called the police,
now what?’ Causing the operator a chilling feeling of concern (Reynolds). The
upset parents have claimed Burke had been asleep the whole night but, according
to the operator they believed to hear him in the background asking questions
(1). Despite the absence of actual DNA, there is a subsequently copious amount
of evidence that makes this theory believable.
The
second theory is that the mother Patsy killed the young JonBenet and had
covered up the murder
as a kidnapping. The detective, in charge of the case at the time, Steve
Thomas, “concluded that Mrs. Ramsey strangled her daughter in a panic on
Christmas night 1996 after unwittingly causing a grievous wound to the little
girl's head” (Janofsky). Patsy had a notable history of becoming easily enraged
when JonBenet frequently “wet the bed” as well as becoming violent and
executing spankings (Psychology Today). Perhaps the night of JonBenet's murder
she accidentally wet the bed and, Patsy became furious and unintentionally hit
JonBenet in the head with a foreign object. With Patsy being previously
flustered that night, and accidentally knocking Jonbenet unconscious, Patsy
enacted the scene to make it look as though Jonbenet’s kidnapping had gone
horribly wrong (1). A ransom note was found written on Ramsey’s notepad they
had in their house, and the handwriting looked as if Patsy had merely drafted it
with her left hand at the time. Among other reasons, “the note came from her
notepad and seemed to be written with the intent of covering up the murder
before her body was found” (Al-sibai). Many pieces of the case can clearly
point to Patsy as the merciless killer, but not much physical evidence has been
found to completely pin it strictly on the mother. Most evidence that blames
Patsy as the murderer is physically insubstantial, but more of how Patsy’s
previous actions towards Jonbenet depicts her as the killer.
The
last theory mentioned today is that JonBenet is undead, but essentially is a
celebrity known as Katy Perry. The rumor developed just a few years back with a
YouTube video which entailed describing the similarities between the little
pageant queen JonBenet and star Katy Perry. But, was shortly questioned after
its release because Katy Perry would be considerably older than JonBenet now
since Katy Perry was born in 1984 rather than 1990 like JonBenet (Sullivan).
Though, the video “posits that Perry's resemblance to the
pageant star supports the theory that Ramsey was actually kidnapped” rather
than being dead and the whole situation is a kidnap investigation instead of
being considered a murder investigation (Zuppello). A conspiracy theorist stated:
you can tell Perry and Ramsey are the same
person because of their eyebrows. “You know, the eyebrows don’t change much on
a person,” he says. “You’re born with your eyebrows. They’re very close, very
close indeed, aren’t they? As you know, this whole entertainment industry is
just a charade — you really don’t know the truth.” (Jancelewicz)
This theory revolves
around the simplicity of JonBenet’s parents faking her tragic death, and having
her re-establish herself by becoming the infamous Katy Perry.
These theories that have been depicted above emulate
different ideologies of what could have happened the night of December 26th,
1996. Though, the most likely theory would be that JonBenet’s brother, Burke,
murdered his young sister out of rage and greediness. But, did Burke kill
JonBenet out of spitefulness and rage?
There are immense amounts of theories on how JonBenet was brutally
murdered, but the Boulder Police Department has continuously tried to link the
Ramsey family as a whole in the murder of the young pageant star. The survey
provided by 25 people’s opinions shows that a little more than 50% of the
people believe Burke also committed this crime.
The
day after Christmas in 1996 a tragedy took place within the Ramsey household.
The young and beautiful JonBenet Ramsey was found dead in the basement of her
home. During her short six years, JonBenet followed within her mother’s
footsteps of being “Miss West Virginia” and competed tirelessly in pageants.
After JonBenet’s death, many theories came up as to what has happened to the
young pageant queen:
1.)
Her brother Burke
committed this heinous crime
2.)
JonBenet’s mother
murdered her and attempted to cover it up
3.)
JonBenet is actually
not dead but is the famous Katy Perry
After
analyzing each theory the most plausible one would be that Burke Ramsey
committed the act of violence and killed JonBenet. Though to this very day, the
tragedy committed over twenty years ago has still yet to be solved and no
suspects have been charged or brought to justice.
Al-Sibai, Noor. “This
Long Ransom Note Holds A Mystery.” Bustle,
Bustle, 25 Apr. 2018,
“Biography.” IMDb,
IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/name/nm2338600/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm.
Casarez, Jean. “The Death of JonBenet: A Case That's
Captivated the Country for 20 Years.”
CNN, Cable News Network, 13 Dec. 2016,
Inside Edition. “20 Years After JonBenet Ramsey's Death, Her
Pageant Friends Remember
'Fun-Loving Kid'.” Inside Edition, Inside Edition, 12 Sept.
2016,
www.insideedition.com/headlines/18595-20-years-after-jonbenet-ramseys-death-her-pageant-friends-remember-fun-loving-kid.
Jancelewicz, Chris. “Katy Perry Is JonBenét Ramsey?
Offensive Internet Conspiracy Theory
Claims Singer Is Murdered Pageant Darling.” Global News, 26 Feb. 2016,
globalnews.ca/news/2542472/katy-perry-is-jonbenet-ramsey-internet-conspiracy-theorists-believe-singer-is-murdered-pageant-darling/.
Janofsky, Michael. “JonBenet's Mother Was Killer, Detective
Says.” The New York Times, The
New York Times, 10 Apr. 2000, www.nytimes.com/2000/04/10/us/jonbenet-s-mother-was-killer-detective-says.html
Lindley, Courtney. “What Beauty Pageants Was JonBenet Ramsay
In?” Bustle, Bustle, 25 Apr.
2018,
N-quite-a-few.
Lindsay, Kathryn. “Was JonBenet Ramsey Killed Over a Bowl of
Pineapple and Milk?”
MyRecipes, ww.myrecipes.com/extracrispy/was-jonbenet-ramsey-killed-over-a-bowl-of-pineapple-and-milk.
McClish, Mark. Burke
Ramsey Interview - Statement Analysis®,
www.statementanalysis.com/jonbenet-ramsey-murder/burke-ramsey-interview.
McGuire, Jen. “How Did JonBenet Ramsey Get Into Pageants? It
Was A Family Tradition.”
Romper, Romper, 15 June 2018, www.romper.com/p/how-did-jonbenet-ramsey-get-into-pageants-it-was-a-family-tradition-17847.
Pollack, Hilary. “Did JonBenét Ramsey's Brother Kill Her
Over a Piece of Pineapple?”
Munchies,
VICE, 20 Sept. 2016,
munchies.vice.com/en_us/article/ezkb8k/did-jonbenet-ramseys-brother-kill-her-over-a-piece-of-pineapple.
Poppen, Julie. Article from Boulder News Ramsey Archive,
web.dailycamera.com/extra/ramsey/1997/12/26-2.html.
Prendergast, Alan. “JonBenet Ramsey: How the Investigation
Got Derailed -- and Why It Still
Matters.” Westword, 21 Aug. 2018,
It-still-matters-6053856.
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/.
Sullivan, Kristen, and Erica Brosnan. “25 Wild Celebrity
Conspiracy Theories.” Newsday,
Newsday, 2 Nov. 2017,
“Who Killed JonBenet?” Psychology
Today, Sussex Publishers,
Zuppello, Suzanne. “13 Most WTF Stories of 2016.” Rolling Stone, 25 June 2018,
ry-was-outed-as-grown-up-jonbenet-ramsey-121978/.
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