Alicia Cash
English 1301
It’s
Christmas morning, the day you’ve been looking forward to for 365 days. The
Ramsey can’t wait to enjoy the beautiful day. The Christmas tree shines as
bright as everyone’s smile; little does the Ramsey family know, this is going
to be the worst Christmas ever... On December 25, 1996, the Ramsey family woke
up to their worst nightmare. Their beloved daughter and younger sister,
JonBenét was murdered. The warm, bright, happy-go-lucky, beauty pageant queen
was dethroned forever. Since the Ramsey’s family world turned upside down,
there has been some conspiracies that have developed:
1. Did
JonBenet’s parents, John and Patsy Ramsey kill her?
2. Did
her older brother Burke Ramsey kill her?
3. Did
John Mark Karr kill her?
Let’s
dive into the murder of JonBenét Ramsey and investigate the conspiracies
theories surrounding her death. With the most likely possibility that her older
brother Burke did it.
Who was JonBenet Ramsey?
JonBenét Ramsey was every little girl’s dream, A real life Barbie doll. The
six-year-old had beautiful, thick, blonde hair, ocean blue eyes and full lips.
She was the star of the show, and it really showed. She fell in love with
pageants at a young age, following in her mom Patsy’s footsteps.
JonBenét Ramsey was a natural born performer. She was
talented in every way and at such a young age, she really shined. According to
everyone who knew her, in a (Biography 1) article published in 2014 and
updated in 2019, “JonBenét was an
outgoing Southern girl who enjoyed being the center of attention. By
age six, she had already won multiple pageant titles, thanks to her bouncy
blonde hair, poised smile and glittery costumes” (1). Everyone who has seen,
knew, about JonBenet can tell that she loves the spotlight and was very
talented as a young child. She had a talent and the looks to make it far in
life, but she never got that chance.
As most people know from the case, JonBenét
was found in her home the day after Christmas, the 26th of December
to be exact. To say the least, JonBenét and her family was rich, they had
enough money to support their family, live in that big house, and spend
thousands of dollars on her pageants, which are not cheap. “Her father, a
multi-millionaire businessman, and her mother, who was also a former beauty
queen (Miss West Virginia of 1977), doted on their daughter in every way they
could. Their luxurious home was plush with everything JonBenét needed to live a
comfortable life” (1). This also made this case more intriguing to the public
because of how rich they were and how perfect they displayed their life. Along
with that, in an article that (CNN 2) published, the ransom note asked for the
exact amount her dad, John, made that year. “The note demanded $118,000 from the Ramsey’s for the safe
release of their daughter”. (2). JonBenét and her family were very well
off, and she would’ve gone on to make lots of money if she continued to be in
pageants. Her parents made sure that with their money, she was successful and
shined not only on the stage but in the house as well...
After all, JonBenét was
just a six-year-old when you think about it. Yes, her pageants were a big,
expected part of her life and she did love them, along with the attention but
she was also a gentle little girl who lived a normal life as well. In an
article, (The Denver Post 3) published. They interview Jeff
Ramsey, JonBenét’s Uncle. “She was just a normal, happy child,” said her
uncle, Jeff Ramsey. “Just a good kid”. (3). She would do what every other
six-year-old would do and play outside with her pets and play dress up and just
live a normal, happy life. Free from the chaos and stressfulness of the
pageants. Most people didn’t get to see this side of her and only know her as
the beauty pageant queen who was murdered, but she was more than that. It
would’ve been a true gift if more people could’ve seen the side of her that
wasn’t beauty pageants and crowns because even though she was rich and this
beautiful Barbie lookalike, she had more depth than that and that’s what makes
her truly beautiful.
In
the JonBenét Ramsey murder case, so many people were baffled at how much
evidence there was and was not. It was by far the most frustrating case known.
This poor six-year-old didn’t even get to live a full life, let alone died
right after Christmas, everyone’s favorite holiday. After the case went
unsolved, many people worldwide started to speculate on who killed JonBenét.
Since then, many conspiracies have been made, let’s look at the top 3 most
plausible.
In
the first conspiracy, JonBenet’s parents are the culprits. On the day of the
murder, JonBenét was found in her home, down in the basement. When the police
got to the Ramsey house, they had discovered a 2-and-a-half-page ransom note,
and upon further investigation of that note, the police had said that it was a
woman’s handwriting and that the writing also matched Patsy’s, but Patsy denied
she wrote it. Patsy had a reputation for being a strict mother, and according
to the article (Business Insider 4), “some claimed she physically
punished JonBenét for peeing the bed and accidently killed her” (4), thus
leading her to cover it up by writing and staging the ransom note on the
stairs. Diving into the ransom note, to summarize, the note mimicked every
other random note by saying JonBenét was safe and they would give her back once
they had been payed the money they asked for. The note asked for a very
specific amount of money, that amount being $118,000, which coincidentally was
the exact amount the father, John Ramsey, made that month... As this brain
twisting case went on, the police started to look at all the evidence more
closely, the note specifically. They had taken a writing sample from Patsy and
realized that her handwriting had matched the handwriting on the note.
According to (Nzherald 5), “A
handwriting expert who examined the ransom note left in the JonBenet Ramsey
case says it's likely the letter was written by the girl's late mother, Patsy”
(5). This put Patsy on the radar of the police and the media as it was very
suspicious because why she wrote the note if she didn’t kill JonBenét? Another
thing that was of abnormal behavior in this type of situation was they called
all their friends and family to inform them that JonBenét had gone missing and
invited them all over to the house. They had everyone looking for her
throughout the house and out, but JonBenét nowhere to be found. They started to
lose hope, but just as they did, John had found her laying dead in the basement
of their home. Instead of leaving her where she was, he picked her up;
contaminating whatever evidence there was of her killer or any clues as to what
happened to her; and took her to the front room where everyone could see and
laid her down on display. He then proceeded to un-tape her mouth and cover her
in a blanket, destroying any evidence there could’ve been. The question is, was
he purposely trying to destroy evidence, and if so, was that because him and
his wife were responsible, and they were coving for themselves? Or was this
just their quirky way of reacting to the death of their daughter.
The second conspiracy is that the brother, Burke Ramsey
murdered JonBenét. Burke was nine years old when his little sister was
murdered. To Burke, his whole world was JonBenét. Everything was about her, she
was the favorite to both Patsy and John, even though they both loved them
‘equally’, it was clear to him and everyone when this cased opened that
JonBenét was the star of the family. But despite that, Burke had social anxiety
and wasn’t good with a bunch of people, and at that age its hard to comprehend
what is happening so he was okay with not being the center of attention all the
time. On the other hand, having a sibling who got all the attention could get
exhausting and must have really hurt Burke that on the night of her murder.
JonBenét went downstairs in the middle of the night and ate a bowl of pineapple
with her brother who was already down there. It is unclear, but believed, that she
took a piece of his pineapple and he got mad and hit her in the head with a
flashlight, with explains the blunt force trauma to her head, “JonBenét had a fracture to her skull” (1). On the CBS
special, (“The Case of: JonBenét
Ramsey”, CBS interviewed the Ramsey’s friends and family and concluded that
Burke had killed JonBenét. Burke has always been the odd ball compared the rest
of his family. He was always the outcast; and as every sibling does, he envied
the attention JonBenét got from her parents. Maybe Burke had enough and took the
flashlight and smashed it to her head as a solution to his problems.
The third conspiracy is
that John Mark Karr drugged, sexually assaulted, and killed JonBenét. Karr was arrested
on multiple charges of child pornography making him a viable suspect because
there was traces of sexual assault on JonBenét when the authorities examined
her body. John had confessed to the police that he did in fact kill JonBenét
and perform these unspeakable acts to a poor six-year-old girl. (NNDB 6) did an
article about Karr and all his arrest, specifically his arrest to JonBenét.
“While in custody he admitted to reporters his guilt, stating the death to be
an accident” (6). Even though he confessed, this theory is not believed by
Americans because there were too many things pointing to other convicting
suspects, “still, there are a number of inconsistencies with his story” (6), and
upon further investigation, there was no sexual trace of Karr on JonBenét,
contradicting his initial statement. “Comparison of Karr’s DNA with that
collected in 1996 at the crime scene revealed none of the samples to match, and
charges were dropped by the Boulder County District Attorney on 28th
August 2006” (6). However, there is a chance that the evidence of him on her
was destroyed when John Ramsey moved her body, but it isn’t likely.
After
examining the murder of six-year-old, JonBenét Ramsey, and looking at the
evidence presented, there are 3 conspiracies left to ponder…
1. JonBenét’s
parents, John and Patsy Ramsey murdered JonBenét
2. JonBenét’s
brother Burke Ramsey killed her
3. John
Mark Karr was JonBenét’s killer
After
looking at all the conspiracies closely and providing evidence of each being
possibilities of her murder. Burke Ramsey remains the most likely suspect of
his sister JonBenét’s murder.
Work
cited
The Girl Behind the
Case. (2016, September 23). Retrieved from
https://www.denverpost.com/1997/06/22/who-was-jonbenet-ramsey/
Handwriting Expert Says
JonBenet Ramsey's Mum, Patsy, Wrote the Ransom Note Found at Murder Scene.
(2016, December 16). Retrieved from https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11768971
John Mark Karr. (n.d.).
Retrieved from https://www.nndb.com/people/819/000118465/
JonBenet Ramsey. (2014,
April 2). Retrieved from https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/jonbenet-ramsey
Text of 1996 JonBenet
Ransom Note. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/08/16/ramsey.ransom.note/
Wittmer, C. (2017,
May 3). All the Theories About Who Really Killed JonBenét Ramsey. Retrieved
from
https://www.businessinsider.com/who-killed-jonbenet-ramsey-theories-2017-4#john-mark-karrs-acquaintance-4
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