The unsolved murder of Jonbenet Ramsey

The unsolved murder of Jonbenet Ramsey

The infamous unsolved murder of Jonbenet Ramsey has rocked a nation for more than 15 years. There are multiple theories on this murder mystery, but we will be exploring the popular theory that Burke Ramsey killed his younger sister Jonbenet.

On December 26th 1996, Jonbenet Ramsey was found murdered in the Ramsey’s Boulder, Colorado home. Her body was discovered 8 hours after the initial 911 call; placed by her mother Patsy Ramsey. Patsy made the frantic 911 call at 5:52 am stating that her 6-year-old daughter was missing and that a ransom note was found. Shortly after that 911 call is placed, police arrive at the Ramsey’s household. Officer French was the responding officer, and does a search of the property. Officer French failed to find the victim’s body in the basement; later stating that he was looking for a point of entry for the intruder and not the missing child. Within minutes after officers arriving on scene, the Ramsey’s make a call to their close family friends, Mr. and Mrs. White. Mr. Fleet White also does several searches of the property throughout the day. Like officer French he fails to see Jonbenet’s body in the basement. Finally, at approximately 1:05 pm Jonbenet’s body was discovered by her father John Ramsey. (jonbenetramsey.pbworks.com) Her body was found with duct tape over her mouth and a garrote rope around her neck and wrists. An autopsy report will later find the official cause of death as “asphyxia by strangulation associated with craniocerebral trauma”. It is estimated that Jonbenet was struck over the head, 45 minutes up to 2 hours before she was strangled to death. The autopsy report also found undigested pineapple in the child’s system; as well as foreign DNA under the child’s fingernails and underwear.

The Ramsey’s account of that night and early mornings are as follows. On December 25th the family attended a Christmas party at their friends Mr and Mrs whites home. The Ramsey’s leave the party around 6:00 pm. At an unknown time, John puts his daughter Jonbenet to bed. Soon after Burke is also put to bed. Jonbenet is last scene in her bed by Patsy at approximately 10:00 pm. The entire family is in bed and asleep by 10:30 pm. Then on December 26th John and Patsy wake early to get ready for a family vacation. Patsy goes down the staircase and discovers a ransom note and finds that Jonbenet is not in her bed and is missing. The police department immediately suspects a kidnapping and instead of making the Ramsey’s home an active crime scene and clearing the property; officers allow the Ramsey’s to have several friends over for moral support. This would later prove to be an appalling oversight by the department, with dozens of people contaminating the crime scene. However, with that being said the investigators find no signs of forceful entry. With the only possible entry being a broken window that lead into the basement. Nonetheless, this proves to be implausible due to the fact that there were no snowy foot prints leading to the window, and a spiderweb that appeared to be fully untouched over the entry. Additionally, investigators find the ransom note suspicious due to the self-deprecating nature, the length of 2 and a half pages, the handwriting changing throughout the note, and the specificity of the ransom amount of $118,000. If that wasn’t damning enough, the note appeared to have been written inside the home. With the note being written on Patsy’s stationary. The evidence continued to grow against the Ramsey’s with fibers found on the duct tape belonging to patsy’s sweater, the same sweater she was wearing when investigators got to the house. Patsy was also wearing the same outfit from the previous night, potentially proving that she had actually never gone to bed. Hours into the investigation the Ramsey’s hired an attorney and stopped cooperating with the investigation. Instead of giving interviews to the police department and helping with the case, the Ramsey’s instead chose to give interviews to the media.

By all accounts the Ramsey’s appeared to be loving parents with a beautiful family. The thought of them killing their own child or staging a crime scene is appalling. So why is there a mountain of evidence that suggests just that? Could it be they were protecting their other child Burke? Here is a hypothetical account of the night with the theory that Burke accidently killed his younger sister in a heated moment. On the night of December 25th 1996 Burke was in the dining room eating pineapple and milk. Jonbenet had woken up and walked into the dinning room. She took a piece of pineapple out of Burkes bowl with her fingers and ate it. This angered Burke and he grabbed the nearest thing to him; which was a heavy black flashlight. Burke chased after Jonbenet and struck her over the head and rendered her incapacitated. Patsy and John find their daughter unresponsive. Believing that their daughter is dead the Ramsey’s choose not to call 911 for two reasons. Patsy Ramsey was an individual who cared deeply about her social status and the image she projected onto others. The last thing she wanted was the entire town knowing her son killed her daughter. The second and most important reason was for Burke. The very last thing they wanted was their son to go through the lifetime public humiliation of people knowing he accidently killed his sister. Not to mention the legal repercussions. That’s when the Ramsey’s decided to make it look like a kidnapping gone wrong.

With all the evidence against the Ramsey’s. There is still some evidence that indicates a person outside of the family killed Jonbenet. With the strongest piece of evidence being the foreign DNA found on her underwear and fingernails. Burke was also 9 years old at the time of the murder. Would a 9-year-old have the ability and strength to kill a 6-year-old? The Ramsey’s also stated that Burke was asleep the entire night and the responding officer finds Burke in his bed. However, that is the only evidence that would suggest otherwise. There was no forceful entry. The DNA could have been from the party they were at early in the night. If Burke was asleep the entire night, why was his snack found in the dining room with his DNA on it and Jonbenet had the same undigested food in her system.
Unfortunately, due to the gross negligence and mishandling of evidence by the Boulder, Colorado police department; Jonbenet Ramsey’s case continues to haunt a nation and a little girls murder goes unsolved.