JonBenét Ramsey’s family hopeful as new evidence tests reignite 30-year murder case
Warning: This article contains discussion of distressing topics.
JonBenét Ramsey’s father has revealed that new testing is being done on the evidence from the almost 30-year-old murder case.
One of the most tragic and well-documented cases began when the six year old was reported missing from her home in Colorado on 26 December, 1996.
Police discovered a ransom note in the staircase demanding $118,000, a figure close to her father's bonus.
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Later that day, her body was found in the basement, the horrifying truth revealing that she had been sexually assaulted and brutally murdered.
Her family were considered the most likely suspects, but were never indicted. As investigators explored various intruder theories, contaminated evidence remained an issue.
Then came a breakthrough in 2008 thanks to advanced DNA testing that excluded the possibility of her family being involved.
There was, instead, a suggestion of an 'unexplained third party'.
JonBenét suffered a skull fracture from being strangled with a garrote made from cord and a paintbrush.
And now, the girl's father John Ramsey has revealed that new tests are being done on evidence from the case.
Ramsey and his long-time lawyer Hal Haddon made an appearance at at CrimeCon in Colorado on Saturday (6 September).
"I have pressed hard for DNA analysis of the knots in this garrote, which our DNA experts say could be quite promising, because someone had to tie those – and they’re fairly sophisticated," Haddon said.
"Someone had to use their fingers and likely got their DNA in these knots," he claimed.
"They’ve never done that [testing], and I questioned them on that every time that we’ve met.
"The handle on this garrote … is wooden, and that wooden handle has never been tested for DNA, even though splinters from that handle were found on and inside the body of JonBenet."
He said that the case was 'extraordinarily premeditated' and said that the 'ransom note which quoted extensively from murder movies which were contemporary in the day – movies like Dirty Harry'.
Ramsey added that he had met with new Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn earlier this week and described him as a 'very cordial person'.
"Seems to be confident, has a lot of experience, came from outside the Boulder Police Department, which is a big thing," the father said.
For years, the family accused Boulder police of immediately considering them to be guilty.
While Ramsey 'likes' the new police chief, he said he's still been having issues getting them to use forensic genealogy on DNA taken from the crime scene.
He claims that his offer to raise $1million to fund the testing was respectfully rejected by the police force.
"We’ve been pushing really hard for that to happen," he said. "There are outside labs a few that are really good at it – and not only can do the testing, which is needed now, but get the sample in the right format to do the genealogy research.
"We have unidentified male DNA, but it’s not in a format compatible’ with databases."
In 2024, Netflix's three-part documentary Cold Case: Who Killed Jonbenét Ramsey explored the unsolved case.
Topics: Crime, True Crime, US News
Anish Vij