It is December 26, 1996. The property of the Ramsey family of entrepreneurs in the wealthy suburb of Boulder (Colorado) is festively decorated, and there is an illuminated Santa Claus in the garden. When Mama Patsy gets up at 5:45 in the morning, her world is still in order.
But then she finds a handwritten note: “We have your daughter… we want $118,000… no police, otherwise we will behead her.”
Patsy Ramsey and her daughter JonBenét in Colorado in the mid-1990s
Foto: Courtesy of Netflix
This is how the tragic criminal story of JonBenét Ramsey begins, which has kept America in suspense for almost thirty years. Because the then six-year-old was not kidnapped. As it turns out a few hours later, she never left her home.
She was lying in the basement, strangled and beaten to death, sexually abused!
The girl competed in local beauty contests. Her parents were criticized for this after the murder
Foto: action press
The case was a constant topic on US talk shows in the 90s. JonBenét was popular and became known as a little beauty queen. After the death, the parents were accused of sexualizing their child with make-up, high heels and skimpy outfits, possibly attracting the sick eye of a pedophile.
New Netflix documentary shows real evidence
Despite intensive investigations, most recently by a new police cold case unit in 2023, no perpetrator has been caught to date. A three-part documentary series on Netflix (“Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey”) now sheds new light on the case.
The Netflix documentary shows evidence in the Ramsey case: An important clue was the blackmail note that was left in the house. US Secret Service experts ruled out that it was the parents’ handwriting
Foto: Courtesy of Netflix
From day one, the girl’s parents, John and Patsy, became the focus of the inspectors. Their theory: They are said to have killed the girl emotionally and then covered up the crime.
The Ramseys (from left Patsy, JonBenét, son Burke – 9 years old at the time of his sister’s death – and Papa John) were considered a picture-perfect family
Foto: Courtesy of Netflix
Autopsy results speak against this. Accordingly, the child was tortured with a garrote. A kind of murder instrument used to slowly and painfully suffocate the victim. Forensic experts agree that JonBenét was still alive when she was attacked with it.
In 2006, American teacher John Mark Karr confessed to Ramsey’s murder. But DNA samples ruled him out as the perpetrator. He just wanted to make himself important
Foto: picture-alliance/ dpa
Male DNA found under her fingernails and on her underwear also does not match any of the family. However, those investigators who firmly believe in the parents’ guilt consider the DNA to be problematic because the crime scene was contaminated due to the unprofessionalism of the local police.
Father protests innocence
John Ramsey (80) explains his point of view in the Netflix documentary. He continues to protest his innocence in the death of his daughter
Foto: Courtesy of Netflix
Patsy Ramsey died of cancer in 2006 at the age of 49. She fought until the end to ensure that her daughter’s murderer was caught. In the Netflix documentary, widower John Ramsey describes details of the gruesome murder of his daughter 28 years after the crime.
BILD also reported on the case this year in the “Tatort Deutschland” podcast:
He found her body. He firmly believes that she was killed by a foreign intruder. And he protests his innocence! He describes the loss of his girl as a “terrible trauma that sits in the gut.”
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He wants the police to give the green light to have the DNA evidence examined again. “There are state-of-the-art DNA labs that want to help and believe they can advance the case,” Ramsey said in a People interview about the documentary.
He angrily says to the cops: “Do your job. Test the DNA.”
John and Patsy Ramsey in May 1997, a few months after the gruesome death of their daughter
Foto: Denver Post via Getty Images
