The JonBenet Ramsey murder case: 5 years later

Saturday, December 22, 2001

Here is a seven-part series published by the News on the five-year anniversary of JonBenet Ramsey's death.

Five years ago, 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey was found dead in the basement of her Boulder home. Her family was devastated, the community was split, the nation and the world were mesmerized. A series of stories beginning Saturday, Dec. 15 revisits the people associated with the still unsolved murder, many of who have found their lives changed forever.

For a time, the ring of a telephone could plunge Patsy Ramsey into a hopeful trance. Each call replayed a vision in which she answered to a voice bearing good news and great relief. Then there was a news conference, a lectern, microphones and camera flashes. Answering questions. Cleared of suspicion.

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• One death, many altered lives
• Same location, different address

Santa Claus lives in New England now. Bill McReynolds and his wife, Janet, left Boulder County several months after he donned his red suit for the last time, playing Santa Claus at John and Patsy Ramsey's 1996 Christmas party.

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• 'Our lives will never be the same again'
• One tree succumbs, but another thrives
• Friends and neighbors five years later

Private investigator Ellis Armistead's belief in many aspects of "the system" were shaken by his 3 1/2 years working for John and Patsy Ramsey. "I don't have as much confidence in the system now," said Armistead, in the first interview he has given in the case.

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• Case haunts DA's aide who led grand jury

Tom Koby thinks of the year after he left the Boulder Police Department as a sabbatical. He moved to the mountains. He grew his hair long. He reflected on the lessons of the JonBenet Ramsey case. "It gives you some insight into what a fine line it is between being a goat and a hero," Koby said.

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• Smit still sticking with intruder theory
• Cop who initially led JonBenet probe now in Florida
• Former Detective Steve Thomas remains Ramseys' top accuser
• Linda Arndt and Mark Beckner: 5 years later

Chris Wolf was a journalist between jobs the night of Dec. 26, 1996. Now he is a plaintiff in a $50 million defamation lawsuit. The trajectory of his story is one of the more dramatic in the JonBenet Ramsey case.

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• Case still intrigues ex-reporter
• Lawrence Schiller and Michael Tracey: 5 years later

Mary Keenan has lived up to a vow she made about the JonBenet Ramsey case the day she was sworn in as Boulder County district attorney. She has not become a talking head. Keenan inherited the Ramsey case from former Boulder County district attorney Alex Hunter, but not its baggage.

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• Alex Hunter 'reflective' about case, friend says
• Lawyers and experts: 5 years later

It's the case that won't go away. Five years after 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey's Christmas death, the investigation into her killing continues to produce new developments.

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• Ramsey case takes toll on everyone