New DA to take new look at JonBenet Ramsey case
Associated Press
Published December 26, 2008 at 7:05 a.m.
JonBenet Ramsey's killing nearly 12 years ago has yet to be solved.
BOULDER — A new Boulder County district attorney plans to take a new look at one of the country's most high-profile cold cases — the slaying of 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey.
Incoming DA Stan Garnett said he'll decide what to do with the investigation in his first 30 days on the job, which he starts Jan. 13. His predecessor, Mary Lacy, publicly exonerated the Ramsey family this year in the Dec. 26, 1996, murder.
"I want to look very closely at the resources of the DA's Office and make a careful decision about what resources to continue to expend on the case," Garnett said.
He said he is thinking of sending the case back to the police.
The DA's office took over the investigation in 2002 because of concerns about the police department's handling of it.
Garnett said the police department likely has more resources now and is better equipped to handle the investigation.
JonBenet was a 6-year-old beauty queen when she was found bludgeoned and strangled in the basement of her parents' Boulder home just after Christmas in 1996. The case has taken many twists and turns, starting with former DA Alex Hunter declaring soon after the murder that JonBenet's parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, were under "an umbrella of suspicion." A grand jury was convened in 1998 to consider the case but adjourned a year later without issuing any indictments. Hunter decided not to run again and left office in 2001.
Lacy was elected to replace Hunter, and in 2002 her office took over the investigation from the police, promising to take a fresh look. She agreed with a federal judge in a defamation lawsuit involving the Ramseys that the evidence was more consistent with the theory that an intruder killed JonBenet.
Three years later, months after Patsy Ramsey died from cancer, the case made international news when John Mark Karr, an American teacher in Thailand, made a bizarre confession to the slaying.
He was whisked from Thailand to Colorado but was released after prosecutors concluded he couldn't have killed her.
Last July, Lacy cleared the Ramseys in the slaying and said new DNA tests pointed to an unknown outsider. Investigators hope to one day match crime scene DNA to a suspect in a growing national DNA registry.
Lacy couldn't run again because of term limits.
Denver defense attorney Larry Pozner said he believes turning the investigation back to the Boulder police is a bad idea.
"The Boulder police were neither fair, nor accurate, in their initial investigation, and there's no reason to think they should be trusted again," said Pozner, past president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
Scott Robinson, a Denver defense attorney who has followed the case, said the Boulder Police Department is far different from more than a decade ago.
Robinson, though, said he's not sure there's much anyone can do in the absence of new DNA evidence or a verifiable confession from the killer.
"The case is as cold as cold can be," he said.
For more coverage of this story, visit the Camera by clicking here.
Featured
-
DNC in Denver
Complete coverage of the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
-
The Crevasse
A five-part series that examines one tragic day on Mount Rainier.
-
Deadly denial
Sick nuclear workers applied for government compensation but most haven't seen a dime.
-
Final Salute
The Rocky followed Maj. Steve Beck as he took on the most difficult duty of his career.
-
'Colorado's burning'
Coverage of the state's worst wildfires.
-
Columbine shootings
Coverage of the April 20, 1999, shootings at Littleton's Columbine High School.
-
The Crossing
Colorado's deadliest traffic accident killed 20 children on Dec. 14, 1961.
-
Osveli's journey
Osveli Sales left Guatemala for a better life. Two months later, he came home in a box.
-
Wake for an Indian warrior
Oglala Sioux bestow a tribute to the first tribal fatality in Iraq.
December 26, 2008
7:25 a.m.
Suggest removal
vudumom writes:
The only thing that needs to be done is, once a month run the DNA profile through the national DNA computer.
December 26, 2008
8:22 a.m.
Suggest removal
Buckwheat writes:
Oh shoot, I forgot its' X-Mas, so that means the annual JonBenet story... Gee thanks RMN..
December 26, 2008
9:08 a.m.
Suggest removal
blacksho89 writes:
Uh-huh.
Don't hold your breath, folks.
December 26, 2008
9:13 a.m.
Suggest removal
LazyR writes:
Good riddance Mary Keenan-Lacy.
December 26, 2008
9:17 a.m.
Suggest removal
Videobarbs writes:
If my math is correct, this would have been the year Jon Benet Ramsey would have turned 18 and become an adult. Her murder remains one of the most haunting and troubling "cold cases" in this state's history. From all accounts, she was a sweet child in a bizarre and disfunctional world.
On rare occasions I watch the CBS series "Cold Case" for its in-depth story lines and modern forensic technology, helping those who no longer have a voice, being advocated for even in the past tense.
I agree that it's depressing that this anniversary comes the day after all the Christmas celebrating, but you know, I used to just love September's beautiful carefree days until 9-11. These anniversaries are harsh reminders that it may be a lollipop world in some respects, but there is always evil lurking around and that's what alot of people with a Pollyanna mind-set can't seem to handle.
So thanks RMN for the story. It may be alittle political grand standing by the new DA or it may give new momentum to the case.
December 26, 2008
9:24 a.m.
Suggest removal
Cowboy63 writes:
The first thing he can do is investigate the outgoing DA for incompetence.
December 26, 2008
9:48 a.m.
Suggest removal
johninlongmont writes:
the parents know what happened...JR is the only one left, and he knows what happened
December 26, 2008
10:09 a.m.
Suggest removal
fifty writes:
How many murders do the Boulder police handle per year? I believe the number is close to zero. With something as important as a murder, experience is extremely significant and I would expect the DA to know that. That the DA doesn't, creates concern.
I know the police botched the crime scene from the start and so perhaps organizations like the FBI don't want to mess with a tainted criminal investigation, but otherwise, why hasn't anyone with expertise worked on this criminal investigation? Perhaps it is too difficult for people to acknowledge their lack of experience and ability? It hasn't been solved and so we need to pull in more competent people to take a shot at the case. The Boulder police and Boulder D.A. do not qualify. How about that bunch of cold case retired detectives that we see on the cold case show?
Lastly, why don't we run the DNA of the supposed perpetrator through all DNA banks that allow for partial DNA matches? Since we are allowed to do it in Colorado, it seems to me that there is a greater likelihood that a partial match could be found. A partial match may indicate the criminal's family members. It wouldn't be too hard to figure out which member committed the crime.
Another idea would be to hand the DNA information over to DNA medical researchers to see what they can tell you about this individual. Maybe the length of the telomeres would tell you how old he is.
December 26, 2008
10:52 a.m.
Suggest removal
dcolon47 writes:
Barney Fife could have done a better job than the Boulder so called justice system.
December 26, 2008
11:12 a.m.
Suggest removal
RoyalPayne writes:
This case takes the cake for sloppy police work, it should be used as a training film of what NOT to do on a murder case. I would also do much more work on the DNA aspect of this case. The truth is out there, keep looking, don't rule out anyone, anyplace. There are many unsolved murder cases in the USA but for pure stupid police work, this case is hard to beat. Keep at it, this kid wants justice and the taxpayer public demands it ! Good luck.
December 26, 2008
11:23 a.m.
Suggest removal
The_Punnisher writes:
The Boulder Police Chief couldn't pour sand out of a boot with directions printed on the heel.
If a candidate CAN, they are immediately removed from consideration...
The PRB LIKES it that way!!
December 26, 2008
11:40 a.m.
Suggest removal
HopiMedicineMan writes:
A little girl prepped for a life of exploitation, is murdered, LA visiting Boulder. The killer remains free. A community unequipped to handle murders, unlike LA, is caught without the practice. Where do you start pointing fingers? Clearance rates for murders in Japan are 95%, here 59% (2007). In 1957 the rate of psychoses was one in twenty, in 1997, one in five, the ratio where civilization rapidly breaks down. I question the motivation of reviving this case. It’s probably career driven. Why can’t we just leave it, loss of civilization? This case is beginning to sound like a William Holden-narrated B movie, or Chinatown. “Forget it, Jake. It’s Boulder.”
December 26, 2008
noon
Suggest removal
WestminsterJ writes:
crtf- They have been exonerated
Yeah, by whom? I'm with johninlongmont, JR knows what happened.
December 26, 2008
12:30 p.m.
Suggest removal
HopiMedicineMan writes:
What ticks me off, you white people promised us civilization. You protect the prairie dogs and kill the people, very scary. We were better off living in the Stoneage. Now we have to contend with drugs, alcohol, murders and moral impotency. And there's no viagra for that.
December 26, 2008
12:36 p.m.
Suggest removal
LOUIE writes:
Why wouldn't the case be cold as cold. Governor said they were guilty, DA only focused on them as guilty, now that it's been shown they were wrong all these years, whats left?
December 26, 2008
12:54 p.m.
Suggest removal
Cowboy63 writes:
HopiMedicineMan writes: “Forget it, Jake. It’s Boulder.”
I'm HopiMedicineMan's no. 1 fan.
"What ticks me off, you white people promised us civilization. You protect the prairie dogs and kill the people, very scary. We were better off living in the Stoneage. Now we have to contend with drugs, alcohol, murders and moral impotency. And there's no viagra for that."
You'd have a stronger case if reservations were bastions of moral superiority, but there are problems in areas controlled strictly by native Americans as well. Any way you cut it - I agree that we were all better off in a less industrialized age.
December 26, 2008
1:06 p.m.
Suggest removal
LOUIE writes:
Yep I'm with you HOPI, like maybe Gail Norton as Secretary in Bush's cabinet, could explain all that money that was owed to the tribes as to where it went, did she ever give a straight competent answer?
December 26, 2008
1:30 p.m.
Suggest removal
The_Punnisher writes:
Hopi, maybe M$M is focusing on the WRONG ILLEGAL ALIENS..>8->.....
Time to let go of the JBR case. It's history, The PROTECTORS screwed up big time. They know it, we know it.
The cops are fond of saying " move along, there's nothing to see here " ESPECIALLY when there is...
But maybe that saying needs to apply to them in this case...
December 26, 2008
1:37 p.m.
Suggest removal
HolierThanThou writes:
"What ticks me off, you white people promised us civilization. You protect the prairie dogs and kill the people, very scary."
Actually, we're not even that good at protecting the prairie dogs...
December 26, 2008
2:32 p.m.
Suggest removal
Becky1 writes:
More taxpayers money down the drain. If it could have been solved, it would have been solved by now. I agree, run the DNA through the database once a month until you get a hit.
December 26, 2008
2:34 p.m.
Suggest removal
davies writes:
HopiMedicineMan writes:
"What ticks me off, you white people promised us civilization."
You are part of that civilization, HopiMM. You read, you blog, you consume, you dispose, etc, etc. Buy five or ten acres, turn back the clock, live in a tepee, eat what you raise and cultivate, and go hungry in the lean years if you want. But give me a break with the moral superiority.
December 26, 2008
2:53 p.m.
Suggest removal
HopiMedicineMan writes:
I DO NOT LIVE IN A TEEPEE. I LIVE IN A TRAILER.
December 26, 2008
3:04 p.m.
Suggest removal
HopiMedicineMan writes:
Davies,
The white race is evolving backwards. Where you were our murderer, our torturer, you were also our hope. Thousands of Indians converted to Christianity and Judaism. Why, because it was civilized. You get moralistic about barbaric societies and animals. You're becoming pre-Abraham. That's the very essence of liberalism.
December 26, 2008
3:24 p.m.
Suggest removal
Spencer writes:
Gov Owens and Peter Boyle, the 2 biggest fools from this case
December 26, 2008
3:47 p.m.
Suggest removal
davies writes:
HopiMM,
So what? Did opposing tribes not murder and torture each other in your good old days? Lay off the peyote. Peoples have been conquered ever since the beginning of history, and likely since the beginning of mankind.
"Thousands of Indians converted to Christianity and Judaism."
OK. And thousands more didn't. So which are better off, or worse, or what the heck is your point anyway?
"You get moralistic about barbaric societies and animals."
Why do you say that? Because I invited you to return to subsistence agriculture if you want? It is possible, you know - I watched the Hmong refugees do it up in my native Minnesota in the 1980s. Until they could do better for themselves anyway.
Perhaps our souls WERE better off in the Stone Age. Starvation, subsistence living and a short life span probably build character and fortitude. But no one is going back there willingly, so again I just wonder what is the point?
December 26, 2008
4:04 p.m.
Suggest removal
The_Punnisher writes:
Hmm. Those same HMONG WARLORDS went on a killing spree when they we TOLD to obey the POSTED signs near our property in the North Woods...
The funny thing is that if our civilization self-destructs, our family is in the best position to survive it...
We could " return to the land " a heck of a lot easier than the average " Armchair Liberal " ( AKA typical BOULDER resident ).
And we have the ability to strike a balance between technology and nature..keeping the modern conveniences ( no chips & teepees! ) that we use..
Back OT...we could do without the M$M sensationalism..The crime MAY get solved, but M$M scrutiny won't solve it...
December 26, 2008
4:32 p.m.
Suggest removal
HopiMedicineMan writes:
Davies,
Thank you for helping me make my point. Of course they went on killing sprees. Even in the Indian literature, there're stories of tribes decimating tribes. The military culture was part of the religion. Killing was a sacred rite. This was common in a pre-Christian world. The ancient Hebrews presented us with a wacky story of Abraham actually rejecting his tribal religion for a new idea. Around that was built a faith. That was evolutionary. Jesus took it a step further talking about love, that thing totally missing from from liberalism. When was the last time a liberal used the word love? That value is gone from their lexicon. Next you're going to accuse me of being a Christian. I flirted with it in my youth. It seemed the way the world should go. But nowadays, we're diverse. I'm very keen on what my grandson's other grandfather is up to. He's a Comanche retiring as an EE from a large company. He's totally going over to the warrior arts. He's listening to warrior chants and Indian music. He's target practicing with a new bow. He's losing his white world identity and returning to his roots. And why, because you've turned on the best thing you offer, the very basis of your culture. And as you do that, you're losing everything.
December 26, 2008
4:44 p.m.
Suggest removal
jjez writes:
cowbo63 writes: "I agree that we were all better off in a less industrialized age." Right--uncontrollable disease, no indoor plumbing (I'd like to see you go to the outhouse in a blizzard, or the alternative-use a chamberpot), sewage including feces running down the middle of the street, general lack of hygiene, not enough food to go around, no central heat or a/c. You wouldn't last a week! Not that I'm saying I would, but I'm not the one advocating a return to medievelism!
December 26, 2008
4:50 p.m.
Suggest removal
davies writes:
HopiMM,
Thanks finally for a crack of light into what you're talking about. Not sure warrior chants and bows would get me too far though. I'll stick with trying my best as a Christian. Peace bro.
December 26, 2008
5:21 p.m.
Suggest removal
jjez writes:
HopiMM, your friend is to be admired for trying to get back to his roots. But in this modern age, don't you think it's a little irresponsible to blame the ills of any people on the heads of another? Don't you think it's time for people of all nationalities, races and creeds to take responsibility for themselves and their own plights? Time to grow up, be a human being and live your life by your own terms instead of trying to blame the fact that you live in a trailer on someone else? Ultimately, in the end, you are the one responsible for your life and how you live it. Those of us who cannot claim a "pure" descent from some tribe or other (hey, "clans" are tribes too) have to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and make a living. What right does someone else have to say that "you owe me a living because your ancestors killed my ancestors!" None. There are alchoholics, drug addicts, criminals and general all around creeps of every nationality and race out there. Those things aren't just conditions inflicted on the first nations of this land by those who came after. Granted, countless numbers were slaughtered by the Europeans in one way or another when they came to these shores, but the plights of the people NOW are their own faults! Just as any oppressed or enslaved peoples. Unless you are currently in a country where oppression and slavery are occurring, I don't think you really have anything to complain about.
December 26, 2008
5:31 p.m.
Suggest removal
HopiMedicineMan writes:
The US is breaking up culturally bringing older energies to the surface. It's like the film Ghost Busters.
My son's former father-in-law was a highly decorated Marine in Vietnam. He's disappearing in himself. Rather than take the high road of his parent's religion, Presbyterian, he's gone way back.
He's taking the DNA path, an easier path. It's easier to let it all hang out, do what feels natural, all that.
December 26, 2008
6:32 p.m.
Suggest removal
singularity99 writes:
Dear Mr. New DA:
If you think that just because unidentified DNA was found on JonBenet the parents are innocent, you are as naive and incompetent as your predecessor, who once again made the People's Republic of Boulder the laughingstock of the nation with the hilarious John Mark Karr debacle, where she couldn't wait to run his DNA before announcing his guilt to the public.
The case always has been about the preposterous ransom note, that makes absolutely no sense if left by an intruder, but makes perfect sense (to deflect blame) if left by the parents. Funny how this ransom note had absolutely no fingerprints on it, even after being handled and read by the parents, who didn't stop to put gloves on before reading it.
Additionally, the "sexual assault" injuries on JonBenet were clearly staged, and not consistent with that crime.
Mr. New DA, maybe you can "grow a brain" and rise above your surroundings and display a little competence. At least we can dream, right?
December 26, 2008
7:16 p.m.
Suggest removal
dmat44 writes:
Singularity, right on. You said it all.
December 27, 2008
7:43 a.m.
Suggest removal
timothyc writes:
I never for a second believed the parents had anything to do with JonBenet's death. Nothing about it makes a lick of sense. Why would either parent leave the dead child's body in the house? It would have been simple enough to dispose of JonBenet in a canyon or deep in the woods, where she wouldn't be discovered until the spring thaw, if even then. If the parents had been able to stay cool enough to write such a weird note, they would have had the the ability to dispose of the body. The Boulder police department really fumbled this one.
Did anyone really take Governor Bill Owens seriously? Wasn't he the same person who proclaimed to the entire country on television "All of Colorado is burning?" Give me a break.
December 27, 2008
9:46 a.m.
Suggest removal
MrTT writes:
the person im interested in.....would be someone with a past before this crime, whom had been accursed, charge etc with something to do with children......for i feel this person, this was not there first encounter with children.......for to me, it would seem that one wouldnot engage in this kind of violence against a child if it was there first time.........perhaps the DNA datat base was not what it is today, but there had to be some suspects at that time, from someone whom would know someone, whom knew the family, and had a history with offenses against children.....?and they atented many of her modeling events
..if i assume correctly without knowing.....they ran that DNA through ALL DNA data bases to check for a possible match anywhere on record.....if they did, and no hits came about...........i would check for police records of individuals known at the time of the murder, whom has a record with prints, finger prints........then i would ask those individuals whom had contact with the family.......to volunteer to GIVE a sample of there DNA to be checked with what they have on record...........i feel they may be able to match an individual to the collected DNA, with a person whom has a fingerprint record.......and can get that match by asking for samples today......
im feeling also, that the ransom note/letter was writing with the oposite hand.......left handed person wrote it with the right hand, or right handed person wrote it with the left......and im pretty sure it was the last......right handed written with the left hand to hide ones natural hand writing.....
find the person with the fingerprints on file.......and get there dna from them......from a person that knew the family......that is your killer!
December 27, 2008
10:38 p.m.
Suggest removal
peterpi writes:
Let's see, the BPD contaminated the crime scene, the parents altered the crime scene, public officials at the time made highly publicized infammatory announcements concerning potential defendants, fingers have been pointed everywhere, and the current DA falsely accused (apparently) one person and has completely exonerated two people who are logical prime suspects.
If the new DA does find and charge a credible suspect, the defense attornies will have a field day creating reasonable doubt -- without having to put a single witness of their own, or the defendant, on the stand.
Short of a highly improbable Perry Mason moment on the witness stand ("Your Honor, I can't take it any more! I confess! I did it!) or someone walking in to the Boulder DA, turning themselves in, and providing irrefutable proof that s/he did it (home-made videos of the actual crime would help) this case will never be resolved.
December 29, 2008
10 a.m.
Suggest removal
sheepherder writes:
crtf...maybe it was Jeffco deputies?