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The world will never stop demanding answers. John Ramsey found the strangled body of his 6-year-old daughter, JonBenét, in the family’s Boulder, Colorado, basement on December 26, 1996 — with a cord binding her wrists, duct tape covering her mouth and a makeshift garrote around her neck — and the pint-sized beauty queen’s image has been splashed across countless newspapers and magazines ever since. As Lawrence Schiller, author of Perfect Murder, Perfect Town, has said of the public’s obsession, “this case keeps coming back.”
That may be because nearly three decades later, the brutal murder remains unsolved. But a new three-part Netflix docuseries, Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey?, which debuts on November 25, is bringing fresh attention to the mystery. The documentarians reexamine what critics say was a botched investigation conducted by police inexperienced in handling homicides and an ensuing media frenzy that painted the Ramseys — John, now 80 and Patsy, who died of ovarian cancer in 2006 — as prime suspects. Amid their grief and the incessant scrutiny, John has said, “Our family was destroyed.”
SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS
Boulder cops have long been the subject of criticism. “The case was a total and colossal failure from the beginning,” Paula Woodward, a journalist and author of the book, Unsolved: The JonBenét Ramsey Murder 25 Years Later, told In Touch in 2021. Using details from the 3,000-page case file, Woodward alleged the media were lied to and evidence was “manipulated” in what she believes amounts to a massive cover-up.
DNA found under the little girl’s fingernails has always been a key piece of evidence. Multiple suspects, including local Michael Helgoth (who died by suicide in 1997), former teacher John Mark Karr (who confessed to the killing in 2006) and convicted sex offender Gary Oliva (who admitted to being obsessed with JonBenét), were all cleared — along with the Ramseys — because their DNA didn’t match.
But JonBenét’s father has repeatedly questioned why police haven’t done more tests on DNA from an unidentified male found on the garrote. “[I’m worried] the only logical reason they won’t commit to testing it anymore is because they lost it,” he told In Touch in June. (The Netflix docuseries also raises the question of missing evidence.) Last December, Boulder P.D. announced it had convened a panel of outside experts to review the case, insisting that “DNA testing continues to be an investigative focal point” and that evidence “has been preserved” in hopes evolving technology allows them “to analyze remaining DNA samples.” But it’s unclear if the murder weapon has since been retested.
John remains hopeful there will be justice for JonBenét. “I think about her every day,” he said in September. “I have her picture on my cellphone as just kind of a reminder that she’s with me in some way.”
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