A dusting of snow is present on Saturday as another Christmas season arrives without a solution to the murder of JonBenet Ramsey, who was found dead in the basement of the family's home in Boulder's University Hill neighborhood Dec. 26, 1996. Surviving family members no longer reside in Colorado. (Cliff Grassmick / Staff Photographer)
Police continue evidence testing at Colorado Bureau of InvestigationBy Charlie Brennan
Staff Writer
(Boulder Daily Camera) One year ago, it was nearly impossible to avoid the name or the haunting imagery of the tragic figure of Boulder's JonBenet Ramsey.
Through the fall of 2016, special productions filled the cable and broadcast networks' telecasts with the smiling and angelic face of the 6-year-old girl found murdered in her parents' basement the day after Christmas 20 years earlier.
Investigators associated with the case over the years were joined by sleuths of every stripe who, prompted by the mere flip of the calendar and a convenient round-numbered anniversary, pontificated anew about who might have delivered the blow that fractured the child's skull, buried a ligature deep in her neck and penned a bizarre 2 ½ -page ransom note demanding the unusual sum of $118,000 for her safe return.
Now, with Boulder celebrating the holiday season and the mystery seemingly no closer to a resolution now that it has reached full maturity at 21 years, there is silence.
In fact, all the frenzy surrounding the Ramsey case one year ago did not end simply with media and consultants' coffers just a bit fatter from viewers, clicks and advertisers brought briefly into the fold.
A joint investigation by the Daily Camera and 9News published Oct. 27, 2016, revealed for the first time that, according to several independent experts, DNA evidence that had been cited by then-District Attorney Mary Lacy as a basis to clear Ramsey family members in 2008 did not, in fact, support such a decision.
The experts interviewed by the two news organizations, who examined the same data on which Lacy based her decision, disputed her assertion that the DNA found in one location on JonBenet's underwear and two spots on her long johns were necessarily that of the child's killer. In fact, they said it indicated the genetic presence of two people in addition to the girl, something that documents showed Lacy was told at the time, but made no mention of in her exoneration of the Ramseys.
Also, those experts theorized that the original DNA sample recovered from JonBenet's underwear, which was entered into the FBI's Combined DNA Index System in December 2003 and used since that time for comparison to other DNA samples submitted in the case, may actually be a composite: not that of a single individual.
'Continuing to work with the CBI'In the wake of the Daily Camera/9News investigation, Boulder police Chief Greg Testa and Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett announced, separately but on the same day, that their offices would pursue new DNA testing in the star-crossed homicide.
On Dec. 14 of last year, the Boulder Police Department issued a news release, stating, "With the emergence of new DNA testing technology, the Boulder Police Department is working with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation to determine if this new testing technology could further this investigation."
And in an interview that same day, Testa said, "We did meet with CBI and the district attorney's office, and we had a general discussion about evidence in the Ramsey case, including new technology and DNA testing. And we are going to take a look at the new technology, and see how they may help us with this investigation."
A release issued by Garnett's office at the same time stated that with new testing capabilities in play, "CBI will conduct some further testing of the DNA evidence in the Ramsey case," along with other unspecified cold cases.
Garnett's statement carried this qualifier: "What I am confident about is that the Ramsey case is more than a DNA case, and to ever have a prosecutable case, we have to have several different pieces of evidence come together."
Now, with another Christmas looming, Testa declined to discuss the state of the case, deferring to department spokeswoman Laurie Ogden for comment.
"We are continuing to work with the CBI on evidence testing and we continue to maintain our position of not discussing evidence, or the outcome of testing or processing of evidence, in this case," Ogden said.
Garnett said he has not wavered from his assertion of one year ago that the Ramsey puzzle is "more than a DNA case."
"One of the first things I did when I became district attorney is I gave the Ramsey case back to the police, because I have confidence in their ability to handle the investigation," he said.
"That's where the investigation remains, and I have no doubt that they will update me on any developments that are significant. In the meantime, my staff and I have plenty of active cases that require our full attention."
Defamation cases still pendingWhile a prosecution of the girl's killer may be no closer, that doesn't mean there's no activity on the case in the courts.
Just two days after the 20th anniversary of the discovery of JonBenet's body by her father, John Ramsey, in the family's basement, her older brother, Burke Ramsey, filed a $750 million defamation lawsuit in Michigan's 3rd Circuit Court against CBS over a two-part series it aired in September 2016. The program, a four-hour "docu-series," as it was described by the network, advanced a theory that JonBenet might have been killed by Burke Ramsey, now 30.
Nine years old at the time his younger sister was killed, Burke Ramsey had previously filed a separate $150 million lawsuit, also in Michigan, against Dr. Werner Spitz, a pathologist who participated in the CBS program, produced by Los Angeles-based Critical Content — which was also named as a co-defendant in both lawsuits.
Motions by CBS to dismiss those lawsuits were argued earlier this year. Rulings on those motions are still pending.
Additionally, John Ramsey filed a defamation lawsuit against CBS Corporation and Critical Content for the same series in October. A defendants' motion to have that lawsuit tossed out was filed earlier this month. It will likely be argued sometime in the spring.
Patsy Ramsey lost a protracted battle with cancer in June 2006. Both of JonBenet's parents consistently denied any involvement in their youngest child's death.
A grand jury heard evidence in the case for 13 months starting in September 1998 before returning indictments against both parents in October 1999 for child abuse resulting in death and accessory to the crimes of first-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death.
Then-District Attorney Alex Hunter, believing there was not adequate evidence to secure a conviction, declined to sign, prosecute — or even announce — the indictments, which remained secret until a Daily Camera reporter successfully sued for their unsealing in October 2013.
Garnett was asked if he believes the Ramsey case will ever see a courtroom prosecution.
"I have no comment on that," he said
(BOULDER Daily Camera)