Author Topic: JonBent and Burke Ramsey  (Read 51585 times)

Dos Equis

  • Moderator
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 63566
  • I am. The most interesting man in the world. (Not)
JonBent and Burke Ramsey
« on: February 02, 2009, 05:02:22 PM »
The search for the "real" killer.   ::)

Boulder police take back JonBenet investigation
By ALYSIA PATTERSON
Associated Press Writer

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) -- The slaying of JonBenet Ramsey will be investigated as a cold case with all evidence and actions taken 12 years ago reviewed anew, the police chief said Monday as the department resumed a probe for which it had long been criticized.

Chief Mark Beckner said new technology gives investigators tools they didn't have a decade ago; the 6-year-old beauty pageant contestant was found bludgeoned and strangled in the basement of her Boulder home in 1996.

Police had transferred the probe to the district attorney's office six years ago amid criticism of how the case was handled.

"We'd love to solve this case for JonBenet so she can rest in peace," Beckner said at a news conference announcing the shift.

Police will handle the investigation as a cold case, "reviewing everything that's been done, the evidence that's been collected, trying to determine where do we go from here," he said.

L. Lin Wood, an attorney for JonBenet's father, John Ramsey, said the decision was a "positive sign in terms of my hope that the Boulder Police Department will take not only a new review in terms of a cold case review, but that it will go in this time with an objective review."

Wood and Ramsey have been critical of previous police efforts, saying they unfairly focused on the family and ignored other evidence.

Patsy Ramsey, JonBenet's mother and John Ramsey's wife, died in 2006 after a long battle with cancer.

Beckner said he and newly elected District Attorney Stan Garnett agreed that police should lead the investigation again. Beckner said he has invited a team of veteran investigators from state and federal agencies to join an advisory task force.

"We're bringing in people on this task force that are going to have a fresh perspective. (They're going to) look at this case, tell us what they think, challenge us, give us ideas."

The group will meet in the next few weeks to review the evidence and identify additional testing that might be done.

Beckner told the Camera newspaper of Boulder the task force will "explore all possible theories about what happened the night JonBenet was killed" and added, "We are open to all possibilities."

At the news conference, Beckner said more than 140 people had already been investigated as potential suspects, but none could be definitively linked to the crime.

Garnett's predecessor, Mary Lacy, last year cleared Jonbenet's family in the slaying, saying male DNA found on the girl's clothing almost certainly came from her killer, and that it didn't match anyone in the family.

Beckner informed John Ramsey of the change in the investigation in a letter, but gave no hint that police would back away from that finding.

"Nor could any objective investigation back away," Wood said. "(The DNA evidence) is compelling if not conclusive."

Lacy did not run for re-election because of term limits. She told the AP that returning the investigation to police was "a great idea."

"I think that time has resolved any issues that might have lingered, but also I think that Mark Beckner has done a very good job," she said.

Lacy said the reason her office took over the case in 2002 was that the Ramsey family had no confidence in the police. "It wasn't that they were incompetent," she said of the officers.

Lacy said she is "absolutely" hopeful the case will one day be resolved.

"I believe the DNA (that cleared the Ramsey family) is the most significant piece of evidence, and hopefully, as with some cold cases, there will eventually be a hit on it," she said.
 
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/J/JONBENET_RAMSEY?SITE=HIHAD&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Eyeball Chambers

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 14344
  • Would you hold still? You're making me fuck up...
Re: Boulder police take back JonBenet investigation
« Reply #1 on: February 02, 2009, 09:47:01 PM »
The search for the "real" killer.   ::)

Why investigate anything, Beach Bum has all the answers.

S

Hereford

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 4028
Re: Boulder police take back JonBenet investigation
« Reply #2 on: February 03, 2009, 08:45:28 AM »
Nobody cares anymore. Let it go.

SAMSON123

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 8670
Re: Boulder police take back JonBenet investigation
« Reply #3 on: February 03, 2009, 08:47:15 AM »
Who gives a SHIT???..Too many Coloradoans are losing or have lost their homes and jobs to care
C

LurkerNoMore

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 30793
  • Dumb people think Trump is smart.
Re: Boulder police take back JonBenet investigation
« Reply #4 on: February 03, 2009, 09:52:57 AM »
Nobody cares anymore. Let it go.

Exactly.  The main culprit/suspect already died.

mightymouse72

  • Getbig III
  • ***
  • Posts: 891
Re: Boulder police take back JonBenet investigation
« Reply #5 on: February 03, 2009, 09:58:26 AM »
This is sad.
You people don't care that a little girls murder is unaccounted for. 

No respect for life.
W

Dos Equis

  • Moderator
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 63566
  • I am. The most interesting man in the world. (Not)
Re: Boulder police take back JonBenet investigation
« Reply #6 on: February 03, 2009, 10:31:44 AM »
A tragedy.  The person most knowledgeable about this girl's death is six feet under. 

Dos Equis

  • Moderator
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 63566
  • I am. The most interesting man in the world. (Not)
Re: Boulder police take back JonBenet investigation
« Reply #7 on: October 03, 2010, 04:33:03 PM »
Police plan new interviews in JonBenet Ramsey case
Published October 02, 2010 | Associated Press

BOULDER, COLO. –  Police investigating the death of child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey are conducting a new round of interviews, based on recommendations from an advisory committee.

The committee, which included investigators from several state and federal agencies, met in 2009 after police took the lead in the case back from Boulder County prosecutors.

Members reviewed evidence in the death of 6-year-old JonBenet, whose body was found bludgeoned and strangled in her family's home in Boulder on Dec. 26, 1996. Former District Attorney Mary Lacy said in 2008 that evidence suggests the killer was an unknown stranger, not a family member.

Police Chief Mark Beckner wouldn't reveal details about the continuing investigation or who police want to interview now.

"We continue to work the Ramsey case and have tailored our investigation based on recommendations from our 2009 advisory committee," Beckner told the Camera newspaper. "This has included additional contacts and interviews with those who may have information pertinent to the case."

JonBenet's older brother Burke, who was 9 when JonBenet died, was contacted by police but hasn't been interviewed yet, Ramsey family attorney Lin Wood said.

"I understand that they met with Burke and gave him a card and said, 'If you want to talk to us, here's how you would contact me,'" Wood said. "But the police have not interviewed Burke."

JonBenet Ramsey's mother, Patsy, died of cancer in 2006. Her father, John, made a public plea last December for people to share any suspicions they had around the time JonBenet died.

"Whatever the reason for any type of approach with Burke, it would have nothing to do with the case other than with the reality that John and Burke could help the Boulder police as witnesses in the investigation," Wood said. "For all I know, they have gotten some tip and think Burke could give them some information."

Denver defense attorney and legal analyst Scott Robinson said it would be premature to assume that police have new information.

"But it would be absolutely accurate to say they're not letting this case lie," he said.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/10/02/police-plan-new-interviews-jonbenet-ramsey-case/

Dos Equis

  • Moderator
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 63566
  • I am. The most interesting man in the world. (Not)
Re: Boulder police take back JonBenet investigation
« Reply #8 on: October 15, 2010, 11:52:13 AM »
Questions for JonBenet's brother -- again?
By Tom Foreman, "AC360°" Correspondent
October 15, 2010

(CNN) -- Police in Boulder, Colorado, want to talk to the older brother of JonBenet Ramsey, the 6-year-old girl slain at home on Christmas night 14 years ago, the Ramsey family's attorney said.

Supporters of the family call it harassment. The brother, Burke Ramsey, has no interest in once again answering questions he has answered for many investigators many times, said the attorney, Lin Wood, of Atlanta, Georgia.

And yet the mere hint of activity in one of the nation's most famous cold cases has headlines swirling.

So, what's the story this time? Burke Ramsey was the 9-year-old brother of JonBenet who, by all accounts, slept soundly in his room that Christmas in 1996 while his sister's skull was fractured and she was strangled elsewhere in the house.

Now, he's 23, and although police investigators aren't talking, the family's lawyer is. Wood said police investigators approached Burke Ramsey on his college campus in the spring, gave him a business card and said that if he wanted to talk about the case, they'd like to hear from him.

Investigators, no doubt, are hoping that locked in Burke's memory is some clue that could crack the case; maybe it's a detail that he was afraid to mention as a child or as a teenager but that he now wants to discuss.

But police will have to keep waiting. Wood says his client has declined their latest request to talk.

Good for him, say some journalists and legal analysts in the Colorado foothills who have long followed the story.

"Burke Ramsey has been completely cleared," said Denver attorney Larry Pozner, who has no direct involvement with the case but has been sharply critical of how authorities have handled it.

"The Boulder police engaged in a crime scene search and preservation that was worse than amateurish. It borders on criminal," Pozner said.

The police have always defended their work on the case, but despite all the scrutiny, all the hours of investigation, nothing came of their efforts.
It's hard to remember now, but the death of JonBenet was little more than a tragic local news story that holiday season until her parents appeared on CNN.

This family photo shows JonBenet with her father, John, mother Patsy, and brother Burke at an earlier Christmas.

John and Patsy Ramsey turned the story into a sensation when Patsy, crying and shaking, told the nation: "There's a killer on the loose. I don't know who it is. I don't know if it's a she or a he, but if I were a resident of Boulder, I would tell my friends to keep your babies close to you. There's someone out there."

The interview unleashed the now famous pageant video, the disquieting cheesecake photos of JonBenet and a national debate: How could a 6-year-old girl be killed in a quiet neighborhood, and no one see or hear a thing?

The early evidence seemed to point toward the parents. There was no sign of forced entry into the Ramsey home, no footprints in the snow surrounding it. The rope used to choke JonBenet was tightened with a paintbrush from her mother's hobby kit.

An alleged ransom note (remember, this was first thought to be a kidnapping) was written on a pad of paper from inside the house, and some investigators thought the handwriting looked like Patsy's. It contained details about the family's past and finances that few outside their close circle could have known. And the body was found in a little-used basement room that police didn't even notice at first.

Investigative reporter Julie Hayden, who tracked the case all those years ago, said people were asking how a stranger could have pulled it off.
"It's sort of like a puzzle," she said. "How do you put all of those pieces together? Was it an intruder? If it wasn't an intruder, how on Earth did this happen? But on the other hand, how could somebody do that to their own child? It's got to be one or the other, you know? Somebody killed JonBenet."

"There's someone out there," Patsy Ramsey told reporters in 1996. She died of cancer 10 years later.

The Ramseys ramped up public suspicion, whether they meant to or not, when they hired lawyers and a publicist. Their relationship with investigators grew noticeably strained.

Each possible break in the case, each supposed suspect over the years, proved worthless or a fraud. Two years ago, the district attorney said that new DNA testing methods had cleared all family members of suspicion.

John Ramsey appeared relieved. "We're certainly grateful for an acknowledgement that we are innocent, this was an intruder, which of course we've always maintained."

Yet here investigators are, once again, knocking on Burke Ramsey's door. Attorney Scott Robinson, who has closely watched the case, said that even if JonBenet's brother knows something, so what?

"Even if Burke were to have some miraculous memory that could lead to the arrest of a suspect, that information would be so dated and so questionable that most criminal defense attorneys would have a heyday with it at trial," Robinson said. "It's very problematic to be using information that would be so stale from an individual who did not remember it before."

The main adult figures in the Ramsey case are almost all gone -- to other jobs; other cities. Some, including Patsy Ramsey, have died.
They leave behind unanswered questions and one terrible fact: A 6-year-old girl was killed, and 14 years later, no one has spent even a day in jail for her murder.

Like many who have followed the Ramsey case from the start, Robinson doubts the killing will ever be solved.

"The colder the case gets, the colder the trail gets."

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/10/15/jonbenet.ramsey.investigation/index.html?hpt=T2

Dos Equis

  • Moderator
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 63566
  • I am. The most interesting man in the world. (Not)
Re: Boulder police take back JonBenet investigation
« Reply #9 on: July 23, 2012, 10:44:25 AM »
JonBenet Ramsey detective's new book casts doubt on 'intruder' theory
Published July 20, 2012
FoxNews.com

A new book by a lead investigator in the JonBenet Ramsey murder puts forward a new theory: There was no intruder in the home where a wealthy Colorado couple's six-year-old daughter was found murdered in 1996.

James Kolar's book, "Foreign Faction: Who Really Kidnapped JonBenet?" takes its name from the ransom note found in the home, which was signed by "a small foreign faction." But he believes the theory that an intruder broke in and wrote the note, which led to the girl's family being cleared, is bogus.

"By the time I parted company with the D.A.'s office, I was convinced that there was no significant possibility that an intruder had been involved in the death of JonBenet."

"By the time I parted company with the D.A.'s office, I was convinced that there was no significant possibility that an intruder had been involved in the death of JonBenet," Kolar writes in his book.

Kolar believes abrasions on the girl may have come from a toy and not a stun gun allegedly wielded by her killer.

Kolar, who had access to 60,000 pages of evidence, including crime-scene video and photos, interviews with individuals related to the case and forensic reports, notes that intact cobwebs stretched over the window through which the intruder allegedly entered.

The little girl was found beaten and strangled with a garrote on Dec. 26, 1996 in the basement of her family home. The bizarre ransom note, which purported to be from a group "that represent[ed] a foreign faction," asked for $118,000 in exchange for the safe return of JonBenet. The note was found hours before a search of the house turned up the dead girl.

Parents John and Patsy Ramsey were suspects for years, but were cleared 12 years later on the strength of newly discovered DNA evidence. Patsy Ramsey died in 2006 of ovarian cancer.

In 2010, investigators reopened the case, but nothing came of the effort. Boulder District Attorney Stan Garnett said in 2010 that he personally gets five or more tips each month, according to Fox31.

Kolar dedicated his book to Boulder police, who he believes were made to look like bumbling idiots. He publicly clashed with Boulder District Attorney Mary Lacy, who hired him in 2004, but later dismissed him and cleared the Ramseys.

In clearing the Ramseys, Lacy cited a DNA sample of an “unknown” male found in JonBenet’s underwear and on her leggings.

“The match of male DNA on two separate items of clothing worn by the victim at the time of the murder makes it clear to us that an unknown male handled these items,” Lacy wrote.

Click for more at The Daily Beast.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/07/20/jonbenet-ramsey-detective-new-book-casts-doubt-on-intruder-theory/?intcmp=trending

Dos Equis

  • Moderator
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 63566
  • I am. The most interesting man in the world. (Not)
Re: Boulder police take back JonBenet investigation
« Reply #10 on: January 28, 2013, 11:17:14 AM »
JonBenet Ramsey detective's new book casts doubt on 'intruder' theory
Published July 20, 2012
FoxNews.com

A new book by a lead investigator in the JonBenet Ramsey murder puts forward a new theory: There was no intruder in the home where a wealthy Colorado couple's six-year-old daughter was found murdered in 1996.

James Kolar's book, "Foreign Faction: Who Really Kidnapped JonBenet?" takes its name from the ransom note found in the home, which was signed by "a small foreign faction." But he believes the theory that an intruder broke in and wrote the note, which led to the girl's family being cleared, is bogus.

"By the time I parted company with the D.A.'s office, I was convinced that there was no significant possibility that an intruder had been involved in the death of JonBenet."

"By the time I parted company with the D.A.'s office, I was convinced that there was no significant possibility that an intruder had been involved in the death of JonBenet," Kolar writes in his book.

Kolar believes abrasions on the girl may have come from a toy and not a stun gun allegedly wielded by her killer.

Kolar, who had access to 60,000 pages of evidence, including crime-scene video and photos, interviews with individuals related to the case and forensic reports, notes that intact cobwebs stretched over the window through which the intruder allegedly entered.

The little girl was found beaten and strangled with a garrote on Dec. 26, 1996 in the basement of her family home. The bizarre ransom note, which purported to be from a group "that represent[ed] a foreign faction," asked for $118,000 in exchange for the safe return of JonBenet. The note was found hours before a search of the house turned up the dead girl.

Parents John and Patsy Ramsey were suspects for years, but were cleared 12 years later on the strength of newly discovered DNA evidence. Patsy Ramsey died in 2006 of ovarian cancer.

In 2010, investigators reopened the case, but nothing came of the effort. Boulder District Attorney Stan Garnett said in 2010 that he personally gets five or more tips each month, according to Fox31.

Kolar dedicated his book to Boulder police, who he believes were made to look like bumbling idiots. He publicly clashed with Boulder District Attorney Mary Lacy, who hired him in 2004, but later dismissed him and cleared the Ramseys.

In clearing the Ramseys, Lacy cited a DNA sample of an “unknown” male found in JonBenet’s underwear and on her leggings.

“The match of male DNA on two separate items of clothing worn by the victim at the time of the murder makes it clear to us that an unknown male handled these items,” Lacy wrote.

Click for more at The Daily Beast.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/07/20/jonbenet-ramsey-detective-new-book-casts-doubt-on-intruder-theory/?intcmp=trending

Recently read this.  Great book.  Completely destroys the intruder theory. 

Dos Equis

  • Moderator
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 63566
  • I am. The most interesting man in the world. (Not)
Re: Boulder police take back JonBenet investigation
« Reply #11 on: January 28, 2013, 11:18:41 AM »
What a shame.  This will likely never be solved, because of one of the primary participants (the mom) is dead. 


JonBenet Ramsey's parents reportedly indicted, but DA refused to prosecute
Published January 28, 2013
FoxNews.com

The Colorado grand jury probing the death of JonBenet Ramsey voted to indict the murdered 6-year-old beauty queen’s parents more than a decade ago, although prosecutors reportedly declined to press the case.

The Boulder Daily Camera newspaper reports that the grand jury in 1999 voted to indict both John and Patsy Ramsey on charges of child abuse resulting in death, a Class II felony punishable by up to 48 years in prison.

Boulder District Attorney Alex Hunter refused to sign the indictment, believing he could not prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt, the newspaper reports.

“I and my prosecution task force believe we do not have sufficient evidence to warrant a filing of charges against anyone who has been investigated at this time,” Hunter told reporters on Oct. 13, 1999.

At least one legal expert, however, said state law may have obligated Hunter to at least sign the indictment, even if he elected not to prosecute the case.

"We didn't know who did what," one juror told the newspaper. "But we felt the adults in the house may have done something that they certainly could have prevented, or they could have helped her, and they didn't."

The former child beauty queen was murdered in the family’s Boulder home on Christmas Day in 1996.

Hunter, who left office in 2001 after 28 years as Boulder County's district attorney, declined to discuss the grand jury's actions.

"Colorado statutes, the ethical canons which govern the practice of law, and the Boulder District Court's oaths, instructions and orders in the JonBenet Ramsey grand jury proceedings, are well established and absolutely clear with respect to the various participants' legal obligations, duties and responsibilities, including the inviolate secrecy of the proceedings and the differing burdens of proof applicable to jurors and prosecutors,” Hunter told the newspaper in an email last week. "As the duly elected district attorney at the time and as an officer of the court then and now, I must respectfully decline further comment."

Boulder police Chief Mark Beckner also declined to discuss details of the Ramsey grand jury.

Click for more from the Boulder Daily Camera.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/01/28/jonbenet-ramsey-grand-jury-reportedly-voted-to-indict-parents-but-da-refused-to/

LurkerNoMore

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 30793
  • Dumb people think Trump is smart.
Re: Boulder police take back JonBenet investigation
« Reply #12 on: January 28, 2013, 11:57:34 AM »
I always suspected it was the brother.  Maybe rough housing and pushed her down or choked her after losing his temper over her being the favored one.

One thing for sure, the person(s) responsible for her death were in that house along that night.

Dos Equis

  • Moderator
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 63566
  • I am. The most interesting man in the world. (Not)
Re: Boulder police take back JonBenet investigation
« Reply #13 on: January 28, 2013, 12:00:07 PM »
I always suspected it was the brother.  Maybe rough housing and pushed her down or choked her after losing his temper over her being the favored one.

One thing for sure, the person(s) responsible for her death were in that house along that night.

There is evidence pointing to the brother's possible involvement.  Kolar does a great job laying it out in his book.  And Kolar was hired by the DA to investigate the matter. 

Dos Equis

  • Moderator
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 63566
  • I am. The most interesting man in the world. (Not)
Re: Boulder police take back JonBenet investigation
« Reply #14 on: October 22, 2013, 09:52:21 AM »
JonBenet Ramsey's dad fights possible release of indictment in girl's 1996 death


FILE 1997: John and Patsy Ramsey hold reward poster regarding death of JonBenet. (AP)
Published October 22, 2013
FoxNews.com

FILE 1997: John and Patsy Ramsey hold reward poster regarding death of JonBenet. (AP)
John Ramsey says he's opposed to the possible release of documents in an indictment related to the 1996 killing of his 6-year-old daughter, JonBenet.

The Daily Camera reports Ramsey's attorneys sent a letter Sunday to Boulder District Attorney Stan Garnett. It says the release of an indictment that wasn’t prosecuted "only serves to further defame (John Ramsey) and his late wife Patricia."

The attorneys also argue the public won’t be able to evaluate the propriety of the indictment unless the entire grand jury record is unsealed.

The grand jury voted in 1999 to indict the Ramseys, but the parents were never prosecuted.

The Denver Post ran an editorial Monday calling on transparency.

"With the passing years, hopes of solving the case have grown dimmer. But this action could provide insight as to what happened," the editorial said.

A reporter for The Camera and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press filed a lawsuit last month to see the records. The district attorney’s office has agreed to disclose anything a judge deems appropriate.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/10/22/jonbenet-ramsey-dad-fights-possible-release-indictment-in-16-death/?intcmp=latestnews

LurkerNoMore

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 30793
  • Dumb people think Trump is smart.
Re: Boulder police take back JonBenet investigation
« Reply #15 on: October 22, 2013, 11:50:46 AM »
Sad to say, that despite the evidence and what common sense suggests this is really the text book perfect crime.  How can you not have all the evidence and reach the same conclusion even despite the police fuck ups.

Dos Equis

  • Moderator
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 63566
  • I am. The most interesting man in the world. (Not)
Re: Boulder police take back JonBenet investigation
« Reply #16 on: October 22, 2013, 12:15:06 PM »
Sad to say, that despite the evidence and what common sense suggests this is really the text book perfect crime.  How can you not have all the evidence and reach the same conclusion even despite the police fuck ups.

Not exactly the perfect crime with all the blunders, but definitely perfect in avoiding punishment.  That's what money can do. 

Dos Equis

  • Moderator
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 63566
  • I am. The most interesting man in the world. (Not)
Re: Boulder police take back JonBenet investigation
« Reply #17 on: October 25, 2013, 09:22:51 AM »
Ramsey grand jury indictment accused parents of child abuse resulting in JonBenet's death
Published October 25, 2013
FoxNews.com

DEVELOPING:  Court documents released Friday reveal that a grand jury indictment in 1999 accused John and Patsy Ramsey of child abuse resulting in death and being an accessory to a crime, including murder, in connection to their 6-year-old daughter JonBenét.

The indictments, released on Friday, did not indicate who killed the young beauty queen. The charges didn't directly accuse the Ramseys of killing their daughter, but alleged they permitted JonBenét to be placed in a dangerous situation that led to her death and it accused them of helping the killer, who has never been brought to justice.

The Ramseys were not officially indicted, however, because former District Attorney Alex Hunter refused to sign the documents to prosecute them. In 2008, then-Boulder District Attorney Mary Lacy exonerated the girl's parents and immediate family after DNA evidence pointed to an unknown male as JonBenét's killer.

JonBenét's body was found Dec. 26, 1996. She had been strangled and her skull was fractured.

JonBenét Ramsey's mother, Patsy, died of cancer in 2006.

Earlier this week, John Ramsey asked officials to release the entire grand jury record if the unprosecuted indictment was made public. However, the judge said transcripts of grand jury proceedings and evidence presented to it are not considered "official action" under the law governing criminal court records. He also said releasing such information could hurt other grand juries, whose work is secret.

An attorney representing John Ramsey, L. Lin Wood, said he's confident that no evidence in the grand jury case implicated the Ramsey family and the public should be able to see that for themselves.

"Anything less than the release of all of the proceedings is a gross injustice to the Ramsey family," he said.

Former prosecutor and law professor Karen Steinhauser said grand juries sometimes hear evidence that won't be admitted during trial that can form the basis of indictments. But she added that prosecutors must have a good faith belief that they could prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt before pursuing charges.

"I'm not sure that the release of this indictment is going to change the fact that there has not been able to be a prosecution and probably won't be able to be a prosecution," she told The Associated Press.

Some other experts have suggested over the years that investigators botched the case so thoroughly that it might never be solved.

Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner said the case remains open but it's not an active investigation. He predicted the indictment's release wouldn't change anything.

"Given the publicity that's been out there, many people have formed their opinions one way or another," he said.

Hunter did not return phone messages left Thursday by The Associated Press in anticipation of the documents' release. Lacy also did not return a message seeking comment.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/10/25/details-1-indictment-in-jonbenet-ramsey-slaying-to-be-released/

240 is Back

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 102396
  • Complete website for only $300- www.300website.com
Re: Boulder police take back JonBenet investigation
« Reply #18 on: October 25, 2013, 10:05:14 AM »
Boulder District Attorney Alex Hunter refused to sign the indictment, believing he could not prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt, the newspaper reports.

Putting career before chasing justice for the poor kid.  Very sad.  Even if you lose the case, at least the nation knows they're guilty.  Imagine if the OJ prosecution said "this case is messy, let's just not indict OJ"....

Dos Equis

  • Moderator
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 63566
  • I am. The most interesting man in the world. (Not)
Re: Boulder police take back JonBenet investigation
« Reply #19 on: February 26, 2015, 10:27:27 AM »
Mark Beckner opens up about JonBenet Ramsey case, then regrets it
Former Boulder chief: 'Misunderstanding and naivete on my part'
By Charlie Brennan
Staff Writer
POSTED:   02/24/2015

Editor's note: The box of excerpts has been changed to remove a question about Burke Ramsey that was not answered by Beckner but rather by a Reddit commenter.

Beckner on Ramsey

Excerpts from former Boulder police Chief Mark Beckner's Q&A on Reddit:

• On initial police handling of the case: "I wish we would have done a much better job of securing and controlling the crime scene on day one. We also should have separated John and Patsy and gotten full statements from them that day. Letting them go was a big mistake, as they soon lawyered up and we did not get to formally interview them again until May of 1997, five months after their daughter was murdered."

• On whether a stun gun was used: "Stun gun — no. The coroner and others who looked at the abrasion did not believe it came from a stun gun. The distance between the two marks did not match the probes of any stun gun we found. Stun guns are loud and hurt like crazy — which would have probably elicited some screaming. That probably would have woke someone up."

• On possible sources of unidentified DNA on JonBenet's clothing: "Manufacturing process is one. Interactions with other people is another. Intentional placement is another. Belongs to an intruder is another. Yes, you can often tell where DNA comes from. In this case, it is small enough that it is difficult to tell. CBI thought it was either sweat or saliva."

• On whether there might have been an intruder the night of the murder: "Most investigators do not believe there was a legitimate point of entry. It is unknown how an intruder may have gotten in. Lou Smit always believed it was the basement window, but we did not agree with him, as the dust and spider web were undisturbed."

• On public interactions between JonBenet's parents: "They rarely interacted and this did not seem normal given the circumstances. Lots of speculation as to why."

• On relations between police and the Boulder District Attorney's office under Alex Hunter: "DA involvement in this case was inappropriate. They interfered in the investigation by being roadblocks to getting things done. They did not want to do a grand jury until forced to. We never allowed the DA to get that involved in a case again. Today, the new DA is great to work with and the police and DA's office work as a team."

Read the full Q&A at bit.ly/1DRQoLS.

Former Boulder police Chief Mark Beckner made his most extensive remarks to date about the JonBenet Ramsey case in a rare online Q&A over the weekend — but he's now expressing misgivings about having done so.

The former chief, 59, and now living in Firestone, said Tuesday he didn't realize his comments during an "Ask Me Almost Anything" session for the Reddit online community would filter out to the public at large.

"I talked to the organizer and my impression was that this was a members-only type group that talked about unsolved mysteries all around the world," Beckner said of the Saturday Q&A, which garnered more than 600 comments.

"In fact, they had to give me a password to get in," he said. "I didn't know it was an open-architecture type thing, or I wouldn't have done it. It was a misunderstanding and naivete on my part.

"I've tried to put the media attention behind me."

Although Beckner said he was not getting much feedback from the piece — as of Tuesday — he now wishes he had not participated in the Reddit forum.

But now with the chat out of the bag, he was asked if there was anything he wished to take back, add to, or clarify.

"I tried to be honest and fair," Beckner said, "and I think the only thing I would emphasize is that the unknown DNA (from JonBenet's clothing) is very important. And I'm not involved any more, but that has got to be the focus of the investigation. In my opinion, at this point, that's your suspect.

"The suspect is the donator of that unknown DNA, and until you can prove otherwise, I think that's the way you've got to look at it."

JonBenet Ramsey was found dead in her parents' basement Dec. 26, 1996, hours after her mother, Patsy Ramsey, had called 911 to report finding a lengthy ransom note demanding the unusual sum of $118,000 for her child's safe return.

The star-crossed investigation was marred by open feuding between the office of then-Boulder District Attorney Alex Hunter and the Boulder Police Department. A grand jury heard evidence from September 1998 through October 1999, but was discharged with no action publicly revealed.

In January 2013, the Daily Camera reported that the grand jury had voted to indict both John and Patsy Ramsey in their youngest child's death, but that Hunter had refused to sign the indictments, judging that there was insufficient evidence to prove the charges at trial.

A subsequent lawsuit by a Daily Camera reporter revealed in October 2013 that each parent had been indicted for felony child abuse resulting in death and accessory to the crimes of first-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death. Hunter, however, refused to sign the indictments.

JonBenet's parents always proclaimed their innocence in the case. Patsy Ramsey succumbed to cancer in 2006 after a long illness, and John Ramsey no longer lives in Colorado.

In August 2006, then-District Attorney Mary Lacy ordered the arrest in Thailand of American schoolteacher John Mark Karr, who incriminated himself in JonBenet's slaying through a lengthy email correspondence and a series of 11 phone conversations with University of Colorado journalism professor Michael Tracey. Karr was brought back to Boulder to face charges, but then was abruptly cleared and released on the basis of DNA testing.

No one has ever been criminally prosecuted in JonBenet's death, and Lacy publicly exonerated the Ramseys in 2008 based on DNA evidence.

'It's an open homicide investigation'

Current Boulder police Chief Greg Testa on Tuesday said Beckner didn't tell him he was going to discuss the case on Reddit.

"I learned about it by seeing it posted online," Testa said.

"I can't control him. He's not an employee here anymore," Testa added. "I think that most of the information that he discussed was already in the public domain. And I didn't read it line for line, but Mark understands the nature of that investigation, and certainly wouldn't do anything to compromise it."

Beckner stated on Reddit that the case is "not actively being worked, unless some new information would become available."

Testa elaborated, in Tuesday's interview, on the Ramsey case status.

"It's an open homicide investigation. We have detectives in our major crimes unit who are assigned to all of our cold cases, and there are two detectives assigned to that case currently," Testa said.

"The work they're doing is, anytime we get info from the public, tips or leads, that information would be evaluated and assigned to a detective to look into. It's not actively being worked, in terms of new information, but new information that comes in, is looked at. That was really the situation when Beckner was here, too. That hasn't changed."

Beckner may write book — about Ramsey and more

On Reddit, Beckner was more willing to voice opinions on some points than others, and stepped lightly in certain areas.

For example, asked his "opinion" on Patsy Ramsey's frantic early morning call to 911, Becker merely stated, "Sorry, I'm going to pass on this one."

But he had far more to say about Karr's arrest and subsequent release.

"My gut reaction was that Mary Lacy did not know the facts of the case and was making a big mistake," Beckner told the Reddit forum. "His confession, once they shared it with us, did not match the evidence at the scene.

"After she asked for our help in proving he did it, we knew in about 18 hours he was not the guy. We were able to confirm he was not even in Colorado at the time by just doing some routine checking and then obtained photos of him in Georgia at the time. The DNA test, which she thought would prove he did it, proved her wrong."

Beckner also admitted in the forum to initial botching of the crime scene by his department, to the lasting detriment of the case.

And, while noting that the Ramseys' "position" in the community could have influenced its handling, he added, "I think the primary reason was a perfect storm type scenario. It was the Christmas holiday and we were short staffed, we faced a situation as I said earlier that no one in the country had ever seen before or since, and there was confusion at the scene as people were arriving before we had enough personnel on the scene."

Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett on Tuesday said of Beckner's comments: "He's retired, he's a private citizen, he can make his own decisions." He added, "He was a fine police chief, I'll tell you that."

Beckner now said he is teaching several law enforcement classes online through Norwich University in Vermont. He was asked on the forum if he will ever write a book about the Ramsey saga.

"If I write a book, it will not be specifically about the Ramsey case," Beckner said. "Too many on that already. I might write an autobiography covering my entire career, of which the Ramsey case would be a part of."

If Beckner does, he doubts it will have a dramatic concluding courtroom chapter, having told Reddit, "(I)do not believe anyone will ever be convicted in the Ramsey case."

http://www.dailycamera.com/News/ci_27591666/Mark-Beckner-opens-up-about-JonBenet-Ramsey-case-then-regrets-it

LurkerNoMore

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 30793
  • Dumb people think Trump is smart.
Re: Boulder police take back JonBenet investigation
« Reply #20 on: February 26, 2015, 12:12:53 PM »
Two people who know the truth are already dead.  Only the father and son are still alive I believe.

Las Vegas

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 7423
  • ! Repent or Perish !
Burke Ramsey
« Reply #21 on: September 19, 2016, 05:35:04 PM »
Anyone watch the interview with him?

Dos Equis

  • Moderator
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 63566
  • I am. The most interesting man in the world. (Not)
Re: Burke Ramsey
« Reply #22 on: September 19, 2016, 05:40:34 PM »
Saw excerpts.  Awkward. 

Las Vegas

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 7423
  • ! Repent or Perish !
Re: Burke Ramsey
« Reply #23 on: September 19, 2016, 05:51:04 PM »
Saw excerpts.  Awkward. 

Phil McGraw says he's not autistic, for whatever that's worth.

Dos Equis

  • Moderator
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 63566
  • I am. The most interesting man in the world. (Not)
Re: Burke Ramsey
« Reply #24 on: September 19, 2016, 06:11:24 PM »
Phil McGraw says he's not autistic, for whatever that's worth.

I was like . . . who the heck is Phil McGraw?  lol  Had to Google it.  I only know him as Dr. Phil.  Pretty impressive marketing.