The Mystery of JonBenet: Inside the Coldest Case of the ’90s

The Chilling 1996 Christmas Morning in Boulder, Colorado

On Christmas morning, 1996, the police in Boulder, Colorado received an unusual phone call. The caller was Patsy Ramsey, and she told them that her daughter, 6-year-old JonBenet, had been kidnapped, and a ransom note had been left in the house.

An Unusual Ransom Note Raises Suspicions

Within 3 minutes of the call, officers arrived at the Ramsey family house. They didn’t see any signs that somebody had broken in. From the very start, investigators noticed that the ransom note was unusual: while ransom notes were usually brief and rushed, this one was extremely detailed, and it was two and a half pages long. The amount of money the note asked for - $118,000 - was the exact amount of money that John had received for last year’s Christmas bonus at work. This made it appear as if the note had been written by somebody intimately familiar with the Ramsey family - close enough that they would know how much John’s Christmas bonus was.

Mistakes in the Early Investigation

During the early investigation, nobody made any effort to preserve the forensic evidence in the house, apart from in JonBenet’s bedroom. Patsy called several family friends and a minister, all of whom quickly arrived at the Ramsey family house to support her and John. John started making plans to pay the ransom.

JonBenet's Body is Discovered in the Basement

In the early afternoon, one of the detectives asked John Ramsey and one of his friends to take another look through the house and see if they could find anything. John decided to examine the basement - and, within minutes, he found his daughter. JonBenet was lying on the basement floor behind a closed door, her wrists tied with a nylon cord, duct tape covering her mouth, and a crudely made garrote around her neck. She was dead, and she had been dead since before she was reported missing.

The Intruder Theory: A Broken Window and Unmatched Boot Mark

In the investigation, police recognized two main theories about who could have killed JonBenet Ramsey.
The first theory relied on the ransom note being at least partially true - although JonBenet was never actually kidnapped, an intruder had broken into the house and murdered the six-year-old girl. The evidence for this theory was limited to the ransom note and a partial boot mark left in the basement of the house, which was never matched to any of the Ramseys.

Investigating JonBenet’s Cause of Death

JonBenet’s autopsy ruled that her cause of death was a combination of a fractured skull and strangulation with the garrote. However, both injuries hadn’t occurred at once - JonBenet had been hit in the head with a blunt object, causing an injury that would have eventually become fatal, but it hadn’t killed her instantly. She had laid dying for around an hour before the second injury - the strangulation - had occurred. Her killer had used a paintbrush handle and some nylon cord to make a garrote, strangling the six-year-old to death.

Key Details From JonBenet’s Autopsy: The Pineapple, Genital Injuries, and More

Although no semen was found on JonBenet’s body, there was an injury to her genitalia that appeared to have been caused by the same broken paintbrush used to create the garrote around her neck. The genital injury had occurred after the head wound, closer to the time JonBenet died. According to the pathologist, somebody had also used a cloth to wipe her genitalia shortly before she died. In her stomach, partially digested pieces of pineapple were found.

The Problem with the Intruder Theory: Lack of Evidence

There’s one key problem with the intruder theory: investigators never found any concrete evidence proving that an additional person had been inside the Ramsey house that night. In fact, the only people confirmed to be home that night were John, Patricia, Burke, and JonBenet.

The Second Theory: Did a Family Member Kill JonBenet?

The second theory - which is what the initial investigation focused on - is that one of the Ramseys was the killer. While investigators didn’t uncover evidence that somebody else had broken into the house, there was clear evidence that the crime scene had been staged - someone had left behind a false ransom note despite JonBenet never being moved from the place where she was killed.

Theories About Patsy and Burke Ramsey

Most of the theories surrounding the Ramsey family focused on Patsy and 9-year-old Burke. Some people believed that JonBenet had infuriated her mother by wetting the bed, and Patsy had seriously injured her by hitting her on the head, then bizarrely decided to strangle her daughter with a garrote and stage a kidnapping in an attempt to get away with the crime.

Patsy Ramsey and the Ransom Note: Key Evidence

One of the main reasons that Patsy was suspected was the belief that she had been the one to write the ransom note. During the 911 call, Patsy had stated that she had realized JonBenet had gone missing after she discovered the note, which had been left sitting on the stairs.

Did Burke Ramsey Fatally Injure His Sister?

Likewise, another theory is that Burke hit JonBenet due to a sibling dispute, and when he or one of his parents realized how seriously she was injured, they fatally strangled her and then staged the kidnapping.

DNA Evidence and the Clearing of the Ramsey Family

In 2003, trace amounts of unknown male DNA were found on swabs taken from JonBenet’s clothing. Despite numerous tests, no match was found. In 2008, the DA sent a letter to the family apologizing for the suspicion and claiming that they were now “completely cleared” as suspects.

The Case Remains Unsolved: The Investigation Reopens in 2009

However, not everyone agreed with the decision to clear the Ramseys. The Boulder police reopened the investigation in 2009, and it has remained open ever since.

The CBS Special and the Burke Ramsey Theory

In 2016, a CBS show titled “The Case Of: JonBenet Ramsey” proposed the theory that 9-year-old Burke had hit JonBenet with a flashlight, and Patsy had written the ransom note to protect him. Burke filed defamation lawsuits in response to the show’s claims, which were settled in 2019.