The Shocking True Story of JonBenet Ramsey

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re breaking down the tragic events of the JonBenét Ramsey[a] homicide case. Due to the extremely sensitive and disturbing nature of this story, viewer discretion is strongly advised.

Who Was JonBenét?

JonBenét Patricia Ramsey was born on August 6, 1990, to John and Patsy Ramsey, in Atlanta, Georgia. The once-divorced John Ramsey headed a software company, and relocated the family to Boulder, Colorado in 1991 to be closer to his work. His daughter was named after him — his full name is “John Bennett Ramsey,” and “JonBenét” alluded to a French pronunciation of John’s first and middle name. Seeking community in Boulder, Patsy Ramsey entered JonBenét into several local beauty pageants, and became a well-known fixture on that scene. According to CNN, she was crowned Little Miss Colorado, Little Miss Charlevoix[b], Colorado State All-Star Kids Cover Girl, and other such accolades. That all came to a sudden end on Christmas Eve, 1996.

The Ransom Note

On December 25th, some of the Ramseys’ neighbors noticed that something unusual was happening at their residence, citing atypical lights and sounds. At the time, they were blissfully unaware of the sheer horror occurring right under their very noses. When the Ramseys awoke the next morning, they found a strangely lengthy, handwritten note awaiting them. It demanded $118,000 — the significance of that number has been debated in the years since — on behalf of a “group of individuals that represent a small foreign faction,” according to the message. In exchange, JonBenét would be safely returned: the note guaranteed that “[y]ou stand a 99% chance of killing your daughter if you try to outsmart us. Follow our instructions and you stand a 100% chance of getting her back.”

The Day Of

Patsy Ramsey immediately defied the note’s instructions and placed a 911 call to her local authorities, who arrived just before 6am. They were unable to find any trace of JonBenét or that anyone had forcibly entered the Ramseys’ house. The officers who showed up at the Ramsey home have since been harshly criticized for their roles in failing to seal off the crime scene. This allowed for visitors intending to support the Ramseys to make their way into the house, and disturb what was not yet known to them to be the active scene of a crime, possibly destroying evidence. A latched door in the basement (that one of the responding officers had neglected to open) was breached by John Ramsey in the early afternoon hours of the 26th. Inside, he discovered his 6-year-old daughter’s body — and immediately contaminated potential forensic evidence by physically moving her upstairs.

Who Did It?: The First Theory

Unsurprisingly, initial reactions to the truly grotesque events of the case were swift and harsh, with investigators launching John and Patsy into the hot seat as the primary suspects. It didn’t help their case that the responding officers hadn’t found any signs of forced entry on December 26th. When interviewed for the New York Times in 1997, Craig Silverman, a Denver prosecutor, mused that “We either have a set of parents who are guilty of one of the most atrocious killings ever — or we have a set of parents who have been incredibly victimized by their daughter's killers and by the media.” Similarly, Gregg McCrary, a retired FBI profile also interviewed by the Times, shared that “[s]tatistically, it is a 12-to-1 probability that it's a family member or a caregiver.” Conversely, John E. Douglas, a trailblazing criminal profiler whose life was later the basis for the Netflix series “Mindhunter,” believed in the Ramseys’ innocence, and chastised the news media for its sensationalism in targeting them.

Who Did It?: The Second Theory

Despite the tainted nature of the crime scene that made it difficult to ascertain a number of details about what had happened to JonBenét, police declined to discount the possibility that an entirely unrelated home intruder might have committed the grisly crime. One such reason was an unfamiliar boot print in the room where John Ramsey discovered JonBenét, as well as several potential entry points for an intruder to make an illicit entrance. Other suggestions posited to support the so-called “intruder theory” include Patsy and JonBenét’s involvement in the Boulder child beauty pageant scene, which may have attracted the unwanted attention of adult men with criminal intent. The aforementioned Craig Silverman is quoted as saying “Once you have conceded the possibility of an intruder, I don't see how any Ramsey could ever be successfully prosecuted.”

Did John & Patsy Do It?

As we mentioned a bit earlier, JonBenét’s parents, John and Patsy, were the subjects of intense, unrelenting media coverage surrounding their daughter’s unfathomable end — it was a veritable media circus due to the case’s extremely dark nature. Each surviving family member was interviewed, including JonBenét’s older brother, Burke. Much was made of the role that pineapple played in the events of the case: a bowl of half-eaten pineapple appeared in photos taken on the day of the crime, despite John and Patsy’s claims that had no memory of ever giving it to JonBenét. It was later found by police that Patsy’s fingerprints had been identified on the bowl by police. In 1999, a grand jury convened the previous year recommended charging the Ramseys with neglecting to remove their child from harm’s way.

JonBenét’s Parents Are Exonerated

Much to John and Patsy’s relief, Boulder County District Attorney Alex Hunter declined to press charges against them due to a lack of sufficient evidence. While the case remains open and under active investigation by the Boulder Police Department, years of investigation and advances in forensic technology led to the Ramseys being formally excluded as suspects in 2008 — a controversial decision still protested against by certain employees of the Boulder PD. Patsy Ramsey died of ovarian cancer on June 24, 2006, and is buried next to her daughter. John and Burke Ramsey have repeatedly filed defamation suits against news publications that implicated John and Patsy in JonBenét’s death. The author of the December 26th, 1996 ransom note has never been identified.

What do you think of the JonBenét Ramsey case? Let us know in the comments.

[a]https://youtu.be/nXgpiTSPFmM?si=HQOCIlLDhEklt1X_&t=61

JAWN-beh-NAY

[b]https://youtu.be/Dh2j-z95Kvc?si=Qy9GqqNHDKosmxc6&t=207


SHAR-le-VOY (as opposed to the French SHAR-le-VWAH)