Ten Things You Need to Know About the JonBenét Ramsey Murder Case

The murder of JonBenét Ramsey has remained in the public consciousness for decades, persisting as Colorado’s most infamous cold case to this day.

Law enforcement and online sleuths across the world continue to search for whoever killed the six-year-old beauty queen, nearly 29 years after JonBenét was found dead in the basement of her Boulder home on the day after Christmas 1996. The case has been examined and reexamined in countless virtual forums, documentaries and even true crime conventions.

Despite the long wait, justice in the case may be possible – and on the horizon. JonBenét’s brother, John Andrew Ramsey, revealed that dozens of evidentiary items are being tested and/or retested for DNA, he said during Denver CrimeCon on September 6.

As the investigation marches on, here are ten things you should know about the case:

1. The Basics

Six-year-old JonBenét was reported missing by her mother, Patsy Ramsey, the morning of December 26, 1996. Patsy told 911 that she found a ransom note in her home demanding $118,000 for the return of her daughter, who was no longer in her bed. The rambling, two-and-a-half-page letter had been handwritten on paper taken from Patsy’s notepad and credited the kidnapping to “a group of individuals that represent a small foreign faction.”

Waiting for further instructions from the presumed kidnappers, police eventually instructed the father, John Ramsey, and a friend to search the house. John discovered JonBenét’s body lying on the floor of a small room in the home’s basement, nearly eight hours after she was reported missing. She had been strangled with a cord tightened with a garrote and bludgeoned, suffering an 8.5-inch skull fracture. There was also evidence that she had been sexually assaulted.

2. Initial Failures

The Boulder Police Department handled very few murders at the time; JonBenét’s killing was reportedly the only homicide to occur in the city that year. Police failed to secure the crime scene in the hours following her disappearance, and, although officers performed a preliminary search, they did not enter the room where her body was later discovered. The crime scene was contaminated as a result.

The Ramseys invited over family friends who came and went freely in the hours before the discovery of JonBenét, wandering through the home and even tidying up. When John found his daughter in the basement, he removed a piece of duct tape from her mouth and picked up her body, carrying her upstairs, potentially disturbing forensic evidence.

3. The Fallout

The murder case quickly devolved into a national media circus, partially due to the unusual circumstances and the victim coming from a wealthy family in a safe, affluent community. John was president and CEO of Access Graphics, and Patsy was a former Miss West Virginia and Miss America contestant.

JonBenét’s own participation in child beauty pageants soon took focus, with media outlets publishing photos of videos of the child in flashy showgirl outfits and makeup. Public speculation ran wild, with some alleging that the pageant images were proof the parents had sexualized or abused their daughter, while others presumed a pedophile must have targeted JonBenét through her pageants.

4. Secret Indictment 

Though it was not publicly revealed until 2013, a Boulder grand jury indicted John and Patsy Ramsey in 1999 in connection to the killing of JonBenét. Then-District Attorney Alex Hunter refused to prosecute the Ramseys, citing a lack of evidence. The indictment accused the couple of two counts each of child abuse resulting in death.

The charges didn’t directly accuse the Ramseys of murdering JonBenét. Instead, they alleged the parents knowingly allowed her to be placed in a dangerous situation that resulted in her death. The charges also accused the Ramseys of assisting whoever killed JonBenét “with intent to hinder, delay and prevent” their discovery, which contributed to speculation that JonBenét’s nine-year-old brother, Burke, could have been responsible for her death. The Ramseys didn’t grant police an official interview until months after the murder, after they hired separate lawyers.

5. Controversial Exoneration

In 2008, then-District Attorney Mary Lacy made the extraordinary decision to publicly exonerate John and Patsy Ramsey, citing new DNA evidence that pointed to an unknown male as JonBenét’s killer. The exoneration was later challenged due to Lacy misrepresenting DNA evidence as conclusive proof, while independent reviews described the DNA samples as possibly “worthless as evidence.”

Independent reviews released in 2016 found that the DNA samples taken from JonBenét’s clothing came from multiple people and were so minute that they could have been the result of inconsequential contact or been transferred from another piece of clothing, neither confirming nor disproving any suspect.

6. Other Suspects

Numerous suspects have been identified throughout the long investigation into JonBenét’s murder, including: Randy Simons, one of JonBenét’s pageant photographers who was later convicted of possessing child pornography; Gary Oliva, a local sex offender who had photos of JonBenét; Bill McReynolds, who played Santa Claus at the family’s Christmas parties; Michael Helgoth, who owned boots matching a footprint at the scene and died by suicide shortly after the murder.

All of the men were reportedly cleared when their DNA didn’t match the sample from the crime scene. One other suspect has received more attention than the rest.

7. Confession and Arrest

John Mark Karr claimed he killed JonBenét. From 2002 to 2006, Karr told a reporter that he had sexually abused the child on multiple occasions before accidentally killing her, providing strangely intimate details as proof, such as knowing JonBenét’s nickname for her grandmother. Working with law enforcement, the reporter offered Karr the last original, printed photo of JonBenét, which he agreed to pick up from a UPS location in Bangkok, Thailand.

Authorities arrested Karr, who was working as a substitute teacher in Bangkok after fleeing the United States following a charge for possession of child pornography in California. But once again, Karr’s DNA didn’t match that from JonBenét’s crime scene, and the case against him was dropped.

8. DNA Evidence

Critics have argued that the crime scene DNA should not be used to clear outside suspects for the same reason others said it should not have been used to exonerate the Ramseys: the samples came from multiple people and could have been the result of inconsequential contact.

John Ramsey has publicly pushed for further DNA testing in the case, accusing Boulder police of not testing certain items and refusing to use the latest genetic genealogy technology to test existing DNA evidence. The police department and district attorney’s office refute this, claiming that they’ve pursued all viable leads and collaborated with the CBI and FBI to discuss genetic genealogy testing, but they fear more testing will “consume” the small amount of DNA evidence they have.

9. Moving Forward

In the Boulder Police Department’s annual update on the investigation last year, they said the case “has been under constant review with federal, state, and local partners as well as in consultation with DNA experts from around the country.” The Colorado Cold Case Review Team evaluated the investigation in 2023 and provided recommendations to the police department on how to move forward. Those recommendations were not made public.

Meanwhile, John Ramsey has campaigned to take DNA testing decisions in JonBenét’s case away from the police department, championing a 2022 petition that called on Governor Jared Polis to give that authority to an independent agency.

10. Latest News

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation is currently testing dozens of unspecified items connected to JonBenét’s case, according to her brother, John Andrew Ramsey, during an interview with the Denver Gazette at CrimeCon. The items range from old evidence being retested, to new clues that have never undergone forensic testing, he claimed.

During the same convention, his father John appealed to Donald Trump, asking the president to get the U.S. Justice Department involved in the case.