Murder of JonBenét Ramsey

Exposure - The JonBenet Ramsey Story

Painted Baby

The first images of JonBenet Ramsey that were broadcast to the world showed a pretty little girl in heavy make-up and flamboyant costumes parading across a stage. At the time, the media described her as "a painted baby, a sexualized toddler beauty queen."

From the day in 1996 when JonBenet was found dead in the basement of her home in Boulder, Colorado, the Boulder police and a large proportion of the world's media believed that her parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, were responsible for her death.

Prior to the murder of their daughter, John and Patsy Ramsey's life seemed almost ideal. Patsy, a former beauty queen, was married to a successful businessman. They had moved to Boulder where John ran a computer company that he had started in his garage, in 1991. The Ramseys readily adapted to their new life in Colorado and made many new friends. They built a large house in an elite suburb, and entertained often. Their last party in Boulder, just three days before the murder, was particularly happy. Over a hundred guests were present at a Christmas function. The Ramseys believed that they had good reason to celebrate. Patsy had warded off a recurrance of ovarian cancer and John had been voted Boulder's "businessman of the year."

According to the Ramseys' testimony, they drove home the few blocks from a party at a friend's house on Christmas night. JonBenet had fallen asleep in the car so they carried her up the stairs to her room and put her to bed at 9:30 p.m. Shortly after, Patsy and John went to bed, as they planned to get up early to prepare for a trip to their holiday home on Lake Michigan.

The next day, Patsy woke just after 5:00 a.m. and walked down the stairs to the kitchen. On the staircase, she found a two-and-a-half page note that said that JonBenet had been kidnapped by a "small foreign faction" and was being held for a ransom of $118,000. She was to be exchanged for the money the next day. The letter warned that if the money was not delivered, the child would be executed. Patsy yelled to John as she ran back up the stairs and opened the door to JonBenet's room. Finding she wasn't there, they made the decision to phone the police. The 911 dispatcher recorded Patsy's call at 5:25 a.m. The police arrived at the house seven minutes later.

The uniformed police officers that attended were openly suspicious from The Start. The Ramseys, treating the ransom demand seriously, were already taking steps to raise the ransom money. The note said that the kidnappers would call John Ramsey but no call came.

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1. Exposure
2. Suspicion
   Mounts
3. The Media Evidence
4. Personal Attack
5. "A Killer on the Loose"
6. Serious Allegations
7. John did it!
8. No Wait, Patsy did it!
9. Who Did It?
10. Someone
    Outside the House
11. Time of Death
12. A Continuing Saga
13. The Death of Innocence
14. The Case Goes Cold
15. Fighting Back
16. Fighting Back
    — the Deposition
17. Fighting Back
    — the Police
18. A Possible Witness
19. The Intruder Theory
20. A Stun Gun
21. The Book
22. The Book II
23. Still Under Suspicion
24. The Other Book
25. A Startling Revelation
26. Testing Time
27. The Ramseys Pass
28. The Media Circus
29. The Interviews
30. Put Up or
    Shut Up
31. The Confession
32. A Blocking Move
33. Smit's Investigative Analysis
34. Vindications
    At Last
35. The DNA Evidence
36. **New Chapter:
    John Mark Karr
37. **New Chapter:
    Hasty Investigation
38. Bibliography