Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Jon Benet Ramsey Murder Case by Taryn Hailey


“More than 211,000 homicides committed since 1980 remain unsolved”, the Jon Benet Ramsey case is one of them (How Many Unsolved Murders Are There in the US?). The six-year old beauty pageant queen was found dead between December 25 and 26 of 1996 in her home in Boulder, Colorado. Sometime after, conspiracy theories arose:

1.      Did her family murder her and cover it up?

2.      Did someone outside the family murder her?

3.      Is she still alive and living under a different name?

Let’s examine the different answers to the questions and find out what really happened to Jon Benet Ramsey.

 Who was Jon Benet Ramsey? She was a beautiful six-year old beauty queen: bleach blond hair, bright green eyes, and a gorgeous smile. She lived with her wealthy family in Boulder, Colorado, where she participated in many beauty pageants. Jon Benet fit the perfect profile of a young beauty queen.

How did the people around Jon Benet describe her? A family friend of the Ramsey’s described Jon Benet as a fun-loving and active young girl (The Case of: Jon Benet Ramsey).  She would play with her dolls, her friends, and jump in piles of leaves when autumn came around every year (The Case of: Jon Benet Ramsey). 

Jon Benet was found strangled to death in her family’s basement, the question still lingers as to how that happened. Family and friends have witnessed some external conflicts go on with the family and around Jon Benet. Such conflicts include how Jon Benet’s mother, Patsy Ramsey, would treat her daughter and strict she would be. Some have said that Pasty Ramsey has bleached her daughter’s hair just for beauty pageants (The Case of: Jon Benet Ramsey). Why would a mother bleach her young daughter’s hair? To give the illusion that she’s the perfect little girl and pageant queen. In addition to how her mother treated her, Jon Benet’s brother, Burke Ramsey, also wasn’t the picture-perfect brother. It has been said that Burke Ramsey has hit his little sister with a golf club on the account of, “she made him mad.” (The Case Of: Jon Benet Ramsey - Blunt Force Trauma).

Even though Jon Benet was young she still had internal conflicts going on in her young, vulnerable mind. With all the conflicts and turmoil going on around her she might have started to think, “Why is my mom making me do this”, or, “Why am I competing in these beauty pageants”. Many friends of Jon Benet say that she didn’t like to show off all the crowns she won and would rather just play like a normal child (The Case of: Jon Benet Ramsey).

To family and friends, it’s hard to think that this young child was just killed when she still had a full life ahead of her. To think she could have had a family and a very successful career and her life was cut short as the age of six. Jon Benet could live her life to the best of her ability, even though she was young.

After the murder of Jon Benet Ramsey on December 25, 1996, many conspiracy theories have come up about how she died. The three main conspiracy theories that arose during the time were if she was murdered by someone in her family, if she was murdered by someone outside of the family, or if she is still alive to this day. Let’s examine deeper into these conspiracy theories and see which one is the most reasonable.

On Christmas night, Patsy Ramsey made a suspicious 911 call stating that her six- year old daughter, Jon Benet Ramsey, had been kidnapped and a ransom letter had been left demanding for money (The Case Of: Jon Benet Ramsey - Never Before Heard Audio). Later the next day, police showed up to the Ramsey house, where family and friends roamed throughout the house contaminating the crime scene. Even though the police were there they did not ask the people that were there comforting the Ramsey family to leave, which also drew suspicion to the entire investigation. Soon after the police arrive to the scene of the crime, John Bennett and a family friend that was at the residence searched around the house to look for any sign of Jon Benet or anything that will help find her (Who Killed Jon Benet Ramsey- 8 Possible Suspects). John Ramsey soon made his way to the basement where he found Jon Benet strangled and dead. Many say that he was so distraught that he picked up her dead body and carried her back into the living room, which contaminated evidence that could have been used for the investigation. Even though she was found in her family home the question remains, who murdered this young girl?

Many investigators and people point the finger towards the family. During the investigation, the family was acting very strange and many believe they were putting on a show for the police. The first red light went off during the 911 call Patsy Ramsey made. When Patsy Ramsey made the call, she didn’t mention Jon Benet’s name at all and the phone operator said she heard Patsy and two other people talking. The two people that were believed to be in the room were John Ramsey and Burke Ramsey, Jon Benet’s brother (The Case Of: Jon Benet Ramsey - Never Before Heard Audio). Another red light was the ransom note found in the house. It is said that the ransom note is too detailed and long for an intruder to write it. One specific detail was that it had John Ramsey’s exact bonus in it, which consisted of 118,000 dollars. It also is said to have quotes from movies in the note (The Case of: Jon Benet Ramsey). The last red light was the fact that many people were walking around the house when they weren’t. By the people walking around the house, the crime scene was contaminated.

 The theory that surrounds the family is that Jon Benet’s mother or brother killed her and her family covered it up. The theory that surrounds her mother is that when Jon Benet wet the bed after a Christmas party, Patsy go so furious with her that she pushed Jon Benet against a hard object that fractured her skull (Who Killed Jon Benet Ramsey? 8 Possible Suspects). The theory that surrounds her brother is that after coming home from a Christmas party, Burke was eating pineapple, when Jon Benet decided to have a bite. Burke got so infuriated he took the object that was close to him and hit Jon Benet in the head (The Case Of: Jon Benet Ramsey - Blunt Force Trauma). 

The second conspiracy theory that surrounds her death is that someone outside the family murdered her. One person that was a man of interest was John Mark Karr. The school teacher confessed to the murder of young Jon Benet in 2006, ten years after the murder. He explained in explicit detail about the murder and was arrested in Thailand, where he was in the run because of child pornography charges (Who Killed Jon Benet Ramsey? 8 Possible Suspects). After he confessed, he was later let go of the charges of the murder because he had no DNA at the crime scene. Others have been questioned on the murder of the young child, but were later let go because none of the evidence pointed toward them.

The last conspiracy that plagues the young child’s death is that she can still be alive to this day. Many believe that Jon Benet is Katy Perry due to their resemblance. This theory is not very believable because there is not that much evidence to show that she is Katy Perry and the two were born six years apart.

The most reasonable theory about Jon Benet is the fact that someone in her family murdered her and tried to cover it up. This is the most reasonable theory due to the evidence that surrounds the family and the suspicious actions the family did. The people that participated in my survey also agreed with my theory. Fourteen out of the twenty I surveyed also believed that the mother or the brother committed the crime. Many people believe that someone in the Ramsey family murdered Jon Benet.

Even though the murder of Jon Benet is shrouded in mystery, maybe one of these conspiracy theories about her death can reveal the truth about her murder.

The Jon Benet Ramsey murder case remains as one of the 211,000 homicides that are still unsolved (How Many Unsolved Murders Are There in the US?). The six- year old’s murder developed into three conspiracy theories:

1.         Did her family murder her and cover it up?

2.         Did someone outside the family murder her?

3.         Is she still alive and living under a different name?

Although a lot of evidence points towards the family, the murder of Jon Benet Ramsey remains unsolved to this day.





Works Cited

“The Case Of: Jon Benet Ramsey Video - The Case Of: Jon Benet Ramsey, Part 1 - CBS.com.” CBS, www.cbs.com/shows/the-case-of-jonbenet-ramsey/video/24057F14-C6CD-B5FC-5F37-36E83AF1D780/the-case-of-jonbenet-ramsey-part-1/.



How Many Unsolved Murders Are There in the U.S.? • DecodeDC.” DecodeDC, 23 July 2015, http://www.decodedc.com/how-many-unsolved-murders-are-there-in-the-u-s/.



CBS. “The Case Of: Jon Benet Ramsey - Blunt Force Trauma.” YouTube, YouTube, 18 Sept. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=72p_NjCl4pE.



CBS. “The Case Of: Jon Benet Ramsey - Never Before Heard Audio.” YouTube, YouTube, 18 Sept. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=izUi0zZFZ5M.



Lovitt, Bryn. “Who Killed Jon Benet Ramsey? 8 Possible Suspects.” Rolling Stone, 12 Oct. 2016, www.rollingstone.com/culture/lists/who-killed-jonbenet-ramsey-8-possible-suspects-w443881/the-brother-w443885.


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