Jonbenet Ramsey by Jeffery Arnaud

     

          What happened to six year old beauty pageant competitor and joyous young girl, Jonbenet Ramsey? A question that twenty years after her death, Is still being asked and investigated to this day. This beautiful young blonde girl was brutally murdered in the basement of her home on Christmas night of 1996, with a ransom note left behind on the stairs. Over the last twenty years, there has been three conspiracy theories that have evolved with logical reasoning to back up each one of these topics:

Did the parents of Jonbenet murder their own daughter?

Did brother, Burke Ramsey, who has been hidden from the media since the incident kill her as a nine year old boy?

Did an intruder break into the basement window that night, write a two and a half page ransom note, then murder Jonbenet in the basement of her home?

From what was originally reported as a kidnapping, to what turned out to be a horrific murder, still remains a mystery that is incomplete and questionable to this day.

Who was Jonbenet Ramsey? She was the life of the party. A girl with a smile on her face at all times, imitating the external traits of a young and abnormally happy celebrity in the spotlight. When you picture this girl, you picture a six year old girl, with long blonde hair, dressed up like a Barbie doll; she was skinny, beautiful, 4’7, with dazzling blue eyes (“JonBenet Ramsey Biography”).

Jonbenet Ramsey was not exactly your typical six year old girl who lived a normal life. She was raised in one of the wealthiest homes and families in the town of Boulder, Colorado, and quite frankly, always in the spotlight. She also was one of the prettiest young girls around, competing in beauty pageants all over Colorado. She was an extremely extroverted and happy young girl whose smile could light up the room in an instant. There is no doubt that Jonbenet’s time in this world came abruptly to a terrible ending all too soon.

As a six year old girl, there doesn’t happen to be a whole lot of internal conflicts that Jonbenet has. Internally, she was a playful young girl with a very unique and kind heart. There was rumors that her and her brother did not get along so well, or that he was jealous of her, surrounding the theory that he was the one that killed her. “I loved my sister, we got along well. We would play fight like on car rides and stuff,” (Dr Phil). This shows that the jealousy and hatred theory between the two family members was false. Overall, Jonbenet was a normal six year old girl on the inside, with non-conflicted and healthy relationships with the people she knew best.

Jonbenet also did not have many external conflicts throughout her six years of life. Living in a nice home, with what seems to be a nice family, and great looks, does not seem like a life to complain about. Jonbenet enjoyed her life and loved who she was and the life that she lived.

In the mysterious death of Jonbenet Ramsey, three main conspiracies evolved over time. The first conspiracy is that her parents killed her, specifically the mother, Patsy. The next, is that her brother Burke murdered her. The last conspiracy with very little support is the idea that an intruder broke in, wrote a ransom note, and then ended up murdering her and escaping out of the basement window.

The first conspiracy theory proposes that the parents of Jonbenet murdered their own daughter in the basement of their own home. There was very specific and individualized evidence supporting this theory. On December 26^th, the Boulder police department received a phone call from Patsy stating that her daughter had been kidnapped. Patsy said that as she was making her way down their twisting flight of stairs, on one of the bottom steps she found a ransom note. This ransom note stated that they had Jonbenet and if the police or anyone was contacted regarding her disappearance, that she would be killed. Later on in the note, they go on to say that if they do not withdraw $118,000 dollars to prepare to deliver to them, then Jonbenet will be harmed. Now, $118,000 dollars was not just any random amount of money, this was the exact amount of money Jonbenet’s father John had been given that year for his bonus at work. This was not the only skeptical piece within this ransom note. The notepad that it was used to write on was found at the desk of Patsy Ramsey, along with the same pen. Many people might wonder as to why an intruder would go through the trouble and risk to wander through the house for a pen and paper when they could have wrote it before they got there. It was said that this was not the only note written, and that whoever wrote it practiced another one before this, didn’t like it, and chose to restart the note. Who on earth would have that amount of time on their hands while trying or preparing to kidnap a young girl in her own home. Another strong piece of just odd evidence is that the note written was compared to a letter that Patsy had wrote a while back, and the handwriting was almost identical. These are many coincidences that occurred during this ransom note that bring into question as to whether the parents of Jonbenet murdered their own precious daughter, who they claim to love so much. Not only was the pen and paper from the ransom note used found on Patsy’s desk, but the handwriting on the note was identical to hers. The $118,000 dollars that John received that year for his bonus was not information that many people had access to, which is why when it was found in the note, it definitely raised some eyebrows regarding John and Patsy. All very skeptical pieces regarding this small piece of evidence left behind at the crime scene, leaves many curious, and many puzzled. It also no doubt, leaves the parents of Jonbenet questioned. 

            The next theory that evolved was the idea that Jonbenet’s brother, nine year old Burke Ramsey, murdered his own sister in the basement of his own home, and the parents covered up the rest to protect him. Burke Ramsey became a questionable suspect of the crime because he was hidden from the media from all of this chaos for all the rest of his childhood. Burke was never really interviewed by the media, nor did he answer any of their questions regarding the murder of his own sister for almost twenty whole years. Quite frankly, nobody knew why. “Yes, we were hiding him from the media, but no, we didn’t hide him from anybody. We protected him. We hid him. We were worried about his physical safety. We were under assault by the media, press and cameras and people we didn’t know who they were. We just didn’t want Burke recognized because he was growing up. He was not a 9-year-old boy anymore. He was 11-, 12-year-old. We wanted him to have a normal life” (John Ramsey On Rumors He and Patsy Hid Burke After JonBenét's Death). This was the response that Burke’s father, John, gave when he was asked why Burke had never been in touch with the media whatsoever.

Another skeptical detail was the fact that the morning of Jonbenet’s death, Patsy ran into Burke’s room screaming, and Burke did not bother to get out of bed. People said that Burke did not have to get up to see what was going on because he already knew that she was dead. Asked why he didn't leave his bedroom to explore what was going on, Burke responds, "I guess I kind of like to avoid conflict or, I don't know, I guess I just felt safer there ... I'm not the worried type. I guess part of me doesn't want to know what's going on" (JonBenet Ramsey’s Brother On Why He Stayed In His Bedroom After Hearing His Sister Was Missing).  This was Burke’s response when asked why he stayed in the bedroom that morning. This was just an altogether strange thing to do after your mother had just barged into your room asking where your sister is, which is why it raised eyebrows. These pieces of information are the main reasons that Burke Ramsey was questioned in the murder of Jonbenet.

            The last theory of the murder of Jonbenet is that an intruder broke in, murdered Jonbenet, then escaped. This theory points mainly to entry and exit through the basement window. “Smit successfully entered the basement by climbing through the broken window himself. He believed that a smudge on a photograph near the window could have been caused by someone sneaking in the window. (The window was open when investigators arrived at the crime scene.) Smit pointed to additional evidence — a suitcase under the window with an unidentified footprint on it, and foliage underneath a grill that was directly in front of the window, which meant that the grate had probably been moved.” This indirectly proves that an intruder was capable of entering through the broken basement window, and if he did, then he used the suitcase to boost himself back up through the window (Flynn). Although some may argue that the suitcase was put there for staging, this evidence does support the intruder theory. The other main point that points toward an intruder is that in 2008, DNA reports showed that DNA on Jonbenet was from a male, and that it was not from anyone in the Ramsey family. There is no definite proof towards the intruder theory although experts believe that if this is what happened, then the basement window was the intruders best bet.

            The family of Jonbenet Ramsey, are without a doubt, the most questioned people in the investigation of this murder. To this day, people still question the parents of Jonbenet Ramsey especially. Investigators, the media, and reporters have all attacked John and Patsy Ramsey since the day of this crime. With all of the theories and evidence, the best evidence suggests that Patsy Ramsey in particular, murdered her own daughter, Jonbenet. She and John were the only people with the kind of time on their hands to write that ransom note, with the private information inside of that. They staged any other evidence disproving them in the murder case.

            In a survey of twenty people, 80% revealed that they believed that John and Patsy were the prime suspects in this case, and killed Jonbenet. There are definitely many questions surrounding them and this theory. There needs to be more physical evidence to prove them guilty, such as maybe Patsy’s fingerprints on the pen used for the note, or John’s prints on something used to strangle and kill Jonbenet.

            Over twenty years later, everyone is still looking for an answer and more evidence to this case. This remains as one of the most mysterious cases of all time, and still remains unsolved. It looks as if this horrific case will never be solved.

            The murder case of Jonbenet Ramsey remains one of the most mysterious and questionable cases of all time. These three questions are the most explainable theories that have remained, but still haven’t been solved to this day:

1.      Did the parents of Jonbenet Ramsey murder their own daughter in the basement of her home?

2.      Did an intruder sneak in the house sometime and murder Jonbenet?

3.      Did Jonbenet’s brother, Burke Ramsey, murder his own sister?

The most explainable theory, with the most logical evidence, is the theory that Patsy and John Ramsey framed the murder of their daughter, and killed her themselves. Although there is no proof to this theory, this would have to be the most reasonable with the evidence that we do have collected over the years.

Works cited

Dr Phil. S15E1 The JonBenét Ramsey Murder Brother Burke Breaks His 20 Year Silence. Perf. Dr. Phil and Burke Ramsey. 2016. 5 Oct. 2016. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.

Flynn, Caitlin. “The Broken Window In JonBenet Ramsey's House Is Part Of The ‘Intruder Theory.’” Bustle, www.bustle.com/articles/184816-the-broken-window-in-jonbenet-ramseys-house-is-part-of-the-intruder-theory.

“JonBenet Ramsey’s Brother On Why He Stayed In His Bedroom After Hearing His Sister Was Missing | Dr. Phil.” Dr Phil, 21 Sept. 2016, www.drphil.com/videos/jonbenet-ramseys-brother-on-why-he-stayed-in-his-bedroom-after-hearing-his-sister-was-missing/.

"JonBenet Ramsey Biography." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2016.

“John Ramsey On Rumors He and Patsy Hid Burke After JonBenét's Death: ‘We Were Under Assault’ | Dr. Phil.” Dr Phil, 21 Sept. 2016, www.drphil.com/videos/john-ramsey-on-rumors-he-and-patsy-hid-burke-after-jonbenets-death-we-were-under-assault-2/.

Morabito, Andrea. "JonBenét Ramsey Series Questions Key DNA Evidence." New York Post. N.p., 12 Sept. 2016. Web. 05 Dec. 2016.