Some consider Christmas the
happiest time of the year, but for the Ramsey family it was the opposite. On
December 26th, 1996, JonBenet Ramsey was found dead in the basement
of her Colorado home. The case remains unsolved, allowing several conspiracy
theories to develop: An intruder broke in and killed her, her brother, Burke,
killed JonBenet and her parents covered it up, or the Boulder Police Department
intentionally did not solve the case for political reasons. This paper will
examine the JonBenet Ramsey case and discuss each conspiracy theory regarding
her murder with the likelihood that Burke Ramsey killed JonBenet.
JonBenet was born on August 6, 1990,
into a very powerful family. Her father was an influential business man and her
mother was a former beauty queen. She stood at 4’’7 with blonde hair hair and
blue eyes, allowing her to quickly rise to fame in the beauty industry. Many people
might ask what problems would the daughter of a prominent figure in the
community have, but much lies below the surface of the six-year-old girl. Was
pressure to follow in her mother’s footsteps and sibling rivalry to blame for
her death?
Patsy, JonBenet’s mother, was a once
distinguished beauty queen. In 1977 she held the crown of Miss West Virginia.
Patsy’s infatuation with the pageant world is what pushed her to enroll
JonBenet in the competitions as well. It is clear that Patsy has tried to
relive her “glory” days through JonBenet, which can be seen through “the countless photos and home videos…
of JonBenet participating in different beauty pageants over the course of her
young life” (Bobic).
Some
might ask what internal conflicts a six-year-old might experience, but JonBenet
clearly felt pressured by her mother to go into pageantry and live up to her
“glory.” This caused JonBenet to blindly obey people who have dominance over
her, which backs up every conspiracy theory as to why she was murdered.
All
siblings argue, but there was something different in the relationship between
JonBenet and her brother, Burke. Burke Ramsey had anger problems which often
led to violent outburst. A family friend once reported that Burke lost his
temper and “hit JonBenet in tha face with a golf club” (Jensen). JonBenet
encountered an external conflict everyday of her life as her brother could lose
his temper at any time and physically abuse her. This external conflict did not
stop JonBenet from playing with her brother though, which can be proved through
the second conspiracy theory that Burke killed JonBenet during an outburst of
anger.
JonBenet’s
internal and external conflicts led to her being easily influenced and put her
in danger everyday, these results support the conspiracy theory that Burke
killed his sister. What might have happened is Burke told JonBenet to come
downstairs late at night to play with him, which she would have agreed because
she would have been quickly influenced by Burke. Then while playing Burke got
upset and hit JonBenet too hard, resulting in her death. The life of a beauty
queen contestant and sibling rivalry may have been the cause of the six-year
olds death.
In the unsolved case of JonBenet
Ramsey, three conspiracy theories are present. One suggests that an intruder
broke into her home and killed her, while the others involve a much larger
mapped out plan. Regardless, the case has too much evidence and not enough
explanations.
The first conspiracy theory revolves
around an intruder breaking into the Ramsey house early the morning of December
26th. There is a lot of hard evidence to support this theory
including a two and a half-page ransom note, unknown male DNA, a broken
basement window with shoes scuff marks on the wall beneath it and a suitcase
underneath propped against the same wall. Patsy Ramsey reported that she found
a ransom note on the staircase inside her home. The note, addressed to John
Ramsey, was supposedly from “a small foreign faction” (“Text of 1996 JonBenet
ransom note”) who called itself S.B.T.C. The note stipulated $118,000 for the
intact return of JonBenet. During the investigation of the case, DNA evidence
was found in JonBenet’s underwear that she was wearing at the time of her
death. The DNA was tested and found to be “from an unidentified man and did not
match anyone in the Ramsey family” (“DNA clears JonBenet’s family, points to
mystery killer”). Lou Smit, a private
investigator, was an immense proponent for this “intruder theory,” he believed
that someone could have entered through the broken window, which was a tight
fit, accounting for the necessary scuff on the wall. The suitcase found
underneath the window had “an unidentified footprint on it,” Smit believed that
the suitcase was part of the overall plan to get JonBenet’s body out of the
house (Lovitt). Although there is a great deal of evidence that supports the
intruder theory, there are also many holes in it. The void in the ransom note
will be explained in the next theory. CBS produced a documentary, where several
experts tested a pair of underwear identical to those JonBenet wore the night
of her death. The entire team of experts wore gloves so that the underwear was
never touched by anyone since being manufactured, yet there was still unknown
DNA found on the underwear. This proves that the DNA found on JonBenet’s
underwear cannot necessarily clear the Ramsey family. The broken window which
was explained to be broken at the time of the crime, was actually broken by
John Ramsey before that night (Flynn). The window actually grew cob webs around
the corner which, according to the CBS documentary, would not have been intact
if someone came in through the window, due to the size and necessary angle of
entry. A grown person would have destroyed the cobwebs when entering the house.
These holes in the intruder theory provide evidence that contradicts the claim
that an unknown person broke in and killed JonBenet.
The second conspiracy theory is that
JonBenet’s brother, Burke, killed her and their parents covered it up. During
his interview with the police, Burke “showed no
visible worry or trauma about his sister’s death” and he also “demonstrated how
his sister was murdered” (Bradley), by blunt force trauma, which the police did
not release yet (up until this time they claimed JonBenet’s murder was due to
strangulation). In his interview, Burke did not seem shaken when the
investigator brought up his sister’s killer coming back, instead he replied
“I’m basically just going on with my life” (Brodskey). Burke’s proven violence
against his sister (like when he hit her in the head with a golf club) and his
possibility of jealousy against his sister makes the possibility that he killed
more plausible. A former friend of the Ramsey family told investigators that
“Burke had seemed jealous of all the attention his little sister was receiving”
(Bradley). Before calling 911, Patsy Ramsey claimed to finding a ransom note on
the stairs. This note is very odd especially regarding the length (two and a
half-pages), the statements in it, the sheet of paper itself, but the oddest
part of the letter is how closely the handwriting matches Patsy’s. Donald
Foster, a textual analyst, was called in to help analyze the note for Boulder
District Attorney’s office. Foster “identified the writer of the note as Patsy
Ramsey” (Lewis). The ransom note also
was proven to be written on a piece of paper from a notebook in the Ramsey’s
house. Adding on to the already odd note, the letter asks for $118,000, a very
specific amount. The amount seems low, normally the money asked for in a ransom
case is high, for example in 2012 the average ransom demand was $12 million
(“Kidnap and Ransom”). The already oddly specific amount of $118,000 matches
John Ramsey’s bonus that year. There were also many lines from movies
including, “Don’t try to grow a brain” (Prendergast), which was a line in the
popular movie Speed, that came out just two years earlier. The night of the
crime, Patsy, JonBenet’s mother, called 911 to report her daughter missing. The
911 operator, Kim Archuleta, later came forward with suspicions regarding the
phone call. Patsy was agitated during the beginning of the phone call, but
during the second part, when Patsy believed she hung up, there was a sudden
change of tone. Archuleta claimed to hearing three voices, “a male voice and
another person speaking. So three voices, including Patsy” (Luperon). That
night, the Ramsey’s said they’re were only three people in the house: Patsy,
John, and Burke. Although, JonBenet’s parents and Burke claimed that Burke was
sleeping until the police arrived. In “The Case of JonBenet Ramsey” put on by
CBS, experts used audio enhancing technology to decipher the noise in the
second half of the 911 call. The team heard a man say “We’re not speaking to
you,” which they believe to be John Ramsey. They believe the tone seemed
directed toward a child, who would be Burke. They then heard a women’s voice
say, “What did you do? Help me, Jesus,” believed to be Patsy Ramsey, again
addressed towards a child. The final voice they heard was softer, seemingly
child-like “What did you find?” which they concluded to be Burke Ramsey. This audio
contradicts the story the Ramsey’s told to the police, which was that Burke was
asleep in his room throughout the night. JonBenet’s cause of death was a result
of blunt force trauma to the head and strangulation. Her trauma to the head
included a fracutured skull and brain bleed. The CBS documentary “The Case of :
JonBenet Ramsey” did an experiment to determine whether a nine-year old could
have the force to break the skull of a small child. This experiment was tested
to be true, allowing Burke Ramsey to be his sister’s murderer. The
strangulation happened “forty-five to two hours” later, which would be unlikely
if the intruder theory was true (Wire). Instead this piece of evidence points
towards Burke Ramsey hitting JonBenet in the head and John and Patsy strangling
JonBenet later to make it seem like a kidnapping gone wrong. The odd behavior
of Burke along with the lies and cover-ups made by JonBenet’s parents seem to
incriminate Burke as his sister’s murder.
The third
conspiracy theory of the JonBenet case is that the Boulder Police Department
intentionally did not solve the case for political reasons. This can be proven
when considering how the police department handled the case. The police allowed
family friends of the Ramsey into the house and all around the house. Mark
Beckner, the police chief at the time of the murder, has said that
“unauthorized individuals were allowed to move about the crime scene while the
investigation was in progress” (Wire). He has also said that the Ramsey’s
“position in the community may have had something to do with the decisions that
day” (Wire). One of the worst “decisions that day” was letting John Ramsey
search his house, leading to him finding the body of JonBenet and moving it,
severely compromising the crime scene. This conspiracy theory may also go along
with the theory that Burke murdered his sister, because if the Ramsey’s truly
did cover up the crime they would have an even larger initiative to use their
influence to derail the case.
Why does Burke
Ramsey prevail as JonBenet’s killer? Because of the lies told by the Ramsey
family to investigators. The lies began with the 911 call and just continued
from the ransom note to claiming that Burke was asleep throughout the night.
The main question that is left from this investigation is why? Answering this
question starts with explaining why Burke was up that night. Burke was
downstairs awake eating pineapples and milk, that Patsy had served to him, due
to evidence that Patsy’s fingerprints were on the bowl of pineapple (Harris).
JonBenet after wetting her bed (Thomas) came downstairs because she heard Burke
and Patsy in the kitchen. She then stole a piece of pineapple from Burke’s bowl
(she had pineapple in her digestive track (Harris)), sparking his anger. She then
ran out of the kitchen with Burke following behind, on his way out he grabbed a
flashlight on the counter (the flashlight was later found back on the counter
with wiped fingerprints (Harris)). When JonBenet reached the basement, Burke
finally caught up and hit her in the head with the flashlight, accounting for
the crack in her skull that did not break the skin. From there is when the
Ramsey’s covered up the accidental murder. They did this because they could not
risk losing another child.
The survey I conducted
revealed that 60% of people agreed that the most likely scenario was that Burke
Ramsey killed his sister and their parents covered it up. There is a lot of
evidence that proves this is true, but there are also some loose ends. Such as
the unknown male DNA on JonBennet’s underwear and if JonBennet’s death was an
accident, why did her parents make the cover up so brutal by strangling her?
These unanswered questions are what caused the JonBennet case to never be
solved.
The day after Christmas is when
JonBenet Ramsey was found dead in the basement of her home. The death of the
six-year old beauty queen caused several conspiracies to develop: An intruder
broke in and killed her, her brother, Burke, killed JonBenet and her parents
covered it up, or the Boulder Police Department intentionally did not solve the
case for political reasons. Although a substantial amount of evidence points
toward Burke accidently killing his sister, there are still many questions left
that cause the case to remain unsolved.
Works
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