On the day after Christmas, 1996, Jon Benet’s parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, awoke to the frightening realization that their daughter was missing and the only clue to her whereabouts was a strange ransom note (“JonBenet Ramsey: the unsolved murder that haunts America”). The beauty queen was only six years old when she was found on her parent’s basement floor raped, mutilated, and murdered that very afternoon. The case has remained unsolved for twenty years, with many people questioning whether or not the ransom note, and all of the strange evidence given, is true. What happened to Jon Benet Ramsey?
1.) Did John and Patsy Benet kill Jon Benet?
2.) Did her brother, Burke Ramsey, kill his own sister?
3.) Did someone break into their home to snatch and kill Jon Benet?
Let’s examine the death of Jon Benet Ramsey and the conspiracy surrounding her death, and the likelihood that she was killed by her own brother, Burke Ramsey.
Who was Jon Benet Ramsey? Picture a pageant queen mixed in with an all American girl: beautiful, round face, 4’7, sixty-six pounds, round blue eyes, and long blond hair (“JonBenet Ramsey”). She was every mothers dream, glittering in gleaming dresses, beautiful, talented, and outgoing. Jon Benet loved to be center stage where the spot light was and won many pageants within her short time on earth. Every aspect of her life said Jon Benet was an all American girl living a perfectly ordinarily flawless life.
Jon Benet who seemed excited to be participating in the pageants, was every mother and father’s dream. Yet, the pressure put onto her by her mother, former Miss West Virginia 1977, and internal conflict to do well for her mother’s sake caused her to act out (Reed). She began to crumble under the intense pressure of competing while trying to cope with the work load of the pageants her mother was forcing her to participate in. Under the scrutiny of her mom, she began to act out, messing with her brother, throwing tantrums, and causing all sorts of trouble from being exhausted of her mother trying to relive out her golden years through Jon Benet (Reed). Her tantrums were, unfortunately, aimed at the wrong people, when her life came abruptly to a halt.
Jon Benet began to experience external conflict between what she wanted to do and what she was forced to do. A study into pageant life finds “For most pageants, children can begin participating basically as soon as they can sit up by themselves, so it is the parents, and most often the mothers, who force their kids into the pageant world” (Lindsey). Traveling all over the United States and competing was draining to the little six year old, who only wanted to be like every other kid her age and play in the sandbox. She was tired from all the traveling and dearly missed her home with her brother and father, so in hopes of coming home she expressed her desire to stop only to be shut down. Although the mother says the pageants never contributed to her daughter’s gruesome murder, her father regrets ever letting her join for fear that it did. He firmly believes that having his child in the public eye may have been the reason for his daughter’s death (Chang). 
When talking about the little beauty queen, LaDonna Griego, a director of the Colorado program for the All Star Kids organization, said “she was a natural,” (Gleick). To the directors and board members, it seemed like all was normal, that the little girl was happy and truly joyous to be center stage. But, then, there were industry insiders who believed on Benet was being groomed for bigger and better things such as “talk-show appearances, modeling gigs, commercials, even television sitcom and movie roles,” (1). Jon Benet was interested in these pageants just for the fun of competing; taking advice from her mother to do the very best that she can, while backstage there was a pressure to succeed so that way she would have more opportunity to be in the limelight.
There was nothing extraordinary about Jon Benet; she was simply a six year old girl who was involved in pageants. She came from wealthy and respected background with parents who adored her immensely and an older brother who watched her preform. She was an ordinary girl living the all American dream with her family, yet she was found on the basement floor murdered, mutilated, and with signs of sexual assault. Every aspect of her life screamed normalcy, yet a tragedy struck the family where they stood.
1.) Patsy and John killed Jon Benet
2.) Her brother Burke Ramsey killed his own sister
3.) Someone broke into the Ramsey household, snatched and killed Jon Benet
The first conspiracy purposes that John and Patsy killed their own daughter. News stations claim (Walsh) it is entirely possible that the supposed kidnapping was staged by the parents in an effort to cover up the murder they committed. Jon Benet was found raped and beaten on the basement floor and that John took what he wanted from the little girl and then killed her before she could tell. What first raised suspicions on the Ramsey’s was the location of the body. She was found in the basement of her own home and according to the Assistant District Attorney “It was very unusual for a kidnap victim’s body to be found at home — it’s not adding up,” (“Four Pieces of Evidence in the JonBenét Ramsey Case That Just Don’t Fit.”). It shocked most police as the body of a kidnapped victim is usually found far away from home, and if that didn’t raise suspicions then the mysterious ransom note did. First the ransom note was strange not only because it was nearly three pages long but another abnormally strange thing was the amount of money requested. $118,000.00 dollars was asked of the Ramsey’s; coincidently this is the exact amount John Ramsey received as a bonus from work. The kidnapper was either close enough to the family to know about the bonus, or doing an awfully good job at a frame job.
The second conspiracy theory is that Burke Ramsey killed his sister and then his parents helped covered it up. Throughout the twenty year investigation, the Ramsey’s story has changed, mostly in the way they perceive Burke. Their story has never been solid, but the detail mostly left unaccountable was where Burke was during this grizzly murder.
Why does Burke Ramsey remain under the scrutiny of the public eye? That’s because all of the evidence points to him being the most likely culprit to the murder. He has refused to talk to anyone regarding the murder of his sister for the past twenty years until recently, and when he finally comes forward everything about him seems off. He was stiff and smiling throughout the entire conversation and not really providing much information leading up to Jon Benet’s death (“I know people think I did it”). Then there is the suspicious 911 phone call made by Patsy Ramsey. When she believed she had hung up the phone there was six seconds of recorded tape which analogists have been able to decipher with new technology. It is a man speaking to a child saying “we’re not speaking to you,” it is suggested that it was John talking to Burke. This entire conversation is enough to put holes in the Ramsey’s story; they said that Burke was asleep until the police arrived which is obviously not the case. Another key piece of evidence was on Jon Benet’s corpse. What cops first believed to be taser was later found to actually be the end of a train track set, the exact set that Burke had in his bedroom. His behavior seemed odd to police, and the changing of the Ramsey’s story was enough to put him under deep suspicion.
The last conspiracy theory is that family friend, Bill McReynolds, who played Santa kidnapped, raped and killed Jon Benet then brought her body back to the basement to be discovered by the Ramsey’s later that evening. Though no evidence has come to light a neighbor reported a man like figure leaving the house. There were no footprints in the snow to indicate anyone was there or left, and the conspiracy theory mostly generates from how much attention “Santa” showed the six year old girl. McReynolds was reported giving Jon Benet a card saying “You will receive a special gift after Christmas,” (Kaye). Trip DeMuth was the original prosecutors on the case "Statements like that led me to have some sort of suspicion: What was going on between Santa Bill and JonBenet? Again, he is an individual who was involved with her, had an interest in her, was seen with her, shortly before the murder," DeMuth said (Kaye).
A survey of twenty people revealed 90% agree that the most likely scenario is that Burke Ramsey murdered his sister and that his parents, Patsy and John Ramsey, helped cover it up. Too much information points to the guilt of burke Ramsey yet these are to insufficient to be seen in court. The entire Ramsey family was cleared from investigation in 2003 due to insufficient evidence, but there are still to many coincidences regarding Burke to be ignored. Hopefully, one day soon, Burke will confess on what really happened on that faithful day, but for now he is still free to roam freely.
Jon bennet Ramsey is one of millions of cases that have gone cold, weathered down with time that we may never solve. The gruesome murder developed three conspiracy theories over the twenty years:
1.) Did John and Patsy Benet kill Jon Benet?
2.) Did her brother, Burke Ramsey, kill his own sister?
3.) Did someone break into their home to snatch and kill Jon Benet?
Even though all of the evidence points to Burke Ramsey, the murder still remains unsolved and no conviction has taken place. 
Work cited
Chang, Juju. “JonBenet Ramsey's Father Regrets Letting Her in Pageants, Says 'Toddlers and Tiaras' Is 'Bizarre'.” ABC News, ABC News Network, 13 Mar. 2012, http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/03/jonbenet-ramseys-father-regrets-letting-her-in-pageants-says-toddlers-and-tiaras-is-bizarre/.
Gleick, Elizabeth. “PLAYING AT PAGEANTS.” Time, Time Inc., 24 June 2001, http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101970120-137165,00.html.
JonBenet Ramsey.” Ageeyehaircolor, AgeEyeHairColor, http://www.ageeyehaircolor.com/jon- benet-ramsey/.
Kaye, Randi. “Did Santa Claus Kill JonBenet?” CNN, Cable News Network, www.cnn.com/cnn/programs/anderson.cooper.360/blog/2006/08/did-santa-claus-kill-jonbenet.html.
Lindsey, Claire.. “The Ugly Truth to Child Beauty Pageants.” Uloop, Uloop Inc, March 13, 2013, http://calpoly.uloop.com/news/view.php/75660/the-ugly-truth-to-child-beauty-pageants.
Reed, Christopher. “Obituary: Patsy Ramsey.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 27 June 2006, https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/jun/27/guardianobituaries.usa.
Reporters, Dailymail.com. “'I Know People Think I Did It': JonBenet Ramsey's Brother Gives His First Ever Interview to Dr. Phil on the 20th Anniversary of the Six-Year-Old Beauty Queen's Death.” Mail Online, Associated Newspapers, 30 Aug. 2016, www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-
Walsh, David. “World Socialist Web Site.” Rush to Judgment in the JonBenet Ramsey Case - World Socialist Web Site, International Committee of the Fourth International , www.wsws.org/en/articles/2006/08/rams-a19.html.
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