The father of murdered beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey has revealed how he has spent his life trying to protect his surviving son from reading the allegations made against the family in the aftermath of her death.
John Ramsey has shared what his life has been like living in the shadow of the unsolved case after the six-year-old’s body was discovered in the basement of the family’s home in Boulder, Colorado on December 26, 1996.
Reported missing just eight hours earlier, the child had been struck on the head and strangled. Police believe the crime scene was then staged to look like a kidnapping gone awry.
Family members have, at various stages of the investigation, been accused of involvement; Police once followed the line that JonBenét’s late mother Patricia Ramsey murdered her daughter in a fit of rage after she wet the bed, suggesting that a ransom note found in the home was written by her (according to a Colorado Bureau of Investigation report, they couldn’t prove it) while others suggested the couple’s son Burke, who was nine-years-old at the time of the murder, was the culprit.
Male DNA was discovered on JonBenét’s underwear, but was never matched to a suspect.
In 2008 – two years after Patsy Ramsey died of ovarian cancer – the family were (controversially) cleared of any wrongdoing.
Later on, in January, 2013, however, a grand jury found sufficient evidence to indict the parents in 1999 on charges of child abuse resulting in death. Alex Hunter, the District Attorney, refused to sign the indictment, saying that the evidence was insufficient
Speaking to US journalist Barbara Walters as part of an interview for the television show Barbara Walters Presents American Scandals, John Ramsey spoke about what it was like to protect Burke (now 28) as tabloids churned out horrific tales accusing him of murdering his sister, John said:
‘We tried to shield him from that,’
‘Friends would ask us, “What can we do to help?” We said, “Next time you go in the supermarket, call the manager over when you see our child’s photo on the front cover, and ask him to remove it.” A lot of them did that.’
Nineteen years after the crime that shocked the world, John still believes the person responsible will be found. He told Walters:
‘It will either be a DNA match or someone who knows something will become angry or bitter against this person and will tell.’ he added.
JonBenét Ramsey would have turned 25 this year. Here is a clip from the interview:
https://vimeo.com/144887988
