Exclusive
BEAUTY QUEEN MYSTERY
JonBenét Ramsey’s brother slams police ‘mistakes’ in six-year-old’s ‘murder’ probe & wants ‘unbiased’ investigator
LAW enforcement's past sins that have thwarted justice for JonBenét Ramsey can't be repeated today, her half-brother said.
The six-year-old beauty pageant queen was found dead in the basement of her family's Boulder, Colorado, home on December 26, 1996, but her family hasn't given up their pursuit to find the killer.
6
6
6
John Andrew Ramsey - JonBenét's half-brother - told The Sun the "best chance" to solve one of America's most unsettling cold cases is "today" if the governor takes the case from Boulder police.
Boulder police has been the lead investigative agency since the beginning; minus a brief period of time when the town's district attorney headed the case.
An with thousands of signatures pleads with Gov. Jared Polis to hand JonBenét's murder case over to an outside law enforcement agency and use the latest DNA technology.
"This case garners a lot of emotion," John Andrew said, "and there's value to having an unbiased, outside investigator with fresh eyes and fresh perspective and no baggage to come in and look at this case.
READ MORE ON JONBENET RAMSEY
"The lead investigator is someone who was at the house in 1996. That's not a positive for this case."
Boulder police said in a general statement Sunday - shortly after news broke of the online petition - that detectives met with federal, state and local agencies and consulted "with DNA experts from around the country" as recently as March.
When asked by The Sun about new tips and if they're credible, a spokesperson texted, "We can't about any details related to tips and the ongoing investigation.
"At this time we are not doing any media interviews. We are letting the press release speak for itself."
Most read in The Sun
Boulder police has historically held onto the case with a vice grip, which prompted the Ramsey family to petition the governor.
"The focus is making sure the same mistakes that were made in '96 won't be made today," John Andrew said.
"Early on, Boulder police refused help from the Denver police and the FBI," he said. "There are outside agencies and DNA labs willing to help. The same mistakes can't be repeated."
Polis' office said in an emailed statement on Monday, that they will review the petition and "look into how the state can assist in using new technology to further investigate this cold case and to identify JonBenet Ramsey's killer and bring him or her to justice."
'ENCOURAGING' PART OF BOULDER PD'S RESPONSE
Boulder police's statement included an "encouraging" shift from December 2021, when The Sun reported Boulder police didn't contact top crime genealogists or Othram, a cutting-edge genealogy lab built to solve cold cases.
"The Boulder Police Department is aware of the recent request involving the homicide investigation of JonBenet Ramsey and wants the community to know that it has never wavered in its pursuit to bring justice to everyone affected by the murder of this little girl," the department said in the statement.
Since December 1996, the town police department said detectives followed up on more than 21,016 tips, letters and emails and travelled to 19 states to interview or speak with more than 1,000 people.
"Multiple suspects have been run through the system to check for matches due the huge advances in DNA technology," Boulder police said.
"As of this past December, CBI (Colorado Bureau of Investigation) has updated over 750 reference samples with the latest DNA technology."
Anyone with information related to this investigation is asked to contact Boulder police tip line at 303-441-1974, [email protected] or Northern Colorado Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or .
THE CASE OF DEAD ENDS
John Andrew told The Sun in an exclusive interview in December that his half sister was killed to fulfill a "fantasy."
The unsolved murder has hung over the entire country like a bad odor ever since the young girl's death was ruled a homicide.
Nearly everyone in her family was immediately thought of as suspects by police.
A grand jury voted in 1999 to charge John and Patsy Ramsey with child abuse resulting in the first-degree murder of their daughter – but the district attorney refused to sign the indictment.
Then came the false confessions and dead ends.
In 2000, a magazine cutout of JonBenét was found in the backpack of local Gary Oliva as he was apprehended on drug charges.
Oliva was a known sex offender in the area at the time of JonBenét's death, but he was was released.
In 2016, he was arrested again on child abuse charges and is currently serving a ten-year sentence.
On January 10, 2019, it was reported that he had claimed he killed JonBenét in a series of letters to a former high school classmate.
Oliva wrote in his letter, seen by from a Colorado prison: “I never loved anyone like I did JonBenét and yet I let her slip and her head bashed in half and I watched her die. It was an accident.”
Cops have cleared Oliva using DNA, however.
Another potential suspect killed himself just two days after a 1997 press conference said that cops were narrowing in on a new name.
Electrician Michael Helgoth had reportedly been in a property dispute with the Ramseys, but was also cleared by DNA.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Read More On The Sun
Another suspect - John Mark Karr, a former school teacher - also falsely confessed to killing JonBenét in 2006.
He was written off as a pedophile searching for fame after officials failed to verify he was ever in Boulder.
6
6
6
We pay for your stories!
Do you have a story for The US Sun team?
Email us at [email protected] or call 212 416 4552.
Like us on Facebook at and follow us from our main Twitter account at
Topics