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JonBenet Ramsey: New Details Revealed In 20-Year-Old Child Beauty Queen Murder Case [Video]

By Patricia Ramirez
Published on: 13:23 PST, Dec 13, 2016

It has been nearly 20 years since JonBenet Ramsey was found murdered in her family’s home in Boulder on December 26, 1996. The 6-year-old beauty pageant queen was found bludgeoned and strangled to death hours after her family claimed to have found a ransom note demanding $118,000 for JonBenet Ramsey’s safe return. According to investigator’s, the small child’s body was found bound and covered with a blanket, she was covered with wounds, her mouth duct taped and had also suffered from vaginal trauma.

According to the medical examiner, the official cause of death in the JonBenet Ramsey case was strangulation, although it is unlikely that the little girl would have survived the head trauma that is believed to have knocked her unconscious. Investigators in the case have long suspected that JonBenet’s murder scene was largely staged, and therefore they are unsure if the little girl actually suffered any sexual abuse leading up to her death. As CNN reports, ex-Boulder police chief Mark Beckner said as much in a Reddit AMA in 2015. (CNN is airing a special related to the JonBenet Ramsey murder this week.)

“The rest of the scene we believe was staged, including the vaginal trauma, to make it look like a kidnapping/assault gone bad.”

The last time she was seen alive, JonBenet Ramsey was carried up to her room by her father John Ramsey and put to bed by now-deceased mother Patsy, according to the family. The next morning, they would reportedly find the little girl gone, along with a long-disputed ransom note. In the two decades that have followed her murder, the killer of JonBenet Ramsey has never been identified, and the nation remains captivated by her story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oapf5RiQsEc

In the immediate aftermath of the disappearance of JonBenet Ramsey, her mother frantically called 911. The police immediately responded to the home, and the phone line remained open, awaiting a call related to the disputed ransom note, a call that was supposed to happen at by 10:00 a.m. the following day. The call never happened, but in the course of searching the home, JonBenet Ramsey was found battered and deceased in the basement by her father.

In the aftermath of the discovery and throughout the investigation, the focus of the police and public attention was largely focused on the parents of JonBenet Ramsey. After all, the little girl hadn’t been abducted at all. She’d been murdered. In her own home. And found by her father.

Not to mention the infamous JonBenet Ramsey ransom note – more apparent evidence of a staged crime. JonBenet’s history of beauty pageant participation (dolled up in makeup and heels) only furthered the finger-pointing at the girl’s parents.

Ultimately, while the Boulder Police Department called the parents of JonBenet Ramsey “uncooperative” (they didn’t sit down to be interviewed for months after the high-profile murder), the family has always denied any involvement in the murder of JonBenet. More importantly, neither anyone in the family nor anyone else has ever been formally charged in the 6-year-old beauty queen’s death.

Over the years, many stories of what has gone on out of the public eye have circulated. Now, a new book with new details and insights into the JonBenet Ramsey case has been released. As WPTV reports, the book is called, We Have Your Daughter, and it was written by investigative journalist Paula Woodward, who has been following the case since the start.

The book’s title was taken from the infamous JonBenet Ramsey ransom note, the note that many have speculated may have been written by Patsy Ramsey. That theory has never been proven.

In the book, the author asks some compelling questions. While finding new answers (or at least answers that are new to the public), the book never names a suspect in the murder of JonBenet Ramsey.

“Who wrote the ransom note? Why did they write it so long? What is that all about? Why is it signed S.B.T.C.? There are all the bits of misinformation we had that were fed by law enforcement that aren’t true. Like there was no forced entry into the house, yet there were 7 different ways into the house. There were the beauty pageants. There was this wealthy family, from Boulder, Colorado, seemingly very happy and then this terrible murder happens. Any piece of evidence you look at, you can take it either way. Was it the Ramseys, or an intruder?”

According to Woodward, she has engaged in “exclusive interviews” with the Ramsey family, including Patsy prior to her death from cancer. Woodward describes Patsy as “very religious,” adding that Mrs. Ramsey’s faith demanded that she forgive everyone. However, that faith didn’t go deep enough to compel Patsy to forgive the person who murdered JonBenet.

“I will never forgive who killed JonBenet. And she said I want to be alone with that person. I want to be alone with that person to find out why. But not to forgive, that won’t happen.”

Reportedly, Woodward was asked to keep her conversations with Patsy Ramsey private until after she passed away.

According to the author of We Have Your Daughter, Boulder police deliberately pointed the finger at the parents of JonBenet Ramsey, and she calls the investigation a “botched homicide case from hour one.” Woodward says she is “very pro-law enforcement,” but unable to ignore what she learned researching the case for her book.

“The police at the DA’s office deliberately leaked false stories to the media and then the media was at fault for not double checking and double checking today, and then, is just second nature – you just do it. Here’s one side, here’s the other.”

In one instance, Woodward says that Boulder police told the media that JonBenet Ramsey’s mother had never provided investigators with her DNA, but that Patsy had done so two days before police “leaked” that information to the media. She also claims that police misinformed the public about John Ramsey’s use of a private jet during the investigation.

In all, John Ramsey says that he in his wife were interviewed for roughly 150 hours by law enforcement.

In 2008, Boulder DA Mary Lacy apologized to the parents of JonBenet Ramsey, calling them “exonerated of any criminal wrongdoing in the death of their daughter,” following a DNA testing gaffe.

That decision has been lauded as incredibly controversial by many close to the investigation, and new DNA tests are reportedly on the horizon in the JonBenet case.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsUcqzZ_FSs

As CNN reports, a new movie about the murder of JonBenet Ramsey recently released on Lifetime largely speculates that JonBenet was likely murdered by her older brother, Burke, and that her parents covered up their son’s crime. Burke was 9-years-old at the time of his sister’s murder, and has filed a lawsuit pertaining to the film Who Killed JonBenet?

Burke Ramsey also appeared on The Dr. Phil Show to discuss the murder of JonBenet earlier this year. After his appearance, the media and public called out his “bizarre behavior,” including smiling when talking about the murder of his little sister. According to Dr. Phil, that behavior can be explained by Burke’s semi-reclusive lifestyle and growing up in a family under the shadow of suspicion in connection with the murder of JonBenet Ramsey.

[Featured Image by Ric Feld/AP Images]

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