Recent developments in their favor - a federal judge declaring that the evidence points to an intruder, not to the parents, and District Attorney Mary Keenan's endorsement of the intruder theory - should be changing many minds. But I continue to get e-mails, letters and calls from readers who refuse to accept any information that doesn't hang the Ramseys.

I've been watching the JonBenet investigation for 6 1/2 years, and am dumbfounded by the amount of damaging misinformation against the Ramseys that is still being treated as fact. And little wonder, considering that Boulder police strategically and shamelessly either leaked much of it or left it uncorrected. They hoped that public contempt would cause the Ramseys to break down and confess.

Indeed, that might have worked if John and Patsy were the killers. Boulder police tried to prove, first, that John killed JonBenet, then - when that failed - that Patsy did it and John helped cover it up. Because police didn't have the evidence to make their case, they deliberately used lies and misinformation to sway the court of public opinion.

So let's begin setting the record straight, starting with the bed-wetting presumption. Boulder police couldn't find a motive for parents with no violent behavior in their background to kill their child in such a horribly vicious way. At first, they focused on the father, because JonBenet had been sexually assaulted. When that theory fell apart, others were espoused:

Misinformation: JonBenet wet the bed, sending her exasperated mother into a homicidal rage.

Truth: There is no evidence that she wet the bed that night. None of the officers called to the home in the early morning reported finding the sheets either wet or damp. JonBenet's underwear, however, revealed heavy urine saturation. Therefore, it's more logical to conclude that either the sexual assault or the strangulation, both of which occurred in a basement storeroom, provoked the urination.

Misinformation: The body was wrapped in JonBenet's favorite blanket. How would an intruder know that?

Truth: The blanket was a regular blanket that had been placed over her by the killer. It was not a child's security "blankey."

Misinformation: The foreign DNA found in JonBenet's panties is meaningless because it probably came from a worker who coughed or spat into them in the handling process.

Truth: The DNA remains the best piece of evidence. There is little doubt that the DNA, mixed with the blood in the underwear, is the killer's. Boulder police put such a high value on it that they discarded suspect after suspect when DNA matches didn't occur. They refused to discard John and Patsy as suspects, however, even though the DNA matched neither of them.

I believe the main reason the grand jury didn't indict the Ramseys in 1999 is because the foreign DNA wasn't theirs. That's how important this piece of evidence is.

Misinformation: It's obvious the Ramseys did it because all the materials used to torture and kill JonBenet came from their house.

Truth: Most of the materials were brought in to the home. These included a stun gun used to silence JonBenet when she was taken from her bed (the use of the stun gun, incidentally, is an incredible clue that Boulder police chose to ignore), the cord to bind her hands and to use as a ligature to strangle her, and the duct tape to place over her mouth during the sexual assault and strangulation. A paint brush handle used as part of the ligature and the pad and pen used to write the ransom note came from the house.

Misinformation: Patsy's first call after finding the ransom note was to a neighbor or friend, not to police. A truly hysterical mother would call the police immediately.

Truth: No evidence shows that to be the case and no one has come forward claiming to have been called before 911.

Misinformation: The parents lied when they said that Burke (JonBenet's 9-year-old brother) was asleep that morning; he could be heard in the background when Patsy made the 911 call.

Truth: The parents later learned from Burke's grand jury testimony that he had been awakened by his mother's screams but faked being asleep. Until then, they thought he had been asleep. Burke, however, did not get out of bed. (About the tape: Neither experts from the FBI nor the Secret Service could hear anything in the background, let alone Burke's voice. I have listened to the tape, and all I could hear was a very, very hysterical mother sobbing to a 911 dispatcher that her child had been kidnapped. I doubt that any fair-minded person would consider Patsy guilty after hearing the bone-chilling tape. Patsy's panicked cry for help is as real as it gets.)

Misinformation: The Ramseys refused to cooperate with the investigation, something parents would do if they were innocent.

Truth: You be the judge. Police were with the Ramseys 24 hours a day, from 6 a.m. of the day the body was found (Dec. 26) to 2 p.m. Dec. 29, writing down everything they did and said. Police questioned them both on Dec. 27 and John again on Dec. 28. During this critical period of time, police officers said, "The Ramseys have been more than cooperative." Very early in the investigation, John and Patsy agreed to give blood and hair samples, offered to allow searches of both their homes, agreed to answer any questions put to them either in joint or separate interrogations and consented to giving hours of handwriting samples.

Up until January 1998, John wrote many letters to authorities regarding possible leads. He also provided information about his past, which involved an affair in a previous marriage and information about where to find the woman. The Ramseys' personal investigators also turned over many possible leads to police and the DA's office. The parents signed more than 100 release forms allowing police to view personal medical and financial records, even the movies they rented from Blockbuster. The claim that the Ramseys refused to cooperate was probably the police department's biggest lie.

Will the killer ever be found? Sadly, unless a match can be made with the foreign DNA, the case probably never will be solved. But that doesn't mean the court of public opinion - which has been terribly cruel to the Ramseys for far too long - can't come to face the truth and say, "Your Honor, we find the parents innocent."

Information for this column was verified for accuracy by several reliable sources who have been involved in the investigation at various times. Barrie Hartman ([email protected]) ) is a retired Boulder newspaper editor living in nearby Louisville.

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Many Drawn To JonBenet's Grave
Tokens Left Behind On Gravestone As Anniversary Nears
POSTED: 7:02 a.m. MST December 18, 2001

There are various reasons why people visit the grave of JonBenet Ramsey five years after her death.
Some were deeply moved by the murder of the 6-year-old beauty queen at her home in Boulder, Colo., on Dec. 26, 1996.
For others, it's simply morbid curiosity that draws them to the St. James' Episcopal Church Cemetery north of Atlanta.
Still others leave behind tokens in an attempt to express their feelings for the child, whose death remains a mystery.
Along with the stuffed animals, notes, toys and other mementoes, one Easter someone placed a large pinwheel with a plastic duck on the grave, said Marcia Copassaki, an administrative assistant at the church.
The gravestone is now decorated with a whimsical angel and a small ceramic baby shoe filled with artificial red and blue flowers. The branches of a dogwood tree next to the gravesite are weighted with windchimes, crosses and angels.
Recent visitors have left two American flags and a small plastic Halloween pumpkin.
Evans said the church staff is used to the routine maintenance of the grave.
"We do lock the cemetery at night, but we don't mind visitors," she said. "But JonBenet's not the only one buried there. The other graves need to be respected, too."
A woman from Chicago came several years ago with prayer cards from churches in her community, and a homeless man spent his mornings for several months sitting on a stone bench next to the grave, Evans said. He told her that JonBenet was watching after him and he was watching after her.
Some of the items collected by the church are sent to JonBenet's parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, while others deemed in good shape go to the church thrift shop.
The Ramseys lived in metro Atlanta before moving to Boulder and have returned since the murder.
Under an overcast sky Monday morning, Patsy Ramsey stood in the cemetery, holding a small stone someone had left at the grave with the handwritten words, "God bless the sweet heart of JonBenet Ramsey." The stone was dated July 1, 2001.
Ramsey, accompanied by five family members and friends, was wearing bright yellow garden clogs. She planted pansies and hung ornaments on a tree nearby. The women also brought a broom and rake to clean around the grave.
Before leaving, the six women prayed quietly. On her way out of the parking lot, Ramsey rolled down the window of her car and said she was glad her daughter is still remembered.
The Ramsey family plot is much like the nearby gravesites of Marietta's founding families -- many dating back more than 100 years.
The Ramseys have 12 plots in St. James' cemetery. A garden with a trellis, bench and flowers takes up a portion of the burial sites. JonBenet's half-sister, Elizabeth, who died in 1992, is buried next to her, and a grandmother is also buried there.
Boulder, Colo., police never made an arrest in her brutal murder. The case remains an open, active investigation, with up to four detectives working on the case on an as-needed basis. The work includes following up on tips received, reviewing the case file, occasional laboratory analysis, and keeping current on new forensic technologies that may assist the case, police said.
"Any homicide, but particularly the death of a small child, has a tremendous impact on the community," said Mark Beckner, Boulder police chief. "We know that there are some cases we will never bring to a resolution. We also know that there are some cases we solve many years after the crime. We will never give up hope for finding justice in this case."

Linda Mcconnell © Rocky Mountain $1.6 former Ramsey home.

By Charlie Brennan, Rocky Mountain News
May 24, 2003

< font size=4>BOULDER - A house with four stories and a tale to tell is on the market again.
It used to be 755 15th St. Now it's 749 15th St., its address legally changed two years ago to lessen its notoriety.
Once, it was the home of JonBenet Ramsey - until she was killed there, found beaten and strangled in the basement on the afternoon of Dec. 26, 1996.
Now, the five-bedroom, seven-bath showplace with a Tudor facade can be had for $1.6 million.
Joel Ripmaster, the Coldwell Banker/Colorado Landmark Realtor who is marketing the residence, could not be reached for comment.
But the agent's Web site advertises the 7,718-square-foot home for sale at $1,599,950.
Features include a formal dining room, a chef's kitchen with butler's pantry, a library-study, hardwood floors, bay windows and a finished basement.
Other attractions include a master suite that occupies the entire fourth story, his and hers dressing areas, and bathrooms highlighted by hot-water towel racks, plus marble and granite detailing.
The site makes no mention of the home's sad past.
Patricia Limerick, a noted University of Colorado history professor who lives across the street, confirmed that a "For Sale" sign has been up for days.
Limerick said the traffic of the curious, cruising past to look at Boulder's most notorious home, has dwindled in recent years.
But it hasn't stopped completely.
"People visiting me will say, 'My goodness, people sure do slow down there,' " Limerick said.
"I think it's creepy. I understand that it happens all over. I know that it happens at the (O.J.) Simpson site" in the Los Angeles suburb of Brentwood. "But what is it that they're hoping to get? I don't know the answer to that."
The Ramseys bought the home, situated on a half-acre plot near the University of Colorado campus, for $500,000 in 1991.
The front half of the house was built in 1927, and a substantial addition was later built onto the back. The Ramseys spent $700,000 on renovations that included the rear spiral staircase on which Patsy Ramsey said she found the 2 ½-page ransom note demanding $118,000 for her youngest child's safe return. The child beauty queen was found in a little-used basement room about seven hours after her mother called police to report that JonBenet, 6, had been kidnapped.
The crime has never been solved. In the summer of 1997, JonBenet's parents and older brother moved back to Atlanta, where they had previously resided.
The Ramseys didn't spend another night in the 15th Street home after their daughter's death.
A private corporation made up of the Ramseys' friends purchased the home from them in February 1998 for $650,000 and held it as a rental property.
Tenants planted several large trees in the front yard and erected a fence to discourage those wanting a glimpse of the landmark with a macabre history.
Its most recent resident was E.J. "Doc" Kreis, who was fired as the strength and conditioning coach for the University of Colorado football team.
The small basement room where JonBenet's body was found has been walled off and is no longer accessible.

Article Published: Sunday, May 04, 2003 - 12:00:00 AM MST
barrie hartman

It's time to support Ramseys
By Barrie Hartman, Special to the Denver Post
What will it take for John and Patsy Ramsey to ever get a break from the hometown folks? Three remarkable developments pointing to their innocence occurred recently in the 6 1/2-year investigation into the torturous Christmas night murder of their daughter, JonBenet. Yet all Boulder can muster is silence and criticism.

The first development came several weeks ago when Boulder police surprisingly closed their investigation without finding the killer (meaning they couldn't browbeat Patsy into confessing to a crime she didn't commit). Only silence in Boulder.

Then came another stunning development (and another communitywide yawn): District Attorney Mary Keenan announced that she was taking over the investigation, an action that is virtually unprecedented for a DA's office anywhere. In doing so, Keenan said she is all but removing the parents from beneath Police Chief Mark Beckner's rusting "umbrella of suspicion." For years, the only named people put under that umbrella were John and Patsy, even though there are clearly other suspects.

Keenan also made it known that she is sending the case in a new direction. Her team, which includes Colorado Springs detective Lou Smit, is now aggressively pursuing Smit's intruder theory: that it was probably a pedophile who got into the house and brutally strangled, clubbed and sexually assaulted JonBenet, not a mother upset with a daughter for wetting her bed (the police theory).

No excitement. No atta-girls. Just criticism that Keenan shouldn't be letting the Ramseys off the hook until it is proven that somebody else did it. Moreover, goes the criticism, how can Keenan prosecute the Ramseys if evidence turns up that nails them? In my book, people should be saying, "Hooray for Mary. What she's doing really takes guts." And, "Isn't it the job of honorable prosecutors to clear suspects when the evidence isn't there or points elsewhere?"

Funny that Chief Beckner was never criticized for doing the reverse, of trying everything he could (including manipulating the media into an anti-Ramsey frenzy) to make the parents look guilty long before and long after a grand jury couldn't find the evidence to indict them in 1999.

And what about the so-called evidence? After 76 months of intense police scrutiny, the only solid evidence against the parents is that they were in the house when JonBenet was slain. That's it! The foreign DNA found in JonBenet's panties is not theirs. Nothing in the Ramseys' family history suggests even a hint of violent behavior or abuse. JonBenet's pediatrician will tell you he saw only loving care. The consensus of six handwriting experts is that Patsy probably did not write the three-page ransom note (which would take some doing for anyone - let alone a distraught mother - after committing such a horribly gruesome murder).

Then came the third remarkable development and the third disappointing, "so-what" response from Boulder and elsewhere.

A fresh, unbiased pair of eyes examined in detail the Ramsey case - the eyes belonging to veteran Federal District Judge Julie Carnes of Georgia. In a libel suit, where the plaintiff (another suspect) had to prove that Patsy was the killer in order to collect damages, Judge Carnes issued a powerfully worded 93-page opinion defending the Ramseys' innocence and supporting Smit's intruder theory.

Instead of sighs of relief for the Ramseys, Boulderites reacted as if nothing had happened. After all, didn't the media report that the judge had not seen all the evidence? Believe me, Judge Carnes had seen enough, especially evidence offered by Smit, to clearly spot the injustice and stupidity of a police investigation that should have been refocused long ago.

And don't forget that Mary Keenan has seen all the evidence several times over. In a statement April 7, Keenan praised Carnes' opinion as "thoughtful and well-reasoned." She added, "I agree with the court's conclusion."

Isn't it interesting that it has taken the courage of two women to point the male-dominated investigation in a new direction? It's noteworthy, I think, that both are mothers. While each knows that mothers are capable of killing their children, they obviously can see that it requires a wild stretch of the imagination to conclude that a woman with no violent behavior in her background could have done what some perverted animal did to JonBenet - savagely strangle her, brutally clobber her on the head and, as Judge Carnes said in her report, jam the handle of a paint brush into her vagina.

Then, for an encore, sit down and calmly write what is perhaps the longest ransom note in the history of kidnappings.

Isn't it time, Mr. and Mrs. Boulder, to quit turning your backs on the Ramseys and to show a friendly face of compassion? At the very least, can't you be grateful that a new investigation with new leadership is under way? One that you can trust?

Barrie Hartman ([email protected]) is a retired Boulder newspaper editor living in nearby Louisville. He has been a close observer of the Ramsey investigation since the murder occurred.

Article Published: Sunday, May 04, 2003 - 12:00:00 AM MST
barrie hartman

It's time to support Ramseys
By Barrie Hartman, Special to the Denver Post
What will it take for John and Patsy Ramsey to ever get a break from the hometown folks? Three remarkable developments pointing to their innocence occurred recently in the 6 1/2-year investigation into the torturous Christmas night murder of their daughter, JonBenet. Yet all Boulder can muster is silence and criticism.

The first development came several weeks ago when Boulder police surprisingly closed their investigation without finding the killer (meaning they couldn't browbeat Patsy into confessing to a crime she didn't commit). Only silence in Boulder.

Then came another stunning development (and another communitywide yawn): District Attorney Mary Keenan announced that she was taking over the investigation, an action that is virtually unprecedented for a DA's office anywhere. In doing so, Keenan said she is all but removing the parents from beneath Police Chief Mark Beckner's rusting "umbrella of suspicion." For years, the only named people put under that umbrella were John and Patsy, even though there are clearly other suspects.

Keenan also made it known that she is sending the case in a new direction. Her team, which includes Colorado Springs detective Lou Smit, is now aggressively pursuing Smit's intruder theory: that it was probably a pedophile who got into the house and brutally strangled, clubbed and sexually assaulted JonBenet, not a mother upset with a daughter for wetting her bed (the police theory).

No excitement. No atta-girls. Just criticism that Keenan shouldn't be letting the Ramseys off the hook until it is proven that somebody else did it. Moreover, goes the criticism, how can Keenan prosecute the Ramseys if evidence turns up that nails them? In my book, people should be saying, "Hooray for Mary. What she's doing really takes guts." And, "Isn't it the job of honorable prosecutors to clear suspects when the evidence isn't there or points elsewhere?"

Funny that Chief Beckner was never criticized for doing the reverse, of trying everything he could (including manipulating the media into an anti-Ramsey frenzy) to make the parents look guilty long before and long after a grand jury couldn't find the evidence to indict them in 1999.

And what about the so-called evidence? After 76 months of intense police scrutiny, the only solid evidence against the parents is that they were in the house when JonBenet was slain. That's it! The foreign DNA found in JonBenet's panties is not theirs. Nothing in the Ramseys' family history suggests even a hint of violent behavior or abuse. JonBenet's pediatrician will tell you he saw only loving care. The consensus of six handwriting experts is that Patsy probably did not write the three-page ransom note (which would take some doing for anyone - let alone a distraught mother - after committing such a horribly gruesome murder).

Then came the third remarkable development and the third disappointing, "so-what" response from Boulder and elsewhere.

A fresh, unbiased pair of eyes examined in detail the Ramsey case - the eyes belonging to veteran Federal District Judge Julie Carnes of Georgia. In a libel suit, where the plaintiff (another suspect) had to prove that Patsy was the killer in order to collect damages, Judge Carnes issued a powerfully worded 93-page opinion defending the Ramseys' innocence and supporting Smit's intruder theory.

Instead of sighs of relief for the Ramseys, Boulderites reacted as if nothing had happened. After all, didn't the media report that the judge had not seen all the evidence? Believe me, Judge Carnes had seen enough, especially evidence offered by Smit, to clearly spot the injustice and stupidity of a police investigation that should have been refocused long ago.

And don't forget that Mary Keenan has seen all the evidence several times over. In a statement April 7, Keenan praised Carnes' opinion as "thoughtful and well-reasoned." She added, "I agree with the court's conclusion."

Isn't it interesting that it has taken the courage of two women to point the male-dominated investigation in a new direction? It's noteworthy, I think, that both are mothers. While each knows that mothers are capable of killing their children, they obviously can see that it requires a wild stretch of the imagination to conclude that a woman with no violent behavior in her background could have done what some perverted animal did to JonBenet - savagely strangle her, brutally clobber her on the head and, as Judge Carnes said in her report, jam the handle of a paint brush into her vagina.

Then, for an encore, sit down and calmly write what is perhaps the longest ransom note in the history of kidnappings.

Isn't it time, Mr. and Mrs. Boulder, to quit turning your backs on the Ramseys and to show a friendly face of compassion? At the very least, can't you be grateful that a new investigation with new leadership is under way? One that you can trust?

Barrie Hartman ([email protected]) is a retired Boulder newspaper editor living in nearby Louisville. He has been a close observer of the Ramsey investigation since the murder occurred.
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