Rest In Peace Patsy Ramsey

Patsy Ramsey is looking down from the heavens she always prayed to with her trademark beauty pageant smile. Standing next to her is her beautiful daughter, JonBenet Ramsey. They are benevolent but still wagging a finger of "I-told-you-so" at all of us.

The letter of exoneration was stunning in what it revealed - a new form of forensic testing found two distinct spots of male DNA on the clothing JonBenet was wearing when she was killed. And that "touch testing" DNA matches the sample taken from her underwear back in 1997. In other words, the killer left three separate spots of evidence to help track him down. None of the DNA matches any member of the Ramsey family.

The current District Attorney of Boulder, Colorado, Mary Lacy, says she wishes she could have delivered the news before Patsy died in 2006. DA Lacy's declaration that her office will now "treat you as the victims of this crime, with the sympathy due you ...." may have come as a relief to patriarch John Ramsey but I doubt it.

"We became entertainment for the country," John Ramsey once said long after he'd lost both his daughter and his wife. His implication was that the media made sure everyone thought they were guilty of murdering their child.

I agree. I was part of the media pact that descended on Boulder right after Christmas 1996. For months I and my colleagues tramped around town trying to find the truth. Tabloid headlines screamed, "Did Daddy Do It?" and "Cops: Mom Confesses!"

There was a frenzy of media to get something - anything - and for months the story was top of the news. My boss at the now defunct TV program HARD COPY sent me on an open ended ticket to Boulder and when I couldn't develop any new angle she ordered me to follow JonBenet's brother Burke to and from his elementary school. I refused to shadow a little kid, especially one who just lost his little sister, and I left the program about a month later.

The media was brutal. Extensive handwriting tests concluded Patsy did not pen the ransom note left at the scene but there were leaks from investigators that she might have used her left hand to write it. John Ramsey's computers were seized and another police leak revealed they had reason to look for child porn. Ed Gelb, a highly regarded polygraph expert conducted five different tests with John and Patsy and concluded they "passed with flying colors - no deception."

And the most remarkable under-reported news to my mind was the revelation that at the time of Jon Benet's death there were 38 of her neighbors listed as registered sex offenders and there had been over 100 burglaries in the immediate area. To my knowledge the police did not pursue those leads even though the victim had been paraded around as a mini beauty queen. Further, nine months after the 6 year olds murder there was a very similar intruder/sex attack in the neighborhood. While the family was out a man broke in and hid in the house until they were asleep. He then attacked their 12 year old daughter but got away when the parents responded to her screams.

Yet still so many Americans, the media and the public, continued to point at the parents. Shame on us.

The Ramsey family survived the death of a child, public humiliation while "under an umbrella of suspicion", repeated handwriting and lie detector tests, false leads and hopes, several recurrences of Patsy's cancer and the maniacal rantings of a sexually confused kook.

In the spring of 2006 Patsy Ramsey was fighting what would be her last bout with ovarian cancer. And suddenly from out of the woodwork they began to get e-mail messages from half a world away. A slight, fragile looking man named John Mark Karr was taken into custody in the Philippines and paraded in front of the predictable gaggle of media where he confessed.

"I was with Jon Benet when she died," he said and demurely batted his eyelashes. Asked, then to explain the details Karr simply said, "Her death was an accident." Brought back to Colorado to face charges the authorities, instead, determined he was one of those inexplicable characters who confess to crimes they did not commit.

By this time Patsy had died and was spared the spectacle.

In 2000 I was assigned to cover a lecture given by the Ramseys in Washington to a group of young journalists. I'd never known Patsy had studied journalism and was passionate about its ethics. Their message to the students that day was simple. Don't print it or say it unless you can prove it. And in a twist on the Golden Rule Patsy said, "Don't go forward and do to others what has been done to us."

Good advice for all of us.

Comments

[surfcitysteven]

I lived in Boulder at the time as well. The only murder they solved while I was there was the one they were at as they were supposed to be protecting a professor from his wacky wife, or maybe it was wacky husband, I forget.

[lgreene]

I linked to your site and read Wendy Murphy's 8 point "rebuttal".

Her rebuttal "facts" are based on what we now know were asserted during a very sloppy, flawed and biased investigation by the Boulder police. Also, Wendy is claiming as "facts of the case" the mere conjecture of some "experts" as hypotheses regarding the crime. Was it officially concluded, for example, that the DNA on Jon Benet's underwear came to be there during the manufacturing process? That it is not good enough to claim a partial match to any other DNA?

There are reasonable alternative explanations that could logically be made by an outside observer, and were made at some point by the Ramsey's. For example, didn't John Ramsey discover Jon Benet, remove the tape from her mouth and try to revive her, explaining how the tape became contaminated with fibers? Couldn't the fibers come from their sweaters in contact with her the night before she died? Shouldn't her hair, her bed, her pillow, her pajamas, her regular clothes all have been tested for these sweater fibers before the conclusion was made that the only way they could have gotten there was by her parents sexually assaulting and murdering her.

I wish you would do more reporting on the fallacies of the so-called "facts" in this case that still point to the Ramsey's guilt. You could start by rebutting the 8 assertions made by Wendy with what you know is the actual, factual or alternative arguments.

[iamjoneskeepupwithme]

i was living in Boulder at the time of the murder. the "word" about town was that the parents were, indeed, involved in the crime. it's a small community...people know people who know people on the police force, et cetera. even the locals were hoodwinked into believing in their guilt before substantive proof was/could be established. i agree with other posts, in that the Ramsey's behavior added fuel to the media-fueled fire.

[MomAnon]

There's plenty of blame to go around.

Media consumers' insatiable hunger for "instant justice" drove months of blathering, speculation and calls for heads on pikes by the Nancy Graces of media. Lesson: If all law enforcement has is "We don't know," accept it, and quietly insist they continue investigating. No matter what you think of child pageants, they're a far cry from murdering one's child. If our child were abducted, or harmed, only others' restraint and intelligence prevents public dissection of every moment of our histories as parents. Let he who is a perfect cast the first stone...

Law enforcement: Please, have the intestinal fortitude and conviction to admit you don't know. Tell the truth: "we're pursuing leads, and possible suspects before us, but investigation means nothing in itself." Keep minds open until you have evidence, not speculation, to narrow the scope. You owe it to those who have suffered loss. Don't let public pressure to produce cause you to throw innocents to the lions to satisfy reporters.

Reporters: stop filling hours with speculation, rumors, and veiled accusations made marginally legal by "allegedly"s. "They don't know yet" isn't enough to fill an hour, so find something else to talk about once you've updated the public on progress. Anything more is a greedy waste of time.

We all bear blame for the Ramseys' suffering. Whatever we THINK, we KNOW nothing, and should behave accordingly.

[DeeDon]

I could not agree more with the indictment of the speculating media machine. I work in law enforcement (as a victim counselor) and have worked a high profile (national news) child abduction/murder. The media speculation in an effort to fill time and sell 'we reported it first' always leads to even more pain for the family. The family in my case would call furious that they weren't being kept informed and had to 'learn it from the news media' when in fact the media was reporting nothing of any substance. In some instances reporters would show up before the officer sent to investigate a lead (because they were listening to the police radio) but the lead would of course be false- they would break into regular programming to report it as if it were the big break in the case. It was so painful for the family, getting their hopes up when in fact it wasn't a real lead, until they learned to trust us that we would tell them when we had real information and came to understand what the media was doing. I hope one day we can return to a day of journalistic ethics as you've described. It's natural for people to want to know, but at some point media has to just say 'we'll let you know when we know something'...

[Diane Dimond - Huffpost Blogger]

deeDon - could you contact me, please: at [e-mail]
dd

[Chalkeater]

Ask yourself why the dna match hasn't show up anywhere else. If the killer wasn't wearing gloves, there should be other traces. Why isn't it on the note? Is it possible the pants were contamiated during the examination process? Mary Lacy has shown herself to be incompetent and egotistical. These are Lacy's own words - "no one is really cleared of a homicide until there"s a conviction in court, beyond a reasonable doubt. And I don"t think you will get any prosecutor, unless they were present with the person at the time of the crime, to clear someone."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,379981,00.html

[Diane Dimond - Huffpost Blogger]

Chalkeater - You ask very good questions. And not everyone agrees with me on this column. Visit my website at www.DianeDimond.net to read a rebuttal from victim advocate and lawyer Wendy Murphy. She cites at least 8 pieces of information that makes her conclude the Ramseys could very well be culpable. Diane Dimond

[bazokbros]

Also, why are you blaming Hard Copy for your coverage of this case. If you felt so morally opposed to what you were doing, you could have quit.

[writerjohnny]

The murder and abuse of any child is tragic and horrible. The mainstream media's coverage of almost everything is disgusting. The pimping of 6 year old girls with adult hair, makeup and clothing in beauty contests is a sickness. Yes, little girls like to play "dress-up" and little boys like to play "war" but we don't give the boys actual weapons and make them do it in public and they aren't judged. Let the children be kids for a while. They grow up too fast as it is.

[disgusted48]

Anyone who thought the mother killed that child was/is an idiot. The way that the police and the media(the fourth arm of government) handled this case was a disgrace.

[silvertongue]

I have never believed the Ramseys had anything to do with this murder. Unfortunately, some in the media (Nancy Grace and Wendy Murphy for example) are still looking for reasons not to accept the DA's decision. Hopefully Dianne can convince her friends to zip it so Patsy and Jon Benet can rest in peace.

[justadreamer]

Perhaps the hounding media has learned from this. I somehow doubt that though.

[Scarabus]

I'm sorry Patsy didn't live to hear the news. And I'm sorry John has had to suffer. That's a personal thing. I would neither dump on them as individuals nor agree to "blame the victim."

But the general principle? I still think that dressing and presenting very young children in sexually provocative garments and teaching them to practice sexually provocative posturing is less amusing than scary.

[jpetaluma]

Parading their daughter around in beauty contests, and how the media handled the murder of Jon Benet are two completely separate issues entirely. I wish people would stop linking them. Whatever your opinion is about child beauty contests (I personally find them offensive for so many reasons.) does not make the Ramsey's responsible for their child's murder. This is "blame the victim" mentality, such as when a woman's rape is connected to her clothing choices. I always believed the Ramsey's to be innocent. The whole thing is such a tragedy. I hope they find the real killer.

[shadowgm]

I'm sorry, but whoever the killer was, he carried out the murder of Jon Benet in the family's house on the day after Christmas. She was John and Patsy's little darling, but they DIDN'T KNOW where she was?

What did she do, borrow Daddy's car and go to the mall? Was she in the habit of DISAPPEARING all morning long while they sat around the kitchen table and drank coffee?

[Diane Dimond - Huffpost Blogger]

shadowgm -
I remember the facts of this case as if it were yesterday, since I was dispatched to Boulder almost immediately after the murder.
The Ramsey family came home from a Christmas party late and they had to get up very early the next morning as they were flying away for the holiday to be with family. They got up about 5am as I recall to make it to the plane in time. As Mrs. Ramsey came down stairs to make coffee she discovered the ransom note on the stairway and immediately woke her husband and ran into JonBenet's bedroom. They discovered their daughter was missing called police immediately. The next hours were filled with police searching the home. And I could go on and on with the facts.
I just didn't want to leave the impression that the Ramseys "sat around the kitchen table and drank coffee" instead of looking after their 6 year old daughter. -- Diane Dimond

[shadowgm]

The question remains, how was this possible? I can only assume that parents would look in on their child before going to sleep.

So the killer entered the house, proceeded to JonBenet's room, and spirited the little girl down to the basement without making any noise (or JonBenet making any noise)?

While the police certainly deserve a knock on the head for fixating on the Ramseys as suspects, it wasn't entirely without cause.

[IndyStacey]

and what about the evidence of past sexual abuse? and the pineapple that nobody fed JonBenet but it was in her stomach? Your list of facts is selective and glaring in its omissions.

[SweetJudith]

May they all have peace now.

[proudliberal4truth]

I've always thought that, in this "Nancy Grace" world of "you just KNOW they're guilty" with NO proof of any kind, that the continual persecution of the Ramseys was beyond the pale. So many people in our country have developed tabloid consciences that believe they can detect guilt (but never innocence) by looking at someone's demeanor or voice pattern. Kind of like GWB knowing Putin because he "looked into his eyes". We should be ashamed of ourselves for what we collectively did to the Ramseys.

[observing]

Why were the parents so arrogant when police questioned them? That's the problem that most people had. If I were innocent, I would not have taken such a high and mighty stand - face it, they took that stance because they were privileged and were "insulted" that they were questioned. Most parents who want to help endure that grueling interrogation. The Ramseys resisted big time. They have some culpubabilty in the public/media blaming them, Diane. Yes, there were a lot of people at fault but to suggest the Ramseys were 100% innocent and without responsiblity to do their part is truly laughable. And that's why they still have little sympathy.

[Diane Dimond - Huffpost Blogger]

Observing -
I completely agree that the Ramseys arrogance added to the public perception that they were guilty. They immediately hired an attorney, refused to speak with police and left town. They did not act like the typical grieving parents who often pepper the police with phone calls, hang around the police station waiting for information and stage candlelight vigils for their lost loved ones.
Their actions paved the way for the public perception. They probably should have listened less to their lawyers and more to their own grieving hearts. -- Diane Dimond

[Vanska]

Arrogance aside, these days, if something like that happened to me and my family I'd get a lawyer and shut up too. Without the lawyer, they'd probably be on death row by now. I hate to be the constant cynic but in our society its better to take no chances. It may make me look guilty but I dont trust that 'the man' is looking out for my best interests.

[RumiSouth]

An odd coincidence: Karr house-sat for my parents several years before the Ramsey circus. When he "confessed," I double-checked every nook and cranny of the house out of sheer paranoia -- no dead bodies, thank goodness.

I've spoken with several people in the area who knew him, and he's universally regarded as a high-level twit. Amazing that anyone paid any attention to his BS.