Jonbenet Ramsey Case Study

JonBenet Ramsey was born on August 6, 1990 in Atlanta, Georgia. She was the daughter of a very successful business man. Their family subsequently moved to Boulder, Colorado where she lived with her mother, father, and brother. On the morning of December 26, 1996, JonBenet’s mother, Patsy Ramsey, called the police when she did not find her 6-year-old daughter in her bed that morning and finding a ransom note demanding $118,000 for her safe return. Tragically, the young girl’s body was found in the basement of her parents’ home later that same afternoon. JonBenet had suffered a skull fracture, had been sexually molested, and strangled with some type of cord that was made from the mother’s paintbrushes. Once her body was found in the basement, her father compromised the crime scene by lifting her body and carrying it

Over the next four years, officers with the Boulder Police Department worked diligently investigating the murder case, but were unable to come forward with definitive evidence on a particular suspect. There was evidence of fibers found on the duct tape used to bind the child which were consistent with fibers found on Patsy Ramsey’s clothing. Also the ransom note was written on the same paper which was owned by the Ramsey family. This caused the Ramsey family to be the prime suspects of the murder of Jonbenet, and it crucified their reputation in the eyes of the public (Biography.com, 2016). However, the evidence that the public stood behind to grasp their belief that one or more of the Ramsey family was the suspect was evidence reported by the media and not evidence that had been tested in court (Saferstein, 2011). On December 13, 1999, the Boulder grand jury brought the extensive and very expensive investigation to an inconclusive close. The Ramsey family then moved back to Atlanta, GA where they published a book titled The Death of Innocence in 2000 to counteract the negative publicity they had received for so many years