The Imposing Cases: The Case Of Jonbenet Ramsey

The JonBenet Ramsey case was a case that garnered nationwide attention. To still be unsolved to this day, shows for one, that the investigation was not conducted properly. Who could have killed the six year old beauty queen? Questions surrounding the case remain to this day, nearly 20 years after her death.

In the early morning hours of December 26, 1996, Patsy Ramsey woke up went downstairs to the kitchen and found a ransom note that said their six year old daughter had been kidnapped and demanded $118,000 in ransom to get her back (Saferstein, 2011). One of the odd things about the ransom note that stands out is it was written on a notepad from inside the house and the amount was how much the father, John Ramsey had received as a bonus.

This officer even pauses at the door in the basement that was latched but never opens the door (Glick, Keene-Osborne, Murr, 1998). JonBenet Ramsey’s body would later be found behind that door. Because the case at that time was a kidnapping case, the only room sealed off as a crime scene was JonBenet’s room. The whole house should have been sealed off to preserve any and all evidence. Since the whole house was not sealed off, friends and family were allowed to come and go as they pleased into the house and were not restricted from any rooms except JonBenet’s. Victim's advocates were even allowed into the house bringing in food. These same advocates started cleaning up and a friend even started wiping down the countertops and sinks removing any possible trace of evidence (Keene-Osborne, Glick, 1997). JonBenet’s body was later found by her father and a friend in the basement. They removed the duct tape from her mouth and brought her upstairs in the white blanket she was found in further destroying any possible evidence from the crime scene. This also allowed for officers not to be able to document how the body was lying, evidence around the body,

This was due in part to the ransom note being written on a note pad with a pen of the Ramsey’s. A handwriting expert looked into the ransom note and determined it was written by the mother Patsy Ramsey. There was also a practice ransom note that was found after the original ransom note. It would be easy to see why the police department focused so much of the investigation on the parents. The grand jury indicted the parents in 1999 for their part in the murder, but the judge dismissed the indictment due to lack of evidence. Their son who was also living in the house at the time of the murder was looked upon as a possible suspect but no charges were ever brought against