A (4:33)
On the morning of December 26, 1996, John and Patsy Ramsey called 911 in a panic. Their daughter, six year old JonBenet, was missing. When police arrived at the Ramsey's Boulder, Colorado home, John and Patsy handed over a three page ransom note. Apparently JonBenet had been kidnapped. Just hours later, things took a devastating turn when JonBenet was found dead in the Ramsey's own wine cellar. It seemed she'd never left the property. Detective Linda Arndt, who was leading the investigation at that point, quickly came to believe the Ramses were involved in JonBenet's death. In her opinion, John and Patsy had orchestrated the fake kidnapping and ransom note as a cover for their daughter's murder. But Arndt's hunch wasn't enough. She needed proof. And not everyone agreed with her theory. While many in the Boulder Police Department leaned toward the Ramseys being guilty, the District Attorney's office took the opposite stance. They believed the killer was an unknown intruder and John and Patsy had nothing to do with what had happened. By the end of January 1997, just a month after JonBenet's death, the case was stuck in a deadlock between the two agencies. And the Ramses weren't helping move things along. They'd lawyered up and refused to cooperate with the police. For the Boulder PD and much of the public, this only made them look even more suspicious. But they weren't the only family members with a question mark above their heads. In February, investigators interviewed John Ramsey's children From his first marriage. 21 year old John Andrew and 25 year old Melinda Both claimed they were in Atlanta, Georgia when JonBenet was killed and had flown to Colorado shortly afterwards. But detectives weren't entirely convinced their alibis held up, Especially when it came to John Andrew. They'd already spoken to him once the day after the crime. During that interview, he insisted the killers should be forgiven. It was a strange thing to say. Less than 24 hours after JonBenet had been brutally murdered, detectives followed up with him and Melinda. But after a few weeks, they were able to confirm their alibis. Both siblings were cleared by March. Around this time, another set of DNA testing was completed. Police didn't reveal the results, but they seem to confirm Detective Arndt's suspicions. Two weeks later, John and Patsy were officially named prime suspects. By that point, even the district attorney couldn't look the other way. After months of dragging their feet, the DA acknowledged that his office was going to focus on John and Patsy. A lot of the evidence seemed to point to them being somehow involved. But there was one thing that just didn't make sense. Why? Although experts still couldn't confirm whether or not any sex crimes had taken place, it seemed likely. And based on that assumption, the Boulder PD had two theories. One suggested that John had killed his daughter during some kind of sexual assault gone wrong. The other was that Patsy had walked in on her husband abusing JonBenet and panicked. She went to hit John, but struck JonBenet instead. Another version speculated that Patsy had lost her temper. Urine stains and blood had been found on JonBenet's long underwear, which suggested she'd wet the bed. Detectives wondered if Patsy had either hit or shoved her daughter in a fit of rage. While the theories varied, the gist was the same. JonBenet's death had been accidental, but the COVID up that followed was premeditated. And most importantly, JonBenet's parents were involved. By the end of April, police were desperate to talk to John and Patsy. It was the only way to move the investigation forward. After four months of dodging questions, they finally agreed to sit down with the detectives for their first formal interviews. But on one condition. They wouldn't speak unless they were given access to the full police file. They wanted to see the evidence for themselves. Normally, a request like that would be out of the question, especially for the prime suspects in a murder investigation. But John and Patsy Ramsey weren't your typical suspects. Whether it was their standing in the community or their lawyers negotiating abilities, John and Patsy were able to review the File. After that, they agreed to sit down with detectives Steve Thomas and Tom Trujillo, two seasoned homicide investigators with far more experience on murder than Linda Arndt. John's interview lasted 90 minutes. Patsy's stretched to six and a half hours. Neither one has been made public, but it's safe to assume the detectives shared their theories with the Ramses, because afterwards, John and Patsy got in front of the press and went on the offensive. John addressed the growing rumors about possible sexual abuse. He called them, quote, unquote, the most hurtful innuendos. Patsy spoke more forcefully. She said she was appalled that anyone could believe she or John had anything to do with their daughter's death. She swore they were both innocent. It was clear to the world that John and Patsy were feeling the heat. But it turned out they weren't the only ones who were sweating. In the months since JonBenet's murder, Detective Linda Arndt had been heavily criticized for how she'd handled the investigation, especially in the early stages. She never secured the crime scene and didn't formally interview John, Patsy, or their friends. She even told John to search the house, a move that ultimately allowed him to find and move his daughter's body. In doing so, he disrupted and potentially destroyed crucial evidence. The public had learned all of these details and were appalled. They couldn't believe Detective Arndt had made so many huge mistakes. By May 1997, even her superiors couldn't ignore it. Not only had Arndt potentially damaged the investigation, but all the negative press was distracting from the task at hand solving JonBenet's murder. That month, the Boulder PD removed Arndt from the case altogether. Later, Arndt would file a lawsuit against the police chief, accusing the department of abandoning her and ruining her career. Because of a gag order placed on officers, she wasn't allowed to speak publicly. In her own defense, she argued they'd thrown her to the wolves and allowed her to be swallowed up whole. None of that changed the facts. Linda Arndt was out of the picture, and a new detective was taking over. Like Arndt, he believed the Ramses were involved, but he had a different approach. And he was determined to succeed where she'd failed. Trip Planner by Expedia. You were made to outdo your holiday, your hammocking, and your pooling. We were made to help organize the competition. Expedia Made to travel. This episode is brought to you by LifeLock between two factor authentication, strong passwords, and a VPN. You try to be in control of how your info is protected, but many other places also have it and they might not be as careful. That's why LifeLock monitors hundreds of millions of data points a second for threats. If your identity is stolen, they'll fix it, guaranteed or your money back. Save up to 40% your first year. Visit lifelock.com podcast for 40% off terms apply. By the summer of 1997, it had been more than half a year since six year old JonBenet Ramsey was was found murdered in her family's home. In that time, there had been non stop media coverage across the country and mounting public pressure for Boulder authorities to bring the killer or killers to justice. The Boulder PD had recently removed Detective Linda Arndt from the investigation. A new group of detectives was brought on, including Steve Thomas. He'd been on the case from the beginning and even interviewed John and Patsy in April. Now he was helping lead the charge. He agreed that the Ramses weren't innocent. But while Arndt thought John was the killer, Detective Thomas focused his attention on Patsy. Thomas had come to believe the theory that Patsy had flown into a rage after JonBenet wet the bed. He thought Patsy was in a bad mood that night, possibly because she was stressed about the holidays and her upcoming 40th birthday. According to Thomas, Patsy either hit JonBenet or slammed her against something hard like a bedpost or a wall. The little girl fell to the ground, dead from the impact. Thomas thought that was when Patsy panicked. After thinking it over, she decided to write a fake ransom note and stage a kidnapping. She brought JonBenet to the basement and wrapped a wire around her throat with one of Patsy's own paintbrushes attached as a handle. Then she put other cords around her wrists and duct tape across her mouth to make her story seem more realistic. When John eventually learned what Patsy had done, he chose to protect her and go along with the kidnapping plot. But not everyone bought Thomas's theory. Homicide Detective Lou Smit was one of his loudest detractors. Smit thought John and Patsy were innocent. He believed JonBenet was murdered by an unknown pedophile. He theorized this person had snuck into the Ramsey's home, then used a stun gun to disable JonBenet while they sexually abused her. At some point, JonBenet started screaming and the perpetrators struck her in the head, killing her. Smit claimed forensic evidence supported his theory more than Thomas's. Both detectives were convinced they were right and neither was willing to back down. The two men were constantly fighting. Thomas thought Smit was derailing the investigation and refusing to acknowledge that the simplest explanation was the Correct one. Meanwhile, Smit was treating the Ramses like victims. Because of that, he was one of the only investigators who John and Patsy were willing to communicate with, and they took full advantage of that relationship. The Ramses constantly asked Smit for the most recent case files, which he happily handed over. With John and Patsy staying one step ahead, it only made it more difficult for Thomas to prove his version of events. The one thing Thomas had going for him was that the public also widely thought John and Patsy were responsible. They were hounded by tabloids and scrutinized on national television, and the public practically demanded that they be looked into. The DA had already acknowledged the Ramses were suspects, but he'd been hesitant to do anything beyond that. Until finally, in March 1998, more than a year after the murder, he announced they were convening a grand jury. It was a sign that criminal charges might be on the table. At the same time, new pieces of evidence were still trickling in. Somehow, John and Patsy had only just submitted the clothes they'd worn the night of the murder, over a year after their daughter's death. While the forensics team was busy analyzing those items, detectives turned their attention to another member of the Ramsey family, one who could change the entire course of the investigation. Burke Ramsey had been nine years old at the time of his sister's death. Now, in 1998, he was 11. Early in the investigation, police had left Burke alone. They didn't want to traumatize him further and believe the crime was far too elaborate and sophisticated for a child to carry out. But maybe he was a witness to the events in the Ramsey house that morning. In June 1998, detectives asked Burke to come down to the station. They brought in a child psychologist to conduct the interview. Burke sat across from them, fidgeting and sipping from a soda can. The psychologist started gently asking about Christmas morning, the day before JonBenet was found dead. Burke spoke quietly. He recalled that his sister got a bike. He remembered unwrapping presents and smiling for photos with his family. Then came the questions about the next morning when JonBenet was reported missing. He described how his mother had rushed into his room, turned on the lights and woken him up. She looked around, then ran back out again. He said he didn't know what was going on, only that something was clearly wrong. Burke said he stayed in his room after that because he was too afraid to come out. But that version of events didn't totally match up with Patsy's. Originally, the Ramseys told police that Burke had slept through the chaos of the morning and hadn't woken up until after officers arrived, which made the detectives realize someone was lying. After speaking with Burke, Investigators revisited the 911 call. They enhanced the recording, and what they found changed everything. In the background of the call, they could hear a voice that sounded like Burke's. It raised the possibility that Burke had been awake the whole time. If so, what did he see? What did he know? And was there a world in which he'd been involved in JonBenet's death? Over the years, people have speculated that Burke killed his sister in a fit of rage after she stole a toy or ate some of his food. And then his parents, not wanting to lose another child, covered it up for him. But those theories have never been proven. At the time, the investigation was still very much focused on John and Patsy. And things were only getting more heated by the day. By August 1998, tensions within the Boulder PD had reached a breaking point. That month, Detective Steve Thomas resigned from the department. In his eight page resignation letter, he accused the DA's office of obstructing justice, failing to support detectives, and allowing the case to spiral out of control. He said the whole investigation had been thoroughly compromised. That made two detectives who'd either resigned or been taken off the case in the span of 18 months. It was a sure sign that the investigation was not headed in the right direction. In the wake of Thomas allegations, the Governor of Colorado stepped in. He appointed new prosecutors to assist with the case and assured the public they'd have answers soon. And it seemed like they were determined to make good on their promise. In September 1998, the grand jury was officially convened. It had been almost two years since JonBenet's death, but for the first time seemed like someone might actually be charged. Behind the scenes, though, the investigation continued to flounder. That fall, there was yet another high profile resignation, this time from veteran homicide detective Lou Smit. Although he and Steve Thomas had opposing theories, they had the same complaint. Justice was being obstructed. In his letter, Smit wrote that a dangerous killer was still out there and the authorities were wasting time and resources targeting the Ramses. And that wasn't even the end of the drama. A few months later, in March 1999, Linda Arndt also resigned from the department after being kicked off the case a year earlier. She'd been sidelined and publicly blamed for every early misstep. She'd had enough. Six months after her resignation, she went on Good Morning America. She said she knew definitively who the killer was. She Wouldn't give a name. But it was clear who she meant. She still believed the Ramseys were responsible. The grand jury also thought John and Patsy were involved. But they couldn't agree on a murder charge. Instead, they voted to indict John and Patsy on charges of child abuse resulting in death. Meaning the jury didn't necessarily think they'd murdered JonBenet. But they had put her in a vulnerable situation where someone was able to target her. In October, the grand jury was ready to move move forward. But in a shocking twist, the DA backtracked and refused to sign off on the charges. He argued the evidence was still too weak. He didn't want to charge the Ramses without a rock solid case. At the time, the jury's decision remained sealed. Without knowing the truth, the public assumed nothing had come of the proceedings and that the Ramses had somehow been cleared. John and Patsy leaned into that assumption. In 2000, they released a book called the Death of Innocence, where they told their side of the story. They claimed they'd been betrayed by the police, vilified by the media, and wrongfully accused. But they weren't the only ones who were looking to share their version of events. That same year, Detective Steve Thomas released his own book. In it, he laid out in painstaking detail why he believed Patsy Ramsey had accidentally killed JonBenet and how he thought both parents had staged the crime scene to cover it up. The Ramses sued him for libel, seeking $80 million in damages. The case was eventually settled out of court for an undisclosed amount. But before long, Steve Thomas was the least of their worries. Around 2003, Patsy's ovarian cancer returned. She spent three years fighting. But in June 2006, she lost the battle. She was 49 years old. Patsy was laid to rest beside JonBenet in Georgia, where the Ramseys had returned months after JonBenet's death. Even then, the question of her involvement remained. But just before her death, Patsy had learned some very important information. There was someone out there who was ready to confess. And if what he had to say was true, it meant Patsy would be exonerated. From beyond the grave.
