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JonBenet's Murder: Shocking New Info!

JonBenet Ramsey Murder

Outside of the brutal killing of O.J. Simpson’s ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, few murder cases in recent memory have resonated as deeply with the public as that of JonBenet Ramsey, the 6-year-old child beauty queen who was found tied, bludgeoned and strangled in the basement of her family’s Boulder, Colorado home on Dec. 26, 1996.

Her parents, Patsy Ramsey (who died of cancer in 2006) and John Ramsey, as well as her brother Burke, then 9, all claimed to be asleep in the house at the time JonBenet’s death occurred. Patsy had called 911 hours after her daughter’s murder to report she had found a ransom note for her missing child — and John found her body later that day when the police allowed him and two friends to search the house.

No one has ever been prosecuted in the case. The Ramseys always maintained their innocence, and supporters claimed an intruder had broken into their home though a basement window and killed JonBenet after a minute amount of unidentified DNA was found on her clothing.

But in a stunning Feb. 21 Q&A session on the news website Reddit, retired Boulder police chief Mark Beckner, a former lead investigator on the case, offered his opinions — and regrets — over how it was handled.

On not immediately locking down the Ramsey home: “I wish we would have done a much better job of securing and controlling the crime scene from day one.”

On the cooperation from JonBenet’s parents: “We also should have separated John and Patsy and gotten full statements from them that day…we did not get to formally interview them again until May 1997, five months after their daughter was murdered.

On possible sources of the mystery DNA: “Manufacturing process is one. Interactions with other people is another. Intentional placement is another. Belongs to an intruder is another.”

On the probability of an intruder: “Most investigators do not believe that there was a legitimate point of entry.” As for the broken basement window, “the dust and spider web were undisturbed.”

Three days after the Q&A, Beckner added, “I tried to be honest and fair…I would emphasize [that] the unknown DNA [from JonBenet’s clothing] is very important. And I’m not involved anymore, but that has got to be the focus of the investigations. In my opinion, at this point, that’s your suspect.”