JonBenet Ramsey News Licensing / MEGA
Netflix’s newest docuseries about JonBenét Ramsey‘s murder attempted to debunk theories that pointed to her parents, John and Patsy, as the potential killers.
Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey, which premiered on Monday, November 25, featured interviews with various experts, reporters and family members who denied that there was evidence linking John and Patsy Ramsey to JonBenét’s death. The three-part docuseries went on to highlight proof of John and Patsy’s innocence and lack of involvement in their daughter’s murder.
“We were being prosecuted in the court of public opinion. By that time, we were pretty much convicted,” John shared in the docuseries. “Gallup, the poll people, did a poll at some point in that period. 70 percent of those polled felt that the family killed their daughter. That the parents killed their daughter.”
JonBenét was found dead at age 6 in the basement of her house hours after she had been reported missing. She had sustained a broken skull and a garrote was tied around her neck. JonBenét’s official cause of death was asphyxia by strangulation associated with craniocerebral trauma and her death was ruled a homicide.
Ramey Photo/Mega Agency; Miles Crist/Netflix When a true crime case is making headlines, there are usually multiple programs covering the same subject within months of each other. Not every duel release is intentional, but topics such as Sherri Papini‘s kidnapping case and Erik Menéndez and Lyle Menéndez‘s infamous murder trial are great examples of multiple […]
In the years since JonBenét’s murder, the Boulder police looked into many suspects and theories. Patsy and John, who are also parents to son Burke, were accused of being involved in her death and a grand jury voted to indict the pair in 1999. The indictment was never signed by the Boulder district attorney, however, because there was a lack of evidence. The couple were exonerated in 2008 when DNA testing helped investigators determine that the DNA found on JonBenét’s body was from an unrelated male.
Burke, meanwhile, was also accused by the public of being involved in her death. After The Case of: JonBenét Ramsey aired in 2016, Burke sued CBS and the producers over an insinuation that he killed JonBenét. The case settled out of court for an undisclosed amount in 2019.
Keep scrolling for a breakdown of every theory brought up against Patsy and John — and how the Netflix doc debunked it:
Footprints in the Snow
According to a retired commander of the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, the Boulder police originally used footprints — or a lack thereof — as evidence against Patsy and John.
“There was a narrative that started by the Boulder Police Department that it was done by somebody inside of the home because there was a lack of footwear impressions in the snow,” John San Agustin recalled. “There’s a slight dusting you can see on the front end of the house. But if you look at the back of the home, there’s no snow.”
Several experts and reporters, however, pointed out that “there was no snow” at the time of JonBenét’s death. John specifically accused a reporter for the Rocky Mountain News of leaking details from the police.
“The police had a lot of information they wanted out there to a guy named Charlie Brennan,” John said before Brennan responded in a separate confessional, “I was given information by a source I trusted that police took note of the fact when they got there that they didn’t see footprints in the snow. And they considered that to be significant.”
Brennan clarified that he was simply reporting what “the police latched onto” and felt “was important” but it didn’t represent his perspective of the case.
From Sherri Papini‘s kidnapping hoax to the two separate documentaries about Scott Peterson‘s murder conviction, it’s safe to say that most streaming services are investing in true crime in 2024. Netflix and Hulu usually corner the genre by focusing on the most recent — and most surprising — cases. It was Investigation Discovery, however, that […]
John Piloting a Jet
Journalist Michael Tracey broke down a “powerful story” that was written days after JonBenét’s death about how her dad “piloted his jet back” to Atlanta with her coffin on board. John, however, didn’t have a jet, which Brennan admitted was a false tip.
“When I reported that John Ramsey piloted his own plane back to Atlanta for the funeral, that was inaccurate,” he explained in the doc. “It came from a source that I thoroughly trusted and had given me other solid information. But that was wrong. My source was wrong in that case and that was a mistake.”
Patsy’s Ransom Note Connection
JonBenét’s mother was publicly implicated in the murder investigation when reports surfaced about investigators finding similarities between Patsy’s handwriting and the writing used in the ransom note.
“At least four experts — and two of them from the Secret Service — looked at the handwriting and said, ‘Patsy Ramsey did not write the note,’” Bob Whitson, who worked for the Boulder PD, shared in the doc. Meanwhile in a separate clip, journalist Paula Woodward claimed the police “didn’t like the answer” so they “leaked information” claiming Patsy wrote it.
Footage of Steve Thomas, who was previously the lead detective on the case, showed him defending the theories brought up during the investigation. The interviews were from a $25 civil libel and defamation lawsuit that Patsy and John filed in 2001 against a tabloid, which was eventually settled.
John’s Link to the Ransom Amount
JonBenet Ramsey News Licensing / MEGA
Part of the ransom note left at the Ramsey’s house mentioned $118,000. Authorities questioned whether John was involved in writing the note because the ransom request was similar to the bonus he received at work that year of $118,700.
“If this intruder came in and had waited in the house and went to Mr. Ramsey’s office, he could have gone through the papers,” Whitson noted. “I was told that apparently it was listed in the documents that were there.”
Paramount+’s JonBenét Ramsey show has people talking about how much the cast resembles their real-life counterparts. The upcoming eight-episode limited series will cover the Ramsey family before and after JonBenét’s 1996 murder. JonBenét Ramsey specifically centers around parents John and Patsy dealing with the loss of their child as an investigation questions their involvement in […]
The Discovery of Sexual Assault
Multiple reporters testified in the doc about being tipped off that JonBenét suffered “chronic” sexual abuse before her death. The investigators thought John was involved — and they specifically referenced photos he had of JonBenét from her pageants as proof.
JonBenét’s pediatrician Dr. Francesco Beuf was previously interviewed denying any indication of abuse, saying, “I told them absolutely, categorically, no. There was absolutely no evidence either physical or historical. There was never any hint whatsoever of sexual abuse. She was a very much loved child.”
John has also previously spoken out about the “false” claims he assaulted his daughter. Footage of those interviews were played in the docuseries.
Patsy Covering Up Her Own Crime
JonBenet Ramsey News Licensing / MEGA
According to Thomas’s testimony in the 2001 civil deposition, he thought Patsy killed JonBenét out of “parental rage.” He repeated a theory about how Patsy allegedly hurt JonBenét because her daughter wet the bed earlier that night.
“I believe she was slammed against a hard surface such as the edge of a tub, which included a mortal head wound,” Thomas claimed about Patsy entering a “fit of rage” that resulted in murder.
Whitson claimed that the “evidence does not match” that theory.
“We know JonBenét was alive while she was being tortured in the moments before her death. So if you believe that Patsy did this, she would have had to do all these things while JonBenét was alive,” he said about JonBenét’s injuries and evident sexual assault before her death. “This wasn’t staging. She was alive when this was being done.”
Photos taken from JonBenét’s room the morning after her death were shown in the docuseries. JonBenét’s bed didn’t show any indication that she wet it or that it was swapped out with new sheets.
“Patsy had just recovered from stage four ovarian cancer. She was grateful to be alive. Do you think her child wetting her bed would be a big deal? No,” John said in the doc. “She was happy to be alive and have more time with her kids. It was nonsense. It didn’t pass the sanity test.”
Patsy, who died of ovarian cancer at age 49 in 2006, denied any involvement in her daughter’s death throughout the years.