The 2 1/2-page letter demanded that John withdraw $118,000 and wait for further instructions. Who was this (unidentified) killer to whom John and Patsy Ramsey purportedly "rendered assistance?" The Santa Claus figure in the JonBent Ramsey murder case died over the weekend from a heart attack. In 1976, Janet McReynolds had written an award-winning play about the sexual assault, torture and murder of a girl whose body was found in a basement. Before we apply the Statement Analysis techniques, let's first review what happened 20 years ago. Because of their proximity to the family, the couple was questioned in February of 1997 after returning from a vacation in Spain. Particularly when you start with children of this age, when they die, tend to die at the hands of their parents, Garrett told 20/20. So the focus is naturally gonna be on the parents to begin with. Adam Driver & Wife Joanne Tucker Are Expecting Baby #2, This Alvin Ailey Dancer Fuels Herself With Healthy Meals, Yet All Her Kids Want Is Sugar, Courteney Cox Just Responded To Prince Harrys Story About Doing Mushrooms At Her House, Daisy Jones & The Six Is A Nostalgic Series Based On A Best-Selling Book, What Parents Are Talking About Delivered Straight To Your Inbox, By subscribing to this BDG newsletter, you agree to our. Throughout both interrogations, JonBents parents vehemently denied anyone in their family killed their daughter. Tracey reported Karr to the police who arrested him in Bangkok. However, with the Ramseys friends showing up for moral support, they also contaminated the scene by moving about the house. McReynoldss own daughter had been kidnapped 22 years before. But, based on these observations, if this case were to be actively reopened, and the fairly extensive pool of formerly cleared suspects reconsidered, it would make sense in my view to revisit the possibility that either Bill or Janet McReynolds, or both in collaboration, could have conceivably been directly involved in JonBenet's abduction, torture, molestation, and murder that terrible Christmas night. It was a very sad thing in his life because he genuinely loved children, and it was the happiest part of his life.". Waltrip was one of the most famous voices in NASCAR for 19 years. There's no evidence for it whatsoever, Burke Ramsey "has been cleared so many time and youre still dragging his name through the mud. She was lying on a white blanket. We are a true crime community dedicated to exploring case facts, evidence and theories surrounding the death of JonBent Ramsey. How do you explain all the points in the crime scene of Patsy's.. inside the paint tray, the sticky side of the duct tape, embedded into the ligature? According to The Daily Camera, the McReynolds' middle daughter, 9-years-old at the time, was abducted on December 26, 1974, and witnessed the sexual molestation of her friend. Specifically, he noted the similarities to the kidnap drama Ransom, which had been playing in Boulder at the time. For someone to get through a small window like that and not disturb the cobwebs would be remarkable, he said. Boulder County District Attorney Alex Hunter, however, wasn't convinced of their guilt and wanted to explore other theories. She had dressed up as Mrs. Claus at the Christmas party and way back in 1976, Janet McReynolds wrote a play about a young girl who was abducted, molested, and found dead in a basement. He quickly began reviewing the evidence and finding potential leads that the police and public had overlooked or dismissed. McReynolds is questioned and ruled out, he didn't commit the actual killing so his DNA is not a match. JonBenet remembering that Santa is suppose to visit her wakes up sometime after midnight. You read that right. Wait, I meant, this is complete bullshit. The police quickly decide John and/or Patsy killed JonBenet. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. If this was in fact not an accidental death at the hands of John, Patsy, or Burke, as some insist, but rather murder in the first degree, with malice and premeditation, as the grand jury evidently suggested, whomever deliberately committed such an evil deed was likely motivated, at least partly, by anger, rage, embitterment or resentment, and a cruel and sadistic desire to inflict immense suffering upon the Ramsey family and perhaps upon John Ramsey in particular. Then, the next day, her parents appeared on CNN for an interview in which they pleaded for the public to help them find their daughters killer. Barry Williams/Getty Images News/Getty Images, will air a six-hour, three-part documentary. He told the Denver Post that when he first met JonBent in 1995 he was struck by her smile, her "pensive, almost retiring" demeanor, and her angelic glow. He had been living in the area on and off and when police allegedly found a magazine with pictures of the girl in his backpack. And 20 years later, the conversation will likely continue on a mainstream level. The blanket was wrapped around her. That's where the $118,000 demand comes from. Dawn Miller is one of the daughters of Lou Smit, who investigated JonBenet Ramsey's case and whose dying wish was for his family and friends to find her killer. Apparently they're supposed to use separate clippers for each nail. This extraordinary statement begs the crucial question: Who then could have committed the heinous crime to which the Ramseys were mere "accessories" according to the grand jury? Why Are So Many Young Men Single And Sexless? There were some friends of Patsys that were helping her wipe up the kitchen. Why murder her? TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. Patsy Ramsey reportedly strongly suspected Mrs. McReynolds of being involved at some point. He was just so devastated by the mere idea anyone would suspect him of a crime," she said. JonBent Ramsey's 1996 murder case remains unsolved. This seems really strange and coincidental. And there may be many others. For further details of our complaints policy and to make a complaint please click this link: thesun.co.uk/editorial-complaints/, JonBent Ramsey was strangled to death twenty-five years ago and her killer has never been brought to justice, John and Patsy Ramsey were prime suspects for years but were later exonerated when DNA testing had cleared them of any involvement, Investigators could not prove whether or not Patsy wrote the ransom note but she was later cleared by a federal court, Gary Oliva, a sex offender, was found with magazine photos of JonBent in his backpack when police arrested him on drug charges, John Mark Karr falsely confessed to killing JonBent in a 'love game' gone wrong but DNA had cleared him, Many people believe that an intruder killed JonBent but it has never been proven by police, Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). Fuller's first small role was as an extra in the 1952 film Above and Beyond. Karrs confession made international headlines but he was later dismissed as a pedophile who was after fame. I place particular importance on this aspect of the JonBenet Ramsey case because this group of eight men and four women had access to a massive amount of evidence related to the circumstances surrounding JonBenet's death, and sufficient time to consider it in depth and detail. If we leverage the evidence, we follow the facts, we will find this killer., 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Or, in this case, an evil Santa? I wish we would have done a better job of securing and controlling the crime scene on day one, said Beckner. I kind of joked with her, saying that, If somebody did get in that house, it mustve been Santa Claus coming down the chimney.. Another eerie-sounding connection theory, is that Janet McReynolds had allegedly written a play about a young girl who had molested, tortured and killed in a basement in 1976. But to this day, the case still remains cold. Bill McReynolds was found dead in his Mashpee, Mass., home Monday by his wife, Janet, when she. But like police, the jury didnt believe someone couldve entered the window with the cobwebs remaining intact. What we do know is that both Bill and Janet themselves had presumably been traumatized by the abduction of their own daughter and her sexually tinged traumatization more than 20 years prior to JonBenet's abduction, molestation, and death. Joe Denson McReynolds, 59, passed away after a courageous battle with cancer, on Wednesday, September 3, 2008, at St. Dominic Hospital in Jackson.He is survived by his wife, Nancy Williamson McReynold The first non-family suspect in the case was a friend, Bill McReynolds who was at the house two days before her death and liked to dress up as Santa Clause. 9 yo kids kill, but it doesn't happen often enough for the Ramseys to think that Burke would be blamed. A. James Kolar, who led the case investigation for the Boulder DAs office for nine months, believes its unlikely the girl was killed by an intruder. Her hands were tied above her head. Marra said that after his death, her family teamed up with some of Smits former homicide partners to keep investigating the case. The world also blames the Ramsey's for the murder, Santa Bill has been cleared so many time and youre still dragging his name through the mud. The child had also suffered an 8-inch skull fracture, shocks from a stun gun and sexual abuse with a broken piece from the paintbrush used in the garrote, according to Brad Garrett, a former FBI agent and ABC News contributor who wasnt involved in JonBents case. John Ramsey said he brought his daughter upstairs and laid her on the floor, hoping she was alive. Are Zoomies a Sign of a Happy Dog or a Crazy Dog? He takes pictures of her dying and possibly records it. 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It feels like you came up with a narrative first and then tried to adjust it to some of the evidence. Smit also spoke about the DNA evidence that police had found underneath JonBents fingernails and in her underwear in the video diaries. If I try to consider an outsider, it would be one of the housekeepers or nannies who had some shady family members. You could arguably do this whole thing again if JBR doesn't say anything. What did they know? Bill was both a Prefect and Head Boy. This seems absurd, and, therefore, ridiculous. If he didn't do it, then there is no evidence against him. He has been cleared and my humble opinion is that he was a fall guy. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Either this grand jury was totally incompetent, confused, and/or grossly misled by the prosecution, or they heard certain testimony behind closed doors that compellingly convinced them of the peripheral (rather than direct) involvement of John and Patsy in JonBenet's murder and deliberately aiding and abetting their own daughter's killer! I got a pen and paper and he gave me a name, and he said, Start with this name.. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. They didnt do it.. The South Carolina native got engaged over the weekend to Kendall McReynolds, daughter of two-time Daytona 500 winning-crew chief and NASCAR on FOX analyst Larry McReynolds. This "theory" Is fucking stupid. Her case remains unsolved. They search the house and find JonBenet murdered. When reached for comment, the Boulder Police Department said there is still an active, ongoing investigation into JonBents murder; however, the department has never publicly commented on its handling of the case. PostedApril 10, 2017 But speaking to JonBents parents, the main suspects in the case at that point, as part of a formal interrogation at the police station was challenging. Apart from it, how come the killer left no traces behind? The family has not lost the will to fight and the will to find the killer, John Andrew Ramsey said. Having said that, the grand jury in the Ramsey case did indeed ultimately recommend indicting both John and Patsy Ramsey in connection with their daughter's death. Stephen Diamond, Ph.D., is a clinical and forensic psychologist in Los Angeles, and the author of Anger, Madness, and the Daimonic: The Psychological Genesis of Violence, Evil, and Creativity. He believed the answer to the identity of JonBents killer lay in the DNA found in her underwear and underneath her fingernails. We were shocked, added John Ramsey. Burke is woken up and questioned. They wouldnt have any reason to think the situation looked particularly bad for them. As of 2022, Brandon is also available on the official page of Wikipedia. Meet Son Brandon McReynolds. Though the McReynolds' were both ruled out as suspects early on, as were the Ramseys some years later, as a forensic psychologist, I find it difficult to dismiss such potentially meaningful "coincidences" in a notorious cold case such as this. John Ramseys son, JonBents half-brother John Andrew Ramsey, said that the family gave blood and fingerprints to the police as part of their investigation. The outlet also reported that Janet had penned a play with a few eery similarities to the case the plot revolved around a girl who was molested and murdered in her basement. So in this theory, did John lie about the chairs in the basement, or did the killer magically slip out among all the family and LE there? If they were so anxious about it anyway, why not just remove the pineapple and avoid saying that Burke had a snack with her & getting the police to actually look for their daughter's killer? Yet, at this late date, we may never know. After graduating from . But why would someone do it? A window in the basement was broken and an unidentified footprint was found at the scene. JonBent was buried in Marietta, Georgia, the Ramseys hometown, on Dec. 31, 1996. For instance, if neither John nor Patsy Ramsey was responsible for directly causing their daughter's death, who did? How many people knew that? Brandon is currently 30 years old. Clearly, whatever the perpetrator's identity, some combination of pedophilia and sexual sadism could be reasonably inferred from the grotesque state in which JonBenet's body was found, assuming that this was not purposely staged by Patsy and John to disguise what truly happened, as some still contend. Could she have had a very special surprise visitor waiting there for her later that Christmas evening, perhaps one previously invited by her parents? JonBent Ramsey was an American child beauty queen. There couldve been fingerprints there.. What would possibly motivate people like Bill or Janet McReynolds, for example, to kidnap and kill JonBenet Ramsey? He was recovering from heart surgery and needed his wife to help so he could even do the Santa gig. Bill McReynolds Other suspects included neighbor Bill McReynolds, a local Santa Claus who visited the Ramseys a few days before the girl's death. His NASCAR career began in 1975. Stop it already". They didn't follow procedure with the nail clippers. From hair trends to relationship advice, our daily newsletter has everything you need to sound like a person whos on TikTok, even if you arent. Indeed, despite their apparently good friendship, Bill McReynolds was cited by John Ramsey himself during a taped interview after JonBenet's gruesome death as being suspect in his own mind. I immediately knelt down over her, felt her cheek, took the tape off immediately off her mouth. Waltrip joined the broadcast booth for FOX Sports in 2001, a year after he retired from NASCAR. Any information that we come up with a match will be turned over immediately to the Boulder [district attorney] and Boulder Police Department, and they will follow that.. If its not a stun gun, what is it? It is reported that McReynolds paid a little too much attention to JonBenet and had supposedly chosen JonBenet to be his "special friend". I thought this was [going to] be a fairly easy case. Two days prior to JonBent's murder, former University of Colorado professor. One of the suspects investigated and cleared early on by authorities in JonBenet's death was family friend and neighbor Bill McReynolds, a man who had evidently been hired by Patsy to play Santa Claus at the Ramsey family's Christmas parties in both 1995 and 1996 (and possibly 1994, too). Many of the similarities between the Ramsey case and McReynolds' play come from these allegations of sexual molestation. Patsy Ramsey said that when they found out they were main suspects in their daughters death, she didnt believe it.. According to CNN, an original prosecutor on the Ramsey case claimed that Bill McReynolds had given JonBenet a greeting card, later found in the trash bin of the Ramsey home right after her death . Now, in the house, the ransom note is written on a pad that belongs to Patsy., He said police began to suspect that maybe the Ramseys had harmed their child in some way, then panicked and tried to create basically a kidnapping scenario.. Bill McReynolds died in 2002 from a heart attack, but the rest of the McReynolds family has shied away from the spotlight since then. Gary Oliva was a known sex offender in Colorado when JonBent was murdered. Why not take JBR from the home and to a secluded place where they could do a lot more than just take a few pictures. The family friend, who died in 2002, was considered in JonBent's murder. Bill McReynolds was found dead in his Mashpee, Mass., home Monday by his wife, Janet, when she returned from a weekend trip. 2023 BDG Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Unless, of course, the investigators still working this cold case are willing to critically reevaluate the various questionable criteria used at that time to rule out potential suspects e.g., weak alibis, inconclusive handwriting analysis, dubious DNA evidence, etc. He was born on May 21, 1991, in Mooresville, North Carolina.