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Brett Sawyer and Lawrence Smith
#1
Brett Allen Sawyer (Selling Photos Printed In The Globe)



Photo lab staffer, ex-cop arrested in picture leak
Inquiry not over, Sheriff says
By ALLI KRUPSKI
Camera Staff Writer
Thursday, January 16, 1997
Authorities arrested a Photo Craft Laboratories employee and a former local law enforcement officer Wednesday in connection with the sale of crime scene photos of JonBenet Ramsey to the Globe tabloid.
Officials charged Lawrence Shawn Smith, 36, a printer at the Boulder photography company, with two felonies - theft of more than $400 and tampering with physical evidence - as well as two misdemeanors - obstructing government operations and false reporting to authorities.

[Image: smith.jpg]
Lawrence Shawn Smith
[Image: sawyer.jpg]
Brett Allen Sawyer
Officials also charged Brett Allen Sawyer, 38, a former Lafayette police officer, a Boulder County sheriff's deputy in 1980-81 and a private investigator for the past 16 years, with obstructing government operations.
Investigators booked the two men at the Boulder County Justice Center on Wednesday and released them. Boulder County Sheriff George Epp announced the arrests - reported in Wednesday's Daily Camera - at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.
The department has not completed the investigation, Epp added.
"It's possible that they'll arrest (someone else) very soon," a source said.
The Globe published five of the crime-scene pictures, including photos of a garrote and a rope around one of JonBenet's wrists, on Monday. As part of an agreement reached Tuesday, the
Globe will return the photos, although they hadn't arrived Wednesday. But, under the settlement, the tabloid can publish the pictures again.
Officials shot the photographs after JonBenet's mother, Patsy, found a ransom note about 5:30 a.m. Dec. 26. Approximately eight hours later, John Ramsey, JonBenet's father, and a friend discovered the former Little Miss Colorado strangled in the basement of the family's home at 755 15th St.
The newspaper hired Sawyer to search for facts surrounding the 6-year-old beauty queen's death, officials said.
"Like many media organizations, the Globe was interested in obtaining as much information about the Ramsey murder as fast as it could," said Peter Schild, Sawyer's attorney.
Sawyer told Smith he represented the Ramseys' independent investigative team, according to the arrest report. Sawyer then obtained the photographs and provided them to the Globe in about four hours, sources said.
The 1.3 million-circulation, Boca Raton, Fla.-based tabloid paid the men about $5,500, a $5,000 bonus and $500 in fees and expenses, according to the arrest report. Smith received about $200, Epp said.
"Sawyer allegedly went to Smith for help," a source close to the investigation said. "It's just a sick situation that's ironic, too, because Sawyer's 6-year-old son is a first-grader at the same school (High Peaks/Martin Park Elementary) that JonBenet went to. Even so, it really does seem like an astonishingly low amount of money for the pictures."
Generally, magazines do not disclose the prices they pay for photos because it would betray a competitive advantage. But one source said packages of exclusive news photos could result in several magazines bidding against each other, fetching as much as $20,000.
"They really can get a lot of money for certain pictures," said another photo agent. "That's why it's just hard to believe that the Globe paid so little for these pictures because they're authentic photographs that nobody else has."
A photographer familiar with the youth pageant circuit said that if the two men sold the pictures to the Globe for $5,500, "they were nitwits." Some publications would have easily paid more than $10,000 for the coroner's photographs, he said.
If convicted of all charges, Smith could face up to 8 years in prison and more than $600,000 in fines. Sawyer's possible penalties include a maximum six-month jail sentence and a $750 fine, Epp said.
Sawyer will appear for a hearing in Boulder County Court at 9 a.m. Feb. 27. Officials have not set a court date for Smith.
"These two people were acquainted with each other before this incident occurred," Epp said.
Upon learning that the Globe would publish the pictures, Sawyer contacted Schild, the attorney said. Schild then called the Boulder County Sheriff's Department, according to arrest reports.
"Brett feels terrible about his role in this and has done everything possible to make things right," Schild said. "He suggested donating the money to a memorial charity for JonBenet, perhaps at the school she attended.
"In an interview, Brett said he believed the photos would never be printed because that's what the Globe told him," Schild said. "The Globe told him the photos were only going to be used for a review by their own coroner consultant. It is common for media to review material that might be too offensive for public consumption," Schild said.
Meanwhile, Photo Craft presi dent Roy M. McCutchen said in a statement that he has fired Smith, who had worked for the company since 1987. McCutchen described Smith as "a trusted staff member who had been producing work for the coroner's office for many years."
McCutchen also apologized to the community.
"I am in a state of shock," McCutchen said. "In the 21 years I have been the senior operating officer of Photo Craft, nothing like this has ever happened. Our systems and relationships have evolved over years and have been built on the idea that people are basically honorable."
The publication of the photos also alarmed Boulder County Coroner Dr. John Meyer. The office has worked exclusively with Photo Craft since 1990 and paid the company about $1,300 to process film in 1996, he said. And while officials do not believe other publications have acquired any of the coroner's 113 photos, the incident has prompted the office to examine its photo processing policies, Meyer said.
"We've asked the Sheriff's Department to ... offer suggestions on how we might improve our procedures," Meyer said.
Those changes might include monitoring the film developing process, officials said.
"Right now, no one watches the film after the coroner's office drops it off," a source said. "Having someone watching this whole event might help. Or the coroner might need to develop only the necessary pictures as opposed to all of the film. We just need to look at a range of options so the family doesn't have to go through pain like this again."
Staff writer Elliot Zaret contributed to this report.
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#2
jameson posted on 08-29-06

"Brett Sawyer as suspect?"

Just want to point out that there are plenty of alternative suspects out there.
I get emails and packages about possible suspects all the time - - from Hillery Clinton to Chris Wolf (who has been cleared) to the church Sexton to ... well, Brett Sawyer. I have a smallfile on him somewhere.

I have shared a bit on him before and will bring his name back today - because while we know he was arrested and convicted for his part in selling Ramsey photos - - - we don't know if anyone ever looked at him as a suspect in this case. Don't know if they checked his alibi, handwriting and DNA.

Let's talk about possible reasons to consider Brett Sawyer a suspect in the murder of JonBenet Ramsey

I will put forward here a few thoughts.

Sawyer had a child in the same school and grade as JonBenet so may have seen her, met her before the murder.

Could a parent be so jealous of a classmate who was the center of so much attention? Dancing and singing at the school - in the parade.

Sawyer was a private investigator for 16 years - presumably experienced in slinking about. May be reason to think he might have owned a stun gun.

He had been a rock climber/hiker with knowledge of knots. (THis was discussed long ago when some of us thought the killer might have gone in through JonBenet's balcony door.)

Was his work at the photography lab a cover for involvement in pornography trafficking? Did the BPD check that out? I don't think so.

I do not know who killed JonBenet - but would like to know if this man has any history of interest in children. Just a question I would like to see answered."
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#3
From Westword

1997: Brett Sawyer, another P.I. dazzled by the tabloids, pleads guilty to a misdemeanor after the Globe publishes autopsy photos of JonBenét Ramsey obtained with Sawyer's help. Sawyer is sentenced to three days in jail, a $500 fine and five large in restitution costs. He also has to write a letter of apology to the Ramsey family.
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