05-11-2017, 07:24 PM
Boulder girl's storybook life ends suddenly and brutally
By CLAY EVANS and ALLI KRUPSKI
Camera Staff Writers
Sunday, January 5, 1997
From the outside looking in, JonBenet Ramsey's life was long on sugar and spice.
A successful beauty queen at age 6, JonBenet's pixie-like face and shower of golden hair seemed somehow to fit the confident demeanor she brought to the runway. She looked both young and elegant.
Sashaying across the stage in a sparkly, black-and-white Las Vegas showgirl costume or singing "I want to be a cowboy sweetheart" in a frilly pink cowgirl outfit, there was something perkily reminiscent of Shirley Temple about JonBenet.
Life looked like it was going to be good for the little girl. She had told people she wanted to become a professional ice skater or maybe an artist. In November she was named to the "Star's Honor Roll" at High Peaks Martin Park Elementary School for winning an "I Caught You Being Good" award.
She lived in a 15-room manse - worth at least $760,000 - in the upscale, bucolic quietude near Chautauqua Park in Boulder with her brother Burke, 9, and her well-respected parents, who are the portrait of all-American success.
John Bennet Ramsey, 53, is chief executive officer of a billion-dollar company and moves in powerful circles. He has a jet pilot's license.
Patricia "Patsy" Ramsey, 40, is a former Miss West Virginia who won plaudits for volunteering at her son's school even as she re covered from a bout with ovarian cancer in 1994. Although never fully happy with the family's move from her native South to Boulder in 1991, Patsy Ramsey made the most of her situation, throwing lavish parties for friends and members of the St. John's Episcopal Church congregation, sprucing up her home for the Christmas holidays with yuletide trees in nearly every room.
When JonBenet was found strangled to death in the family's basement Dec. 26 - clothed, wrapped in a blanket, duct tape over her mouth, a cord wrapped around her neck, a fractured skull and with bruises indicating a sexual assault - her fairy-tale life suddenly froze in time, leaving a nation to wonder what had gone wrong.
Grieving, the girl's parents made hasty arrangements to bury their daughter in Marietta, Ga., on Dec. 31, adjacent to the grave of her half-sister Elizabeth Ramsey, who died in January 1992 in a car accident.
"When a child is lost, one feels that a part of a future promise is gone," said the Rev. W. Frank Harrington at a funeral service near Atlanta. "All of us who are parents fully expect that our children will live long after we are gone."
The Ramseys returned to Boulder on Friday morning and reportedly are staying with friends.
The bizarre tale that has unfolded in the aftermath of the murder has provided occasional details - but few substantive answers - for a curious public.
The case initially was called in to police as a kidnapping after Patsy Ramsey found a rambling, three-page, handwritten ransom note about 5:30 a.m. Dec. 26 on a spiral staircase between the bedrooms upstairs and the basement where JonBenet's body was found.
The house was locked at the time, but the security system apparently was not turned on. After discovering the ransom note, the family called in friends and a minister, and spent several hours waiting with police for a telephone call about their daughter.
But when no word came, a police investigator encouraged - critics say improperly - the Ramseys to thoroughly search their own home. About 1:30 p.m., John and a friend descended to the basement, where they found JonBenet's blanket-wrapped body. John Ramsey has since said he screamed and carried his daughter's body upstairs.
When John and Patsy Ramsey went on Cable News Network on New Year's Day to make their only public statement on the case, they insisted that an unknown killer had robbed them of their daughter.
"There is a killer on the loose," Patsy said tearfully. "We don't know who it is, or if it is a he or a she. But if I were a resident of Boulder, I would tell my friends to keep your babies close to you. There is someone out there."
JonBenet's murder is eerily similar to a killing in the same neighborhood years ago: In November 1972, kidnapper Peter Roy Fisher lured two 11-year-old girls into his van as they walked home from a birthday party. He handcuffed the girls together, sexually assaulted them, shot them, then left them for dead after pushing them over a cliff near Gold Hill. One girl miraculously survived the attack. The second girl, Jessica Schaffner, was killed; she lived at 715 15th St., just a few doors down from the Ramseys' home. Fisher is still serving time for the crime.
But as the investigation by Boulder Police Department detectives entered its second week, it was clear they were giving little credence to the kidnapping story:
Police have pursued interviews and taken tissue samples from many people - including a baby sitter and her boyfriend, not long after the body was discovered - but there has been no indication that they are casting a wide net for suspects (none has been named, as yet).
Inevitably, the apparent lack of police interest in the alleged kidnapping turned increasing public attention on John and Patsy Ramsey, and the couple responded: Each of them hired a Denver attorney - G. Bryon Morgan for John, Patrick J. Burke for Patsy. Both are highly respected, prominent criminal defense attorneys.
They also hired Washington, D.C., publicist Pat Kortin and two private investigators, including Armistead Ellis, who worked on behalf of Nathan Dunlap, who was convicted in the 1994 murders of several people at an Aurora Chuck E. Cheese restaurant.
Then there was the New Year's Day interview on CNN, which for many TV watchers raised more questions than it answered. Patsy alluded to two high-profile recent cases - the murders of Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman, for which O.J. Simpson was acquitted; and the murder by Susan Smith of her two young sons in South Carolina - in attempting to explain why people were suspicious.
"It's really interesting," said one family acquaintance, "before that (the interview) we just thought, "How tragic.' Afterward, we didn't know what to think."
Attempts by the Daily Camera to talk with the Ramseys or their publicity agent were unsuccessful last week.
Contrary to numerous press reports, police have had fairly extensive contact with the couple. However, on the advice of their attorneys, the Ramseys have so far chosen not to sit for a videotaped deposition in front of investigators. (Some police sources now say they may have erred in not trying to take such depositions the day the body was found.)
But friends and family fume over any speculation that the Ramseys - especially John - aren't telling the whole truth about what they know.
"It's just devastating. We've lost our little girl and now the press is trying to destroy my son-in-law," said Nedra Paugh, Patsy's mother, who lives in Roswell, Ga. "I don't know why the press is trying to do that. We want people to get on their knees and pray to the Lord that He reveals the facts so that He can stop this horrible, horrible nightmare. We are heartbroken. We are trying to pick up the pieces."
Family and friends also say John Ramsey was a devoted father to JonBenet, even though he was often away on business, coming home frequently only on weekends. He is described by family members as patient and loving with his children, never spanking them or even raising his voice: "He disciplined with love," said Nedra Paugh. He read to his daughter, they went over school papers together, and John tried to eat dinner with the family when he was home.
Friends say Patsy is a trusting person who, despite moving in affluent circles, was casual and easygoing about her home. She increasingly made JonBenet her focus in recent years, shepherding her daughter into the little-known world of child beauty pageants.
"She spent most of her time, most of her real energy, on that little girl," said one friend.
The family has seen its share of tragedy before: In 1992, John's daughter from a previous marriage, Elizabeth Ramsey, was killed in an auto accident during a snowstorm near Chicago. Patsy Ramsey battled ovarian cancer in 1994.
But this holiday season seemed to offer some reasons for celebration for the family. Friends threw a surprise 40th birthday party for Patsy in November (her birthday was Dec. 29) and Patsy seemed to thrive on Christmas traditions: She had as many as eight Christmas trees in different rooms of the house one recent year, and the outside of the home was adorned with plastic candy canes and Santa Claus ornaments.
But perversely, JonBenet's body was discovered in the family's unfinished basement in a wine cellar - not far from where they stored their Christmas decorations.
Now while the family, the community and the nation eagerly await news of the case - and wonder when an arrest will be made - police sources caution that major developments could come slowly.
With the inch-by-inch examination of the Ramsey house complete, the wait is on for the return of forensic evidence - handwriting, blood and hair samples from family members and others who had access to the house, as well as samples of "bodily fluid" collected from the area near JonBenet's body - now in the hands of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
Sources close to the investigation say they don't expect major movement in the case until those results come back - and that could take as long as two or three weeks. But others say the CBI has given the murder of JonBenet its highest priority, and that could mean a development as soon as this week.
But if an arrest is made in the case, one thing seems certain: There will be a sensational trial, and this mostly quiet college town of Boulder will have to prepare to withstand the glare of the national media spotlight for months - or even years - to come.
By CLAY EVANS and ALLI KRUPSKI
Camera Staff Writers
Sunday, January 5, 1997
From the outside looking in, JonBenet Ramsey's life was long on sugar and spice.
A successful beauty queen at age 6, JonBenet's pixie-like face and shower of golden hair seemed somehow to fit the confident demeanor she brought to the runway. She looked both young and elegant.
Sashaying across the stage in a sparkly, black-and-white Las Vegas showgirl costume or singing "I want to be a cowboy sweetheart" in a frilly pink cowgirl outfit, there was something perkily reminiscent of Shirley Temple about JonBenet.
Life looked like it was going to be good for the little girl. She had told people she wanted to become a professional ice skater or maybe an artist. In November she was named to the "Star's Honor Roll" at High Peaks Martin Park Elementary School for winning an "I Caught You Being Good" award.
She lived in a 15-room manse - worth at least $760,000 - in the upscale, bucolic quietude near Chautauqua Park in Boulder with her brother Burke, 9, and her well-respected parents, who are the portrait of all-American success.
John Bennet Ramsey, 53, is chief executive officer of a billion-dollar company and moves in powerful circles. He has a jet pilot's license.
Patricia "Patsy" Ramsey, 40, is a former Miss West Virginia who won plaudits for volunteering at her son's school even as she re covered from a bout with ovarian cancer in 1994. Although never fully happy with the family's move from her native South to Boulder in 1991, Patsy Ramsey made the most of her situation, throwing lavish parties for friends and members of the St. John's Episcopal Church congregation, sprucing up her home for the Christmas holidays with yuletide trees in nearly every room.
When JonBenet was found strangled to death in the family's basement Dec. 26 - clothed, wrapped in a blanket, duct tape over her mouth, a cord wrapped around her neck, a fractured skull and with bruises indicating a sexual assault - her fairy-tale life suddenly froze in time, leaving a nation to wonder what had gone wrong.
Grieving, the girl's parents made hasty arrangements to bury their daughter in Marietta, Ga., on Dec. 31, adjacent to the grave of her half-sister Elizabeth Ramsey, who died in January 1992 in a car accident.
"When a child is lost, one feels that a part of a future promise is gone," said the Rev. W. Frank Harrington at a funeral service near Atlanta. "All of us who are parents fully expect that our children will live long after we are gone."
The Ramseys returned to Boulder on Friday morning and reportedly are staying with friends.
The bizarre tale that has unfolded in the aftermath of the murder has provided occasional details - but few substantive answers - for a curious public.
The case initially was called in to police as a kidnapping after Patsy Ramsey found a rambling, three-page, handwritten ransom note about 5:30 a.m. Dec. 26 on a spiral staircase between the bedrooms upstairs and the basement where JonBenet's body was found.
The house was locked at the time, but the security system apparently was not turned on. After discovering the ransom note, the family called in friends and a minister, and spent several hours waiting with police for a telephone call about their daughter.
But when no word came, a police investigator encouraged - critics say improperly - the Ramseys to thoroughly search their own home. About 1:30 p.m., John and a friend descended to the basement, where they found JonBenet's blanket-wrapped body. John Ramsey has since said he screamed and carried his daughter's body upstairs.
When John and Patsy Ramsey went on Cable News Network on New Year's Day to make their only public statement on the case, they insisted that an unknown killer had robbed them of their daughter.
"There is a killer on the loose," Patsy said tearfully. "We don't know who it is, or if it is a he or a she. But if I were a resident of Boulder, I would tell my friends to keep your babies close to you. There is someone out there."
JonBenet's murder is eerily similar to a killing in the same neighborhood years ago: In November 1972, kidnapper Peter Roy Fisher lured two 11-year-old girls into his van as they walked home from a birthday party. He handcuffed the girls together, sexually assaulted them, shot them, then left them for dead after pushing them over a cliff near Gold Hill. One girl miraculously survived the attack. The second girl, Jessica Schaffner, was killed; she lived at 715 15th St., just a few doors down from the Ramseys' home. Fisher is still serving time for the crime.
But as the investigation by Boulder Police Department detectives entered its second week, it was clear they were giving little credence to the kidnapping story:
- Sources say the investigation is tightly focused on the home, and that key events associated with the murder appear to have taken place in the home.
- Police and city of Boulder spokespeople repeatedly have told residents of the city there is no cause to worry that a killer is on the streets.
- The ransom note appears to have been handwritten inside the house, on paper taken from a pad in the house, casting doubts on whether it was a premeditated crime. Writing in the first portion of the note has been described as "shaky," then improving.
- The contents of the ransom note indicated that the "kidnappers" were from a foreign country and were protesting business practices of some company, perhaps Access Graphics, of which John Ramsey is CEO.
Police have pursued interviews and taken tissue samples from many people - including a baby sitter and her boyfriend, not long after the body was discovered - but there has been no indication that they are casting a wide net for suspects (none has been named, as yet).
Inevitably, the apparent lack of police interest in the alleged kidnapping turned increasing public attention on John and Patsy Ramsey, and the couple responded: Each of them hired a Denver attorney - G. Bryon Morgan for John, Patrick J. Burke for Patsy. Both are highly respected, prominent criminal defense attorneys.
They also hired Washington, D.C., publicist Pat Kortin and two private investigators, including Armistead Ellis, who worked on behalf of Nathan Dunlap, who was convicted in the 1994 murders of several people at an Aurora Chuck E. Cheese restaurant.
Then there was the New Year's Day interview on CNN, which for many TV watchers raised more questions than it answered. Patsy alluded to two high-profile recent cases - the murders of Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman, for which O.J. Simpson was acquitted; and the murder by Susan Smith of her two young sons in South Carolina - in attempting to explain why people were suspicious.
"It's really interesting," said one family acquaintance, "before that (the interview) we just thought, "How tragic.' Afterward, we didn't know what to think."
Attempts by the Daily Camera to talk with the Ramseys or their publicity agent were unsuccessful last week.
Contrary to numerous press reports, police have had fairly extensive contact with the couple. However, on the advice of their attorneys, the Ramseys have so far chosen not to sit for a videotaped deposition in front of investigators. (Some police sources now say they may have erred in not trying to take such depositions the day the body was found.)
But friends and family fume over any speculation that the Ramseys - especially John - aren't telling the whole truth about what they know.
"It's just devastating. We've lost our little girl and now the press is trying to destroy my son-in-law," said Nedra Paugh, Patsy's mother, who lives in Roswell, Ga. "I don't know why the press is trying to do that. We want people to get on their knees and pray to the Lord that He reveals the facts so that He can stop this horrible, horrible nightmare. We are heartbroken. We are trying to pick up the pieces."
Family and friends also say John Ramsey was a devoted father to JonBenet, even though he was often away on business, coming home frequently only on weekends. He is described by family members as patient and loving with his children, never spanking them or even raising his voice: "He disciplined with love," said Nedra Paugh. He read to his daughter, they went over school papers together, and John tried to eat dinner with the family when he was home.
Friends say Patsy is a trusting person who, despite moving in affluent circles, was casual and easygoing about her home. She increasingly made JonBenet her focus in recent years, shepherding her daughter into the little-known world of child beauty pageants.
"She spent most of her time, most of her real energy, on that little girl," said one friend.
The family has seen its share of tragedy before: In 1992, John's daughter from a previous marriage, Elizabeth Ramsey, was killed in an auto accident during a snowstorm near Chicago. Patsy Ramsey battled ovarian cancer in 1994.
But this holiday season seemed to offer some reasons for celebration for the family. Friends threw a surprise 40th birthday party for Patsy in November (her birthday was Dec. 29) and Patsy seemed to thrive on Christmas traditions: She had as many as eight Christmas trees in different rooms of the house one recent year, and the outside of the home was adorned with plastic candy canes and Santa Claus ornaments.
But perversely, JonBenet's body was discovered in the family's unfinished basement in a wine cellar - not far from where they stored their Christmas decorations.
Now while the family, the community and the nation eagerly await news of the case - and wonder when an arrest will be made - police sources caution that major developments could come slowly.
With the inch-by-inch examination of the Ramsey house complete, the wait is on for the return of forensic evidence - handwriting, blood and hair samples from family members and others who had access to the house, as well as samples of "bodily fluid" collected from the area near JonBenet's body - now in the hands of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
Sources close to the investigation say they don't expect major movement in the case until those results come back - and that could take as long as two or three weeks. But others say the CBI has given the murder of JonBenet its highest priority, and that could mean a development as soon as this week.
But if an arrest is made in the case, one thing seems certain: There will be a sensational trial, and this mostly quiet college town of Boulder will have to prepare to withstand the glare of the national media spotlight for months - or even years - to come.