Request Media Kit

JonBenet Ramsey: Boulder Reporter Sues DA

The Daily Camera reports that reporter Charlie Brennan and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press filed a lawsuit against Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett Wednesday. They are su...
JonBenet Ramsey: Boulder Reporter Sues DA
Written by Lacy Langley
  • The Daily Camera reports that reporter Charlie Brennan and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press filed a lawsuit against Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett Wednesday. They are suing the Boulder County district attorney for the release of the secret 1999 grand jury indictment of JonBenet Ramsey’s parents, who were never prosecuted in the death of their daughter. Garnett has already refused to release the indictment twice.

    The Daily Camera said that two members of the grand jury confirmed they had voted to indict John and Patsy Ramsey on charges of child abuse resulting in death, but that then-D.A. Alex Hunter had refused to sign the document.

    “The plaintiffs believe… that the indictment is a criminal justice record that reflects official action by the grand jury, and accordingly that it is subject to mandatory disclosure upon request,” attorney Thomas B. Kelley wrote in the filing. “Alternatively, they argue the indictment should be disclosed to the public because such disclosure would serve the public interest in government transparency and not be contrary to the public interest nor cause undue adverse effect upon the privacy of the individual.”

    Tru TV reports that JonBenet Ramsey was found dead on December 26, 1996 in the basement of the Ramsey home after her mother, Patsy Ramsey, now deceased, called 911 to report her missing and told dispatch that they had found a ransom note. It was while the police were waiting for the call that they made several critical mistakes. They did not conduct a proper search of the house. The home was not sealed off and friends walked in and out at their leisure. No moves were made to protect any forensic evidence.

    The big picture of just how many mistakes Boulder police made became clear later that afternoon when a detective asked Fleet White, a friend of the Ramseys, to take John and search the house for “anything unusual.” They started in the basement. Later, during the documentary Who Killed JonBenet?, made by Channel Four in London, John Ramsey describes what they found:

    “As I was walking through the basement, I opened the door to a room and knew immediately that I’d found her because there was a white blanket — her eyes were closed, I feared the worse but yet — I’d found her.”

    The case went to Grand Jury in 1998, but in 1999, District Attorney Hunger announced that the investigation would be closed due to lack of evidence.
    However, In 2008, the Boulder District Attorney’s office announced that a DNA specimen taken from an unknown male’s blood left on JonBenet’s underwear had exonerated both John and Patsy Ramsey, as well as their now-adult son, Burke. Boulder police officially reopened the case in 2009.

    image via wikipedia

    Get the WebProNews newsletter delivered to your inbox

    Get the free daily newsletter read by decision makers

    Subscribe
    Advertise with Us

    Ready to get started?

    Get our media kit