JonBenet Ramsey Murder Revisited: The Protection of Burke Ramsey

The JonBenet Ramsey murder case is nearing its 19th year as an unsolved crime. Everyone who recalls the horrific report of a Christmas gone so terribly wrong in Boulder, can picture the beautiful litt...
JonBenet Ramsey Murder Revisited: The Protection of Burke Ramsey
Written by Kimberly Ripley
  • The JonBenet Ramsey murder case is nearing its 19th year as an unsolved crime. Everyone who recalls the horrific report of a Christmas gone so terribly wrong in Boulder, can picture the beautiful little blonde beauty pageant contestant, and her fairy tale life that ended way too soon.

    Barbara Walters revisited the JonBenet Ramsey case as part of her new series, Barbara Walters Presents American Scandals, and talked with JonBenet Ramsey’s father John Ramsey about how he and late wife Patsy Ramsey worked hard to prevent son Burke from learning of the rumors that surrounding the family following JonBenet’s death. Burke Ramsey spoke for the first time about the case.

    “We tried to shield him from that,” John Ramsey explained.

    “Friends would ask us, “What can we do to help?” We said, “Next time you go in the supermarket, call the manager over when you see our child’s photo on the front cover, and ask him to remove it,'” he added. “A lot of them did that.”

    JonBenet Ramsey was just six years old when she was found dead in the basement of her family’s Boulder home. A ransom note and eight hour search prompted panic, leading to the discovery of her body. She had duct tape covering her mouth and had been sexually assaulted. She had a fractured skull. The little girl’s hands were bound, and she was covered with a blanket. As with most murder cases, all eyes focused on those within the home–parents John Ramsey and Patsy Ramsey, and older brother (he was nine at the time) Burke.

    Despite the efforts of family members and friends, Burke Ramsey learned he, too, was a suspect in the JonBenet Ramsey murder investigation–while he was at the grocery store with his mom.

    “The headlines from a tabloid screamed out that Burke had done it,” John Ramsey said at the time. “She dropped her produce and rushed Burke out, but the damage had been done.”

    All three family members were cleared in the death of JonBenet Ramsey in 2008, due to the presence of unknown male DNA. That came too late for Patsy Ramsey, however. She died of ovarian cancer in 2006.

    John Ramsey has moved on. In 2011 he got married again, to Jan Rousseaux. She appeared with John for the interview with Barbara Walters, and shared how the stigma has never left the family. Some friends even warned her she was “marrying a killer.”

    JonBenet Ramsey would have been 25 this year. Burke Ramsey is 28.

    Will John Ramsey go to his grave never knowing who killed JonBenet?

    Many maintain, to this very day, that he already knows.

    Who do you think killed JonBenet Ramsey?

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