Posted on 07/09/2008 5:05:55 PM PDT by devere
BOULDER, Colo. (Reuters) - New DNA tests have definitively cleared the parents of U.S. child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey of her unsolved murder almost 12 years ago, prosecutors said on Wednesday.
In a statement seeking to silence suspicions surrounding relatives of the slain 6-year-old, prosecutors in the U.S. said new testing techniques on male DNA found on JonBenet's clothes did not match any family members.
"This new scientific evidence convinces us that it is appropriate ... to state that we do not consider your immediate family, including you, your wife Patsy, and your son Burke, to be under any suspicion in the commission of this crime," Boulder County District Attorney Mary Lacy said in a letter to JonBenet's father, John Ramsey.
JonBenet Ramsey was found beaten and strangled in the basement of her parents' home in Boulder, Colorado, on December 26, 1996.
Videos of the tiny blonde competing in child beauty pageants, and the suspicion surrounding her parents, made headlines around the world. No one has ever been charged.
JonBenet's mother, Patsy, died of ovarian cancer in 2006, still fighting to clear her name.
"The suspicions about the Ramseys in this case created an ongoing living hell for the Ramsey family and their friends, which added to their suffering from the unexplained and devastating loss of JonBenet," Lacy said in a separate statement on Wednesday.
Lacy apologized for the distress caused to the Ramseys and said she wished her office could have cleared them before Patsy Ramsey died.
(Excerpt) Read more at uk.reuters.com ...
I may get flamed...but...those contests are disgusting.
I am happy for the Ramsey family. I HATE that parents are assumed to be the guilty ones when a child disappears. I know they have to be considered, but. . .
imagine the agony of what the Ramseys went through, and then, years of people blatantly accusing you of doing that to your own little girl.
Rest in peace, Patty. God be pleased to reveal whoever did the indescribable crime to that poor child.
Big time.
APf
Well damn it took long enough! Patsy is dead, and now they clear the family????
I just have a repulsion with people making little 5 year old girls look like 21 year old “loose” women.
I think that repulsion about the beauty contests helped convict the Ramseys in people’s heads.
However, having your child compete in those things is not criminal, and there’s not some statistical correlation between putting your daughters in them and molesting/abusing/killing them.
I do speculate, though, that whoever attacked JonBenet got attracted to her at one of those competitions. I speculate that way because she seemed to have been targeted specifically. And I always wonder, why Christmas? What did Christmas have to do with it? Was it just a coincidence?
I wonder if it was another contestant mom...
I think there was evidence of a male assault, not to be too graphic.
True. And that leaves the police, where?
“And I always wonder, why Christmas?”
Because it can be the loneliest time of the year for anyone, little lone some murderous child molester.
That would be when his ‘need’ to satisfy his ‘urges’ would be the greatest.
One could say, he gave himself a present.
Interesting. I could see that.
I just keep thinking Christmas meant something. Or provided an unusual opportunity, in other words, that there must have been some reason.
I hope someday we can find out.
Somebody fax Greta, she's got her story tonight!
Nope. What made me suspect the Ramseys, from what I remember about the case:
1. The rambling, several-pages-long phony ransom note that was written IN the home, probably AFTER the girl was dead.
2. The ransom amount being the exact weird amount of the dad's PRIVATE recent Christmas bonus.
3. The lie that the girl had not eaten anything after dinner the night before, when pineapple was found in her stomach, and there was pineapple on the table.
4. The lie that Burke the brother was asleep when they found out she was missing, but his voice could be heard in the background on the 911 call.
There were some others but I've forgotten them. It does seem like there was another man involved, though, with this DNA evidence. This still doesn't prove that one of the parents was not also involved, but makes it a lot less likely.
They are, although it’s not germaine to the topic.
And... The strange configuration of the house that would have made it difficult for someone unfamiliar with the place to move from the floor where JonBenet’s bedroom was located to the basement, the lack of forced entry, the practice ransom note found in the home, the handwriting analysis that matched the note to Patsy’s handwriting samples, etc.
Put me down as not there yet on this one.
It also reminds me of the funny movie “Little Miss Sunshine” and the lengths that some people will go to be a part of such contests for children.
I always thought it was related to that party either an attendee or the catering staff or the place was professional decorator staff from the day before. A recall a window was used in the basement .
I had forgotten about the party. That makes perfect sense to rule out a break in.
I only wish I could have been her brother and caught the animal before it was to late.
I saw that movie when a associate brought it in and we all watched during some down time.
It did not all fall into place for me until the finale (It’s best not to hear any spoilers LOL) and then I thought movie very well done. I think I would like to see it again someday.
“I just have a repulsion with people making little 5 year old girls look like 21 year old “loose” women.”
In case you haven’t noticed, the CHICKENS have come HOME to ROOST. “Burn it all down, man” that cancerous seed idea from the 60’s took root and has produced a culture which has become a morass of confusion. You don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater, but we did just that. The “Love Generation” rejected everything from previous generations: love, sacrifice, honor, and wisdom. Patsy grew up in these beauty competitions, so it was natural for her to draw from her parents in parenting Jon Benet. Understand that for many Americans in severing their relationship with the past, they have become rudderless ships sailing the seas at the mercy of wind and wave. It is sad that many here on Free Republic were quick to assume them guilty of murdering their daughter. Modesty is no longer a value taught in many American homes. And so it continues. What we sow, we shall reap. Sow wisely.
2. The ransom amount being the exact weird amount of the dad's PRIVATE recent Christmas bonus.
3. The lie that the girl had not eaten anything after dinner the night before, when pineapple was found in her stomach, and there was pineapple on the table.
4. The lie that Burke the brother was asleep when they found out she was missing, but his voice could be heard in the background on the 911 call.
I remember these as well -- and much more. There was no rush to judgment in this case, as many have said. The Ramseys lied over and over again. And as far as I can see, this new evidence only raises questions. It doesn't solve anything, one way or the other.
They sure are.
I agree wholeheartedly. When I think of what they went through,not just losing their beautiful child but being accused of the crime themselves, it just makes me ill. Talk about badly handled crimes....
They found DNA. Did some kind of new testing and found it on her panties. I hope they find this guy and put him away forever.
They found male DNA that they can’t identify on her underwear. Doesn’t sound to me like mommy did it.
Bravo! I don't think I have ever seen so many clichés packed into such a short post.
This in no way exonerates her parents. All it does is provide further proof that the Boulder DA and cops are incompetent buffoons. As soon as that idiot Linda Arndt allowed the crime scene to be compromised this case was never going to be solved.
“Bravo! I don’t think I have ever seen so many clichés packed into such a short post.”
What can I say? Talk is a cheap whore!
Yes I know that now.
I am sure the parents had a huge house.
Weren’t there a lot of family coming and going around and on Christmas?
Plenty of traffic, providing cover for someone to sneak in.
“The ransom amount being the exact weird amount of the dad’s PRIVATE recent Christmas bonus.”
I imagine her father had pictures of her all over his office.
Wonder where someone would be exposed to images of the daughter, and feel like exacting revenge for things ‘he’ felt he deserved?
Like a big bonus?
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