Should be a mesmerizing, hour. What a bizarre, mysterious, and tragic tale.

Betcha it will never be resolved either. A secret some will take to the grave. Poor sad little girl.

I agree . . . my feeling always has been that the parents, covered for their son. Patsy's handwriting could not be ruled out, as having written the ransom note. But, handwriting analysis is not an exact, science. Chilling tale. I was dumbstruck after hearing of Patsy's death . . . we'd gotten to 'know' her, during the ordeal of the murder. Had assumed that perhaps, Mrs. Ramsey had been cured.

When I first heard of the murder I was 100% certain that the father had done it...and was probably incestuous or otherwise sexually inappropriate with the little girl. Next I was convinced that it was her mother...some sort of rivalry or hatred. I was always kind of 50/50 on the boy, only because ligiture marks can readily indicate the approximate height and weight of the murderer. Then there was that "stranger in the house" theory, which I never bought but one which they seem to be leaning on more and more.

I think it was a family member, but we will never know the truth.

An eerie, engrossing mystery . . .

This is a perfect crime to be solved by a psychic. Someone should contact James Van Praagh or John Edward to solve this once and for all. You'd have thought Sylvia Browne would have solved this case by now. Maybe she has, but the cops haven't done anything with the info.

Such, an enduring mystery!! I've been discussing the murder lately, with friends . . . everyone has a different opinion! Still can't get over Patsy's death . . . she was a pretty woman, I thought. She had some class, about her . . . in the Enquirer, I read that Patsy Ramsey said suddenly, on her deathbed: 'some things in life, you can't take back.' Eerie. btw: The Ramsey's attorney, denies that Patsy made any such comment.

I watched a show where they did engage a psychic and the psychic said that it was a blond man (somewhat known to the family somehow) who hid in the house until the family went to sleep. She gave a name off the air. I don't know what ever came of that. I think there was a drawing too. I can't remember which show now.

I didn't know Patsy was dead - how did she die?

Cancer.

Yes, but what if it wasn't the mother who killed her? Then I would have to also say "poor, poor mother." I find it hard to believe a mother would kill her little girl unless she was Andrea Yates crazy out of her mind.

Exactly. Where are all the TV psychics when you need them. Instead of James Van Praagh or John Edward telling everyone that their grandmother sees them and is standing right behind them and who do you think is moving their keys... they should try to figure out something useful for a change. That's if they really are psychic of course.

Didn't DNA evidence PROVE that it wasn't a family member who killed her???!!!
This was ALL OVER the news last year.

I recall some time ago on Larry King, an FBI profiler was asked about the murder and he most definitely said it was NOT the parents. I believed him.

The show was FASCINATING. I hope some of you, watched . . . The Ramseys were shown, debating a detective named Steve Thomas; this man wrote a book that more or less names Patsy Ramsey as author of the ransom note: killer of Jon Benet. The debate didn't go too far. The Ramseys didn't let the detective say too much. He claimed that Patsy's handwriting had been the only sample that could not be ruled out, by police. 72 other samples, were tested. All involved, agreed that whoever wrote the note, murdered Jon Benet . . . Patsy demanded that the detective spell out, just how she committed this crime . . . he never got a chance.

The Ramseys struck me as very bright, slick, but volatile, individuals. No question: tension between the two people, was vividly apparent. At least, to me . . . Patsy referred to John as 'him.' She talked too about 'fingerpaint dust, all over the place.' Interesting manner of speech. Mr. Ramsey handled most of the talking. He's quick, glib, and well spoken. Patsy and John struck me as formal with each other, at least onscreen. The couple was dressed elegantly, during both interview sessions with Mr. King.

Now . . . as for DNA excluding the family . . . I can't remember??!! The Ramsey's lawyer, Lin Wood, spoke at length. He never made any such claim . . . and no suspect, has been found. Mr. Wood denied that Patsy made any deathbed confession, or statements . . .

I never believed any of the family murdered Jon Benet.
As a mother, I cannot conceive of harming my child...
I tend to want to give all parents the benefit of the doubt.

A total aside, but...I think those beauty pageants for children are disgusting, and seeing those little girls painted up and paraded around like that...makes me ill.

I understand your reluctance to believe in the family's guilt, but . . . we'll never know. Susan Smith, murdered her children, then described the man for whom police should be looking.

I'm not fond of those kiddie beauty pageants, either . . . still, that doesn't mean that the Ramseys didn't love Jon Benet . . . and of course Patsy was a beauty queen, herself.

There was a UK documentary about this about two years ago. And they named a guy who was the murder on public TV. The police blew it and knew it,but because the chief whatever was up for election at the time covered their back sides big time.

I believe the documentary was never shown on US TV as the networks where too afraid to do it. The guy was a known sex offender who had been stalking the area and even tried to attack another child in her home.

I always feel emotionaly tied to this whole Ramsey thing because the little girl was killed the day after my son passed away. Like it or not, those two events are in some strange ways tied together for me (I can't ever read about this murder case without going right back to that very painful time in my life.) My family and I were able to have closure, heal from the pain and move forward, but I often wonder about the Ramsey family, and now there's the death of the mother, too...

I've always felt so sad for that beautiful little girl...

I'm so sorry, nubka . . . I too, have felt sadness and heartache, for that lovely young lady, whose expressive eyes, haunt me to this day.

I couldn't watch it, Armanis. I feel a lot of pain for the parents because I can't believe they would do such a thing. Are you saying that it appears their marriage was strained? (Probably as a result of this whole mess... )

Trin . . . of course, these two people were dealing with a TON, of stress . . . and I'm trying to be as objective here as possible. My sister watched, with me . . . both of us quizzed each other, about what we witnessed. We both observed this tension: a formality between Patsy and her husband. Also . . . the couple's body language, suggested to us, that they know something. This is not to say that they committed Jon Benet's murder . . . but they know something, that they are hiding. That's how we both, felt. Could Patsy have found her husband with their daughter, then in a rage, murdered Jon Benet? We'll never know . . . I've read of cases where women have accused their eleven year old daughters, of being seductresses . . . they've committed murder, for this reason. Human beings are sooooooo complicated . . . I'll say this, though . . . Patsy and her husband, made an elegant looking couple, during these LKL interviews. Both, were impeccably turned out. Patsy's jewelry was in excellent taste . . . her hair, her clothes . . . John too, looked polished and rich. I think he'd had a hair transplant . . .

Well, good God, what marriage WOULDN'T be strained by such a thing. How do you live with that year after year??

It seems that the DA in that district, and most of the experts involved in the case no longer believe that the family had anything to do with it. I do believe there was some DNA evidence released in the last year. Anyway, the crux of it all seemed to be that while they don't think the family had anything to do with it, no one really has any idea who DID do it.

Exactly. And, Mrs. Ramsey's handwriting is the only sample found, to have some consistency, with the ransom note . . . according to detective, Steve Thomas . . . Patsy changed her handwriting habits, after the homicide began to be investigated. Also . . . HOW did that body, end up in the Rasmey's basement? The note talked of an abduction . . .

I DO NOT believe either of them had anything to do with it. I don't think they could have remained together. There would have been too much guilt. I believe it united them together.

I DO think her daughter's murder caused her cancer however and the public's constant disbelief in her innocence. The whole thing was a life ruining event.

I"m sure it was a pedophile. Geez, there are so many of them around EVERY neighborhood. I'm willing to bet that he will be thrown in jail on another crime and while there, brag about killing Jon Benet to a jailhouse informant, who will run to the media.

The only reason this story has received so much attention is due to the social prominence of the family. Makes good copy. If they were trailer trash, the killer would have been caught by now!

A number of years ago, I was reading the story of a doctor who developed prostate cancer after his son was murdered. He went into remission after treatment, and then began to study the incidences of cancer developing after a severe loss, especially the loss of a child, and he did seem to find a correlation between loss of a child and reproductive cancers. A link doesn't prove cause and effect, though, but it was certainly thought-provoking.

What was that child, doing INSIDE their home? Very strange. Remember, too . . . almost invariably, when a murder takes place . . . it is committed by someone you KNOW. Exceptions, of course . . . serial killers, random occurrences, etc. But, the FIRST person suspected in a married person's murder . . . is THE SPOUSE. Or, former spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend, etc.

I think the family is involved, in the Ramsey murder . . . but we'll never know for sure.

The child was found in the basement. The family bedrooms were on the third story. It was Christmas Eve and snowing.

Would this obssession for this little girl have to do that she was blonde and so pretty and talented?
how many other girls have been kidnapped, abused and murdered and that nobody talks about? specially if they 're minority kids forget about it! I saw a documentary, not just minority girls don 't make it on CNN but boys never do! They too disappear, sexually abused and murdered but it 's too taboo in society to think it can happen to males, rather not talk about it.

This WAS an extraordinarily beautiful little girl with soooooo many pictures and movies of her. Any pedofile would have been after her.

I know I saw a special yesterday, but here again so many kids are exploited by parents...unless I know for sure this is what the kid wants and not the parents...

she was beyond luminous, delicious and full of life but that doesn 't excuse the media who are never interested in tragic fates when it comes to little boys and minority girls.

AMEN!

The Ramseys were a wealthy couple, too. 'Wealthy' crime, always makes good copy . . . nothing new. Just like a woman who's wealthy usually gets called 'beautiful,' even if she's a beast . . . men who are 'wealthy,' are often dashing and sexy . . . even if they look like old tire irons.

I've heard and read about many little boys, being abused . . . Oprah once hosted a boy's mother; she told his story . . . the boy's ###### had been severed, by a deranged man who'd stalked him, for some time.

I think it is still talked about because the human brain gets obsessed with unsolved mysteries, and since there was no resolution in this case, it remained something to still wonder about, like the assassination of JFK - also, it is back in the news due to the mother's death ...

Good points, Demetrue . . . and, just as an aside . . . it's high time that the 'white' race realize that IT, is in the MINORITY. Jon Benet Ramsey's angelic, pristine blonde curls and sky blue eyes, are NOT the majority look, in this world . . . and never will be.

Interesting but the blond thing is what most americans connect with as being legit american, so that 's what you see on CNN.
In two to three generations 50% of the US population will be hispanic, first ethnic group ever that retains its cultural heritage in anglo-culture. I wonder what change it 'll bring to this country, our perception of what is american.

Well around here, I now feel as though I'm the minority, as an American of European descent. At the post office, I see saris, Arab garb; African Americans outnumber me, almost everywhere I go. I was at a stoplight recently: on my left, Arab women, with scarves tied low on ther foreheads. On my right: an Oriental / European mixture of some type . . . beautiful children with tawny skin, and green eyes. Behind me, African Americans. In front of me, Latinos . . . this is how it is, around these parts . . . my neighborhood is no longer majority 'white.' My next door neighbor, is African American. Never mind what we see on television: the 'white,' Jon Benet Ramsey looking children are OVERWHELMINGLY in the minority, worldwide. And always, will be . . .

I think these poor people have suffered immeasurable pain and that their lives, despite their riches and good looks, are pure tragedy. I try to be rational when judging human behavior; not that human behavior is ever rational, but, no matter how hard I try, I cannot get my mind around the idea of a mother torturing, and murdering her daughter in the way this little girl was killed. How could someone who bore the child brutalize that little body that way? Wouldn't a killer like this have to be a very, very sick person? Surely there's no way someone that severely ill could cover it up completely in every day life before and after the crime? Wouldn't the kind of person who commited this murder most likely have tortured and murdered animals as a child, and have other examples of sadism in his past? (I say "his" because the crime show suggested the killer was probably a male - I, of course, have absolutely no idea).

The show indicated that Mrs. Ramsey was diagnosed with cancer a relatively short time before the daughter was murdered. The show lead viewers to believe that Mrs. Ramsey had finished chemotherapy not long before the murder of her daughter. This kind of horror surely have dampened Mrs. Ramsey's will to survive - as it is she fought it for about 14 years, which is almost unheard of with ovarian cancer.

It could very well be that a predator waited until a holiday night because he thought the family would be vulnerable (and they obviously were).

This horrible tragedy serves as a good example of why it's a very bad idea to parade a little girl in public beauty pageants, dressed for sex and covered with makeup. Don't the parents of these pageant children realize that this type of show is tailor-made for pedophiles and predators? Who do they think is in the audiences?

I saw whatever Rockinruby saw last year about the DNA stuff. I can't remember what it was, and it's bugging me. Real Life Mysteries? One of those True Crime shows. Anyway, the show asserted that certain DNA evidence found on the child (Hair, I think?) cannot be that of any family member. The particular DNA pattern has not been matched to any DNA patterns that are currently in databases, but there was some weirdness with the Boulder police department because they hadn't sent the sample for testing, and then the results of the sample were suppressed, and all kinds a craziness.

The whole story is just abominably sad.

I'm going to see if I can find any links for whatever show that was...

Well, so far as backgrounds go . . . we discovered that Susan Smith, who drowned her little boys, then blamed a black man for her misdeed . . . had been sexually abused as a child. Then there's Diane Downs. Another, not very nice person. Its been decided that Downs shot her three children, at close range . . . because they got 'in the way of her love.'

The Ransom Note, in the Ramsey case . . . is troubling.

Oh yes, Diane Downs...talk about cold blooded muder! She and Susan Smith both killed their children in pathetic attempts to hang on to boyfriends that were trying to dump them.

I have the movie about Diane Downs (Small Sacrifices.) She was really obsessed with her ex-boyfriend and if the kids were "in the way", then so be it...

If I were a pedophile/burgler/kidnapper that was going to break into someone's house in the middle of the night, I sure wouldn't do it on Christmas Eve, when lots of parents of small children are up quite late, filling stockings and putting bicycles together, etc.

Christmas is a pedophile holiday, with loads of them playing Santa. I'm guessing Halloween is their second favorite holiday, "Want some candy, little girl?"

I looked it up. It's so horrible it's hard for me to type this. The DNA was taken from a sample of blood found in the underpants the child was wearing when she was found. The DNA sample is regularly run through a database in an attempt to find a match. I hadn't realized that John Ramsey lost another daughter, Elizabeth, before the murder of Jonbenet. This man's life is a horror.

Just my two cents. . . . I agree with much of what Armanis has written. I saw the LKL interview and the Ramseys were slick, calculation and cold. They were on the offensive and kept interrupting the detective and made viscious ad hominem remarks about him. I also saw a revisit of the case on another channel, which I forget right now.

Patsy Ramsey's writtings, before her daughter's murder, were nearly identical to the long, rambling ransom note and the paper and pen was taken from the house. She could not be ruled out as the writer of the note. Also key quotes from one of the mystery books that were on the Ramsey's bedside table, were lifted, slightly changed and used in the ransom note. And the exact amount mentioned for ransom was of John Ramsey's bonus that year. The number was unknown to people, except a select few that worked with him, but Patsy, of course, knew. His colleaques were ruled out as suspects after being investigated.

Poor Jon-Benet Ramsey was determined by several medical experts to have been sexually abused that night and there was blood in her panties. This ties into her pediatric history of having urinary tract infections and other peri-anal infections. Her mother had taken her to a local pediatrician who treated her several dozen times for such infections during her few short years of life, yet the family pediatrician claimed he didn't believe she was abused and never questioned the many doctor visits for the same problem.

I think the murderer was either Patsy or her husband. Either one helped eachother after Jon-Bonet was either mortally wounded or dead.

Patsy greeted the police that following morning with the exact same outfit she'd worn to the Christmas Eve party, the night before...as if she hadn't slept all night. There's so much more that the police had on them but the relations between the DAs office and the Boulder P.D. rapidly deteriorated during the investigation. The P.D. wanted the D.A. to bring charges of 1st degree murder against the couple, but the D.A. wouldn't or couldn't go that route. Money buys alot in the U.S., imo.

BTW, Patsy used to dye Jon-Bonet's dark blonde/light brown hair to the very light blonde that we all saw in the infamous pictures. Weird...but that, along with makeup and sexy clothing is considered attractive in these kiddy beauty pageants.

Great post, Jiji . . . the handwriting is truly a troubling tidbit, in this case. The apparent history of sexual abuse, as well. The Ramseys radiated 'hauteur,' before that detective. He was swallowed up by Patsy and John, who were an impressive, television presence.

I have always thought one of the parents did it, and were both covered it up from the beginning.
I hadn't known that John 'lost' another daughter before. How did that happen?
Wonder how long dad will go on living - I'm sure these things eat away at the health.
Can't believe a mother would do this? I guess it's easier (yet still difficult) to believe that a father could kill a child. That isn't the reality, though. Deaths of young children are most likely due to the parent, and more mother's than father's kill (only) the children. Ill, murderous souls play all roles. You, as a reasonably mentally healthy person can't understand the psychology of a deranged person. But, it happens all the time.
How could people capable of doing such things, posibbly cover it up? There are all kinds of crazy; one doesn't have to be mentally retarded to be mentally and emotionally unstable or morally bankrupt. All it takes is a lack of empathy and a pathological selfishness. Take a look at some past serial killers - very calculating, intelligent, socially impresive - how many do you think were diagnosed as having a emotional or mental disorder before their stories hit the news?

True. Ramsey's other daughter was killed in a cycling accident, I believe.

I think I'll get a hold of the book, by Stephen Thomas. He's the detective that tried to debate the Ramseys, on Larry King's Show . . .

You can read a lot about Thomas' thoughts on the case here:

http://www.crimemagazine.com/jonbenet.htm

It's out of date, but has a lot of very interesting information....

Thanks, 'ruby . . . for me, it's the ransom note, that ties this family to Jon Benet's murder. The analysis of this piece of evidence, was engrossing and provocative. Just as an aside . . . the instant I saw that note, it struck me as a 'female' hand. Now. MY handwriting is often taken for a female's, but my script is The Twilight Zone. This ransom note, just had an animated, 'female' look to it: my opinion, based on life experience.