JonBenet's family cleared of her murder, DA apologizes

[cdcox]

From CNN.com

Recently developed "touch DNA" technology has cleared all members of JonBenet Ramsey's family of her slaying, authorities said Wednesday.


JonBenet Ramsey was found dead in the basement of her family's home in Boulder, Colorado.

Boulder County District Attorney Mary Lacy said no one in the Ramsey family is considered a suspect and formally apologized in a letter to John Ramsey for the cloud of suspicion his family has lived under for nearly 12 years.

"To the extent that we may have contributed in any way to the public perception that you might have been involved in this crime, I am deeply sorry," Lacy wrote. Read the letter from the District Attorney »

Instead, DNA tests conducted earlier this year point to an "unknown male," in the 6-year-old child beauty pageant contestant's December 1996 slaying.

Early on in the case, Boulder police said parents John and Patsy Ramsey, and their son, Burke, were under "an umbrella of suspicion" in JonBenet's death, although they were never named as suspects.

John Ramsey found his daughter's body in the basement of the family's Boulder, Colorado, home on December 26, 1996. She had been strangled and beaten. Testing in 1998 showed that DNA evidence found in the girl's underwear and beneath her fingernails was from an unidentified man and did not match anyone in the Ramsey family.

Tests conducted in March revealed that new DNA collected from a pair of long johns matched a sample previously taken from the child's panties.

Genetic material was scraped from the waistband of the long johns, which JonBenet was wearing over her underwear when her body was found. Lacey said in her statement that authorities believe the long johns were either replaced or removed by her killer.

Additional tests were conducted to ensure that the genetic material did not come from law enforcement or medical examiner's personnel, the statement said.

"The unexplained third-party DNA on the clothing of the victim is very significant and powerful evidence," Lacey's statement said. "It is therefore the position of the Boulder District Attorney's Office that this profile belongs to the perpetrator of the homicide."

That same DNA also exonerated John Mark Karr, a one-time schoolteacher, after he was arrested in Thailand and confessed to the killing in 2006.

Lacey took pains to state that her office does not consider JonBenet's father, her mother -- now deceased -- or older brother to be suspects. She said she released the findings in the interest of justice.

Lacy blamed "evidence reported by the media" rather than "evidence that had been tested in court" for suspicions cast on the Ramseys as the case was investigated, suspicions that she said "created an ongoing living hell for the Ramsey family and their friends."

She added, "We believe that justice indicates that the Ramseys be treated only as victims of this very serious crime."

Patsy Ramsey died of ovarian cancer in June 2006 in Atlanta, Georgia. The family moved there from Boulder, Colorado, after JonBenet's death.


Atlanta attorney Lin Wood, who represents the Ramseys, told CNN that Patsy Ramsey's death is "one of the sad notes of today's news, because she's not here with us to celebrate the vindication of her family."

"What's happened today, though, is irrefutable DNA evidence has now resulted in John and Patsy and their son, Burke, being officially cleared in this case," he added. "This family suffered too many years, too many heartaches of being falsely accused in the murder of their child."

[Demonpenz]

OJ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[BigRock]

Why such a hurry to clear the family? If you ask me, they oughta take their time on this.

[banyon]

Originally Posted by BigRock

Why such a hurry to clear the family? If you ask me, they oughta take their time on this.

I agree, there are still other possibilities than the explanation the DA's office offered.


Still, I'll bet there were people clamoring for these folks to be executed,so I'll reaffirm my opposition to the death penalty in light of this case.

[Coach]

Hmmm... an unidentified male eh? Thought the cops have John Mark Karr in custody?

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Coach

Hmmm... an unidentified male eh? Thought the cops have John Mark Karr in custody?

I see that he is out there, terrorizing today's society....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mark_Karr

[SPATCH]

i'll tell you who it is... it's that damn sasquatch.

[Valiant]

Originally Posted by Coach

I see that he is out there, terrorizing today's society....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mark_Karr

wow.. that is one messed up dude..

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Valiant

wow.. that is one messed up dude..

Heh, yeah. There is one thing though, that makes me wonder. When the death occured, where there was that ransom note, where the killer demanded $118,000, which was the exact value of a bonus John Ramsey received while working for Access Graphics.

I wonder if the law enforcement or the D.A. is looking at that direction. What are the odds that the killer demanded exactly the same price as John received as his bonus?

[cdcox]

Originally Posted by the_spatula

i'll tell you who it is... it's that damn sasquatch.

He's the Eagles' problem now.

[ChiefsFanatic]

So, when I heard this, I asked myself "Why in the hell does the presence of someone else's dna mean that the parents could not have committed the murder?"

So, was just watching CNN, and their experts were dumbfounded, and wanted to know how the presence of this dna exonerates the parents.

Glad I was not the only one. This is like saying that because the LAPD recovered dna that did not match Ron, Nicole or OJ, that OJ had to be innocent. It may mean that the suspect pool has been narrowed, or that another party was also involved, but it does not mean that the parents were not involved. How stupid are they in Colorado?

CNN also said that panties fresh out of the package also had dna on them, from when they were packaged at the factory.

[tmax63]

A reporter in the Denver area that has covered the story since the beginning said this is a blatant step by the DA(Mary Lacey) to try a repair her legacy as the DA there. My guess is kissing Mr. Ramsey's azz is a good job move if she wants to work in Denver again.

[little jacob]

Originally Posted by banyon

I agree, there are still other possibilities than the explanation the DA's office offered.


Still, I'll bet there were people clamoring for these folks to be executed,so I'll reaffirm my opposition to the death penalty in light of this case.

They didn't do it and were never convicted. The system works.

[Programmer]

Originally Posted by banyon

I agree, there are still other possibilities than the explanation the DA's office offered.


Still, I'll bet there were people clamoring for these folks to be executed,so I'll reaffirm my opposition to the death penalty in light of this case.

Should one of the family been charged I seriously doubt the death penalty would have been invoked. Where have you seen the people clamoring for them to execute someone that had not been charged or tried?

The family placed suspicion on themselves by not talking to law enforcement officials. If you have nothing to hide, why not talk to those trying to find the murderer? Even the slightest delay could cloud memories of what someone may have heard or saw that could have been significant. By staying away from the investigators they may have hindered the possibility of finding the person involved.

Are criminals DNA on record and available to police?

[ChiefsFanatic]

Originally Posted by little jacob

They didn't do it and were never convicted. The system works.

Who says they did not do it? The incompetent police department and D.A.s office? The presence of dna not belonging to the family, cannot by itself, in any way, relieve the family of any possible guilt.

How they can come to that conclusion baffles me, and as i said earlier, baffles legal experts from CNN as well.