Criminal logo

Murder Files: JonBenet Ramsey Part 2- The Murder.

The tragic story of a young beauty pageant child with her whole future ahead of her...

By Silence UnhingedPublished 6 years ago 5 min read
Like
JonBenet Ramsey sporting her recent Little Miss Charlevoix victory at local parade.

Part 2 of the JonBenet Ramsey Murder File covers the full details of her tragic and brutal murder. Some of the information below may be inappropriate for younger readers.

Full Timeline of The 26th December 1996.

This is a full timeline of the 26th of December 1996 based on the notes taken by former Boulder Police Chief, Steve Thomas.

  • 00:00- Around midnight Scott Gibbons, neighbour, looks from his kitchen window and observes the upper kitchen of the Ramsey residence to be lit up with the lights on dim.
  • 02:00- Neighbour Melody Stanton hears a scream coming from the Ramsey residence.
  • 05:30- John Ramsey woke up an went to shower.
  • 05:33- Patsy Ramsey woke up a few minutes later to put on her makeup and get dressed. She wore the same outfit she had on the night prior.
  • 05:45- Patsy headed down to the second floor and found the ransom note on a step near the bottom of the stairs. Upon finding the note she screamed.
  • 05:50- Patsy's scream alerted John to the situation. Patsy ran to JonBenet's room, finding it empty. She met with her husband on the stairs and the both found their way to Burke's room. He appeared to be fast asleep.
  • 05:52- Police logged the 911 call Patsy made to be at this time. After calling 911 she then began to call around to her friends, Mr & Mrs White and Mr & Mrs Fernie, to alert them to the situation.
  • 05:59- One Officer French arrived at the house followed soon by Detective Linda Arndt. French then proceeded to read the ransom note and perform a quick check of the house.
  • 06:00- French failed to search the wine cellar, where JonBenet's body was later found, due to a wooden latch on the door.
  • 06:03- The White family arrived at the Ramsey house.
  • 06:06- Fleet White goes to search the basement for JonBenet Ramsey. He notices that the wine cellar door is cracked open and a light is on inside but does not enter. He then goes to search the train room and notes that the window is broken. He also notes a suitcase laid under the window however cannot remember if the window was open or closed.
  • 06:10- More officers arrive at the scene however still fail to make the house a crime scene. With the exception of JonBenet's bedroom. This means that anybody could, and did, walk through the house freely.
  • 06:45- More police officers arrive along with the BPD Victims Advocates. The BPD Victims Advocates are a subsection of the Boulder Police Department that specialise in helping families through traumatic situations.
  • 07:13- Burke is taken to the White's home.
  • 07:30- John Ramsey had assembled the ransom amount. $118,000.
  • 08:00-13:00- Police continued to sweep the house bagging evidence as they went. But also disrupting the scene. The BPD Victims Advocates also went to clean the kitchen as an aid to the family. However it is extremely plausible that they wiped away key evidence.
  • 10:45- Representatives from the FBI arrive at the BPD.
  • 13:00- Patsy Ramsey asked her husband and Mr White to search the house "from top to bottom". She apparently wanted to give her husband something to do.
  • 13:04- JONBENET'S BODY FOUND.

Full scan of the ransom note.

The Ransom Note.

The full transcript of the ransom note is written below:

Mr. Ramsey: Listen Carefully! We are a group of individuals that represent a small foreign faction. We respect your business, but not the country it serves.At this time, we have your daughter in our possession. She is safe and unharmed and if you want her to see 1997, you must follow our instructions to the letter.You will withdraw $118,000 from your account. $100,000 will be in $100 bills and the remaining $18,000 in $20 bills. Make sure that you bring an adequate size attache to the bank.When you get home, you will put the money in a brown paper bag. I will call you between 8 and 10 a.m. tomorrow to instruct you on delivery. The delivery will be exhausting so I advise you to be rested. If we monitor you getting the money early we might call you early to arrange an earlier delivery of the money and hence and earlier pickup of your daughter.Any deviation of my instructions will result in the immediate execution of your daughter. You will also be denied her remains for a proper burial. The two gentlemen watching over your daughter do not particularly like you so I advise you not to provoke them.Speaking to anyone about your situation, such as police or F.B.I. will result in your daughter being beheaded. If we catch you talking to a stray dog, she dies. If you alert bank authorities, she dies. If the money is in way marked or tampered with, she dies. You can try to deceive us, but be warned we are familiar with law enforcement countermeasures and tactics.You stand a 99% chance of killing your daughter if you try to outsmart us. Follow our instructions and you stand a 100% of getting her back. You and your family are under constant scrutiny, as well as the authorities.Don't try to grow a brain John. You are not the only fat cat around so don't think that killing will be difficult. Don't underestimate us, John. Use that good, Southern common sense of yours. It's up to you now John! Victory! S.B.T.C.

The first thing that you should notice is the fact that this is an extremely long note. The average ransom note is only a few lines long max. It is also written very very neatly.

The note was found on the bottom step of the stairs in the Ramsey house. Patsy Ramsey was the one who found the note in the morning, reading it, then immediately calling the police. This is one of the main reasons that Patsy was a suspect. The handwriting is very very similar to hers. Multiple analysts tested the writing and came back inconclusive. But I will leave that up to you to come to a conclusion based on the samples below.

Samples of the families handwriting verses the ransom note.

The Body.

JonBenet's body was finally found at 13:04 by her father, John Ramsey. JonBenet's mouth was covered with duct tape, nylon cord was wrapped around her wrists and neck and she was laid covered in a white blanket. Patsy stated that she was not dressed in the same outfit she was wearing that night to bed. She was now dressed in white leggings and a shirt.

One major error was made at this time. The scene was contaminated. John picked up his daughters body to carry it upstairs but with it critical forensic evidence was moved and disturbed rendering the forensics team's job impossible.

The autopsy conducted on JonBenet's body revealed the cause of death was "asphyxia by strangulation and craniocerebral trauma."

Upon further examination there was no evidence of rape however sexual assault could not be completely ruled out. No semen was found but there was evidence of a previous vaginal injury and it appeared her vaginal area had been wiped with a cloth.

A length of nylon cord and the broken handle of a paintbrush was tied around JonBenet's neck and had been used to strangle her.

Also during the investigation of the body it was found that the panties she was wearing had blood on them. Forensic investigators managed to extract enough blood to create a DNA profile. No match was found. As of October 2016 further analysis has indicated that the DNA contained markers from two people other than JonBenet.

The final thing the autopsy revealed was a vegetable or fruit material that may have represented pineapple, which JonBenet had eaten a few hours before her death. Neither Patsy or John remember feeding her pineapple. Upon inspecting pictured taken of the house on the day her body was found, there was a bowl of pineapple on the table with a spoon in it. Police reported they found Burke's fingerprints on the bowl. The issue with this is that the Ramsey family have always maintained that Burke slept through the entire night.

Her death was ruled a homicide.

To be continued...

investigation
Like

About the Creator

Silence Unhinged

The key that opens the door to the dark-side.

MURDER FILES- Posted every so often. SERIAL KILLER FILES- Posted occasionally.

"You may have noticed I'm not all there myself."

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.