Indictments: Parents aided in JonBenet’s death
Oct 25th
You Killed me. Mommy ? Burke ?? Daddy?
Grand Jury and Boulder Police say John and Patsy Ramsey murdered their kid. Straight Up
Court documents released Friday show that a Colorado grand jury voted in 1999 to indict the parents of murdered 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey on charges of child abuse resulting in death and being accessories to a crime.
The district attorney decided that year, however, not to file charges against John and Patricia Ramsey, saying there was insufficient evidence. In 2008, a new district attorney said new DNA evidence cleared the parents and their son in the death.
They did it.
The court documents, which were previously sealed, show how the grand jury sought to charge each parent with two identical counts.
“The grand jury had alleged that Patsy Ramsey and husband John Ramsey “did … permit a child to be unreasonably placed in a situation which posed a threat of injury to the child’s life or health which resulted in the death of JonBenet Ramsey.”
The grand jury also had alleged that each parent “did … render assistance to a person” who “has committed and was suspected of the crime of murder in the first degree and child abuse resulting in death.”
The documents provide no further details on who that “person” was. The grand jury had accused the couple of committing the offenses “on or between December 25 and December 26, 1996.” JonBenet was found murdered in the basement of the family’s Boulder home the day after Christmas 1996.
The Boulder District Attorney claimed in 2008 that new DNA evidence ruled out the Ramsey’s as JonBenet’s murderer. But new DA Stan Garnet gave the case back to police in 2011. He told Boulder Channel 1s Jann Scott in May that the Ramsey’s were not exonerated by him and that the case was fully in Boulder Police departments hands.
Boulder Police believe that John and Patsy Ramsey were involved with their childs murder and that there was no intruder. The new DA Stan Garnet seems to believe that too.
by Ron Baird
Jann Scott contributed to this story
some information was gathered from CNN
Mountain Community Debris Removal Beginning Nov. 4
Oct 24th
Boulder County, Colo. – Boulder County is contracting with a removal company to begin roadside pickup of flood debris in the mountain communities. This is a large project that will span several weeks, and will depend on weather conditions and impending snow. We are asking residents to follow the guidelines listed below in order to help this project progress as efficiently as possible in the limited time we have before major snow falls limit our access even further.
What: Removal of household debris, woody debris (vegetation), and mud, silt etc.
When: Beginning the week of Nov. 4
Where: Removal trucks will drive down all accessible, county maintained mountain roads which are west of Hwy 36 and Hwy 93
Guidelines:
- Debris piles should be 3ft from the side of the roadway to allow for any snow removal operations
- Do not block the roadway, waterways or any culverts with debris
- Debris removal vehicles will only be able to access existing, county maintained, accessible roads at this time; unmaintained Jeep roads will not be serviced
- In order to follow state laws, and to allow for composting operations, please separate debris into 4 piles:
- General household debris
- Electronics and appliances
- Woody debris (vegetation)
- Mud, silt, sand and rock
The debris haulers have a potential reach of about 8ft from the edge of the road lane; for that reason, debris piles should be as close to the 3ft boundary along the road as possible so it can be reached and collected.
If time and weather permit debris collection trucks may make multiple trips up and down roads. However, we encourage residents to move debris to the road as soon as possible. There is no harm in leaving a debris pile near the roadway for a week or more before the truck makes it to your area.
If your property is on the other side of the creek from a major roadway, and you have no way of transporting debris to the accessible roadway, please do not push debris piles down into the creek. Any excess debris in the creeks can potentially cause more flooding downstream during normal spring runoff.
Please remember to be cautious when driving while these large debris haulers are on the road. There will be signage and flaggers warning of the presence of the trucks, but slower speeds and heightened awareness will help lessen any problems on the tight mountain curves.
Boulder County will issue a notification when the debris pickup project is coming to a close and ask residents to assemble any final debris piles before service is concluded.
For any questions about debris pickup in the mountain communities, please contact ReSource Conservation at 720-564-2220 or resourceconservation@bouldercounty.org.
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JonBenet Ramsey’s murder front burner
Oct 24th
The grand jury record will be released on Friday
One of the most notorious unsolved murders in Boulder, not to mention U.S. history, has recently been moved to the front burner, at least for the time being.
On Dec.26, 1996, six-year-old JonBenet Ramsey was found murdered in an obscure basement room in her family home in the University Hill neighborhood. She had been sexually assaulted, then strangled with a garrote.
No one has ever been charged with JonBenet’s murder
Due to the fact that JonBenet was a child beauty-pageant star, the case captured the world’s interest and spawned nearly unprecedented media coverage for several years, never going completely away.
The case began as a suspected kidnapping due to an oddly written ransom note, which demanded $118,000 for her safe return. Late in the day, John Ramsey discovered her body and brought it upstairs to a roomful of shocked police officers and Ramsey family friends.
In the course of the investigation, District Attorney Alex Hunter empaneled a grand jury in 1999 to consider the case. The grand jury handed down indictments of JonBenet’s parents—John and Patsy Ramsey—but the indictments were never reported until the Daily Camera published a story earlier this year quoting members of the grand jury saying it had indicted the couple for child abuse resulting in death.
Hunter was quoted as saying he had declined to prosecute the Ramseys at that time because he didn’t believe he could prove the case “beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Daily Camera reporter Charlie Brennan and a group known as the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press filed a lawsuit in Boulder District Court in September, claiming:
“The plaintiffs believe… that the indictment is a criminal justice record that reflects official action by the grand jury, and accordingly that it is subject to mandatory disclosure upon request.” Brennan and the RCFP also argue that the indictment should be made public in the interest of government transparency.
The Boulder DA’s office said unsealing the indictment would be “breach of promise” to the jury, citing the importance of maintaining the integrity of grand jury secrecy.
JonBenet Ramsey was a child beauty pageant star
But last week, Weld County Judge Robert Lowenbach, the judge hearing the lawsuit by Brennan and RCFP, ruled that current Boulder District Attorney Stan Garnett must show why the indictment must remain secret.
Not surprisingly, John Ramsey opposes the move unless the entire Grand Jury records are released.
Whatever the grand jury transcripts might show, in 2008, then District Attorney Mary Lacy declared that new DNA technology proved the Ramseys innocent of any wrongdoing.
The genetic material matches came from a drop of blood found on JonBenet’s underwear early in the investigation. The authorities determined then that the blood was not from a member of the Ramsey family but could not say whether it came from the killer.
In 2006, Lacy’s office announced the arrest of John Karr , after several months of investigation. But Karr’s DNA did not match, and less than two weeks later Lacy announced that he was no longer a suspect.
Hal Haddon and Bryan Morgan, attorneys who represent John Ramsey said in a letter to the Camera: “Public release of the allegations of an un-prosecuted indictment only serves to further defame (John Ramsey) and his late wife Patricia. Mr. Ramsey will have no access to whatever evidence the prosecutors presented to the grand jury and will have no ability to disprove those allegations in a court of law. Nor will the public have any ability to evaluate the propriety of the indictment unless the entire grand jury record is unsealed and opened to public view.”
From the beginning, investigators believed someone in the household was responsible, citing the lack of evidence of a break in, the complex layout of the house, the amount of time it took to write the two, 400 +/-word ransom-demand letters and similarities to Patsy’s hand writing. But a key detective, Lt. John Eller, who was the ranking investigator, would not press the Ramseys to be interrogated separately; insisting that the parents were victims, not suspects.
Under pressure, Patsy finally provided writing samples but a forensic handwriting expert ruled that, while very similar, the writing in the sample did not rise to the legal standard required to determine it was hers.
On Wednesday, the judge ordered the grand jury record to be released.
BC1 Editor Ron Baird covered the JonBenet Ramsey investigation for the Colorado Daily, when it was a real newspaper.
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