What happened
On the night of December 25, 1996, six-year-old JonBenét Patricia Ramsey was killed in her family's home at 755 15th Street in Boulder, Colorado. She was reported missing early on December 26, and her body was found roughly seven hours later in the basement of the house. Her skull had been fractured and a garrote made from nylon cord and a broken paintbrush handle was tied around her neck. The autopsy determined the cause of death was asphyxia by strangulation associated with craniocerebral trauma, and the case was ruled a homicide. There was no evidence of conventional rape, though sexual assault could not be ruled out; evidence suggested a vaginal injury and that the paintbrush used in the garrote may also have been used in an assault.
The only people known to be in the house that night were JonBenét's parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, and her nine-year-old brother, Burke. Patsy called 911 at 5:52 a.m. after finding a two-and-a-half-page ransom note demanding $118,000, an amount nearly identical to John's prior-year Christmas bonus. Responding officers found no sign of forced entry. A basement door secured by an interior latch, behind which JonBenét's body was later discovered, was checked but not opened by the first responding officer. The body was found around 1:00 p.m. when John Ramsey and a family friend searched the house at a detective's request; John moved the body, further contaminating the scene. Investigators concluded the ransom note had been staged and, per a Colorado Bureau of Investigation report, found "indications" the author was Patsy Ramsey, though the evidence was not definitive; a federal court later found it highly unlikely Patsy wrote the note, citing six certified handwriting experts.
Boulder police initially focused on the Ramsey parents. In 1999, a grand jury voted to indict John and Patsy Ramsey on two counts each of child abuse resulting in death and accessory to a crime, but then-District Attorney Alex Hunter declined to sign the indictment, citing insufficient evidence for a conviction beyond reasonable doubt. That same year, police and the DA's office stated Burke was not a suspect. The indictment vote was not made public until 2013.
In 2002, incoming DA Mary Lacy pursued an intruder theory. DNA recovered in 2003 from JonBenét's clothing was found to belong to an unidentified male, excluding the Ramseys as contributors; this DNA did not match any profile in the FBI's CODIS database. In 2008, Lacy sent the family a letter stating they were cleared, though her successor, Stan Garnett, said in 2016 that this exoneration was not legally binding. In 2009, the Boulder Police Department resumed control of the investigation, which continues to be treated as an open homicide.
In August 2006, John Mark Karr was arrested in Bangkok after falsely confessing to the killing; his account included inaccuracies (such as a claim JonBenét was drugged, contradicted by the autopsy) and his DNA did not match evidence from the case. The killing generated extensive media coverage and numerous defamation lawsuits filed by Ramsey family members and associates against media outlets and individuals who suggested their involvement.
