We Have Your Daughter Page 39
On July 21, 2011, John Ramsey remarried in Charlevoix, Michigan. The wedding was attended by a small group of family and friends at a converted dairy farm now designed to host special events. It was scheduled at seven in the evening, and by then the heat of the day had moved on, replaced by the gradual coolness of the night. John’s three children and his new wife’s two children were there, greeting guests as they arrived.
Happy grandchildren bounced around talking about the “biggest fish in the world” in a nearby pond and asking if they could have more cupcakes.
John and his new wife, Jan, arms entwined, entered the courtyard from a side door to say their vows to each other that summer evening in Charlevoix. Jan is a missionary’s daughter who spent much of her early and teen years in Ethiopia. She is also a fashion designer and event planner whom John describes as “open, positive and energetic.”
Unfortunately, some things never change. When the National Enquirer reported that John Ramsey had remarried, they quoted him as saying, “Patsy is smiling down from heaven,” even though John never said that.
Fortunately, however, some good things continue as well. Each year, strangers still leave little gifts—dolls, angels, Christmas cards—on JonBenét Ramsey’s gravesite in Atlanta on Christmas Day. On December 25, 2016, she would have been twenty-six years old.
Jan and John Ramsey at their wedding in July of 2011. © John Ramsey.
Among the items that belonged to JonBenét still kept by the family, is an unopened Christmas present for her from her half-brother and half-sister. It was meant for their Christmas celebration together with the rest of their family in Charlevoix, Michigan, later in the day on December 26, 1996. It has never been opened.
Unopened Christmas present to JonBenét for Christmas 1996. It’s from her half-brother and half-sister, John Andrew and Melinda. It has never been opened. © John Ramsey.
As stated, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, 165 people in Boulder County in 1996 and 1997 were registered as sexual offenders.
One of them, Gary Howard Oliva, was arrested in 1997 after police checked him out because of his status as a sexual offender. They found a shrine to JonBenét in his home. He became a suspect.
He was arrested again in June of 2016 in Boulder for sex crimes. Police confiscated his telephone, where they found numerous pictures of JonBenét, including autopsy photographs which he could have gotten from the Internet. Also on his phone were several pictures of child pornography. None involved JonBenét.
The Boulder Sheriff’s Department lists twelve bookings for Oliva, mostly for failure to register as a sexual offender. It indicates the amount of time he continued to spend in Boulder. His DNA is not a match to that found on JonBenét. Oliva was fifty-three years old at the time of his June 2016 arrest.
EPILOGUE I
ON FEBRUARY 21, 2015, former Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner participated in an online interview on the website Reddit.com. His interview took place in an “Ask Me Almost Anything” session for a Reddit forum devoted to “Unresolved Mysteries.” Taking part in this interview session was an unusual act for Beckner, who had avoided interviews during his tenure on the Ramsey case. Afterward, he told the Daily Camera “my impression was that this was a members-only type group … ” “It was a misunderstanding and naivete on my part,” that his Reddit interview would be published online unrestricted. Beckner said he participated because he didn’t think the interview would be world-wide.
Mark Beckner was the longest-serving Boulder law enforcement officer involved in the Ramsey murder investigation. He began working the case three weeks after the murder by interviewing his own officers about reports they had filed, was commander on the case from October 1997 to June 1998, and was police chief from June 1998 to April 2014, when he retired.
This epilogue contains Beckner’s written opinions on Reddit related to the investigation of the murder of JonBenét Ramsey and contrasts the former police chief’s statements against information acquired by the author of this book through the collection and analysis of case file documentation.
Within days of his Reddit appearance, Beckner retracted the statements from his online interview that had referred to the DNA found on JonBenét’s clothing in an interview with the Daily Camera in Boulder. On Reddit, Beckner had answered a request for “possible explanations” related to where the DNA found on JonBenét’s clothing could have come from by listing possibilities such as “manufacturing,” “intentional placement,” and “interactions with other people” as well as “belongs to an intruder.”
Three days later, in his new statement to the Daily Camera, Beckner disagreed with his own initial statements on Reddit and said the DNA found on JonBenét’s clothing was the “key to solving the case.”
“I tried to be honest and fair,” Beckner told the newspaper, “and I think the only thing I would emphasize is that the unknown DNA (from JonBenét’s clothing) is very important. And I’m not involved any more, but that has got to be the focus of the investigation. In my opinion, at this point, that’s your suspect …
“The suspect is the donator of that unknown DNA, and until you can prove otherwise, I think that’s the way you’ve got to look at it.”
By February 24, 2015, the publication date of the Daily Camera article “Mark Beckner Opens Up about JonBenét Ramsey Case, Then Regrets It,” Beckner had deleted all of his online interview answers from the Reddit website.
Created in 2005, Reddit is a social networking and news website through which registered community members can submit content such as text posts with direct links, making it essentially an online bulletin board system. Anyone can read what is posted. Typically, Reddit has more than 200 million unique visitors per month. It is ranked twenty-eighth in a list of the world’s most-visited websites and ninth by Alexa, a web traffic analytics site. In 2015, Reddit was featured in a Wall Street Journal article about its successes.
Although Beckner retracted his answers on Reddit, the interview page as of this writing can still be found at the Denver Post’s cached web-site: http://extras.denverpost.com/jonbenetAMA.html.
The only portions of the Beckner/Reddit interview used in this epilogue are those that contain substantial differences between the former police chief’s stated opinions and the information about the facts of the case provided by Boulder Police Department reports and other reliable documentation such as court records. Reddit participant questions and Beckner’s answers have been shortened or paraphrased as needed for brevity and clarity. Reddit participant names are not used.
These excerpts are included in this book because they illustrate the knowledge and mindset of one of the key leaders and longest serving law enforcement officers from the Boulder Police Department investigation into the Ramsey homicide case.
Beckner’s second statement to the Daily Camera newspaper that the DNA found on JonBenét’s clothing “has got to be the focus of the investigation” represented the “first public move away from the Ramseys as suspects” by anyone involved in the Boulder Police Department’s investigation of their daughter’s murder.
INTRODUCTION
This portion of the Beckner Reddit session was posted above the interview.
In his introduction, Beckner described his background in a statement that included the following details:
Beckner: I am former Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner. I worked in law enforcement for 36 years and headed the investigation into the JonBenét Ramsey murder. Past experience includes the following: Training Officer and Instructor, Investigator, Supervision, Liquor Code Enforcement, Hostage Negotiator, Traffic Investigation, Crime Scene Investigation, Professional Standards Investigator, Patrol Commander, SWAT Commander, Detective Commander, Personnel Management, College Instructor, Ethics Instructor, Criminal Justice Instructor.
Author Comments: While the former chief has lengthy experience, he did not list any homicide investigation experience in this summary of his career. Prior to being appointed hea
d of the Boulder Police Department detective unit investigating the Ramsey murder in October 1997, Beckner had never run a homicide unit nor investigated a homicide case, which would have been critically important in understanding the Ramsey murder.
In sworn testimony for his video-taped deposition on November 26, 2001 for the civil lawsuit Wolf v. Ramsey, Beckner confirmed his lack of homicide investigative experience:
Ramsey Lawyer: Let me go back and make sure I’ve got … I believe I have this correctly. Prior to October of 1997 when you were placed in charge of the JonBenét Ramsey investigation, your experience in homicide investigation would have consisted of assisting in a couple of homicide investigations back in 1981 to 1983 where you did some interviews, the other you’re not really familiar with in terms of recollection and then in one case sometime in the 1994 to ’97 timeframe where you were the acting chief and therefore oversaw for a two-day time period the investigation into the homicide where the individual was shot in the chest when he opened the door?
Beckner: Correct.
Ramsey Lawyer: Have I now covered all of your homicide experience as a police officer prior to October of 1997?
Beckner: To the best of my recollection. (Deposition Pages 18-19.) Ramsey Lawyer: And I don’t mean this disrespectfully, but I guess you would agree with me that you weren’t brought in to be in charge of the Ramsey investigation in October of ’97 because of your experience in dealing with homicides?
Beckner: No.
Ramsey Lawyer: You would agree with me, wouldn’t you?
Beckner: I would agree with you. (Deposition Page 20.)
Perspective: In November of 2011, retired New York Police Department Lieutenant-Commander and author Vernon Geberth wrote: “The supervisor of homicide should ideally have a homicide or investigative background as experience is a prime asset to appreciate and understand the dynamics of the investigative function. This does not mean a supervisor who lacks a homicide or investigative background cannot effectively supervise investigations. However, it does suggest there is a need for learning the investigative processes involved. Even for the experienced supervisor, managing investigations is an ongoing educational process.”1
There was tremendous controversy in the media and among a few investigators over Beckner’s lack of homicide experience when he was appointed to head up the investigation as the commander.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
In this section of the Reddit interview, Beckner answered specific questions related to the Ramsey homicide investigation posted by Reddit participants. Following are a number of these questions followed by Beckner’s full or excerpted answers and the author’s comments in response to those answers.
911 CALL
This question referred to rumors that words could be heard at the end of the tape of the 911 call phoned in by Patsy Ramsey early in the morning on December 26, 1996, hours before her daughter’s body was found. According to such rumors, the voices of John and Patsy Ramsey were heard on the tape in addition to the voice of Burke.
Reddit Participant: It has been reported the dialogue at the end of the 911 tape was: Male: “We’re not speaking to you!” Female: “Help me, Jesus. Help me, Jesus.” Young Male: “Well, what did you find?” Do you believe this is valid, that those words were actually spoken?
Beckner: The words are difficult to hear and some claim they cannot hear them. After listening to the tape many times, I can tell you that I can hear what sounds like voices saying those words.
Author Comments: In July 2003, the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office released audio copies of Patsy Ramsey’s 911 call from December 26, 1996, and the tape aired publicly for the first time on the NBC network. NBC had experts analyze the tape to test the rumor that the Ramseys’ son, Burke, could be heard in the background after Patsy Ramsey thought she had hung up the phone. NBC experts said no other voices could be heard on an enhanced version of the tape.
The confidential, mandatory Boulder County Department of Social Services interview with Burke Ramsey conducted in early 1997 revealed no information about his being in the kitchen with his parents when the 911 call was made. The interview, conducted by a psychologist appointed by Boulder Social Services, included questions provided by Boulder Police Department officials. Burke stated during another interview that he’d stayed in bed and pretended to be asleep when his parents came to his room to check on him that morning.
In a confidential group law enforcement meeting in June 1998, Boulder Police Department investigators presented their theory related to the Ramsey homicide. The 911 tape was part of the presentation, but investigators could not get the tape to play.
RANSOM NOTE AND RANSOM AMOUNT
Reddit Participant: Do the police think the murderer sat in the house and wrote a long-winded note on the Ramsey’s notepad before attempting to kidnap [JonBenét]?
Beckner: No, we do not believe someone wrote the note prior to attempting to kidnap JonBenét. Neither the [BPD nor] the FBI believe this was ever a kidnapping. It was a murder that someone tried to stage as a kidnapping.
Author Comments: There are some Boulder Police Department officers and FBI agents interviewed by this author who believe an intruder was the killer and the ransom note was likely written before JonBenét was murdered.
Reddit Participant: Is it true that the amount of ransom wanted was the same amount of John Ramsey’s bonus check that year?
Beckner: As I recall, I believe that is correct.
Author Comments: The ransom note request was for $118,000.00. The amount of John Ramsey’s deferred compensation bonus was $118,117.50. Ramsey investigators told Boulder Police Department officials about this development.
CRIME SCENE
Reddit Participant: Did the original officer to respond report anything strange?
Beckner: Yes, quite a few observations seemed strange to him.
Author Comments: The actual Boulder Police Department report filed by the first officer on the scene, Rick French, is printed in Documents at the end of this book. It includes sections related to his arrivals and departures at the Ramsey home. The reader can judge whether French reported any “strange” observations.
Reddit Participant: Was urine found anywhere in the victims [sic] room[,] bathroom or on her clothes?
Beckner: Her clothes and bed appeared to be stained.
Author Comments: According to Detective Lou Smit, hired by the Boulder District Attorney’s Office to work on the Ramsey murder case with the approval of the Boulder Police Department, JonBenét’s bed sheets were not stained with urine. Only her clothing was stained. When the bed sheets on her bed were tested, they showed fibers remaining from the clothing she was wearing indicating the sheets had not been changed.
Perspective: One of the early Boulder Police Department theories in the case was that JonBenét wet the bed and one of her parents became enraged and hurt her. It underlines the importance of whether the sheets had urine on them or had been changed. They didn’t and hadn’t.
The Ramsey attorneys believed that her clothing was urine-stained because of the violence and trauma of her death.
Reddit Participant: Can you clarify the condition of the snow ground cover the morning the first officer arrived? Was it patchy or solid and were any footprints ever noted by the open window leading away?
Beckner: It was patchy from an older snowfall, but there was frost on the ground from the humidity and temperature that night. No footprints were observed near the window well or on the deck to JonBenét’s bedroom.
Author Comments: Police crime scene photographs from that morning show no snow on the south side of the Ramsey home, where the window well in question and JonBenét’s second-floor bedroom balcony were located. In addition, BPD reports stated that the police sergeant who reported on the outside conditions that morning did “not believe there was snow on the sidewalks or on the driveway.” In October 1997, a BPD detective spoke with what is described as a “weather expert” who said “ther
e was insufficient information to tell what the condition of the ground would have been around the Ramsey residence.”
Reddit Participant: Regarding the intruder theory, can you comment on the point of entry, how an intruder might have gained entry and whether it is plausible?
Beckner: Most investigators do not believe there was a legitimate point of entry. It is unknown how an intruder may have gotten in. [Detective] Lou Smit always believed it was the basement window, but we did not agree with him, as the dust and spider web were undisturbed.
Author Comments: According to Boulder Police Department reports, there were several other ways into the Ramsey home, including unlocked doors, open doors, and unlocked windows. A list of ways into the home quoted verbatim from the JonBenét Ramsey Murder Book Index is provided in the main part of the book. The information was compiled directly from BPD reports. There are also investigators who believe an intruder could have gotten through the broken basement window because there were broken spider web strands hanging down inside the area and debris from the window well on the basement floor of the home. More of this theory is discussed in the book.
JOHN RAMSEY
Reddit Participant: Is it true John Ramsey went down into the basement on his own a short time before he was asked to go down with his friend and search it by a police officer?
Beckner: That is according to what he told police.
Author Comments: John Ramsey told BPD investigators on the morning of December 26, 1996 that he had gone to the basement to look for his daughter because he didn’t know what else to do. He then told police that he was concerned because he had found a broken basement window with a suitcase underneath it. Ramsey stated the police did not follow up at that time. This information is reflected in Boulder Police Department reports.