We Have Your Daughter Read online

  Others searched the basement. Officer Rick French, the first BPD officer on the scene that morning, said he first searched the basement when he arrived sometime after 6 a.m. He did not mention the “broken window and suitcase.” He did write about the door where JonBenét’s body was found: “In the basement I attempted to open the door leading to the area where JonBenét was ultimately found, but it was secured by a wooden latch above the door. The door opened inward and I was looking for access out of the house. Since the door could not have been used for that purpose, and it was latched closed, I did not open it.” (Officer Rick French—Date of Report 12-26-1996 Time written: 2317—11:17 p.m.)

  French wrote this part of his report slightly more than ten hours after JonBenét’s body was discovered. Here’s why these statements he wrote about the door are incorrect and misleading:

  • The door opened outward only, not inward.

  • French could not have known if there was an exit out of the room unless he opened the door and looked into the room to find out where it led. “I did not open it,” he wrote.

  Officer French gave even more contradictory and incorrect information about that critically important basement door in a formal debriefing two weeks later on January 10, 1997. According to the JonBenét Ramsey Murder Book Index, two senior officers reported: “Officer French finds the wine cellar locked.” (BPD Report #5-3853.) (Date of Formal Interview: 1-10-97.)

  “Officer French thinks the wine cellar door is nailed shut.” (BPD Report #5-3854.) (Date of Formal Interview: 1-10-97.)

  John’s friend who arrived early that morning also searched the basement. He noticed the broken window and suitcase, says he moved the suitcase, and glanced into the storage room where JonBenét’s body was lying. He didn’t see her body, possibly because he was unable to find the light switch and possibly because of the left-hand wall in the storage room that blocked a full view of the room.

  Later in the day, the only BPD detective left in the home, Linda Arndt, asked that same friend to take John and search the basement. It was at this time that John Ramsey found his daughter’s body in a basement storage room.

  JOHN AND PATSY RAMSEY

  Reddit Participant: The Ramseys being so distant towards each other just after their daughter has been kidnapped is very strange. Did you ask the FBI or any other law department is this normal?

  Beckner: They rarely interacted and this did not seem normal given the circumstances. Lots of speculation as to why.

  Reddit Participant: Can you comment on the emotional state of the parents when they were interviewed …? Was there anything unusual?

  Beckner: There were many things that investigators thought were unusual, including Patsy being upset at the first officer being in uniform and wearing a gun. Officers found that very strange given that her daughter was missing and allegedly kidnapped. The officers also noticed how distant John and Patsy seemed to be toward each other.

  Author Comments: Several BPD reports contradict Beckner’s statements that Patsy and John “rarely interacted” and seemed to be “distant” toward each other on the morning of their daughter’s disappearance. Police officers on the scene stated in BPD reports that the Ramseys acted “normally for the circumstances.” There is also much more information in the main body of this book on the Ramseys’ emotions and interactions. The concerns raised by the first responding BPD officer showing up at the Ramsey’s front door in uniform after parking a police car in front of their house when the ransom note had instructed that no police should be called, are also addressed.

  BURKE RAMSEY

  Reddit Participant: What are your thoughts on whether Burke may know more than he has told?

  Beckner: I’m not going to speculate on what Burke may or may not know. He was only 9 years old at the time. However, after a short initial interview that day (before we had many facts), Burke was only interviewed one more time and that was by a social services worker. We of course had many other questions we wanted to ask him as the investigation wore on, but were never given an opportunity to interview him again.

  Author Comments: Beckner was wrong about the number of times Burke was interviewed related to his sister’s murder and who interviewed him. The importance and relevance of the correct information reflects the cooperation of the Ramsey family about interviews with their son. Burke was interviewed four times during four years, and the circumstances of these interviews were different from what Beckner described. Those who actually interviewed Burke provide insight into the depth and credibility of those interviews by experienced experts:

  Burke was interviewed the first time by a BPD detective in a tape-recorded session the day his sister’s body was found, on December 26, 1996. Burke was questioned at his friend’s home, where he was taken that morning so he could be away from the confusion at his own home. Neither of his parents was present during that interview nor were they asked permission for Boulder Police to interview their son.

  Burke’s second interview on January 8, 1997 was scheduled by the Boulder County Department of Social Services. A child psychologist, Dr. Suzanne Bernhard—not a “social services worker” as Beckner stated—was selected by Boulder County Social Services to conduct this interview. The interview was videotaped. Boulder Police Department officials had been allowed to prepare questions and submit them for Dr. Bernhard to ask Burke during the interview. BPD officers were also among those who were allowed to watch the interview through a one-way mirror. The Evaluation of the Child Report prepared by Boulder Social Services following this interview stated: “From the interview, it is clear that Burke was not a witness to JonBenét’s death.”

  A June 26, 1998 Daily Camera article entitled “Police Question JonBenét’s Brother” stated that Burke was interviewed two weeks earlier in Atlanta by a detective from Broomfield, Colorado, a town 13 miles southeast of Boulder. The detective conducted the interview as a representative of the Boulder District Attorney’s Office. Burke’s Atlanta-based lawyer, who had negotiated the terms of the interview, was present. The interview took a total of six hours and was conducted in multiple parts from June 10 to June 12, 1998.

  Burke testified before the grand jury that was convened in May 1999 to investigate his sister’s murder. At the time, he answered questions from a number of sources. A Boulder Police Department liaison, Sergeant Tom Wickman, was present during the grand jury proceedings. He worked with the grand jury attorneys and, as a representative of the Boulder Police Department, would have submitted to those attorneys questions for witnesses, including Burke Ramsey. No cross-examination by Burke’s attorney was allowed due to the rules of these grand jury proceedings.

  Reddit Participant: Now that Burke is an adult, has anyone asked him to submit to an interview?

  Beckner: Yes, we had two detectives fly out to meet with him at his residence to see if he would sit down and talk to us. He refused and later his lawyer told us not to contact him again.

  Author Comments: The residence was Burke’s apartment at Purdue University, where he was attending school. According to BPD records, two detectives and a sergeant flew to Burke’s university to try to interview him without calling to ask first. The trip cost $5,000, according to information provided by the BPD via e-mail in response to a Colorado Open Records request.

  Reddit Participant: Were you surprised at Burke’s unwillingness to submit to an interview a few years ago?

  Beckner: No, it was a typical Ramsey response.

  Author Comments: This question also referred to the arrival of three BPD officers, two detectives and a sergeant, at Burke Ramsey’s Purdue University apartment during finals week in his senior year of college. The police officers arrived unannounced, knocked on his apartment door and requested an interview. In a later interview with the author of this book, Burke said, “It’s finals week. I didn’t have time to do anything but study and take tests. They were very polite and nice, but I don’t see why they flew all the way out there. Why were there three of them? It was a
bit of overkill. Why didn’t they call first or just call as opposed to traveling all that way? It wasn’t that professional. If you want to do an interview, contact me. Don’t just show up at my door.” His answer to their request: “No, thanks.”

  Reddit Participant: Has BPD ever successfully obtained the medical records for Burke?

  Beckner: No.

  Author Comments: According to official documentation, the Ramseys signed more than 100 releases for records, including Burke’s medical records. The Ramseys also supplied their son’s medical records to Boulder Social Services, and the Boulder Police Department had access to them. The Boulder County grand jury, and thus the Boulder Police Department, also had Burke’s medical records. BPD was also able to gain access to the Ramsey’s pediatrician’s safe deposit box where he stored both sets of records from each child. So BPD did have Burke’s medical records.

  THE CRIME

  Reddit Participant: What do you believe actually happened to JonBenét? Who do you think [was] responsible?

  Beckner: We know from the evidence she was hit in the head very hard with an unknown object … The blow knocked her into deep unconsciousness … The strangulation came 45 minutes to two hours after the head strike, based on the swelling on the brain … While the head wound would have eventually killed her, the strangulation actually did kill her. The rest of the scene we believe was staged …

  Author Comments: The former chief’s statement that “The strangulation came 45 minutes to two hours after the head strike, based on the swelling on the brain” was not supported by the official autopsy report. According to the Boulder County Coroner’s report of the autopsy for JonBenét Ramsey, “Cause of death of this six year old female is asphyxia by strangulation associated with craniocerebral trauma.” Both injuries were the cause of death. The coroner stated privately he did not know which happened first, strangulation or the blow to the head, and that is what is reflected in his formal autopsy. There is no mention of swelling in the brain in the autopsy. There was a hemorrhage inside her head which was an indication to the coroner that she was still alive at the time of the massive blow because of the bleeding. The Boulder County Coroner’s references to the head wounds sustained by JonBenét Ramsey included “area of hemorrhage” and “a contusion [that] measures 8 inches in length.”

  Beckner’s statement that “The strangulation actually did kill her,” is also unsubstantiated by the autopsy report. The Boulder County Coroner listed two causes of death in his autopsy: strangulation and head trauma. By law in Colorado, the coroner is the expert in the case.

  Reddit Participant: Did you find any sign of a struggle at all?

  Beckner: Other than her injuries, no.

  Author Comments: According to the autopsy report, DNA was found underneath JonBenét’s fingernails. This finding could have indicated that she had been involved in a struggle. There were also scratch marks on her neck that could have indicated that she struggled to loosen the garrote that was being used to strangle her.

  Reddit Participant: Is there an earliest and latest time you can confirm as the time of death?

  Beckner: We believe it was around 1:00 a.m.

  Author Comments: The Boulder County Coroner did not list a time of death for JonBenét Ramsey in his autopsy.

  The following question referred to the fact that JonBenét was dressed when her body was found by her father.

  Reddit Participant: Does this mean the killer sexually molested her … and then dressed her back in her underwear and leggings?

  Beckner: Yes.

  Author Comments: It is not possible for Beckner to know or conclude that the killer removed JonBenét’s clothing to assault her and then put her clothes back on her. Whoever pulled her leggings and panties down could have simply pulled them down, but not off, and then pulled them up when he was finished.

  This statement followed the above question about the killer possibly replacing JonBenét’s clothing after sexually assaulting her.

  Reddit Participant: I guess there wasn’t a time problem for the killer. Beckner: The killer also took the time to find a pad and sharpie [sic] pen, write a 2.5 page ransom note, fashion a garrote and choke her with it, then wrap her in a blanket with one of her favorite nightgowns and place her in a storage room.

  Author Comments: Here are reasonable alternate theories:

  The killer was in the Ramsey home sometime or perhaps several times prior to Christmas Day, took the pad and the Sharpie with him, and composed the ransom note before he went back to the Ramsey home on Christmas with the other articles used in the murder, such as the rope and the duct tape. The Ramseys had several notepads and pens, so they may not have missed either. They were also careless about security.

  The killer went into the home when the Ramseys were at Christmas dinner at their friends’ home and rewrote the note from his own copy, using paper and a pen from the Ramsey home in the hours he spent waiting for the family to return.

  HISTORY OF SEXUAL ABUSE

  Reddit Participant: Do you believe there was evidence of chronic sexual abuse with regard to JonBenét?

  Beckner: Based on evidence of prior damage to her vagina and hymen, experts told us there was evidence of prior abuse. No way to really know if it was chronic.

  Reddit Participant: [I have heard] the autopsy report … found evidence of sexual abuse prior to the night JonBenét was murdered … [that] there were injuries which had actually healed previously, indicating there was sexual abuse … prior to the crime. Is there any truth to this?

  Beckner: Yes, there was evidence that would indicate prior sexual abuse.

  Author Comments: Both of these answers from Beckner are false. No physician who examined JonBenét’s body or consulted with the Boulder County Coroner said she had been sexually violated other than during the time period when she was killed. The coroner who conducted the autopsy wrote about her genitalia: “The upper portions of the vaginal vault contain no abnormalities. The prepubescent uterus measures 3 x 1 x 0.8 cm and is unremarkable. The cervical os contains no abnormalities. Both fallopian tubes and ovaries are prepubescent and unremarkable by gross examination.”

  The coroner, a forensic pathologist, was specifically trained in examining bodies in suspicious circumstances. The day of the autopsy, he called a medical specialist from Children’s Hospital in Denver to help examine JonBenét’s body. Both agreed that there had been penetration but no rape, and there was no evidence of prior violation. The Director of the Kempe Child Abuse Center in Denver, who was also consulted by the Boulder County Coroner, also stated publicly there was no evidence of prior sexual abuse of JonBenét Ramsey.

  By Colorado law, JonBenét’s primary pediatrician would have been prosecuted and lost his medical license if he had suspected any kind of sexual abuse during his time as her doctor and not reported it. According to him, no evidence of prior sexual assault had ever existed. He had examined JonBenét during Child Wellness examinations that included inspections of the genitalia. Four medical experts, including the Boulder County Coroner who performed the autopsy, all agreed there was no prior sexual assault. They were all involved in the case.

  Perspective: In February of 1997 during two consecutive weeks, there were two damaging leaks indicating “incest” was what was being investigated. “Prior sexual abuse” would have to be accurate for these rumors to be true: First, there was a story about the Boulder Police Department checking into the death of John’s oldest daughter in a car accident in 1992. The police were focused on whether friends of daughter, Beth, had ever talked of any sexual problems with her father. They found nothing.

  The second story, one week after the first, is when Boulder County District Attorney Alex Hunter confirmed he was interviewing a former Miss America from Colorado, Marilyn VanDerbur Atler. She had gone public years before that she was a victim of incest allegedly by her father. The message for all who read it was that John Ramsey was being investigated for incest—sexually abusing his daughter JonBenét. Th
ere was “no prior sexual abuse” according to the three experts who consulted with the Boulder County Coroner, so there was no incest. It was an irresponsible action to suggest and rumor about John Ramsey.

  DNA TESTING

  These questions referred to new DNA testing that led then Boulder District Attorney Mary Lacy to exonerate the Ramseys in 2008. It also referred to a book by Jim Kolar, who worked on the Ramsey murder investigation for one year in the Boulder District Attorney’s Office.

  Reddit Participant: Can you comment on the usefulness of the new DNA testing that apparently exonerated the parents? I read Foreign Faction by James Kolar, and he asserts that the DNA in no way exonerates them … I’d be very interested to see a rebuttal, if there is one.”

  Beckner: Sorry, I can’t provide the rebuttal, as I agree with Jim Kolar. Exonerating anyone based on a small piece of evidence that has not yet been proven to even be connected to the crime is absurd in my opinion.

  Reddit participant: What would be some examples of reasonable explanations for where the DNA could come from?

  Beckner: Manufacturing process is one. Interactions with other people is another. Intentional placement is another. Belongs to an intruder is another. Yes you can often tell where DNA comes from. In this case, it is small enough that it is difficult to tell. CBI thought it was either sweat or saliva.

  Author Comments: These answers about DNA are what Beckner retracted in the Daily Camera three days after his online interview session, as discussed earlier in this epilogue. Referring to the DNA findings he told the Daily Camera, “In my opinion, at this point, that’s your suspect.” Then, Beckner deleted his online interview including questions and answers.