Evidence Missed: JonBenét Ramsey Dad and Brother Agree With Stun Gun Theory as Investigators Probe Case With 'Striking' Similarities
Feb. 19 2024, Published 1:30 p.m. ET
Decades have passed since the murder of child beauty pageant star JonBenét Ramsey, but her family still holds out hope that her case will one day be solved as fresh evidence is presented.
"We know a stun gun was used," her brother, John Andrew Ramsey, said in a new interview.
Colorado County coroner Dr. Michael Doberson was the person to present the shocking stun gun theory after he previously experimented using an anesthetized pig to compare the injuries in another case where the victim had similar markings.
"The pictures indicate that. When she went to bed that night, those marks were not there," JonBenét's brother insisted.
For her father, John Bennett, and brother, John Andrew, it still feels like yesterday when JonBenét was a part of their lives, they said while appearing on 60 Minutes Australia.
John explained that it "shouldn't have been a hard case to solve," claiming it seemed the Boulder Police Department was determined to place the blame on himself and his late wife, Patsy, after their little girl was found strangled to death alongside a ransom note inside their family home in Colorado on Dec. 26, 1996.
John discovered JonBenét dead in the cellar with a garrote tied around her neck. "It was so deeply embedded in her skin, I didn't see it," he said.
A lack of experience would underscore the investigation in the weeks to come. "There's nothing more dangerous than a police department that's made up its mind, because they are totally excluding anything that conflicts with that conclusion," John pointed out.
"They made up their mind on day one," he said in hindsight.
It was not until 2008 that JonBenét's father and mother were formally cleared as suspects after DNA from an unknown person was discovered at the crime scene. It was sadly too late for Patsy, who died of cancer two years earlier.
Just two months ago, however, there was an update in Dec. 2023 that led her family to believe justice could finally be served when a cold case team was convened to review the homicide investigation.
Former detective John San Agustin said in the new special that it was clear there was an intruder as samples from JonBenét's blood-stained underwear and fingernail clippings found a stranger's DNA.
Doberson also pointed out there were distinctive tiny round markings on JonBenét's neck and back that matched those sustained by a stun gun, yet another indication the family was not involved.
When asked how confident he was about the stun gun theory, Doberson firmly stated, "About as sure as I could be."
Plus, there was an explosive lead ignored when another young girl from Boulder named Amy was attacked in her bed nine months later.
The girl's mother encountered the individual who jumped off a second-story patio to escape after sexually assaulting the young girl. No one was ever charged, and the victim and her family ultimately moved away.
John believes the perpetrator was already in Amy's house when the family got home. "And that's what I believe happened in our case."
In another stunning development, it was revealed that Amy and JonBenét knew each other and went to the same dance school.
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"The same detectives investigated that case as ours," said JonBenét's dad, while her brother added, "It was just sheer buffoonery. The Boulder Police threw away the bedsheets where she was assaulted on, so there was no ability to go back and do DNA testing. Similar to us, they just absolutely bungled this investigation."
If JonBenét were still alive today, she would be 33.
As his father grows older, John Andrew has vowed not to give up until his sister's killer is "behind bars."