Nearly 30 years after 6-year-old JonBenét Ramsey was found brutally murdered, her brother Burke has broken a decade of silence, insisting that the DNA of her killer is “sitting right there.”
Now 39, Burke Ramsey is speaking publicly for the first time in a decade, reminding the world of the sister he knew beyond the photographs that have come to define her.
“Everyone focuses on the pageants and stuff. But that was only a small part of JonBenét’s life,” Burke, 39, told the Daily Mail. “She had a lot more to her than that.”
“To me, she was just a normal sister who would slide down hills on boxes with me. We’d play in water together. Very normal stuff.”
Burke was only nine when JonBenét’s body was found – strangled and gagged – in the basement of the family’s Boulder, Colorado mansion on Dec 26, 1996. She had also suffered a devastating blow to the head that left an 8.5-inch fracture in her tiny skull.
The child’s death was ruled a homicide, yet despite years of investigations and relentless public scrutiny, no one has ever been charged.
Three theories
Over the years, three theories have emerged about who killed JonBenét, with suspicion initially falling on her parents.
Investigators discovered that the ransom note had been written on stationery from the Ramsey home, while the amount demanded – $118,000 – matched the Christmas bonus her father John had just received from his employer, People reports.
Former Boulder detective Steve Thomas later theorized that mom Patsy accidentally injured her daughter before strangling her, while John helped conceal the crime. Her attorney dismissed the allegations as “fiction and utter nonsense”, and the couple was cleared of any criminal involvement.
The Ramseys, however, maintained that an “unknown male intruder” was responsible, pointing to unidentified DNA evidence that has never produced a match.
“The DNA says we didn’t do it. I know none of my family did it,” Burke said in his Nov 5 interview with the Daily Mail.
A third theory implicated Burke, who has consistently denied involvement in his sister’s murder.
“I didn’t do it…You know, it’s like, stop. There was this energy looking at the family, but the DNA is sitting right there,” he added.
Netflix revisits JonBenét’s murder
Now, Netflix is revisiting the mystery in its eight-part drama The Murder of JonBenét Ramsey, premiering Dec. 10.
“It’s the most tragic, personal, awful thing to happen in my life…that anybody could imagine happening to them,” he told the Daily Mail.
“And it’s tough to have it come up every 10 years or so. It just brings all that pain back. But I want this solved. So, if this helps get this solved then OK, that’s fine.”
‘The best evidence we have’
Despite the personal toll, Burke has returned to the public eye with a specific DNA demand for investigators.
“[The DNA] was underneath her fingernails, and it didn’t match any of us. It’s probably the person who did it, you know, and it’s the best chance we have to solve this,” he told the Daily Mail.
“We need to find that match. It’s the best evidence we have,” he said.
“And I want it solved…it is emotionally taxing. Find the match. That will go a long way to bringing justice. It’s been 30 years and enough is enough,” he added.
What do you think really happened to JonBenét Ramsey, and who do you believe was responsible for her death? Please share your theories in the comment section below!
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