This week I am going to talk about one of the most well-known unsolved cases in recent history that has sparked multitudes of theories.  The circumstances around her death and contamination of the scene make this a very hard case to solve, so I invite you to theorize –– was it the family or an outsider?

The details:

On Christmas night in 1996, Mr. John Ramsey and his wife Patsy were out at a party.  The rich socialites returned home late and went straight to bed.  The day after, Patsy wakes up early to find a ransom note requesting money for her 6 year old daughter’s safe return.  Patsy frantically searches JonBenét’s room, and couldn’t find her, so she quickly calls the police and relatives.  All the relatives contaminated the scene when looking through the house.  Police arrived soon after, but John Ramsey ended up finding his daughters body in the basement.  She had been strangled (cause of death), with a head injury.  There was also evidence of sexual assault on the body.

Evidence against the family:

All items the corresponding to JonBenét’s death were all found within the home –– meaning that the killers did not bring anything with them to the house.  Is this because the killers are from the house?

Here’s some detail about the note: The kidnappers demanded 118 thousand dollars, which is strange because typically ransom notes request a more rounded value, such as “120 thousand.” However, John Ramsey, JonBenét’s father, had just received $118,117 and 50 cents as a holiday bonus.  How would the kidnappers know the exact amount of the bonus? But! John’s tax and income documents were around the house and accessible to people who entered, which could explain this.

The note was also written on Patsy’s notepad, which had above pages missing, indicating that practice notes had been discarded –– why wouldn’t the perpetrator bring the note with them?  Maybe they intended to kidnap her, but panicked when she passed out after being hit in the head and had to improvise?

Duck tape found on the body had fibers on it that matched Patsy’s blazer –– but John could have had fibers on him then transferred them to the body.

Burke Ramsey (9) reacted strangely in interviews which led to suspicion against him –– did Burke kill his sister accidentally and then Mr./Mrs. Ramsey cover it up?

Evidence for an outsider:

Gary Oliva, a known sexual predator, lived down the street.  He was confirmed to have called a friend the night JonBenét was found, crying while saying “I hurt a little girl.” He was also convicted years later and a photo of JonBenét was in his possession.  However, his DNA did not match the sample found at the (highly contaminated) crime scene.  Gary also attempted to strangle his mother in the same fashion that JonBenét was strangled some years after.

Why would the family kill their beloved daughter in such a horrible way and try to cover it up so strangely?

Personally, I believe that an outsider killed JonBenét (likely Gary and a friend) as to me, it just doesn’t make sense for the family to stage her death in this horrific of a way.   What do you guys think?