By: Gabriela Sundquist

The “Killer Inside the House” theory is one that the Boulder Colorado Police Department has been sure of since JonBenet’s murder happened. Within this theory, there are still several possibilities of what could have happened to JonBenet. There were three people in the house that night with JonBenet, and any one of them could have been her killer.

Evidence the Killer Was In the House

• Patsy’s handwriting matches the ransom note.
• The pen and paper pad from the ransom note was already in the house. After the note was written, the pen and paper were put away in their place.
• The ransom note demanded that no one should be contacted, yet she contacted the police anyway and then called her friends over to the house.
• If an intruder’s plan was to kidnap JonBenet and demand the ransom money, why would her dead body be left in their house? Unless the death was accidental. But then still, why would they leave the ransom note?
• The ransom amount was the exact amount of John’s bonus.
• The window, that many theorized an intruder used, was completely undistrubed.
• The alleged “taser marks” actually could have matched a flashlight or toy train track. Also, a taser might not have subdued JonBenet, but rather could have energized her.
• Patsy’s weird 911 call. Abnormal behavior for a mom who’s daughter is missing.
  • She doesn’t say her daughters name at all. And she referrs to herself only as “the mother”. This could be evidence of her distancing herself or trying to avoid giving something away.
  • Many people also say that Burke’s voice can be heard on the 911 call when he and Patsy claim that he was asleep throughout the night.
• Ramsey’s stopped cooperating with police
• JonBenet was found with a blanket draped over her body which is often a sign that the murderer knows the victim.
• Police found a bowl of pineapple on the kitchen counter with Burke’s fingerprints on it. Pineapple was JonBenet’s favorite snack. There was pineapple found in her stomach during the autopsy. That means that either Burke gave JonBenet a late snack, which goes against his claim that he was “in bed all night”, or that she stole some of his pineapples which could have resulted in a temper tantrum ending in JonBenet’s death. During questioning, Burke claimed he didn’t know what pineapple was and he covered his mouth (an obvious tell of a lie).
• When Burke is interviewed he has trouble saying anything without a smirk on his face, which can be a sign of duper’s delight, which is defined as “the pleasure of being able to manipulate someone, often made visible to others by flashing a smile at an inappropriate moment.” (Wiktionary) This also could just be the result of a traumatic childhood.
• When John carried JonBenet upstairs he didn’t cradle her but carried her away from his body, which left police with a gut feeling that he murdered her.

What Could Have Happened That Night?

Considering these facts and contradictions, it seems there is another possibility of what happened other than an intruder committing JonBenet’s murder. There were three people in the house with JonBenet, and according to this theory, they were all involved.

Many sources over the years, but most recently CBS, theorized that Burke accidently killed his sister in a fit of anger and his parents then covered up the crime. CBS came out with a two-part docuseries called The Case of: JonBenet Ramsey in 2016. The team of professionals featured in the CBS program included forensic scientists, FBI agents, pathologists, and a criminal behavioral analyst. Many of these professionals have been involved with the case from the beginning.

Theory

The professionals in the CBS docuseries constructed a possible series of events that might have happened Christmas night 1996 according to the evidence and interviews they conducted over the years.

The Accident

They theorized that when Patsy and John came home from Christmas dinner, JonBenet was asleep. John Ramsey then took JonBenet to bed while Patsy served Burke a bowl of pineapple and some tea to prepare him for bed. JonBenet then woke up and took a piece of pineapple from Burke’s bowl which sent the 9-year old into a raging fit. In this anger, he took a nearby flashlight and hit her upside the head.

“We know from the evidence she was hit in the head very hard with an unknown object, possibly a flashlight or similar type item. The blow knocked her into deep unconsciousness, which could have led someone to believe she was dead. The strangulation came 45 minutes to two hours after the head strike, based on the swelling in 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, including the vaginal trauma, to make it look like a kidnapping/assault gone bad. I have avoided saying who I believe is responsible and let the facts speak for themselves. There are several viable theories.”

Former Boulder Police Chief Mark Becker

The Cover-Up

John and Patsy would have then covered up the crime to protect their son. I find this idea truly fascinating and heartbreaking. I think that John and Patsy would have been enraged, especially Patsy, that her precious baby was gone. Her baby, her second born baby, that bore both John Bennet Ramsey and Patsy Ramseys names (JonBenet Patricia Ramsey) was gone.

But, Burke is still their son. In this theory, John and Patsy tragically lost their baby at the hands of their other baby. That has to be one of the most painful things possible. I think this tracks with how the family reacted afterwards. I think that tracks with John and Patsy covering up Burke’s crime and pointing the finger at an intruder. I think everything falls into place from the ransom note, the 911 call and their following interviews.

So, according to this theory, John and Patsy covered up the crime by concocting the intruder story. They wrote the ransom note, John telling Patsy what to write. He tells her to sign it off with “Victory” and uses language like “foreign faction”, all words that John would have been familiar with from his time with the navy.

They would have told Burke to go to bed and they would deal with him later. Then John would have taken care of the cover up, taking JonBenet downstairs (he knew exactly where to find her the next morning) and staging the assault and tucking her in by placing the blanket on top of her. I think during this process he might have slipped back into his navy training and pushed down his feelings and thoughts. I believe this could be how he did what he thought had to be done.

The Aftermath

Maybe Burke didn’t even realize to what extent he had hurt JonBenet. He was 9. He was angry and he was 9. Maybe he didn’t even realize what he had actulaly done. But, I’m sure his parents coached him. They told him that his story was to be that he was asleep all night in his bed until late the next morning. And from there is when the lies, deception and missing pieces all started.

This theory would track with Burke’s history of anger and emotional issues before the murder and his lack of emotion after the murder.

Lawsuit

Burke sued CBS for $750 million for defamation. This isn’t the first time the the Ramsey’s have sued for defamation. This suit ended in settlement, but CBS actually ended up cutting some of the docuseries out. At first it was supposed to be a three-part series with 6 hours of content. CBS cut it down to a two-part four hour series after the heat of the lawsuit from Burke. This left many people wondering what was in the last part of this docuseries.

Will We Ever Know?

While these oddities and strange facts could point to something sickening happening in the Ramsey home that night at the hands of JonBenet’s family, it could also be the result of many things including misrepresentation or the snowball of facts into diluted theories over time.

While we may never know what truly happened that Christmas night in 1996, it seems that the Ramsey’s knew more than they were saying. Whether they were silenced out of fear that the Police were going to use their words against them or they were actually guilty, they were silent and uncooperative. Either way, they seemed to put their privacy and protection over finding JonBenet’s killer.

The combination of the Ramsey’s silence and the fact that the Boulder Colorado Police were so determined that the killer came from inside the house may have muddled this case beyond solvability. These things possibly resulted in the mishandling of evidence and the refusal of getting outside authorities’ help which slowed the investigation. Because of this, we may never know what truly happened to sweet baby angel JonBenet.

Often people ask, “If you could know what truly happened in one case, what case would it be?” My answer? JonBenet. I honestly have no clue what happened. Every time I think I know who killed JonBenet, I look at another piece of evidence and am swayed. Here, I am simply presenting the evidence that has been puzzling me for so many years. I wish I could know what happened on her last night on earth. The more I look into it, the more confused I am. Was it an intruder that came and took her life? Was it her brother in a fit of rage? Did something else happen entirely?

What do you guys think happened to JonBenet? What’s one case you wish you could solve?

Sources

A big thanks to the following sources for today’s article.