While elected by Districts, each member represents the interests of the City as a whole. Also, using the words of one of the handwriting experts, it's extremely unlikely for a random killer to have a handwriting so uniquely similar to Patsy's. Catherine Willows Eddie Willows CSI Wiki Katie Stevens Morgan Brody Warrick Brown Immortality Gil Grissom Helgoth was tied to a supposed property dispute with the Ramsey family, which many theorize could have been a motive for possibly kidnapping JonBent. JonBents parents initially thought she had been kidnapped during the night. I found my daughter, John Ramsey told Walters in 2000. Bill allegedly had an unusually close and trusting relationship with JonBenet, and easy access to both her and her brother, Burke. Nope. Watch the full story on "20/20" Friday at 9 p.m. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. With the case now in the publics view, police sought to question JonBents parents. On the morning of Dec. 26, 1996, Patsy Ramsey frantically called 911 after making a shocking discovery a ransom note was on the first floor of her home, and her 6-year-old daughter was nowhere to be found. Were not interrogating possible suspects. Hair and handwriting samples were collected by police from both of them at that time, according to an Associated Press report. Another theory was that John Ramsey accidentally killed his daughter and made Patsy write the ransom note. What about chronic sexual abuse of JonBenet? And he asked me to write down a name, and I did. View our online Press Pack. Instead, the grandfather of six filled his time helping the elderly at the local senior center. Why would the killer care if Patsy found the note before the body. The correspondence took a disturbing turn, with Karr talking about his sexual fascination with JonBent. We are just trying to eliminate people from that list and we just figure, if we keep at it, hopefully, well finally whittle it down to one person remaining on that list, said Marra. Apart from it, how come the killer left no traces behind? Waltrip was one of the most famous voices in NASCAR for 19 years. Arndt said the moment sparked fear in her that JonBents father might have killed their daughter, and so she braced herself for a possible confrontation. Bill McReynolds died in 2002 from a heart attack, but the rest of the McReynolds family has shied away from the spotlight since then. The family moved to Florida when Robert was six years old. It was a very sad thing in his life because he genuinely loved children, and it was the happiest part of his life.". Boulder County District Attorney Alex Hunter, however, wasn't convinced of their guilt and wanted to explore other theories. He loved that little girl. Longmont Police Department records on the December 26, 1974 kidnapping of Jill McReynolds (daughter of JonBenet Ramsey murder suspect "Santa" Bill McReynolds) and her friend by an unidentified pedophile Addeddate 2020-07-08 01:31:47 Identifier JillMcReynolds_LongmontPD Identifier-ark People in the community who tell the police, Give them room. However, the McReynolds were officially cleared (again, via DNA analysis, which is certainly not infallible) of any involvement in the crime, with these startling aforementioned "facts" deemed purely coincidental by both themselves and, presumably, the Boulder police department. The 6-year-old girl was found dead on the morning after Christmas 1996. But when 10 a.m. passed and there still wasnt a call, Arndt said there was no acknowledgment from either of JonBents parents that the deadline imposed by the author of the ransom note [had] come and gone.. is ivan cleary related to michael cleary. The case is officially unsolved, and has become one of the most mysterious and controversial in America's history. The three-page ransom note, for example, was written on Patsy Ramseys notepad with a pen that had come from the house. What exactly were these findings and related recommendations, and what became of them? In his video diaries, Smit pointed out that whoever wrote the ransom note included language that was drawn from several movies. We were outraged. Email us at exclusive@the-sun.com or call 212 416 4552. The police did a terrible, terrible job securing that scene and if you dont secure the scene, you dont get good evidence, said Diane Dimond, an investigative reporter who covered the case. 2 What we all share in common is that commitment to fulfill Lous dying wish that this case doesnt die with him, said John Anderson, a friend of Smits and former sheriff of El Paso County in Texas. Janet McReynolds said in the same interview that her 1970s play sounded "quaint" in light of the Ramsey murder and only made her family more empathetic to the Ramseys' loss. She discusses her father's legacy of goodness while talking about how the JonBenet case affected her family and her father's well being. Bill McReynolds had been enjoying life as a retired journalism professor in Boulder, Colo. Then his life suddenly changed after volunteering to play Santa at an annual Christmas party attended by JonBenet. He takes pictures of her dying and possibly records it. Elections to select Councilmembers are held on the . At the time of Bill's death, the couple resided in Cape Cod they reportedly left Boulder in 1998 in order to seek a new beginning, far from where the tragic murder occurred. | Headlines They know someone outside the family has murdered their daughter, but they know no one will believe they're all innocent, so in order to protect Burke and themselves they call the police and report the kidnapping in the hopes that if they play along, the real killer will be caught eventually. Very suspicious. Were not investigators. The Santa Claus figure in the JonBent Ramsey murder case died over the weekend from a heart attack. The $118,000 figure also seemed suspicious to authorities. When Haney suggested there might be trace evidence that appears to link Patsy Ramsey to her daughters murder, Patsy Ramsey said, That is totally impossible. John and other family members were cleared of suspicion through a handwriting test, but police couldnt conclusively determine if Patsy wrote the letter. And if there were other reasons for them to worry about it, then it's far more logical to think that Burke indeed killed JonBenet. Marra said that before his death, while he was still in the hospital, he told her that he wanted someone to keep investigating the case. J. MCREYNOLDS: The basic thrust and the parallel that I am now seeing with the JonBenet case is that the victim, in my play, was a scapegoat for the sins of the community. Lawrence Brandon McReynolds is an American professional stock car racing driver and the No. Published 02/22/21 08. Brandon is currently 30 years old. Bill McReynolds Other suspects included neighbor Bill McReynolds, a local Santa Claus who visited the Ramseys a few days before the girl's death. They search the house and find JonBenet murdered. There is no reason to leave JBR in the house once you have her. "Some of his students kept relationships with him their entire lives," Cosper said. Mary Lacy, the district attorney of Boulder at the time, decided to use this new test on JonBents pajama leggings and the results came back positive for at least one unknown males DNA, possibly even two. The Ramsey familys private investigator, Ollie Gray blasted the Boulder Police Department for not considering Oliva a credible suspect. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. The 26-year-old committed suicide two days after a 1997 press conference where the Boulder DA announced that they were looking at a new suspect. They further reported that McReynolds' wife, Janet, who, with her husband also attended the 1996 Christmas party at the Ramsey mansion dressed as "Mrs. Claus," had, two decades prior to JonBenet's death, written a play, which briefly made it to the off-Broadway stage in NYC, in which a teenaged girl was molested and murdered in her own home's basement. She is now tasked along with other members of Smits family with solving his last case as part of his dying wish -- that of 6-year-old JonBent Ramsey. An Associated Press report from March 1997 stated that McReynolds and his wife, Janet, were initially questioned less than six weeks after the murder. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? Gary Oliva was a known sex offender in Colorado when JonBent was murdered. No suspects were ever found. Mind-boggling! Tracey reported Karr to the police who arrested him in Bangkok. But why would someone do it? TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. We also should have separated John and Patsy and gotten full statements from them that day. Or it may have been deliberately staged to leave this impression. The outlet also reported that Janet had penned a play with a few eery similarities to the case the plot revolved around a girl who was molested and murdered in her basement. Whats the matter with you, said Dimond. The three-page long note said in part that if JonBents parents called the authorities, she would die, and asked for $118,000. The family friend, who died in 2002, was considered in JonBent's murder. But it wasn't just Santa that investigators were interested in. Family and friends were of the Ramseys were also allowed in and out of the house before the initial investigation was completed. Press J to jump to the feed. The interrogation ultimately took place at a different police department and the Boulder investigators were forced to watch from a separate building. On the very same day in 1974 - Boxing Day - McReynolds's nine-year-old daughter had been abducted with a friend, and had witnessed the sexual molestation of her friend. The play, Hey Rube, was about the 1965 torture and murder of Sylvia Likens in Indiana. John Mark Karr confessed to murdering JonBent in 2006. McReynolds daughter was kidnapped 22 years before which caused more suspicions . Two days before the murder he visited the house. For other inquiries, Contact Us. He served as a Winston Cup crew chief from 1985 to 2000, amassing 23 Cup wins, 21 poles, 122 top-five and 209 top-ten finishes. Transforming Empathy Into Compassion: Why It Matters, How Siblings Contribute to "The Good Life", What "Poker Face" Gets Wrong About Lie Detection, A Profile of Oregon's Pseudocommando Killer. Police investigated a wide variety of individuals in relation to JonBenet Ramsey's murder, including Bill McReynolds, though McReynolds (who died in 2002) also maintained his innocence and was cleared of any involvement in her death. I think its that devotion, that respect, that love for Lou, [that] is what keeps our team moving forward.. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. They didnt do it.. Authorities ultimately cleared Oliva as a suspect after they were unable to connect him to the crime scene. McReynolds was born in Birmingham, Alabama. JonBent Patricia Ramsey was a six-year-old beauty pageant contestant who was brutally murdered (and possibly raped) in her home, on the night of 25 to 26 December 1996. Bill was both a Prefect and Head Boy. She had dressed up as Mrs. Claus at the Christmas party and way back in 1976, Janet McReynolds wrote a play about a young girl who was abducted, molested, and found dead in a basement. Burke is woken up and questioned. Therefore, he very controversially decided not to file any formal charges against the Ramsey's at all. Additionally, the McReynolds' 9-year-old daughter was reportedly abducted on Dec. 26, the same day JonBent was found dead, only years prior in the 1970s. After JonBents parents first formal interrogation in the spring of 1997, four months after her death, it would take nearly two years for them to sit down with the police for another interrogation. Were just not going to do it.. Moreover, both he, as a retired journalism professor, and his wife, an award-winning playwright, clearly had the creativity, literary skills, knowledge, and background needed to construct the so-called ransom note (see Part 2), either together or individually, including the ability to make it sound as though it was written by someone else, in part through the deliberate and deceptive inclusion of misspellings and grammatical errors. And why on earth would these seemingly loving parents render such assistance to someone whom they knew had cruelly abused, tortured, and executed their only daughter? The couple spent the next 30 years in Boulder, raising three children. We were shocked, added John Ramsey. Suspicious. Another was Michael Helgoth, an electrician who worked at a nearby auto salvage yard. A minuscule amount of mixed DNA (from different locations and multiple foreign sources) doesn't prove much - unless someone cleaned up afterward, there should have been much more evidence from a single profile left. However, with the Ramseys friends showing up for moral support, they also contaminated the scene by moving about the house. With twinkling blue eyes and beautiful features, she was an enigma ever since she stepped into the world. Karr had been living in Thailand, avoiding child pornography charges in the US. But perhaps more pertinently here, it is well-known to psychologists that victims of trauma often traumatize others, as, for example, in the tendency of abused children or adolescents to abuse other kids or adults abused as children to abuse sexually, physically or emotionally their own children, spouses or significant others. Yet, at this late date, we may never know. DNA has since cleared Helgoth of any involvement. Nonetheless, all this provided these jurors with a unique perspective on the complex facts comprising the case, one which I believe merits our attention and serious consideration right alongside the actual evidence itself. Was this ever investigated or evaluated? and take a fresh and unbiased look at the totality of the evidence as it stands right now and its implications regarding the deeply disturbing possibility that JonBenet's murderer may not have been an immediate member of the Ramsey family, as most still believe, nor some mysterious random intruder(s), but rather a close and trusted friend and confidant. I believe the killer was someone McReynolds knew and was possibly a relative of his. Privacy Policy. At the time of Bill's death, the couple resided in Cape Cod they reportedly left Boulder in 1998 in order to seek a new beginning, far from where the tragic murder occurred. 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