Everything New We Learned from ‘Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey’

True-crime fan or not, the infamously unsolved murder of JonBenét Ramsey still has everyone scratching their heads 30 years later. Despite scandalous theories of sexual abuse, maternal fits of rage, and cover-ups, no one truly knows the culprit behind the 6-year-old beauty pageant queen’s brutal death on December 26, 1996. Netflix’s latest docuseries Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey revisits the mysterious crime with fresh eyes and a new hope for justice.

Without any recent developments in the case and its evidence being endlessly examined over the years, the show offers audiences a perspective shift. Acclaimed director Joe Berlinger, known for killer documentaries like the Paradise Lost series, drops external influences and focuses on the facts. He gives a redeeming voice of reason to JonBenét’s father, John Ramsey, her mother Patsy, who passed away in 2006 from cancer, and her brother Burke, who was only eight at the time of the crime, against the media frenzy and public outcry adamant about their involvement.

With the case still open but stagnant, the series urges investigators to move forward — away from the investigative mistakes and slander of the past — through new forensic technology that could finally name the killer.

Police Mistakes Led to a Cold Case

Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey highlights the investigative errors of the Boulder Police Department that hindered their search for the killer and directly influenced public opinion about the Ramsey family. On that fateful December morning, law enforcement received a call from Patsy after finding a ransom note demanding money in exchange for the safe return of her daughter, now missing from bed. Officers immediately knew this was going to be a significant case because Boulder doesn’t have a lot of serious crime, and headed straight for the Ramsey family home. However, their inexperience with this kind of major offense resulted in procedural mistakes and mishandling of evidence.

When entering the home, officers didn’t search it in its entirety. They vaguely checked-out all three levels, but didn’t even open the door to one of the basement’s rooms. Since JonBenét’s body was later found in that exact room during another search by her father and a friend (at law enforcement’s request), the police’s superficial walk-through unnecessarily put suspicion on John for “knowing” where to look. It also revealed a carelessness that wasted hours of everyone’s time as they waited for the kidnapper to call.

Correspondingly, investigators didn’t lock down the property. In need of support, family friends were walking in and out of the home all day. Filled with people and high emotions, the crime scene was chaotic. As a result, details were overlooked, including a rope left by the killer that didn’t belong to the family and stun-gun marks on JonBenét that were dismissed as impressions from a model train.

Additionally, and most damaging, was the police department’s disruption of evidence. After finding JonBenét in the basement, John instinctively ran to her to help. He took the duct tape off her mouth, unsuccessfully tried to untie the knots that bound her, and moved the body upstairs to bring it to the police after realizing that she was gone. Leaving a crime scene intact is crucial for collecting evidence. So, when John was instructed by the police to search the house, and it resulted in JonBenét’s body being moved, the evidence could have been tampered with enough to destroy it or, at the very least, distort it.

The male DNA later found on JonBenét didn’t match anyone in her family or the other suspects who confessed to the crime. Had it remained untouched, the decades-long mystery may have been solved a long time ago, saving everyone involved in the case, especially the Ramsey family, a lot of grief.

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Nowadays, it’s commonly understood that police can try to manipulate suspects during interrogations, looking for a confession and conviction rather than the truth. But when John and Patsy Ramsey were advised by their lawyers not to speak with the police directly, the police weren’t offering much insight into the case to reporters without their input, so a lot of people believed they weren’t cooperating — an indication of guilt. On the contrary, the parents gave everything over to the police that they asked for, just through their attorney.

Unfortunately, with the media hungry for scandal and the public starving for justice, people following the case began taking the few details they were given to come up with their own answers. And there were plenty of mysterious details that aroused suspicions, particularly against John, Patsy, and Burke, who were in the home at the time of the murder. The ransom note coming from Patsy’s notepad and the paintbrush used to torment JonBenét belonging to Patsy made some people believe she killed her daughter in a fit of rage after wetting the bed or to cover-up Burke accidentally killing his sister. No footprints in the snow leading to the basement window where the intruder entered made some people discard the outsider theory entirely. Beauty pageant photos of JonBenét in John’s desk made a lot of people believe he was sexually abusing her. Everyone had theories, but no one had answers.

Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey looks at hearsay and disproves it with the facts. The handwriting from the ransom note didn’t match anyone in the house, the paintbrush was easily accessible by an intruder, there were no footprints in the snow to the basement window because there was no snow, and there was no real evidence of any sexual abuse leading up to the crime. Additionally, Patsy had recently gone into remission after her first cancer diagnosis, so she was only grateful to be with her children. It’s illogical to think she suddenly murdered her daughter for something so trivial. Plus, John’s other children have defended him against accusations of abuse.

The Ramsey family theories can be explained away, and the evidence points again and again to an unknown intruder. Regardless, the media circus churned out speculative stories, and law enforcement bent to public pressure, focusing disproportionately on John, Patsy, and Burke. As a consequence, time and resources were wasted on a dead end instead of chasing other promising leads.

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DNA Breakthrough Brings New Hope to Old Case

After the courts failed to gather sufficient evidence to indict anyone in the Ramsey family and its most promising confession from John Mark Karr didn’t come with a DNA match, the case came to a halt. However, the docuseries emphasizes the importance of revisiting the evidence with modern forensics that could potentially pin-down the killer whether he was in the old suspect pool or not.

The discovery of DNA from an unknown male on JonBenét’s clothing that does not belong to anyone in the Ramsey family is the most significant piece of evidence of the crime. As the decades passed, resampling and testing that genetic material is the only way forward in this case. Technology is far more advanced today than it was back in 1996, and the genealogy database used by law enforcement now could still lead to a match either directly or through a relative of the killer.

As the series wraps up, it shows John Ramsey still pleading with investigators to use this new cutting-edge technology. Hopefully, viewers can rally behind him, help finally solve this mystery, and give the Ramsey family (as well as everyone who’s followed the case) the resolution they need.