# Parents cleared in Jon-Benet Ramsey case
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-cleared-in-jon-benet-ramsey-case/455929
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [July 10, 2008, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-cleared-in-jon-benet-ramsey-case/455929 "2008-07-10T02:35:08Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2008, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-cleared-in-jon-benet-ramsey-case/455929/1 "2008-07-10T02:35:08Z")
I’ve always thought these parents were getting railroaded and now new DNA evidence has [conclusively cleared them](http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gJvIfyM8cZ9VpBrxEO0N4FhVAN_gD91QJ8SO1)
> [@](#):
>
> BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Prosecutors cleared JonBenet Ramsey’s parents and brother Wednesday in the 1996 killing of the 6-year-old beauty queen and told the family they were “deeply sorry” for putting the Ramseys under a cloud of suspicion for more than a decade. The district attorney said new DNA tests point to a mysterious outsider.
>
> “To the extent that we may have contributed in any way to the public perception that you might have been involved in this crime, I am deeply sorry,” Boulder County District Attorney Mary Lacy wrote in a letter to the little girl’s father, John Ramsey. “No innocent person should have to endure such an extensive trial in the court of public opinion.”
>
> Lacy said new “touch DNA” tests on skin cells that were left behind on JonBenet’s long underwear point to an “unexplained third party” and not a member of the family.
Will we see apologies from people like Nancy Grace?
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### Author:  [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2008, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-cleared-in-jon-benet-ramsey-case/455929/2 "2008-07-10T02:43:21Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic]
Will we see apologies from people like Nancy Grace?
[/QUOTE]
Don’t hold your breath - she has something of a backlog.
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### Author:  [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2008, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-cleared-in-jon-benet-ramsey-case/455929/3 "2008-07-10T03:21:55Z")
I never thought they were being “railroaded.” I don’t think they were ever in real danger of being tried, let alone convicted.
Their problem wasn’t the criminal justice system- it was the media AND millions of fairly ordinary Americans who were way too quick to judge the Ramseys.
Look, child beauty pageants creep me out, and they creep out millions of other rational people. But it doesn’t follow that parents who enter their kids in such pageants are homicidal maniacs.
But millions of people made snap judgments of a family they didn’t really know at all, based on superficial impressions.
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### Author:  [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2008, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-cleared-in-jon-benet-ramsey-case/455929/4 "2008-07-10T04:06:50Z")
While I feel the whole pageant thing is in bad taste, I always felt sorry for the parents. Imagine if you just wake up to find your precious child dead, raped by a stranger. Nothing could make things worse than people actually accusing you of doing the killing.
While there is a high statistical probability of any child death been caused by close relatives, I rather hold my judgment. What do I gain from adding to the chorus of condemnation? What is it gained by swallowing the shit that the press pours down our throats?
If I were Nancy Grace I’d commit seppuku stat. But there is a reason I am not Nancy Grace: I have a conscience.
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### Author:  [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2008, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-cleared-in-jon-benet-ramsey-case/455929/5 "2008-07-10T04:10:02Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic]
Will we see apologies from people like Nancy Grace?
[/QUOTE]
Satan does not permit his minions to apologize.
ETA: If Nancy Grace committed Seppuku on live TV, that would be awesome.
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### Author:  [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2008, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-cleared-in-jon-benet-ramsey-case/455929/6 "2008-07-10T04:14:41Z")
[QUOTE=Larry Borgia]
ETA: If Nancy Grace committed Seppuku on live TV, that would be awesome.
[/QUOTE]
It’s the least she can do. :mad:
ETA: You know what? I wish that disgraced politicians and news media critters were required to commit seppuku when they were found to be intentionally deceiving and wrong. Casket makers’ business would bloom and we’d do without Tarantino. It’s win-win!
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### Author:  [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2008, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-cleared-in-jon-benet-ramsey-case/455929/7 "2008-07-10T04:18:21Z")
Well, the “not a member of the family” thing is interesting. I always thought that there was a good possibility that the older brother did it, and that the parents were involved in the cover-up. I’m glad to know that wasn’t the case.
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### Author:  [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2008, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-cleared-in-jon-benet-ramsey-case/455929/8 "2008-07-10T04:46:45Z")
A classic case of rode(nt) rage…good luck!
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### Author:  [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2008, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-cleared-in-jon-benet-ramsey-case/455929/9 "2008-07-10T05:03:16Z")
[QUOTE=lobotomyboy63]
A classic case of rode(nt) rage…good luck!
[/QUOTE]
I did _not_ post this here…it was in a thread about obliterating some critters. What’s up with that?
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### Author:  [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2008, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-cleared-in-jon-benet-ramsey-case/455929/10 "2008-07-10T05:09:19Z")
[QUOTE=astorian]
I never thought they were being “railroaded.” I don’t think they were ever in real danger of being tried, let alone convicted.
Their problem wasn’t the criminal justice system- it was the media AND millions of fairly ordinary Americans who were way too quick to judge the Ramseys.
Look, child beauty pageants creep me out, and they creep out millions of other rational people. But it doesn’t follow that parents who enter their kids in such pageants are homicidal maniacs.
But millions of people made snap judgments of a family they didn’t really know at all, based on superficial impressions.
[/QUOTE]
Are kids raped and killed by strangers more often than by family members?
The Ramseys aren’t even a regular family, either. They’re creepy in the way that the first 45 minutes of a horror flick are. Murdered kids are almost never killed by strangers. Highly publicized murders with a mysterious, unknown third party involved in the kidnapping and murder of a child had always turned out to be committed by a family member, before. How can you blame people for suspecting the Ramseys? Hell, I STILL suspect them.
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### Author:  [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2008, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-cleared-in-jon-benet-ramsey-case/455929/11 "2008-07-10T06:24:23Z")
[QUOTE=Mosier]
Highly publicized murders with a mysterious, unknown third party involved in the kidnapping and murder of a child had **always** turned out to be committed by a family member, before.
[/QUOTE]
Always? :dubious: That’s quite a Lindy Hop you’re making there.
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### Author:  [@Tabula\_Rasa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabula_Rasa)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2008, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-cleared-in-jon-benet-ramsey-case/455929/12 "2008-07-10T06:34:45Z")
[QUOTE=Askance]
Always? :dubious: That’s quite a Lindy Hop you’re making there.
[/QUOTE]
Best Lindbergh Baby reference ever! …umm, not that I think the Lindbergh baby was raped.
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### Author:  [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2008, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-cleared-in-jon-benet-ramsey-case/455929/13 "2008-07-10T09:41:09Z")
Here’s a newsflash- this also vindicates a controversial move by Pat Robertson. He had them on a few years ago to talk about their book. He caught flack for that, and spoke the next day on The 700 Club about how this couple had suffered an awful tragedy, been publically lambasted by the media & various officials, had never faced any legal charges, and were just being treated horribly.
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### Author:  [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2008, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-cleared-in-jon-benet-ramsey-case/455929/14 "2008-07-10T11:34:40Z")
[QUOTE=Mosier]
Are kids raped and killed by strangers more often than by family members?
The Ramseys aren’t even a regular family, either. They’re creepy in the way that the first 45 minutes of a horror flick are. Murdered kids are almost never killed by strangers. Highly publicized murders with a mysterious, unknown third party involved in the kidnapping and murder of a child had always turned out to be committed by a family member, before. How can you blame people for suspecting the Ramseys? Hell, I STILL suspect them.
[/QUOTE]
You’ve just proven my point.
YOU. DON’T. KNOW. The. RAMSEYS.
You don’t know a damn thing about them, except what you’ve seen here and there on TV. Maybe they’re killers (but the evidence now suggests pretty strongly that they’re not), maybe they’re just weirdoes, or maybe they’re decent people that you’ve assumed the worst of for no good reason.
When DNA evidence comes in, the smart thing to do is reconsider your previous beliefs- not to double down and say, “Screw the evidence- there’s something creepy about them, so they must be guilty!”
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### Author:  [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2008, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-cleared-in-jon-benet-ramsey-case/455929/15 "2008-07-10T11:35:44Z")
Count me amoung those who think the Ramseys should have been investigated given that parents are often involved.
Now it is true that investigators seemed not to pursue other possibilities.
Brian
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### Author:  [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2008, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-cleared-in-jon-benet-ramsey-case/455929/16 "2008-07-10T12:06:41Z")
I apologize if this seems to be thread shitting - it’s really not intended to be. But, I never understood what was so special about this murder. Yes, someone did kill a cute little white girl, but that was, what?, 12 years ago?
If her parents haven’t been convicted of her murder in 12 years, I think it’s safe to say that they’re innocent or they got away with it. Why are they still doing DNA investigations?
This has got to be the longest running case of RO in the history of RO.
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### Author:  [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2008, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-cleared-in-jon-benet-ramsey-case/455929/17 "2008-07-10T14:13:00Z")
[QUOTE=brewha]
I apologize if this seems to be thread shitting - it’s really not intended to be. But, I never understood what was so special about this murder. Yes, someone did kill a cute little white girl, but that was, what?, 12 years ago?
If her parents haven’t been convicted of her murder in 12 years, I think it’s safe to say that they’re innocent or they got away with it. Why are they still doing DNA investigations?
[/QUOTE]
Why shouldn’t they? DNA technology is always evolving and there’s always a chance new evidence can come to light, as we’ve just seen. Or they’ll come up with a DNA match in the ever-growing criminal database.
In the beginning it was a high-profile case because 1) she was a cute white girl, and 2) her parents were rich. Throw in the whole beauty pageant thing and you have media gold. Of course it doesn’t make her more “special” than any other child murder or kidnapping, but it was inevitable that the media would love it.
It’s the bizarre circumstances of the murder, the subsequent botched investigation, and the fact that it’s still unsolved which keep it interesting, to me anyway.
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### Author:  [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2008, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-cleared-in-jon-benet-ramsey-case/455929/18 "2008-07-10T14:45:53Z")
Don’t be so sure that this is true or the final word. The Boulder DA has latched on to a theory by a controversial investigator who had little to do with the actual investigation, and has been trying to let the Ramsey’s off the hook since she took office. Remember John Mark Carr? She has been an embarrasment to the Boulder community and she is about to step down due to term limits (not that she’d win anyway). This is, IMO, just an attempt to put a victory on her slate that lacks much in the way of accomplishments.
She is also the DA that threw the kitchen sink at the U of Colorado football program, resulting in the conviction of [del]multitudes[/del] [del]numerous[/del] [del]several[/del] [del]one[/del] nobody.
This “touch DNA” only revealed that someone unknown at one time touched J-B’s long underwear. Interesting that it didn’t show any indication that anyone in the family ever did. Did the unknown perpetrator dress J-B as well as kill her? This DNA also failed to match any recovered in the house, on the murder weapon, on the ranson note (remember that?), etc.
Color me hugely skeptical on this “revelation”.
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### Author:  [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2008, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-cleared-in-jon-benet-ramsey-case/455929/19 "2008-07-10T14:54:32Z")
[QUOTE=Lamar Mundane]
This “touch DNA” only revealed that someone unknown at one time touched J-B’s long underwear. Interesting that it didn’t show any indication that anyone in the family ever did. Did the unknown perpetrator dress J-B as well as kill her? This DNA also failed to match any recovered in the house, on the murder weapon, on the ranson note (remember that?), etc.
[/QUOTE]
This is incorrect. The touch DNA matched DNA, mingled with the victims blood recovered from the inside of the victim’s panties. This DNA does not match anyone in the family. Therefore it wasn’t them. There’s no way around it. The killer was not one of the parents.
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### Author:  [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2008, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-cleared-in-jon-benet-ramsey-case/455929/20 "2008-07-10T15:04:23Z")
I thought I had read somewhere a while back that the DNA evidence on the clothing was not relevant because (to test out the theory) DNA had been found on store-bought clothing, and that it was possible that the DNA might have been left behind as far back as the manufacturing process in whatever Third World country made it.
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