Killing of JonBenét Ramsey

JonBenét Patricia Ramsey (August 6, 1990 – December 25, 1996) was an American child who was killed at age six in her family's home at 755 15th Street in Boulder, Colorado, on the night of December 25, 1996. Her body was found in the house's basement about seven hours after she had been reported missing. She had sustained a fractured skull, and a garrote was tied around her neck. The autopsy report stated that JonBenét's official cause of death was "asphyxia by strangulation associated with craniocerebral trauma". Her death was ruled a homicide. The case generated worldwide public and media interest, in part because her mother Patsy Ramsey, a former beauty queen, had entered JonBenét into a series of child beauty pageants.

The Boulder police initially suspected that a long handwritten ransom note that was reportedly found in the home had been written by Patsy, and that the note and the appearance of JonBenét's body had been staged by Patsy and her husband, John Bennett Ramsey, to cover up the killing. In 1999, the police and district attorney (DA) both said that JonBenét's brother Burke, who was nine years old at the time of her death, was not a suspect. JonBenét's parents gave several televised interviews but resisted police questioning except on their own terms. In 2013, unsealed court documents revealed that a 1999 grand jury recommended filing charges against the Ramseys for permitting the child to be in a threatening situation. John and Patsy were also accused of hindering the prosecution of an unidentified person who had "committed... the crime of murder in the first degree and child abuse resulting in death". However, the DA determined that there was insufficient evidence to pursue a successful indictment.

In 2002, a new DA took over the investigation from the police and primarily pursued the theory that an intruder had committed the killing. In 2003, trace DNA taken from JonBenét's clothes was found to belong to an unknown male; each family member's DNA had been excluded from this match. The DA sent the Ramseys a letter of apology in 2008, declaring the family was "completely cleared" by the DNA results. In a 2015 interview former Boulder police chief Mark Beckner said that in his view the perpetrator was the source of the unidentified DNA found on JonBenét’s clothing. In 2009, the Boulder police took the case back from the DA and reopened the investigation.

National and international media coverage of the case focused on JonBenét's brief beauty pageant career, as well as her parents' wealth and the unusual evidence found in the case, particularly suggestions of sexual abuse. Media reports questioned how the police had handled the investigation and accused various members of the Ramsey family. Ramsey family members and friends have filed defamation suits against several media organizations. The crime is still considered a cold case and remains an open investigation with the Boulder Police Department with annual updates published on the police department website.