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. Bill McReynolds, a man who dressed up as Santa Claus for Christmas parties at the Ramseys' home for three years, was also investigated but ultimately cleared when his DNA did not match that . JBR could just have been bragging. The tragic incident changed everything. 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. She was found with duct tape over her mouth and a smooth cord around her . Marra said she doesnt believe at this point that they are actively investigating this case.. Karr had been living in Thailand, avoiding child pornography charges in the US. McReynolds is described as the man hired by Patsy to play Santa Claus at the Ramsey family's Christmas parties in 1995 and 1996. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. Helgoth was tied to a supposed property dispute with the Ramsey family, which many theorize could have been a motive for possibly kidnapping JonBent. So who is Bill McReynolds? You have her pad and a wrote it with her pen and can match her handwriting. 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. Dawn Miller is one of the daughters of Lou Smit, who investigated JonBenet Ramsey's case and whose dying wish was for his family and friends to find her killer. 9 yo kids kill, but it doesn't happen often enough for the Ramseys to think that Burke would be blamed. I mean, were suffering from having lost our child and then, for someone to accuse you, its just, you cant believe that would happen, she told CNN in January 1997. We went through the people of interest and came up with our top 20. Go retest. He said she told him it was impossible for them to have physical evidence linking her to the crime. Though the McReynolds' were both ruled out as suspects early on, as were the Ramseys some years later, as a forensic psychologist, I find it difficult to dismiss such potentially meaningful "coincidences" in a notorious cold case such as this. Patsy Ramsey reportedly strongly suspected Mrs. McReynolds of being involved at some point. Bill McReynolds was found dead in his Mashpee, Mass., home Monday by his wife, Janet, when she returned from a weekend trip. It would be highly improper and unethical for me to stay when I so strongly believe this.. Michael Helgoth, who owned a pair of Hi-Tec boots and a stun gun and had died by suicide shortly after JonBents murder, was also cleared after the team found his DNA did not match that found at the crime scene. There were some friends of Patsys that were helping her wipe up the kitchen. According to The Daily Camera, the McReynolds' middle daughter, 9-years-old at the time, was abducted on December 26, 1974, and witnessed the sexual molestation of her friend. You read that right. JonBent and her older brother Burke Ramsey. Over 20 years ago, on Christmas night, the six-year-old was brutally murdered in her own home in Boulder, Colorado. It is reported that McReynolds paid a little too much attention to JonBenet and had supposedly chosen JonBenet to be his "special friend". JonBent Patricia Ramsey was a six-year-old girl found dead in the basement of her Boulder, Colorado home on December 26, 1996. To be clear, neither Bill, now deceased, nor Janet McReynolds was ever charged in this case, having been excluded as suspects by the Boulder police shortly after the crime. His wife's book, what happened to their own daughter etc. With the case now in the publics view, police sought to question JonBents parents. The couple's 40th wedding anniversary was Sunday. Brandon is currently 30 years old. In other words, the jurors seem to have suggested that someone other than John or Patsy Ramsey intentionally abused and, with malice and forethought, murdered JonBenet. The police are thinking, we gotta talk to those parents and we gotta talk to them right now before they start getting their story straight together., John Ramsey said they had asked police to meet them at their home because Patsy Ramsey was sick with grief in bed, barely able to move., We were perfectly willing and anxious to speak with the police to find the killer, he told Walters in 2000. The Ramseys, however, called McReynolds a suspect in their book "Death of Innocence: The Untold Story of JonBent's Murder and How its Exploitation Compromised the Pursuit of Truth. The Killer entered the home through an unlocked door or window (there are several possibilities) while the Ramsey's were at the Christmas party. The week before the murder, McReynolds had dressed up as the local Santa and entertained children at a Christmas gathering. He just said, I want somebody to continue this case. McReynolds' death was sudden, his wife said, although he had undergone a bypass operation and replacement of aorta valve in 1996. 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. Knowing what you value will help you build the most meaningful life possible. He believed the answer to the identity of JonBents killer lay in the DNA found in her underwear and underneath her fingernails. His wife had written a play about a child getting molested and then murdered in a basement. Im not saying parents dont kill their kids parents do kill their children, Smit said in his tapes. We were a normal family.. One of the major twists in the investigation of the murder of JonBent Ramsey is that detectives interviewed Bill McReynolds, a friend of the family, because he had played Santa Claus at a Ramsey Christmas celebration two days before the 6-year-old's body was found. JonBenet Ramsey is pictured here in this undated photo. According to The Daily Camera, the McReynolds' middle daughter, 9-years-old at the time, was abducted on December 26, 1974, and witnessed the sexual molestation of her friend. JonBent Ramsey via Criminal Minds Wiki Fandom "I want to be a doctor or a nurse to help people get well." JonBent Ramsey. So how could there be dna from this accomplice? Cookie Notice The Ramsey familys private investigator, Ollie Gray blasted the Boulder Police Department for not considering Oliva a credible suspect. It was unusually long and there were no fingerprints found on it except for Patsys and the authorities who handled it. Meet Son Brandon McReynolds. The couple spent the next 30 years in Boulder, raising three children. Wait, I meant, this is complete bullshit. For instance, if neither John nor Patsy Ramsey was responsible for directly causing their daughter's death, who did? McReynolds, a former University of Colorado journalism professor, portrayed Santa Claus at the Ramseys' home for the third consecutive year in 1996 two nights before the 6-year-old was found slain. Unless Burke had a behavior disorder, why would they even think that anyone would consider him a suspect? 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. Press J to jump to the feed. Have you read The Greenland Theory? The outlet reported that on Dec. 26, 1974, the couple's 9-year-old daughter had been kidnapped along with her friend and she witnessed the sexual abuse of her friend during the trauma. According to CNN, an original prosecutor on the Ramsey case claimed that Bill McReynolds had given JonBenet a greeting card, later found in the trash bin of the Ramsey home right after her death, with the cryptic message: "You will receive a special gift after Christmas." Another suspect was Bill McReynolds. A 2014 YouTube video claimed that JonBent Ramsey's parents staged the. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. I concluded, considering the enigmatic note on its own, that it leads me to believe it was written by an at least close-to-middle-aged male intruder, familiar with John Ramsey's business, resentful of his affluence, and possibly of foreign birth, with English being his second language. When Hunter called for a grand jury to assess the evidence in 1998, two years after JonBent was killed, they listened to Smits intruder theory. advantages of alternate form reliability; bill mcreynolds daughter McReynolds daughter was kidnapped 22 years before which caused more suspicions towards him. I immediately knelt down over her, felt her cheek, took the tape off immediately off her mouth. He was just so devastated by the mere idea anyone would suspect him of a crime," she said, according to Bill's obituary in The Daily Camera. Smits daughter, Cindy Marra, said the interviews firmed up his belief that the Ramseys had nothing to do with JonBents murder. Two days before the murder he visited the house. Part of Karrs twisted confession involved diary entries written about crime in which Karr describes strangling JonBent as a love game gone wrong. Contact reporter Christine Reid at (303) 473-1355 or reidc@thedailycamera.com. For many years, JonBents parents and brother, Burke, who was 9-years-old at the time of her death, were considered the main suspects until they were cleared of suspicion. JonBents murder came on the heels of the O.J. In a 911 call just before 6 a.m., her mother Patsy Ramsey was inconsolable as she told the dispatcher that her daughter was missing and that shed found a ransom note at the bottom of her stairs. When he got sick with cancer he knew that his time was limited and so, during that time, he just talked to others about not letting this case die, said Cindy Marra, Smits daughter. One of his Santa jobs included an appearance at the Ramsey's holiday party three days before JonBenet's death, where he gave JonBenet a cardwhich said "You will receive a special gift after Christmas." JonBents parents anxiously waited for the supposed kidnappers call with just one detective there: Linda Arndt. The Santa Claus figure in the JonBent Ramsey murder case died over the weekend from a heart attack. 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. The Guardian reported that McReynolds had allegedly given JonBent a Christmas card which reportedly stated that the 6-year-old would be receiving a "special present" after Christmas. Fuller's first small role was as an extra in the 1952 film Above and Beyond. Some perpetrator to whom John and Patsy granted willing access to their daughter, someone who subsequently sexually abused, tortured, and murdered her. According to CNN, an original prosecutor on the Ramsey case claimed that Bill had given JonBent a card with the message: "You will receive a special gift after Christmas." The family friend, who died in 2002, was considered in JonBent's murder. This extraordinary statement begs the crucial question: Who then could have committed the heinous crime to which the Ramseys were mere "accessories" according to the grand jury? While JonBents half-brother, John Andrew Ramsey, said his father has remarried and is focusing on life, he also said their fight for justice on behalf of his half-sister is not over. The longer he stayed in the house and the more things he touched, the more danger he would be in. He went through the Ramsey's mail and saw Johns pay-stubs. McReynolds planned the murder in advance and he told JonBenet that Santa would visit her after Christmas to get her to go downstairs that night and wait for him. Waltrip joined the broadcast booth for FOX Sports in 2001, a year after he retired from NASCAR. But it wasn't just Santa that investigators were interested in. The case is officially unsolved, and has become one of the most mysterious and controversial in America's history. Bill McReynolds died in 2002 from a heart attack, but the rest of the McReynolds family has shied away from the spotlight since then. We do not know. He had been living in the area on and off and when police allegedly found a magazine with pictures of the girl in his backpack. 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. A memorial service is scheduled for Friday in Massachusetts. So who is Bill McReynolds? Joe Denson McReynolds, 59, passed away after a courageous battle with cancer, on Wednesday, September 3, 2008, at St. Dominic Hospital in Jackson.He is survived by his wife, Nancy Williamson McReynold They realize that someone is playing a sick game with them. JonBents parents initially thought she had been kidnapped during the night. There were other similarities about McReynolds' play and the Ramsey murder that spiked investigators' interest. Lawrence Brandon McReynolds is an American professional stock car racing driver and the No. what type of cancer did emily riemer have? Why not take JBR from the home and to a secluded place where they could do a lot more than just take a few pictures. Indeed, despite their apparently good friendship, Bill McReynolds was cited by John Ramsey himself during a taped interview after JonBenet's gruesome death as being suspect in his own mind. He was just so devastated by the mere idea anyone would suspect him of a crime," she said. Karr eventually came out as a transgender woman in 2010. This First Look At BBC Crime Thriller 'Wolf' Is Tense AF, Sophie Turners Joan Charts The Rise Of A Famous British Jewel Thief, Alex Murdaugh Faces Life In Prison For Allegedly Killing His Wife & Son, Curtis Cousin Eddie Smith Claims Alex Murdaugh Made Him A Fall Guy, Get Even More From Bustle Sign Up For The Newsletter. (See, for example, my previous post.). Shortly after Ramsey was found dead, investigators pursued a number of suspects, including the 6-year-old's parents, Patricia and John Ramsey but the couple weren't the only suspects on the investigators' radar. The now late Bill McReynolds was also a suspect in the murder of JonBenet Ramsey. 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. JonBenet remembering that Santa is suppose to visit her wakes up sometime after midnight. First of all, we didnt know whether the kidnapper was going to call that day because the note said, I will call you tomorrow. The family moved to Florida when Robert was six years old. Stop it already, Yes. However, Olivas DNA was cleared for the murder but was later arrested for possessing child pornography. Psychology Today 2023 Sussex Publishers, LLC, How to Handle People Who Are Eternally Evasive. Convinced that the ransom note had most likely been written at the house, investigators next took writing samples from dozens of people, including John, Patsy Ramsey and Burke Ramsey, John Ramsey's children from his first marriage, former friend Fleet White, Bill McReynolds, who portrayed Santa Claus at the Ramseys' Christmas party, neighbor . Maybe that family member enlists a friend to do it instead so that police wouldn't quickly make the connection and unbeknonst to them, that friend is a creep, so things go horribly wrong and turn from kidnapping to murder. Were not interrogating possible suspects. The play,. He pointed out the open window in the basement, but photographs showed cobwebs on the window that wouldve likely broken had someone snuck through. One of America's most famous unsolved cases is undoubtedly the murder of JonBent Ramsey in Boulder, Colorado and CBS has opened its own investigation with the two-part special The Case Of: JonBent Ramsey. Her hands were tied above her head. JonBent Ramsey was an American child beauty queen. They wouldnt have any reason to think the situation looked particularly bad for them. Think he was old and not a well man .Dont think he did it. The Colorado detective who died from cancer in 2010 had investigated over 200 cases over the course of his career and every one of them had led to a conviction, according to his granddaughter Jessa van der Woerd. An Associated Press report from March 1997 stated that McReynolds and his wife, Janet, were initially questioned less than six weeks after the murder. I thought there was something drastically wrong and that there was a gross injustice in this case, he said in the tapes. Following the Ramseys exoneration thanks to new DNA technology, many hoped the killer would eventually be found. This seems really strange and coincidental. JonBent's mother, Patsy, called police initially believing that her daughter was missing after a ransom note was found on the staircase. david berman net worth; Serving as the crew chief in the Winston Cup until 2000, McReynolds . Patsy Ramsey said that when they found out they were main suspects in their daughters death, she didnt believe it.. A little more than two decades earlier, in 1974, spookily or maybe synchronistically, on the exact same day JonBenet was found dead in her basement decades later, December 26, the day after Christmas, McReynolds' own 9-year-old daughter had evidently been abducted along with her friend and reportedly witnessed the sexual molestation of her fellow victim during the abduction. Just want to post this publicly on record in case the new DNA testing that's being done proves me right. Throughout both interrogations, JonBents parents vehemently denied anyone in their family killed their daughter. They were never charged as suspects in the murder. Apart from it, how come the killer left no traces behind? Some of this is learned behavior since this is what was modeled to them at home by parents, siblings, family friends, and others. But, based on these observations, if this case were to be actively reopened, and the fairly extensive pool of formerly cleared suspects reconsidered, it would make sense in my view to revisit the possibility that either Bill or Janet McReynolds, or both in collaboration, could have conceivably been directly involved in JonBenet's abduction, torture, molestation, and murder that terrible Christmas night. Right from the start, Bill McReynolds raised the suspicions on people by the way he was behaving and the things he was saying about JonBenet Bill McReynolds quoted in The Gazette, Colorado Springs, CO - December 29, 1996 "She had an angel's spirit, which is unusual not only among adults, but children, and I'm just devastated that she's gone," said Bill McReynolds, who played Santa at the . 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