Originally posted onNovember 25, 2024 @ 8:32 am
Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey Recap for The Truth is Going to Prevail
-The final episode of this series opens with a Larry King interview with the Ramseys and Steve Thomas about what truly happened to JonBenet.
-In 1999, the grand jury came to a decision about the Ramseys. It was determined that there was not enough evidence to charge anyone with a crime. The case would not be moving forward.
-The Ramseys were upset that a killer was still on the loose. Michael Kane was also upset about this turn of events, as were the detectives involved in the case.
-It was later revealed that the jury voted to indict the Ramseys for child abuse and putting her in a situation that resulted in her death. However, there wasn’t enough evidence to go forward with further action.
-By now, the Ramseys were selling assets to pay attorney fees and exhausted their life savings. They’s also moved to Atlanta and sold their house.
-The case went cold, but the Ramseys stayed in the media to keep people aware of the case and in hopes of finding the killer.
-Lou Smit continued to work on the case in his own, inferring that a pedophile could have been involved, possibly attending pageants to find his prey.
-Gary Oliva was a child molester whose name had been brought up early in the case. A friend of his claimed that Gary said he hurt a little girl. He initially claimed she came to him after she died but later took the blame for the murder in exchange for better treatment in prison. He was then cleared of any wrongdoing in the case.
-Joyce Singular and her husband Stephen looked into the case since they lived close to Boulder. They were also parents to a young son, so it hit close to home. They both said that while they may not have killed JonBenet, they think the pageant world could have put her into a dangerous situation. This led to them doing investigative work about people who attended pageants, including photographers.
-Randy Simons was one of the photographers who worked with JonBenet and sold pictures of her to tabloids. He also had questionable pictures of young girls in his studio. All the while, he claimed to be innocent, even though nobody suspected him of killing her.
-He claimed to have information but refused to share. He was later arrested for indecent exposure and child pornography in two separate incidents. However, there was no way to connect him to the case.
-John Brewer Eustace was arrested for child rape, abuse and kidnapping in 1998. When his house was searched, it was discovered that he had a shrine to JonBenet. However, he had a rock-solid alibi the night of the murder.
-In 2002, a man by the name of Daxis contacted Michael Tracey, another man involved in the case and admitted to killing JonBenet. He claimed to know the nickname for JonBenet’s grandma and happened to be correct, even though there was no way anyone outside the family could have known this.
-While this was happening, Patsy’s cancer returned and spread to her brain. John had stopped treatment at the doctor’s request, but did not tell Patsy.
-The emails from Daxis continued for four years. He wanted to meet Pasty to apologize for killing her daughter, even threatening Michael. He went to the new DA and before long, Homeland Security and ICE were involved. Michael soon got a call from Daxis and recorded it, getting a boatload of disturbing information about what he claimed happened that night.
-At this point, Patsy had passed away from cancer at the age of 49.
-Lou recalls talking to Patsy before she died and how she wanted him to find the killer.
-Daxis asked for the last photo of JonBenet and set up a sting operation at the Bangkok UPS store. He was soon captured and identified as John Mark Karr.
John Mark admitted to everything and claimed her death was an accident. He was a substitute elementary school teacher in Atlanta but fired due to inappropriate behavior. He was also arrested for child pornography and escaped the country, eventually ending up in Bangkok.
-John recalls realizing that he could have crossed paths with John Mark at some point.
-John Mark’s DNA was tested but was not a match. He is now living ‘a very covert life outside the USA’ and has not been charged with any crime.
-Since the crime scene was contaminated, several investigators and the DA office wonder if there is still a possibility John Mark (or someone else) could have been involved. This brings the case back to square one and everyone is still a suspect.
-DNA is being sampled on items taken from the scene and being tested against genealogy programs in hopes of making a connection to someone involved in the murder.
-There is no further word on what is being tested or where it stands now.
-Lou worked on the case until the day he died. His family continues to investigate the case.
-CBS and Steve Thomas were both sued for accusing Burke and Patsy of the murder, respectively. Both cases were settled for an undisclosed amount.
-Burke has been cleared of any wrongdoing and refuses to address the media.
-John has since remarried to a woman named Jan. The two of them show off JonBenet’s pageant memorabilia and toys that they keep in her honor.
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