Why JonBenét Ramsey’s brother Burke Ramsey didn’t appear in a Netflix docu-series about his sister’s unsolved murder

• A new Netflix docuseries explores the JonBenét Ramsey murder case.

• Some surviving members of JonBenét’s family attended, but her brother Burke did not.

• Burke Ramsey has had a difficult relationship with the media and was previously cleared as a suspect.

Burke Ramsey was 9 years old when his family was thrust into the spotlight after his younger sister, JonBenét Ramsey, was found dead in their Boulder, Colorado, home on December 26, 1996.

The shocking and brutal nature of the killing (the 6-year-old was found with a strangulation device called a garrote embedded in her throat; an autopsy later revealed her skull had been fractured) fueled a media frenzy. The strange details in the still unsolved murder — like the ransom note left behind that claimed JonBenét had been kidnapped and demanded $118,000 for her return, since her body had been in the home all along — has led true-crime fans to spend the following decades investigating the case and forming their own theories about what really happened.

Many came to believe that someone in the Ramsey family was responsible for JonBenét’s death; they were not formally exonerated as suspects until 2008. A new Netflix docuseries, “Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey?” explores how the initial investigation was flawed and accuses the original Boulder investigators, along with the media, of unfairly pointing suspicions at the family.

“I can’t think of another family that has been so brutalized so unfairly by the media,” director Joe Berlinger told Business Insider in an interview ahead of the documentary’s premiere.

Burke Ramsey became (and remains) a particular target of suspicion among JonBenét theoristsbut he did not participate in the new Netflix docuseries. Here’s what we know about Burke’s life since his sister’s murder and where he is today.

Theories that Burke Ramsey killed his sister JonBenét led to lawsuits

Burke moved with his parents back to Atlanta, where the family had lived before Boulder, in the aftermath JonBenét’s death. While Patsy and John Ramsey continued to do interviews in an attempt to combat suspicion against them and urged authorities to continue investigating the case, Burke, then still a child, stayed out of the limelight.

In 2008, the Boulder District Attorney’s Office officially cleared The Ramsey family (including Burke and Patsy, who had died two years earlier) of JonBenét’s murder after confirming with new testing that male DNA found on the child’s underwear did not match anyone in the family. Then-DA Mary Lacy also apologized in a letter to John Ramsey for the possibility that her office had contributed to “the public perception that you may have been involved in this crime.”

The decision to clear the Ramsey family publicly has been controversialand in the event of new DNA testing, as the Ramsey family and Netflix docuseries are pushing, all previously exonerated suspects should be reconsidered.

According to Daily cameraa Boulder newspaper, Burke had been interviewed by investigators at least three times and allegedly appeared before the grand jury who investigated the case in 1999. At the time, the Boulder District Attorney’s office said Burke had never been under suspicion. (As the Netflix doc recounts, court documents released in 2013 later revealed that the grand jury had voted to indict John and Patsy Ramsey on two counts each of child abuse that resulted in JonBenét’s death, even though then-DA Alex Hunter chose not to proceed with the indictment because he said the evidence was not sufficient to prosecute them.)

In September 2016, ahead of the 20th anniversary of the crime, CBS aired the docuseries “The Case of: JonBenét Ramsey.” In it, a panel that included former FBI agents, a medical examiner and a medical examiner re-evaluated the evidence and theorized that Burke had killed JonBenét, probably accidentally, by hitting her over the head after she took a piece of pineapple from his bowl and that their parents had written the ransom note to cover up how JonBenét died.

Burke’s lawyers lawsuit filed for libel against the network, the producers and the show’s hosts for $750 million later that year; he wanted separately filed another lawsuit against one of the individual investigators from the thesis in October. Both parties confirmed in January 2019 that the CBS case had been settled for an undisclosed amount.

Burke, then 29, also gave his first and only public interview to date to Phil McGraw on the “Dr. Phil” show in 2016, days before the CBS special aired. He acknowledged knowing that his family had been suspected of killing JonBenét and once again denied any involvement. He offered his own theory about the murder: that his sister had been killed by an intruder, probably someone who participated in JonBenét’s beauty pageants.

When asked why he had finally chosen to speak up, Burke said he wanted to honor his sister’s memory.

“I don’t want anyone to forget,” he told McGraw.

Where is Burke Ramsey now?

Since the “Dr. Phil” interview in 2016, Burke, now 37, has resumed living a private life. Public records show he currently appears to be living in Michigan, where the Ramseys moved after leaving Atlanta.

John Ramsey told People in a 2012 interview that Burke worked as a software engineer. speaks to A after his interview with Burke, McGraw said Burke graduated from Purdue University in 2010 and worked in the computer industry. At the time, Burke had a girlfriend, according to McGraw, although it is unclear if he is currently in a relationship, married or has children.

“He’s a very private individual, but he has a great career and has a great relationship with his father,” McGraw told ET in 2016.

During the portion of the documentary detailing theories that Burke killed JonBenét, an on-screen text card explains that Burke declined to participate, “citing his treatment by the media and online websleuths.”

This is what Berlinger, the director of the new Netflix docu-series told us about the case TODAY that Burke is “fine”.

He said the docuseries team tried to reach Burke through John Ramsey and John Andrew Ramsey, who is John’s son and Burke’s half-brother. But according to Berlinger, Burke said he didn’t want to talk to them and they didn’t want to pressure him.

Both John and John Andrew participated extensively in the documentaries. In an interview here, John Andrew called claims that his brother had killed their sister “absolutely absurd”.

Speaking to BI, Berlinger singled out Burke as the one person whose perspective he would have loved to have.

“I think he’s been so brutalized as well,” he said. “The theories against him are so unbelievable.”

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