JonBenét Ramsey’s father ‘cautiously optimistic’ about murder case: filmmaker

JonBenét Ramsey’s father hopes that in his lifetime he will find out who murdered his daughter – but time is ticking for the heartbroken patriarch.

“He’s cautiously optimistic,” Oscar-nominated filmmaker Joe Berlinger told Fox News Digital about John Ramsey. “This is a guy who has been brutalized by the police department, brutalized by the court in the public opinion, brutalized by the media. And for his sake, I hope the family finds the truth.”

“But John, a staunch advocate of finding the killer, is 80,” Berlinger said. “I hope the guy has another decade to go, but I want this case to be solved before he goes so the family can have some peace.”

JONBENET RAMSEY’S FATHER JOHN CLAIMS TO Colorado POLICE DEPUTY THEY’RE ‘JUST WAITING’ FOR HIM TO DIE

JonBenét Ramsey, a child pageant who was killed in 1996, is seen here with her father, John Ramsey. Her case is the subject of an upcoming Netflix docuseries by Joe Berlinger. (Netflix)

The pageant star was 6 years old when she was killed 28 years ago. The case is now the subject of a new Netflix docuseries by Berlinger, “Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey?” streaming Nov 25

The film aims to shed light on what John feels are missteps by authorities investigating the murder, as well as how advanced DNA technology may be the key to cracking the cold case. It features a new interview with Ramsey, who has spoken out in hopes of putting pressure on police to continue searching for her daughter’s killer.

John and Patsy Ramsey are seen here meeting with a small select group of the local Colorado media four months after their daughter was killed on Christmas. (Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)

“It just felt like a good time to tell this story now because there are still so many lingering misconceptions,” Berlinger said. “There have been great advances in DNA technology.”

JonBenét Ramsey is seen here on Christmas Day a few years before she was killed. (Netflix)

“Boulder authorities are very tight-lipped about whether they have retested or are going to retest,” Berlinger asserted. “It’s time to hold some feet to the fire and get new DNA testing and finally try to find a solution to this case.”

In response to Berlinger’s statement, Boulder Police Chief Steve Redfearn told Fox News Digital in a statement: “The killing of JonBenét was an unspeakable crime and this tragedy has never left our hearts.

“We are committed to following up on every lead, and we continue to work with DNA experts and our law enforcement partners around the country until this tragic case is solved.”

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John Ramsey speaks out in the new Netflix docuseries. (Netflix)

“This investigation will always be a priority for the Boulder Police Department,” the statement added.

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact detectives at [email protected] or by calling the Boulder Police tip line at 303-441-1974.

The six-year-old was found dead in the basement of his family’s Boulder home on December 26, 1996, crushed and suffocated.

JonBenét Ramsey is seen here with his mother, Patsy Ramsey. The matriarch died in 2006 of cancer. She was 49. (Netflix)

She was discovered several hours after her mother, Patsy Ramsey, called 911 to say her daughter was missing and a ransom note had been left behind. The child’s death was ruled a homicide, but no one was ever prosecuted.

“I’ve gotten six wrongfully convicted people out of prison, including two on death row, with my film and television work,” Berlinger explained. “I’ve shed light on a lot of other cases and helped move the needle. And I realized that this case has a lot in common with what happens in wrongful conviction cases.

John Ramsey and his family were thoroughly investigated over the years. (Netflix)

“Now, obviously, the Ramseys weren’t wrongly convicted, but they were wrongly convicted in the court of public opinion, and that’s hindered the case for decades,” Berlinger added.

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John Ramsey’s son, John Andrew Ramsey, also came forward for a sit-down. (Netflix)

The police were criticized for their initial handling of the investigation. The details of the crime and video footage of Ramsey from the party propelled the case into one of the highest-profile mysteries in the United States, sparking a series of true-crime books and television specials.

While the district attorney at the time of Ramsey’s death said her parents were under “an umbrella of suspicion” early on, testing in 2008 of newly discovered DNA on her clothing pointed to the involvement of an “unexplained third party” in her killing, and not her parents or their son, Burke.

John and Patsy Ramsey found a handwritten ransom note, believed to have been left by the killer, inside their Colorado home. (Netflix)

That prompted former District Attorney Mary Lacy to clear the Ramseys of any involvement two years after Patsy died of cancer in 2006, calling the couple “victims of this crime.”

John Ramsey wants evidence to be tested using modern DNA technology. (Netflix)

The documents take a closer look at the autopsy report and forensic evidence. Berlinger said that after looking at both, it’s “absurd” to think the family was involved.

“There’s just no evidence, no prior history of family abuse,” Berlinger said. “She had small hemorrhages in her eyes and in her heart, which means that the garrote was used to strangle her when she was alive… This is an aggressive, violent act of a pedophile.”

Former District Attorney Mary Lacy cleared the Ramseys, calling the couple “victims of this crime.” (Netflix)

“It is indisputable that she died with a garrote around her neck and her fingers trying to pry it loose,” Berlinger said. “She died, I believe, as a result of strangulation by an intruder.”

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John Ramsey is 80. He hopes that in his lifetime he will find out the identity of his daughter’s killer. (Netflix)

Berlinger noted that the family is “still knocking on the table for DNA testing.” There are new objects that have never been tested before, as well as old objects that were examined using outdated methods, he insisted.

“It’s quite clear that the crime scene was not properly secured because (investigators) initially thought it was a kidnapping,” Berlinger explained.

Anyone with information about the case is encouraged to contact detectives at [email protected] or by calling the Boulder Police tip line at 303-441-1974. (Netflix)

“The police department refused outside help, had no real experience with homicide, and therefore the DNA sampling at the time was compromised,” Berlinger argued.

John Ramsey said there is genetic material on the handmade garrote used to strangle his six-year-old daughter. (Netflix)

“Why has it taken so long to retest? We still don’t know if the Colorado authorities have retested. They say they will … but they are terribly silent about it. Hopefully the film will make people be outraged enough to insist that we have some accountability in Colorado.”

In 2022, the Boulder Police Department said it had been working with state law enforcement agencies and the FBI on the investigation. They also shared that DNA from the case is regularly checked for any new matches.

John Ramsey was married to Patsy Ramsey from 1980 until her death in 2006. (Netflix)

At the time, the department added that the Colorado Bureau of Investigation had updated over 750 DNA samples from the investigation with the latest DNA technology.

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Patsy Ramsey died wondering who killed her child. (Netflix)

In the film, Ramsey does not blame anyone specifically for the murder of his daughter. However, he is adamant that the family was not involved.

“I definitely believe, without a shadow of a doubt, that the Ramseys are innocent,” Berlinger said. “… I think everyone needs to be looked at again in terms of new DNA testing. And this is not a TV trial. We’re not going to present who we think is guilty… Everyone is on the table. DNA needs to be tested and there needs to be a proper re-examination.”

Ramsey said People magazine ahead of the documentary’s premiere, that of the items sent to labs initially, “six or seven of them were returned untested.”

The home at 749 15th Street where JonBenét Ramsey was murdered in December 1996. (Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

“We don’t know why they weren’t tested, but they weren’t tested,” Ramsey said. “The garrote used to choke JonBenét and several items were just sent back.”

The Ramseys and their son Burke, who was nine at the time, were never charged in connection with the murder. Berlinger said Ramsey has faith that one day he will get the answers he’s been looking for.

The case is still unsolved 28 years later. (Chris Rank/Sygma via Getty Images)

“He and Patsy are both extremely religious,” Berlinger reflected. “I don’t share their view on this, because of my afterlife beliefs, which is that I don’t believe in life after death. But they strongly believe in it.”

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John Ramsey, his wife Patricia Ramsey and their son Burke were never charged in connection with the murder of JonBenét Ramsey. (Netflix)

“Patsy, before her death, strongly believed that she would be reunited with JonBenét and know the truth,” he said. “I think John Ramsey feels the same way and I hope for their sake they’re right.”