Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey Recap for Umbrella of Suspicion

-The episode opens with an old episode of Geraldo playing, where he has a voluntary jury decide if the Ramseys are liable for JonBenet’s death and offering their commentary on her beauty pageant career. None of them think it is appropriate and think they could be liable for her death.

-An old interview shows Patsy reacting to it and being horrified people could say such things.

-The saddest thing is the video they showed at the Christmas pageant was filmed only three days before she died.

-A video voiceover shows Burke and JonBenet talking to their Aunt Pam, followed by more news coverage.

-Several investigators were now involved in the case, with the Ramseys still being the prime suspects. Detective Steve Thomas was heavily involved and made it clear that he thought the Ramseys had something to do with JonBenet’s death. He used the media to put pressure on them and several stories and theories were spread, making their theory more plausible.

-However, there was other evidence, such as lack of snow in the back of the house (as opposed to the front of the house, where there were no footprints) that poked holes in that theory.

-There was also a rumor floating around that John flew his own plane to the funeral, which was later proved to be false.

-It was revealed that DNA results were not released.

-Handwriting experts also analyzed that note and all determined that Patsy did not write it.

-Other details, including the ransom being equivalent to the bonus John received, was soon leaked to the media, throwing even more suspicion onto the parents. There was also a theory that there was an intruder who could have committed the crime and went through paperwork to find out the bonus amount.

-The sexual abuse allegations also came into play and people began to wonder if John was involved in that as well, especially since he had her pageant pictures in his office. Her doctor claimed there were no signs of abuse, sexual or otherwise. However, that didn’t stop the media from running with the story.

-The Ramseys talked to the media and claimed that these allegations were outrageous and false.

-Former Miss America Marilyn Van Dubur talked about her own abuse as a child, which was used to cast more suspicion onto John. The media continued to run with this, even speculating that his daughter Beth was sexually abused as well.

-John was angry over these allegations and that anyone could come up with such lies.

-His daughter Melinda spoke out on his behalf, saying there is no way these allegations are true.

-The media continued to torment Patsy and John, even sending out polls to people to see how they felt about the case and if they thought they killed JonBenet. This would cause a lot of strain on the family.

-John and Patsy (via old video) discussed how they had to shield Burke from the media harassment and how he was eventually exposed to the tabloid lies claiming he killed his own sister.

-Another theory came out that Patsy killed JonBenet in a fit of rage after JonBenet had a bathroom accident. It was theorized that after JonBenet hit her head and died, she staged the scene to make it look like she had been attacked and kidnapped.

-However, the autopsy proved that this was false since it was proven she’d been alive when the other abuse took place.

-John also claimed that this theory was false and that Patsy would never get this angry over a bed wetting incident.

-The Boulder Police and Boulder DA office would fight quite a bit on what they think happened to JonBenet, arguing over if it was the family or an intruder who killed JonBenet.

-Evidence via pictures shows that a stun gun could have been used on JonBenet’s body prior to her murder, but it was never confirmed. There was also a theory that it could have come from a toy train track or other patterned object.

-JonBenet’s bed was also investigated. It was inferred that she had not wet the bed since the sheets were dry, but they were pulled in an odd way that could have fit the stun gun theory. There was also rope found in the house, but not in her room.

-Lou Smit was working on the case and began thinking that the Ramseys were innocent after all. He began to work on his own theory that an intruder committed the crime based on the way the foliage looked and the open window.

-A small piece of glass was also found in the basement, close to where the suitcase and body were found.

-John believes the intruder came into the house while the family was out for Christmas dinner and bided his time until everyone was asleep, when he would then commit the crime.

-About nine months after JonBenet’s murder, another incident occurred where a young girl was assaulted. The intruder had allegedly hidden in the house earlier that day, attacking her after everyone was asleep. The mother chased the assaulter out of the house. He was never identified. The scary twist was that the girl went to the same dance school and JonBenet. There is no proof that the cases were connected.

-A year after the murder, the case remained unsolved and the Ramseys were still under an umbrella of suspicion.

-Michael Kane would soon join the investigation to help the DA. He got a letter from Steve Thomas, who was also working on the case as a detective, saying he was resigning. This ended up taking the case in a whole new direction. Lou believed that the parents would be arrested, even though he believed they were innocent.

-The case is brought to a grand jury. Lou believed in the Ramsey’s innocence so much that he resigned, knowing the other side would try and prove otherwise. He was denied the opportunity to go in front of the grand jury, even though the DA says this is false, Lou claimed that he was treated unfairly during this time.

-The Ramsey house was looked at by the grand jury, showing that it was difficult to go from JonBenet’s room to the basement. This put another cloud of suspicion on the Ramseys.

-The DNA on JonBenet’s panties was also tested and shown while there was no semen, it was from a male. None of the family members matched, nor did anyone in the national database. It is still unknown as to who the DNA belonged to, even though the underwear manufacturer staff was tested on the off-chance DNA came from them when the panties were made.

-At this point, the Ramseys were ready to be arrested and made arrangements for Burke to stay with John’s brother.