The JonBenet Ramsey murder theory that ‘explains everything’

A NEW TV show promises to expose who really killed JonBenet Ramsey, with a top cop teasing that it all comes down to one theory.

THE brutal murder of six-year-old pageant queen JonBenet Ramsey has gripped the world for 20 years.

Former FBI special agent Jim Clemente says the killing preyed on his mind more than all the other violent crimes and sickening sex attacks he came across in his career.

So he gathered a crack team of world-leading experts to analyse the evidence, and they have agreed upon the identity of the person they believe is the murderer.

“We all came to one complete theory that explains everything that happened,” Mr Clemente told news.com.au. “When a six-year-old innocent girl is killed and never got justice, that case is going to bother you. It bothers me.

“The world has heard so many false rumours. The people of the community need to know the truth so they can put pressure on the district attorney. We really want this case to be solved.

“It’s important for her to be able to rest in peace.”

Police initially investigated the case as a kidnapping, after “pageant mum” Patsy called 911 on Boxing Day morning 1996 to say she had found a ransom note demanding $157,000 and that her daughter was missing from their home in Boulder, Colorado.

An explosive documentary claims experts have identified the person they believe is most likely to have killed the six-year-old pageant queen. Picture: DHP/Zuma Press/australscope

Jim Clemente, former FBI agent and producer of the program, says the District Attorney who exonerated JonBenet’s parents, Patsy and John, ‘didn’t know what she was talking about’.

That afternoon, JonBenet’s father John found his child’s small, strangled body bound and gagged in the family basement, by which time friends and family had trampled through the house, destroying forensic evidence forever.

The wealthy family were at first named as suspects. Officers could not find any sign of a break-in and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation said there were indications Patsy had written the ransom note, although they reached no “definitive conclusion”.

A police report also claimed Mrs Ramsey had changed her story about whether she discovered the note or JonBenet’s absence first.

But in 2008, the family were cleared by Boulder District Attorney Mary Lacy on the basis of DNA taken from the little girl’s clothes.

Mr Clemente, a co-producer on Criminal Minds, says this was a major error. “DA Lacy did not know what she was talking about when she exonerated the family,” he said. “That doesn’t mean they are guilty, but the world was misled.”

Animosity between the Boulder DA and the local police force over the high-profile case also muddied the waters.

The production team built a scale model of the Colorado home where JonBenet was found dead for world-renowned experts to conduct a full analysis.

The hysteria around the high-profile case made law enforcement’s job far harder.

“The tension was exacerbated because there was so much outside media scrutiny,” said Mr Clemente. “Instead of working together, they were at loggerheads. There were a lot of politics.”

The FBI agent worked on the case free of charge after his retirement, before finally hitting upon a radical solution to get to the bottom of the mystery — creating a documentary in the style of Making a Murderer, Serial and The Jinx, in which a team of experts dig deep into the facts.

The Case Of: JonBenét Ramsey, an ambitious two-part series, premieres tonight at 8.40pm on Channel Nine. Production crews rebuilt the relevant parts of the house in a warehouse and used state-of-the-art technology so the team of experts could test out the theories about JonBenet’s violent death.

“We could walk through the rooms, see the spatial relationships, test egress and ingress — who came in and who went out, and what could be seen and heard,” said Mr Clemente. “Being there tells a million words.”

His team included former New Scotland Yard criminal behavioural analyst Laura Richards, forensic scientist Henry Lee, Boulder DA’s former chief investigator James Kolar, forensic pathologist Werner Spitz and former FBI agent and forensic linguistic profiler James Fitzgerald.

Her brother Burke, who was nine at the time of the murder, made headlines last week when he smiled during an interview in which he recalled the murder. Picture: Dr Phil

One-time person of interest Gary Oliva was held on child porn charges in June.

Former teacher John Karr falsely confessed to the murder while being held on a child pornography charge.

Animosity between the Boulder DA and the local police force over the high-profile case also muddied the waters. Picture: Robin Rayne Nelson/Zuma Press/Splash News

In the documentary, they examine the claim JonBenet was silenced with a stun gun, analyse footage of evidence given over the years, hold extensive interviews and introduce new theories.

The team will also revisit the suspects.

In December 2003, forensic investigators said they had found a DNA sample belonging to an unknown male on JonBenet’s underwear.

Investigators found 38 registered sex offenders living within a three-kilometre radius of the Ramseys’ home.

Elementary teacher John Karr, 41, falsely confessed to the murder in August 2006 while being held on child porn charge. One-time person of interest Gary Oliva, 52, was held on child pornography charges this June.

He was found with a photo of JonBenet in his backpack in December 2000 along with a stun gun, which he said had been given to him by a friend.

Ollie Gray, a private investigator hired by the family, claimed in April that the killer was Michael Helgoth, a then 26-year-old whose family owned a junkyard in the city.

The experts also examine the character of her brother Burke, who was nine at the time of her death, and gave an awkward interview with Dr Phil last week. Much was made of the fact the 29-year-old, who once gave evidence to a grand jury, smiled as he talked about his sister’s murder.

But Mr Clemente said it was “irresponsible to try to do a personality assessment from a TV interview”.

Instead, the analysts looked at interviews and behaviour over a far longer time period, which told them “a tremendous amount more”, to be revealed in the program.

What is central to this confusing case is JonBenet’s visible profile as winner of titles including Little Miss Colorado, America’s Royale Miss, National Tiny Miss Beauty and Colorado State All-Star Kids Cover Girl.

“She was exposed to more people in the world,” said Mr Clemente. “Most six-year-olds live sheltered lives, she was out there in public, in parades ... she could have been noticed by a sexual offender.”

It’s no wonder we’re still searching for answers. Perhaps we may still find them.

The Case Of: JonBenét Ramsey, a two-part series re-examining the sensational unsolved murder of a child beauty queen, premieres Monday, September 19, at 8.40pm on Channel Nine and concludes on Tuesday, September 20.

Investigators demo a stun gun to delve into a theory from the original case. #TheCaseOfJonBenét #SneakPeek pic.twitter.com/0dY2wnG3JB

— #TheCaseofJonBenét (@TheCaseOfSeries) September 14, 2016