JonBenet Ramsey documentary

We watched the first half on CBS last night, and plan to catch the second part tonight.

It's very interesting, even though some of it is clearly stretch-it-out filler. If the documentary plays out the way I think it will, it's going to support the theory that Burke Ramsey killed his younger sister and the family covered it up. So far it supports the original conclusion that the Boulder CO Police Department totally blew this investigation.

The Case of: JonBenét Ramsey - CBS.com

 

I say they should quit making money on this poor girls murder and leave it alone. I'm not going to give it a minute of my time, and personally I really don't care about the whole thing.

 

I've lived in rural Boulder County for the last 16 years. This has been in the news at least once a month since I've been here. It lost any entertainment value for me a long time ago.

 

I just do not get it. It is a horrible story and yet people eat it up. A baby was murdered in her own home--what possible entertainment value is there to be had? Am I more sensitive to this because I've raised children? I simply couldn't bear to watch--not that I had any inclination.

 

I agree both your thoughts, in general. What makes the documentary interesting to me is they pulled together all? most? of the information that has been presented in bits & pieces over the years, and gave it a more thorough analysis than the Boulder PD* and the FBI* ever did. I also think that the Ramsey case is a great reminder that justice is not blind or fair, it can be manipulated and avoided.

There is one very sad aspect to the interest in the JonBenet case, and I admit to being part of it, but at least I acknowledge it: There are thousands of children killed under suspicious circumstances every year. If she had not been a pretty little white female from a financially comfortable UMC family, and her parents had not been attractive, articulate, and white, her death would've never received the attention that it did.

* Per the people involved in the case who were willing to speak, and the materials presented, Alex Hunter, the DA at the time, stonewalled the investigation as much and as long as possible.

Burke Ramsey killed his little sister, either accidently (if death caused by an act brought on by extremely violent rage is considered accidental) or intentionally. Judging from the tapes of interviews with him as a child, and some of his actions prior to JonBenet's death (he had hit her in the face with a golf club, and smeared his shit on some of her possessions, keep in mind he was nine years old) , I say it was intentional.

John & Patricia Ramsey covered for Burke. What made their actions much worse was they played to the media rather than keeping a low profile (yet they managed to avoid cooperating with the police).

Alex Hunter, for reasons currently unknown, did as much as possible to prevent a thorough investigation. Burke, because of his age & CO laws at the time, could not have been charged with anything, without considerable legal maneuvering to move heaven and hell.

 

In the documentary they showed footage of Burke meeting with a child psychologist about two weeks after the Jonbenet's death. He was asked if he was scared, and he replied quickly and nonchalantly, "No." I find that telling because they were still living in the same house, and the 'an intruder broke into their home' story was strongly believed.

 

I don't care. But I wonder if the attention that Jon Benet got made the brother upset.

And why wouldn't an outside abductor want to kidnap her instead of killing her? Unless it was another pageant Mom who went crazy for losing to her... They never looked into that I bet.

 

When I saw the ads for the documentary, my initial reaction was, "Oh crap, not again."

Once I started watching it, my reaction was "Hey, they're going into a lot more detail than anything I previously saw or heard."

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During the interviews with Burke, one two weeks after the murder and one nearly/about two year later, a couple of things caught my attention. I'm surprised that the psychologists involved, and the people doing the documentary, didn't focus on them.

In one, the first one IIRC, Burke said, "I know what really happened." The psychologist continued her questioning, rather than waiting to let Burke continue, or following up on his statement.

In the second one, Burke said that prior to her death, he sometimes imagined that JonBenet was missing. And the psychologist didn't focus on this statement.


IME the best way to gather information, whether you are the interviewer or the interviewee, the potential client or the sales rep, etc., is: Let the other person talk, because chances are they will reveal something useful to you. Which ties into my background in litigation support where I learned the legal advice: Answer only the question that you are asked, provide only the info requested or needed, say only what needs to be said, etc.