The JonBenét Ramsey Case: The Ransom Note Tells the Story
- Mike Ruggiero
- 7 days ago
- 3 min read
About the Author:
Mike Ruggiero is a retired law enforcement sergeant with 35 years of service, including over two decades investigating major crimes with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in Orlando, Florida. He supervised and worked hundreds of homicide investigations and has extensive expertise in interviewing, statement analysis, and detecting deception. He is the author of Uncover the Truth and a member of the teaching staff at the Public Agency Training Council, where he continues to train public safety professionals nationwide.
Ok, here we go again...the JonBenet Ramsey case is nearly 30 years old and new DNA technology is going to solve it. Let me give you a spoiler alert: DNA isn't going to solve this case. And it's for the same reason I knew John Mark Karr didn't do it when he was arrested in 2006 - even though he confessed. As I tell my students and is detailed in my book, Uncover the Truth, it comes down to the ransom note.
Ramsey 911 Call
The Ransom Note Changes Everything
Either the note is genuine or it's a fraud. If the note is genuine, you have a kidnapping that turned into a homicide. If it's a fraud, you have a homicide attempting to be smoke screened with a kidnapping. You can't have it both ways, it's either one or the other. Let's get into a few facts of the case: First, the note was written inside the house (there were also 2 practice notes inside the house). Second, it is inconsistent in motive. Kidnappers would know exactly why they kidnapped someone. However, the kidnappers go from a political motive to a personal motive. Third, why would outside kidnappers have left the body behind? They could still potentially collect a ransom. When the body was inevitably found, there was no chance of collecting a ransom. Fourth, listen to the 911 call of Patsy. Despite the note clearly stating they would kill her daughter if she contacted police, she never makes them aware of this. That's odd to leave that out? Wouldn't her own actions have potentially caused the kidnappers to kill her daughter and flee? If Patsy herself didn't believe the note, why should I? Last, police don't get called to ransom note kidnappings. It is the rarest of calls. How rare? Well, I ask every class if anyone has EVER worked one - that is thousands of officers representing millions of calls for service - and nobody has ever raised their hand. The fact is people with the means to pay a ransom are going to contact an attorney or Private Investigators, not the police. Which leads to the amount demanded in the note - why only $118,000? Even in 1996, this was not a particularly large sum of money, but just happened to be the amount of John Ramsey's Christmas bonus. Patsy was still wearing the dress she had on the night before and hadn't taken off her makeup. If she hadn't gone to bed, why? How did she not hear all of the activity that would have had to have occurred in the house?
Yes, the note is a fraud and almost certainly written by Patsy herself. This leads to the conclusion the person involved is someone she wanted to protect. That narrows the scope to 3. Now, very few wives would protect their husband if the husband killed their daughter by writing a phony ransom note...
Instead, the lead investigator (and most others) have been chasing the "outside intruder" theory for almost 30 years now. The police have played along and the DA provided a letter clearing the Ramsey's of any suspicion. No, DNA isn't going to solve the case.
