JonBenét Ramsey's Dad John Says He 'Would Have Been Happy to Die' to Escape the Pain of Her Murder

Mar. 15, 2025

John Ramsey.Photo:Courtesy of Netflix

Courtesy of Netflix

The docuseries highlights the multiple suspects police investigated — including one who authorities believe falsely confessed — butDNA evidence has yet to linkanyone to JonBenét’s Dec. 26, 1996, murder.

After John found JonBenét’s body, it was revealed that she’d been sexually assaulted and strangled in their home. The child beauty pageant queen hadduct tape over her mouthand a garrote twisted around her neck.

JonBenét Ramsey.Mark Fix/ZUMA

Mark Fix/ZUMA

JonBenét’s death was ruled a homicide and the parents quickly became persons of interest. Their son, Burke, who was 9 at the time of his sister’s murder, also fell under suspicion.

In 1998, a grand jury voted to indict the parents for child abuse resulting in death and accessory to a crime. But the district attorney at the time said there was not enough evidence to bring charges against the couple.

John has long maintained his innocence, and his wife Patsy did the same until her 2006 death due to ovarian cancer. He was interviewed in the docuseries and talked about how his distrust of the police impacted the couple’s involvement in the investigation.

John Ramsey and JonBenét Ramsey; PEOPLE’s Dec. 9, 2024 cover.

For more about John Ramsey’s fight to see JonBenét’s murder solved in his lifetime,subscribe now to PEOPLEor pick up the new issue of People, on newsstands next week.

“We assumed that the police would show some level of discernment and wisdom and say, ‘Yeah, well this is crazy, to think [we] murdered our child,’” John recently toldPEOPLE. “Well, they never did. They made that decision on day one, and tried desperately to prove it.”

The evidence also includes theransom noteand a suitcase found under an open basement window where some believe the killer entered and exited the home.

“We’re begging the police to engage,” hetold PEOPLE. “There are cutting-edge DNA labs that want to help and who believe they can move the case forward.”

source: people.com