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John Ramsey's Lingering Suspicions
Since the murder, Ramsey has sold three big homes, in Atlanta, Boulder, and Charlevoix. He has shed his plane, his boats and his cars, stopped golfing, stopped sailing. Now he is exhausting his IRAs. No one will hire him because he invites negative press. Ramsey says he still does "just a bit of consulting. But the last job I did, I didn't even get paid for."
The next thing to go will be Patsy's oversized antiques—a Louis XV divan, Romantic paintings in thick rococo frames, sofas with throws draped over them, just the way his wife left them. A sunroom that Ramsey built to the dimensions of Patsy's big round floral rug is filled with wing chairs that you can disappear in. They surround an inlaid coffee table of Bunyanesque proportions. "That's Patsy," Ramsey says with a little smile, spreading his hands apart. "Larger than life." Scattered around the room are the paintings that his wife did, in a burst of creativity, during the last months of her life.
As we talk, it becomes clear that John is, in a sense, only partly present, his deepest feelings hidden behind a scrim where no one, least of all himself, can see anything but shadows.
Only in rare moments does a glimpse of vulnerability slip through his guard. I ask him how his losses have affected him. "These things tear something out of your heart, and nothing can ever repair it," he says almost inaudibly, his thumb supporting his chin, middle finger over his mouth.
"It takes four or five years for you to begin, just begin to get over it. Fear almost paralyzes you. You contemplate suicide because you have no desire to live. I was afraid to cross the street. I made bad decisions, like starting a computer software outfit a while after I was let go by General Electric, which had purchased my company, Access Graphics. We couldn't sell our house in Boulder and our attorneys finally took it off our hands for half the price we paid for it. I was in a daze. I would take benedryl and go to bed at 6 pm."
Then he sits up and in a stronger voice says: "As for Burke, I don't let anybody I don't know get near him." JonBenet's brother was nine years old at the time of the murder and is now a senior in college. "If anything happened to him, I wouldn't survive it.”
"Sometimes, in a crowd, I will see the flash of a little coat that looks like JonBenet's… I can't stand to hear children cry, I really cannot bear it."
For solace, he goes every Sunday to a small church nearby, just as he did with Patsy. He obsessively reads the theology books that line the sunroom: Max Lucado, C.S Lewis, even Billy Graham. Having seen true evil, he is trying to find "an intellectual rather than an emotional basis for believing in God."
"Do you still feel married to Patsy?" I ask, "Do you think about her a lot?"
"No, no," he says, his face relaxed but his eyes miserable. "Just occasionally, when a pleasant memory comes back."
"You talk of her in the present tense," I say.
"Do I? Oh well, just an accident."
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niccidanella
Heartbreak and lives lost due to the ghosts of evil still lurking in this world.
The media, the police, and undue judgement has not only murdered jonbenet, but her father and mother.
It's so sad. It makes my heart cry and want to reach out for John Ramsey.
What true vindication will he ever have?
Mame44
Great story! John Ramsey is so different than he's been depicted over these long years. I'm so glad he chose to speak and share some of his pain. He is an example of dignity...showing class and grace while so broken hearted and traumatized from the loss of two children and a his beloved wife.
jahazafat
To investigate what happened to JonBenet you need to look at her aunt removing dolls from the crime scene. How ridiculous is at that anything was allowed to be removed. It's absurd the DA has never looked into the matter. The DA investiagated a pair of frozen underpants sent in by somebody living in a trailer yet this clue from a doll expert remains uninvestigated.
Fiber evidence doesn't lie. People do, and lawyers do.
ellbee
The Daily Beast sends a reporter from New York to Michigan and Colorado, and this is all you get? What a sham.
Clearly your reporter does not know the facts of this case or its evidence, or else she wouldn't have swallowed the pap John Ramsey and his pal shoveled her way. And, by the way, this is hardly the first time the Archuletas have spoken; there's plenty of video of them protecting their friends in self-serving documentaries the Ramseys participated in.
If this is the sloppy way The Daily Beast will cover high-profile crime stories, I'll stop reading right now. You need coverage by professionals who know the territory and know when they're being lied to and why. You need reporters to ask the right questions and know the difference when they are given inadequate or absurd answers. The victims, including young JonBenet Ramsey, deserve better treatment that you have given here.
As for Lucinda Franks, why not go to California and interview Charlie Manson? He'll tell you he's falsely imprisoned. You can sell your big exclusive to some other uncritical editor!
whynut
The statement is made in this article that "As both a public service and a personal crusade, Ramsey now spends much of his time promoting state laws that mandate the lifting of a DNA sample from anyone accused of a felony, which would substantially expand the national DNA registry. (His website is DNAFINGERPRINTLAW.COM.)"
In fact, the site mentioned is registered to John and Bobbie Rathsgen, not John Ramsey. In addition, it directs people to a unspecified address for a non-existent company in Washington, DC, in the name of a foundation which does not exist. In most contexts, this information would be indicative of a scam of some sort.
whynut
This article states, "Since the murder, Ramsey has sold three big homes, in Atlanta, Boulder, and Charlevoix. He has shed his plane, his boats and his cars, stopped golfing, stopped sailing."
In fact, John Ramsey still owns his plane. He did sell one, but the author neglects to note that John then subsequently purchased a replacement plane, which he continues to fly even as recently as yesterday, October 13th. So he apparently is not as financially bad off as the author tries to convey.
whynut
The article states, "A famous restaurant owner went to jail for wielding a pipe at a reporter." In fact, the man involved wielded a baseball bat, but he was actually arrested for unlawfully carrying a concealed weapon when it was found that he had a loaded gun in his car nearby.
Capricorn
I have to whole heartedly agree with ellbee and jahazafat. This story reeks of an amateur salesman trying desperately to sell John Ramsey to the public at large and not a prize winning author who should check the facts BEFORE printing a story.
As of October 14, TODAY, John Ramsey continues to OWN AND FLY his own private plane.
The website that the author attributes to John Ramsey as his personal crusade for justice, dnafingerprintlaw.com has nothing at all to do with John Ramsey. It is owned and registered to people who are NOT Ramsey and have nothing to do with Ramsey. In fact, it is NOT his project at all and is a glorified search engine for OTHER websites dealing with this issue. So, like his campaign and other promises, John Ramsey speaks of his crusades, but actually has none. Why didn't the author ask about the foundations and charities that he and his wife set up, only to be outed as projects never started and funds that went to nobody other than the Ramseys themselves. Now THAT would have been an appropriate question.
Those who have never followed this case will swallow this up hook, line and sinker; Ramsey as a victim of the cruel world
How about getting a job John instead of complaining that you haven't worked in 12 years. With all your history, surely you could have opened your own business to make a living; still can. You were able to fund your campaign in Michigan when you ran for office, but can't afford to find a way to make a living without selling your plane, which you didn't have to do, either it seems
How about you stop pointing the finger at those you know damn well had nothing to do with this crime and start looking inward instead. It is there you will find the criminal/s you are looking for.
As for this author, her remarks leave me with the impression that she is courting him (although I understand she is married)
What's with the "hair the color of cornstalks in winter" remarks? Get a room! This is as biased an article as it gets, which by itself is acceptable, EXCEPT when the subject is a murdered six year old child who has never received justice and with Mary Lacy exonerating the prime suspects without legal nor scientific cause is just disgraceful!
Shame on you
But don't take my word for it anyone; check all the facts yourselves.
whynut
The article states, "After Geraldo Rivera broadcast a mock trial of the Ramseys, Patsy went to bed for two days. They took all of the TV sets out of the house and cancelled the newspapers."
In fact, the statement about the "TV sets" is not necessarily true, as video of John and Patsy (shot for the first Michael Tracey documentary) taken in the same house claimed as having had its TV sets removed shows them relaxing calmly in their living room, watching their TV set. This footage was filmed just shortly after the "mock trial."
whynut
The article states, " 'A Japanese camera crew even broke into Burke's school,' John says."
In fact, the camera crew did not break into the school. They were caught filming on the playground outside of the school, which is an act of trespass but far from "breaking in."
SeanDo
Oh brother. What a mess this article is. You didn't think you could fool us with a Ramsey press release, did you? Lucinda Franks is married to a prosecutor too, the top dog in Manhattan. You'd think she'd know something about crime, but nope. She didn't display one ounce of research or critical thinking here. She should know that John's "wheat colored" locks are as phony as the story he told her.
Come on, Daily Beast. Leave the crime stories alone if you don't know what you're doing. You wouldn't give science stories to a cartoonist, would you? We crime fans are a huge audience, don't insult us with garbage.
Southpaw
Why did the Ramsey's obtain services of separate lawyers immediately post murder? What explains the handwriting in the ransom note that was virtually identical to Patsy Ramsey's? Why invite friends over to your home that was assumed at the time to be a virgin crime scene of their daughter's kidnapping? Answer these hard questions first, Mr. Ramsey, before boring us with bemoaning the loss of multiple houses and rich man's play things.
Capricorn
This would be a good time for Ms. Franks to sit down with her husband, actually review this case with a prosecutor who would only be ashamed of his counterparts in Boulder.
I would ask that you do your homework Ms. Franks and read up on this case, consult your husband, and then come back and write an article about this case if you dare and if you aren't afraid of Lin Wood's threats.
I think those who follow crime and follow this case particularly would have a great deal more respect for you if you checked your facts first and then wrote a proper story based on the realities, not John Ramsey's fantasies about himself
Hannah
I have alway believed that John and Patsy are innocent. Police were totally inept. Somebody killed their beautiful little girl and it is a sin that this case has never been solved.
Scuddy
How could unidentified DNA eliminate the Ramseys (or anyone) as suspects?
Why would JR not be able to bear hearing a child cry?
Why does he keep lying all the time?
Stay out of Vegas John
Thank you.
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