DEFAMATION

Brother Sues CBS Over JonBenét Ramsey Documentary Series

Files $750M suit charging conspiracy, “compilation of lies.”

JonBenét Ramsey’s older brother has filed a lawsuit claiming that CBS, producers, and experts interviewed in its program, The Case of JonBenét Ramsey, conspired to defame him for financial gain. Burke Ramsey, 29, is seeking $750 million, alleging that his reputation was ruined by the documentary miniseries’ conclusion: that he killed his 6-year-old sister. The series aired this fall, just before the 20th anniversary of JonBenét’s death. Ramsey, a child beauty-pageant contestant, was found dead in the basement of her family’s Colorado home in December 1996. Burke’s suit contends that the television series was a “sham reinvestigation” of the murder and had a “preconceived storyline.” According to the court documents, “The accusation that Burke Ramsey killed his sister was based on a compilation of lies, half-truths, manufactured information, and the intentional omission and avoidance of truthful information about the murder of JonBenét Ramsey.”