duncan228
07-09-2008, 04:04 PM
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/07/09/jonbenet.dna/index.html
DNA clears JonBenet's family, points to mystery killer
New DNA tests exonerate all members of JonBenet Ramsey's family
(CNN) -- Recently developed "touch DNA" technology has cleared all members of JonBenet Ramsey's family of her slaying, authorities said Wednesday.
JonBenet Ramsey was found dead in the basement of her family's home in Boulder, Colorado.
Boulder County District Attorney Mary Lacy said no one in the Ramsey family is considered a suspect and formally apologized in a letter to John Ramsey for the cloud of suspicion his family has lived under for nearly 12 years.
"To the extent that we may have contributed in any way to the public perception that you might have been involved in this crime, I am deeply sorry," Lacy wrote. Read the letter from the District Attorney »
Instead, DNA tests conducted earlier this year point to an "unknown male," in the 6-year-old child beauty pageant contestant's December 1996 slaying.
John Ramsey found his daughter's body in the basement of the family's Boulder, Colorado, home on December 26, 1996. She had been strangled and beaten. Testing in 1998 showed that DNA evidence found in the girl's underwear and beneath her fingernails was from an unidentified man and did not match anyone in the Ramsey family.
Tests conducted in March revealed that new DNA collected from a pair of long johns matched a sample previously taken from the child's panties.
Genetic material was scraped from the waistband of the long johns, which JonBenet was wearing over her underwear when her body was found. Lacey said in her statement that authorities believe the long johns were either replaced or removed by her killer.
Additional tests were conducted to ensure that the genetic material did not come from law enforcement of medical examiner's personnel, the statement said.
"The unexplained third-party DNA on the clothing of the victim is very significant and powerful evidence," Lacey's statement said. "It is therefore the position of the Boulder District Attorney's Office that this profile belongs to the perpetrator of the homicide."
Lacey took pains to state that her office does not consider JonBenet's father, her mother -- now deceased -- or older brother to be suspects. She said she released the findings in the interest of justice.
"Local, national and even international publicity has focused on the murder of JonBenet Ramsey. Many members of the public came to believe that one or more of the Ramseys, including her mother or her father or even her brother, were responsible for this brutal homicide. Those suspicions were not based on evidence that had been tested in court; rather, they were based on evidence reported by the media."
Patsy Ramsey died of ovarian cancer in June 2006 in Atlanta, Georgia. The family moved there from Boulder, Colorado, after JonBenet's death.
DNA clears JonBenet's family, points to mystery killer
New DNA tests exonerate all members of JonBenet Ramsey's family
(CNN) -- Recently developed "touch DNA" technology has cleared all members of JonBenet Ramsey's family of her slaying, authorities said Wednesday.
JonBenet Ramsey was found dead in the basement of her family's home in Boulder, Colorado.
Boulder County District Attorney Mary Lacy said no one in the Ramsey family is considered a suspect and formally apologized in a letter to John Ramsey for the cloud of suspicion his family has lived under for nearly 12 years.
"To the extent that we may have contributed in any way to the public perception that you might have been involved in this crime, I am deeply sorry," Lacy wrote. Read the letter from the District Attorney »
Instead, DNA tests conducted earlier this year point to an "unknown male," in the 6-year-old child beauty pageant contestant's December 1996 slaying.
John Ramsey found his daughter's body in the basement of the family's Boulder, Colorado, home on December 26, 1996. She had been strangled and beaten. Testing in 1998 showed that DNA evidence found in the girl's underwear and beneath her fingernails was from an unidentified man and did not match anyone in the Ramsey family.
Tests conducted in March revealed that new DNA collected from a pair of long johns matched a sample previously taken from the child's panties.
Genetic material was scraped from the waistband of the long johns, which JonBenet was wearing over her underwear when her body was found. Lacey said in her statement that authorities believe the long johns were either replaced or removed by her killer.
Additional tests were conducted to ensure that the genetic material did not come from law enforcement of medical examiner's personnel, the statement said.
"The unexplained third-party DNA on the clothing of the victim is very significant and powerful evidence," Lacey's statement said. "It is therefore the position of the Boulder District Attorney's Office that this profile belongs to the perpetrator of the homicide."
Lacey took pains to state that her office does not consider JonBenet's father, her mother -- now deceased -- or older brother to be suspects. She said she released the findings in the interest of justice.
"Local, national and even international publicity has focused on the murder of JonBenet Ramsey. Many members of the public came to believe that one or more of the Ramseys, including her mother or her father or even her brother, were responsible for this brutal homicide. Those suspicions were not based on evidence that had been tested in court; rather, they were based on evidence reported by the media."
Patsy Ramsey died of ovarian cancer in June 2006 in Atlanta, Georgia. The family moved there from Boulder, Colorado, after JonBenet's death.