JonBenét Ramsey’s Murder Investigation: Authorities Exploring New DNA Testing
Police in Boulder, Colorado, have discussed using new DNA testing in the infamous unsolved death of JonBenét Ramsey, according to a December 14 news release.
“As part of the ongoing investigation into the death of JonBenét Ramsey, the Boulder Police Department continues to discuss and evaluate evidence with the Boulder District Attorney’s Office and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation,” the police department said.
“With the emergence of new DNA testing technology, the Boulder Police Department is working with the Colorado Bureau of Investigations to determine if this new technology could further this investigation.”
Officials won’t disclose any additional details “until there is new information to announce,” according to the release. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation could not comment to WHO.
A spokeswoman for the Boulder Police Department tells WHO the District Attorney’s Office and Boulder police most recently met to discuss the possibility before Thanksgiving, but she noted they’ve gathered throughout the year.
The CBI now uses “more advanced” DNA testing kits, the spokeswoman said: “That’s what is prompting us to look into the possibility of using the more advanced technology.”
Earlier this year, Colorado’s 9News found in a joint investigation with the Boulder Daily Camera that the 2008 interpretation of the trace male DNA found in the case may have been flawed.
JonBenét was discovered dead in the basement of her family’s Boulder mansion on Christmas Day in 1996. She was 6 years old.
No one has ever been charged in her killing. In 2008, following the trace DNA analysis, JonBenét’s parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, were formally cleared in the investigation — two years after the latter’s death from cancer. But former Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner said in 2015, “Exonerating anyone … is absurd.”
John and Patsy have always maintained their innocence in their daughter’s death.
In recent months, as the anniversary of JonBenét’s killing approaches, her case has received renewed media interest. It was the subject of a Lifetime movie as well as a CBS two-part special.
JonBenét’s older brother, Burke Ramsey, subsequently filed a $150 million defamation lawsuit against Dr. Werner Spitz for his participation in the documentary The Case of: JonBenét Ramsey.
In The Case of: JonBenét Ramsey, a panel of investigators — including Spitz — developed a theory that JonBenét was accidentally killed by her brother.