http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/07/09/jonbenet.dna/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

CNN) -- Recently developed "touch DNA" technology has cleared all members of JonBenet Ramsey's family of her slaying, authorities said Wednesday.



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.

Early on in the case, Boulder police said parents John and Patsy Ramsey, and their son, Burke, were under "an umbrella of suspicion" in JonBenet's death, although they were never named as suspects.

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 or 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."

That same DNA also exonerated John Mark Karr, a one-time schoolteacher, after he was arrested in Thailand and confessed to the killing in 2006.

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.

Lacy blamed "evidence reported by the media" rather than "evidence that had been tested in court" for suspicions cast on the Ramseys as the case was investigated, suspicions that she said "created an ongoing living hell for the Ramsey family and their friends."

She added, "We believe that justice indicates that the Ramseys be treated only as victims of this very serious crime."

Patsy Ramsey died of ovarian cancer in June 2006 in Atlanta, Georgia. The family moved there from Boulder, Colorado, after JonBenet's death.


Atlanta attorney Lin Wood, who represents the Ramseys, told CNN that Patsy Ramsey's death is "one of the sad notes of today's news, because she's not here with us to celebrate the vindication of her family."

"What's happened today, though, is irrefutable DNA evidence has now resulted in John and Patsy and their son, Burke, being officially cleared in this case," he added. "This family suffered too many years, too many heartaches of being falsely accused in the murder of their child."

wow...at least they've made some progress i guess.

Way too little too late...I still and always believe The Ramsey family knew something about this murder and how it happened, john might have never even known that patsy was involved or vice versa. For no family DNA to turn up on the child is silly, she lived with them, was tucked in bed by them, etc. Proves even more, that she was washed and her clothes were changed after she was killed, otherwise some of her parents DNA would be on her somewhere from being tucked in and living in their house. It was just as easy for someone else's DNA to appear on her panties which was skin dna, nothing sexual...the child was at a christmas party near so many people....one visit to take her to the bathroom to slide her pants down, hence the mysterious "new DNA" appears from some other person that was sitting on the bowl, etc. but again they all share a house and there is NO FAMILY DNA on her at all....someone covered it up who was up all night for the family. There is no proof that they were even her owned panties or pants that she was wearing when found dead. Hence no "killer DNA" but no family either, I'm sorry but The Ramseys handled this whole thing right from the beginning like they were guilty, hiring lawyers, refusing police interviews, the handwritten "foreign fanction" ransom note never was proven it wasn't written by Patsy, the strange ramsom note dollar amount which was John's bonus that year..and then the kidnappers leave the child in the basement and leave the ransom note behind when they leave. And how come we never heard about obvious DNA on the ransom note and in her panties, was it the same? And of course the strangest and most unbelievable thing is that Patsy was wearing the same Christmas clothes from the night before in the morning BEFORE she knew Jon Benet was missing. How many times have you put on your christmas night clothes back on in the morning? She was up all night....the whole Patsy getting mad at her bedwetting, so many holes.......they might not have been the one to strike any fatal blow but at least one of them knew something. This case was so botched from law enforcement right from the beginning, when John found her, who knows how many people actually touched that child...there is no proof that when they removed her panties and now newly discovered pants that it wasn't just some policeman's DNA (that's why the DNA is not in any criminal database) Not one other Boulder child kidnapping attempt ever again.

Way too little too late...I still and always believe The Ramsey family knew something about this murder and how it happened, john might have never even known that patsy was involved or vice versa. For no family DNA to turn up on the child is silly, she lived with them, was tucked in bed by them, etc. It was just as easy for someone else's DNA to appear on her panties which was skin dna, nothing sexual...the child was at a christmas party near so many people....I'm sorry but The Ramseys handled this whole thing right from the beginning like they were guilty, hiring lawyers, refusing police interviews, the handwritten "ransom" note never was proven it wasn't Patsy's, the strange ramsom dollar amount which was John's bonus that year...and of course the biggie, Patsy wearing the same Christmas clothes from the night before in the morning BEFORE she knew Jon Benet was missing. How many times have you put on your christmas night clothes back on in the morning? She was up all night....the whole Patsy getting mad at her bedwetting, so many holes.......they might not have been the one to strike any fatal blow but at least one of them knew something. Not one other Boulder child kidnapping attempt ever again.
I agree! I don't think the husband knew anything but I truly believe Patsy was involved.

I never thought the parents had anything to do with JonBonet's death, and I'm glad they're officially cleared. Too late for Patsy, but their name is cleared.

I never thought the parents had anything to do with JonBonet's death, and I'm glad they're officially cleared. Too late for Patsy, but their name is cleared.
Yes I totally agree with you. They were prosecuted left and right in the media...I can't imagine what they went through. First their child is murdered and the whole world thinks they did it and then the mother's dying from cancer. At least the DA has cleared them now. I still hope that JonBonet's real murderer is found and brought to justice.

One thing I find very contradictory is the fact that while John Mark Karr confessed to the murder in 2006, he was exonerated by the DNA evidence. What gives?