It’s been nearly 20 years since the tragic murder of JonBenét Ramsey, who was found dead in the basement of her family’s Colorado home. With the recent popularity of true crime docs-series like Making a Murderer, there has been renewed interest in this still-unsolved case. There have already been a number of television projects dedicated to the story with a CBS mini-series and Lifetime movie still to come.
JonBenet’s older brother, Burke, has finally broken his silence and opened up about the events surrounding the murder to TV psychologist Dr. Phil. In a 3-part interview, Burke talks about the events of December 26, 1996 and how the crime has affected his family. Seemingly most affected by the murder was Burke’s mother, Patsy, who remained one of the top suspects in the crime. On the accusations, Burke told Dr. Phil, “It doesn’t make sense. Not to say she never got upset, but nothing near laying a finger on us, let alone killing her child.” He went on to say that his mother never even doled out spankings.
While discussing the events of the day of the murder during the interview, including watching his mother frantically searching for JonBenét, Burke is seen smiling, which is slightly disturbing. Check out the clip here:
Dr. Phil talked about this rather uncomfortable aspect of the interview on the TODAY Show last Friday, acknowledging, “He is smiling. People are going to see this throughout the entire interview, [a] really unusual affect, either smiling or laughing.” He blames Burke’s unusual mannerisms on the fact that the 29-year-old security analyst isn’t really a people person telling TODAY:
He’s a software engineer. He works remote. He doesn’t go in to work every day. For 20 years he has been off the grid. My impression is he’s socially awkward. People are going to be very interested in his demeanor, and they’re going to find his demeanor atypical. He might be talking about some pretty dark aspects of this story and smiling while he’s talking about that.
It is kind of creepy that he keeps smirking, in fact, Inside Edition discussed viewers’ outrage on social media over his unusual behavior and featured an interview with a behaviorist who thought his fidgeting was an indication that he had to have something to do with the murder. Dr. Phil defended Burke’s odd on-screen demeanor, telling the show, “He didn’t grow up like a normal child…he lived a siege mentality.” His childhood definitely couldn’t be described as normal, that’s for sure. I am sure he was nervous to be on national TV, which may account for his smirks and fidgeting but, does anyone else think he may have Asperger’s or mild autism?
As to why Burke waited 20 years to finally tell his side of the story, he told Dr. Phil, “it’s the 20th anniversary [of the murder] and apparently still a lot of attention around it, and I guess I kind of wanted to make it about remembering her and not just another news story.” He went on to say how the case – and the media scrutiny surrounding it – lent to his 20-year silence:
For a long time, the media basically made our lives crazy. It’s hard to miss the cameras and news trucks in your front yard, and we’d go to the supermarket sometimes and there’d be a tabloid with my picture, JonBenét’s picture, plastered on the front, or they would follow us around. Seeing that as a little kid is just kind of a chaotic nightmare, so I was pretty skeptical of any sort of media, like, it just made me a very private person.
The remaining episode of Dr. Phil’s interview with Burke airs on Monday, September 19. The CBS mini-series, Case Closed: JonBenét Ramsey, which can hopefully shed some new light on the case, premieres on Sunday, September 18.
I watched the clip and i can see elements of social awkwardness/nervousness and grinning can be a way to deal with it – just look at the way the Duchess of Cambridge behaves when she is uncomfortable (maniacal grinning at inappropriate times and baring her teeth). I have always thought he maybe somewhere on the Autism spectrum.
I think awkwardness combined with nervousness
Yeah, I see awkwardness and nervousness. When I was young, I would sometimes nervously involuntarily smile in critical situations. My parents would punish me for it and tell me something was wrong with me, but I really couldn’t help it.
Cosign!
I was about to type something similar. I think he is on the spectrum which would also explain his behavior as a kid, especially if he was undiagnosed at the time. And even setting aside that possibility, nothing about his life after the age of 9 has been normal. His kid sister was snatched from right outside his bedroom and murdered downstairs. Most 9 year olds hate sharing their parents attention with an over achieving younger sibling, now imagine being that kid who wishes that their sibling would disappear and then it actually happens. The guilt, the shame. Then his family was hounded so mercilessly, he couldnt go to a school with other kids. The marriage must have been severely strained. There you are, dealing with your own guilt, your parents strife and trying to be the only rainbow in their life. Now his mother is dead, he barely has any social interraction and he is speaking to the world through the worlds smarmiest TV personality. Who wouldnt be nervous, even discounting ALL the other shit this kid has lived through. Why are any “experts” surprised that he smiles when he discusses ground zero of his trauma. Its probably an involuntary muscle thing by now.
Thanks for the explanation. I agree with you 100%. If anything, the fact that he’s not trying to hide anything by looking extra somber makes me feel worse for him and makes me think of him as not being guilty at all.
@Naya~ Absolutely everything you said x1000…he is lucky to be this normal considering the hellfire shizstorm he grew up with, probably owing in most part to his father shielding him. And seriously, almost everyone in this country is somewhere on the spectrum according to our healthcare system—from things so many people have like sensory sensitivities, dyslexia, OCD to aspergers (though now it doesn’t “exist” anymore) to big issues like brain injury and severe mental retardation—it’s ALL considered ASD spectrum. Ridiculous. Gotta love the good ole US. No such thing as just having a personality anymore, since anything deviating from absolute average is labeled a disorder. Even highly gifted children are labeled with things like “hyperlexia”, “savant syndrome”, “splinter skills”. And I’m not even going to get into the rates of inaccurate diagnosis of spectrum disorders before the age of 4, it’s enormous. Sorry….hot topic for me, obviously.
Naya–Completely agree w you. His life has been distorted and disfigured by tragedy, his coping skills appear, in part, to have consisted of isolation and withdrawal, and so of course, his expression(s), caused by abrupt new public exposure, may not seem “appropriate” to the millions watching him on camera. Do you think THAT, too, doesn’t make him feel both watched and judged, the fact he *is* being watched and judged (and even condemned) by millions? My sister has very high spectrum, high functioning autism and I see no sign or signal of it in this boy, mainly b/c I do not know him. No one who sees and watches him on T.V., talking about his years of devastation to an enormous audience, has any right or real ability to diagnose him w *any* particular disorder, IMO. Can’t stand “Dr.” Phil and his armchair diagnoses.
kaiko, it’s a hot topic for me, too. When people casually mention that someone who seems socially awkward might be on the spectrum, they usually have no idea how difficult life can be for someone who really is on the spectrum — who might seem typical at first blush but who is fighting every minute of every day to survive in a world that’s generally not accommodating to how they think and process their environment. It can be harrowing and exhausting and depressing.
Naya – my thoughts exactly! Good job in explaining. I feel sorry for him.
Normally I would agree with you, but have you seen the tapes of the interview with the psychologist when he was around 11 years old? He smiled then as well. To me he seemed disassociated emotionally from the event even then. I’m not saying he had anything to do with it, just that he doesn’t exactly reek of empathy or compassion.
There is even video of him coming out of the funeral home, where JonBenet was waked, and there he is smiling away, while they are practically carrying out her Mother. I saw the two interviews, they were disturbing. He is laughing and smiling through the whole thing, even when speaking about going up to the casket. It was very creepy…
It might be his normal. This might be his “public face” however inappropriate it seems. It would be interesting to see what he is like in less high stakes situations, or public situations completely unrelated to the tragedy if such a thing exists for him, which it might not.
I have been a longtime lurker on this site and I just love all you guys! Anway, I agree. He’s more awkward than sketchy to me. And it’s been 20 years gone so the emotion of it has to be more surreal than anything at this point.
I chime in: I have been through hell as a kid (tons of abuse) but when I tell stories I laugh and smile and make jokes. Its my way of making it a non.pity-party and I am in fact over it, so why be all depressed n what not? Its the past, I feel fine, so I smile. If youre not allowed to be happy because of something that happened 20 year ago, which you didnt even cause- well then…. those who think otherwise can walk off a short pier.
Yeah, I’m an inappropriate smiler, and always have been. And I’m 40 now. It’s a coping mechanism, because I hate to cry in front of people. The smile is automatic and involuntary–it’s my body’s reaction to suppressing my real emotions when in public. But it is awkward at times.
I disagree. This is a person who has gone through a lot of trauma from a very early age, I think that this is as normal as it gets for his situation.
There’s just such a Bates Motel vibe about the guy.
Ew. Looks like he is enjoying reliving it.
Your view makes me think that you might not have a lot of life experience or a broad social life. In my experience there are many many people who smile when they are anxious. This is a habit for him. He just doesn’t know to control it, which actually , oddly makes him genuine.
You’re right, Sun. I’m 5 years old and live in a hole in the ground. You yourself are so perceptive and great at judging other people.
Is it that or the name that makes me think of Ramsay Snow? It so over the top unsettling that it feels like Dr Phil (or Oz or whoever) is exploiting him for ratings.
Strange reactions read as strange even if it is totally innocent, but If he was so awkward he didn’t want to talk to police then why in the world did he get on national tv? Plus his reason for being there is so weak and self-serving- did he say at any point he wanted justice for Jon benet or that he wanted the killer found? Maybe I missed that but that kind of thinking seems incredibly natural even if his means of conveying doesn’t.
I read an AMA recently from one of the detectives on the case. He said police were allowed one limited interview with Burke, then any further attempts were refused. The detective said Burke was asked to re-interview over the years and he basically told police where they could go. It bothers me Burke is willing to answer questions on television but not aid police in his sister’s murder investigation.
I would have done the same thing as a parent. He’s an adult now.
I’m in the middle on this one. I mean – when you have a young child, you do need to protect them from things – and we all know how badly things can get bungled. But I also think maybe a second brief interview with more of a child psychologist type wouldn’t have been a bad idea either. Someone who was very sensitive to how a child would be doing with everything that had happened.
There are people qualified and sensitive to the needs of children who could have performed an in-depth interview. The Ramseys declined. Repeatedly. I understand wanting to protect your child from ugliness or allegations, but I don’t see why they didn’t let someone question Burke about the events the night his sister died.The Ramseys had money and could have afforded good representation who would have looked after Burke’s interests during any questioning. Also, Burke is almost thirty and at any point in the last decade could have provided an interview to police. He hasn’t done so.
When Elizabeth Smart was abducted from her home, didn’t law enforcement have long and lengthy access to her little sister? I think she is what helped them narrow down what happened – describing the monster that took her..
I always wondered why the Ramsey’s didn’t allow Burke to be interviewed. Perhaps, he did see/hear something that could have helped? Plus, iirc didn’t the parent’s sleep on a different floor of the house? If Burke slept on the same floor, maybe he did see/hear something that his parent’s would not have simply by location?
@Cricket – Yes exactly! Burke might have seen or heard something! How could the parents know, when they said they were upstairs asleep the whole night!
@Cricket, Elizabeth Smart’s sister was not made readily available to the police. In fact, it was downright strange how they insisted that the only witness to the crime be allowed to talk in her own time, which I believe took months. Yet the Smart parents were guilty of nothing, other than over sheltering their child.
@mayamae.. yes, it may have taken months before her sister was interviewed about it but fact is .. she actually was and met with people to see if she knew.. remembered anything that perhaps the shock of the moment gave her time to recollect.. it’s been 20 years since JonBenet and yet no interview was done with Burke. The Smart family clearly was not guilty of nothing and I believe Mr. Smart handled the situation well and straight away agreed to meet and be interviewed with police. I think he is even an advocate so to speak for parents in similar situations and how best to deal with law enforcement when the number one priority is to rule out the family and focus on who could have committed the crime. I’m not slamming the Smart family, I think they handled it very well and never once did anyone jump on them as hiding or being involved. The Ramsay family lawyered up right away and seemed to dodge as much as possible which if they were trying to find what happened to their daughter seems a bit strange.
Burke actually did three interviews. Two of which were without his parents knowledge or consent. One of the many documentaries coming this month has footage from the interviews.
I wouldnt take the stuff that comes from the PD as fact. These are the guys who refused FBI assistance even though they were already on the ground (since it was initially a kidnapping) and then irreparably bungled the evidence collection and the investigation. It was so bad the DA hired detectives to conduct a parallel investigation because he didnt trust the police. Also, one of the lead PD investigators changed his mind and now is a loud proponent of the intruder theory. I think when the dad found the body, the detectives remembered those crime stats about murders inside the home and decided the Ramseys did. Rather than build an independent case, they began leaking innacuracies and assumptions to the press. Like the handwriting thing. I used to think the handwriting experts pointed at her when in reality two of the four experts ruled her out and two said they couldnt rule her out but couldnt say it with certainty. Or the 911 call, where the police leaked that Burkes voice could be heard when in reality sound engineers cant even tell if its a voice. The Ramseys were right to lawyer up the second they realised what was happening, they could have ended up like Stephen Avery otherwise.
I live in Boulder and worked on certain legal aspects of the GJ evidence. And, it wasn’t the BPD who bungled this case, is was Alex Hunter and his team of unqualified DAs terrified to get into a courtroom with Lin Wood, so they sabotaged the BPD’s case at every turn. This is very well documented.
Nobody can defend that police department with a straight face. Obviously if you were somehow involved I expect you to be defensive but come on. These are geniuses that instructed their prime suspect to search the house unsupervised. Then when he found his dead childs body and carried her upstairs as any father woukd do, they claimed he had deliberately destroyed the crime scene. They created a theory based on gut and failed to build on that theory or investigate other leads. Foreign DNA was found on her panties and under her fingernail, plus there was a pubic hair on the blanket. There was a bootprint, a handprint aaaaand an unidentified fingerprint on her body. There was a suitcase standing under a window to the basement, the metal grate had recently been moved and scuff marks on the wall but rather than look into that, they were busy feeding the media stories about how John and Patsy werent loveydovey hugging through their nightmare. They tried to hold the corpse as hostage to force the family to submit to more interviews. And for an entire year afterwards had not even bothered to request for the clothes the family were wearing that day, you know, for testing?No wonder the other agencies had no confidence in them.
Frankly, the only way you can logically defend their investigating is by admitting that either the Ramseys were actually the greatest criminal masterminds to have created a chain of evidence that indicates atleast one foreign male was present and bamboozled this “competent” team of detectives OR an intruder did it and the police chased the wrong leads.
@Naya
Not a pubic hair on the blanket. It was an arm hair and from someone in Patsy Ramsey’s matralineal (I know this is spelled wrong) line.
And the DNA under the nails and in the underwear and on the bindings came from six different people. Can anyone believe six people were in that house undetected that night?
@Size Does Matter
Your post illustrates my point about the misinformation on this case perfectly. The foreign male DNA belonged to ONE individual, not six http://edition.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/07/09/jonbenet.dna/
And the hair found on the blanket was if we want to be technical axillary hair. Thats either pubic hair or armpit hair. Hair with androgen. So either somebody had his armpit really close to it or his groin. Take your pick but either suggests inappropriate activity for an unidentified, non family member.
I cant find confirmation of the matrilineal story, post your links. But also explain how that also doesnt point to an intruder when that DNA evidence itself points to an adult male – Short of Patsy being a secret male of course.
My heart just breaks for Burke and his dad when I read some of these posts filled with so many innacuracies but passed on as though they were true. To lose a family member so young and then be subjected to a twenty year witchhunt in which new “facts” are made up and propagated in continuum is a nightmare.
Naya,
You might want to research the touch DNA analysis done in 2012/2013. Your article was from 2008 and therefore not the final analysis. There was touch DNA found on the long johns and mixed with blood in JonBenet’s underwear. That belonged to one unknown male #1. There was also DNA found under JonBenet’s left fingernails that belonged to a different unknown male#2. DNA under her right fingernails belonged to another DIFFERENT unknown male#3 adn an unknown Female. Touch DNA on the garrote belonged to unknown male #4 and touch DNA on the rope belonged to unknown male #5. That makes 5 unknown males and 1 unknown female. All of the DNA collected was weak – with 10 or less markers.
http://www.forumsforjustice.org/forums/showthread.php?10137-DNA-revisited-in-light-of-James-Kolar%92s-book
My source is James Kolar’s book, Foreign Faction. He was an investigator in the Boulder DA’s office for many years. I just finished reading it this week. I. can’t link to that.
When a Boulder cop on the scene states she knew John Ramsey was guilty the moment she looked into his eyes, and added she counted the people in the room to determine if she had enough bullets in her gun to shoot her way out of the house, credibility is lost forever. And I’m amazed at the number of people who live in Boulder with “connections” and know the real truth, but come online anonymously to state they can’t divulge what they know – just hint vaguely.
And yet James Kolar is another example of whats wrong with this case. He came to the case ten years after the crime and decided to cash in on the tragedy by writing a book. People keep doing this and each one has to find a way to distinguish his work from a crowded field. In James’ case, he publicly admits that he cant prove that the Ramseys did it but believes that if he can discredit the intruder theory then the Ramseys did it. Just think about that backwards investigating for a minute and cross your fingers you never land a detective like that if tragedy befall your home. He also admits to throwing out inconvinient intruder evidence off hand. For instance, he refused to look into who had key access to the house. I personally believe the guy broke in but Kolar does his best to defeat all of that evidence but doesnt then move to the next most logical step – who had formal access to the house? Also, didnt he try to tie bedwetting to systematic molestation? I remember seeing this on his reddit ama. This after the FBI, the one agency with no dog in this fight, ruled out ongoing molestation. Five year olds pee the bed, thats life.
The location of the touch DNA could not be explained by the factory work theory. They were exactly where you would expect an attacker to leave DNA. Matching DNA from this man was also found in a different piece of clothing. Iirc Kolars backup position is that even if the DNA evidence stands, its not necessarily related to the crime. Even if we find this guy who left behind pubes and, sweat and saliva DNA on three separate areas, Kolar will still argue that it doesnt mean he did it. This sounds exactly like a man who decided what the “truth” was a long time ago.
In the end I hav the same problem with his book as I do someone like Smidt who actually shares my theory, we cant fact check these guys. Neither can their publishers really, since their content comes from files we may not have access to. This is one of the reasons why you have so many contradicting “facts” floating around and why thats so unfair on the Ramseys. While all these debates are going on and people are selling books, theres a guy who has been unable to live unable to live a normal life without hiding since he was nine years old. Like seriously, wtf.
People can disagree about what the evidence means, but the evidence is what it is. I don’t know who killed JBR, but science gives us DNA from six different people on her body. I’m sure if the Ramsey’s had been so inclined, Kolar would have been sued for libel.
Not six, one. The three pices of DNA I mentioned above are from the same adult male. I dont think even Kolar disputes that, does he.
I’m with SDM: 6 not 1.
I don’t know where you get DNA in 3 locations from at all? There is one sample that was in two locations: trace DNA on the underwear and touch DNA on the waistband of the long-johns. Touch DNA on the long-johns could easily have come from the long-johns touching the underwear.
That DNA doesn’t match that found under the fingernails. You don’t even have to take Kolar’s word for it. Just think it out logically. The fingernails and the underwear were STA DNA samples – the old tech, available at the time of the murder. They aren’t new findings (unlike the touch DNA samples which came out relatively recently). If they’d matched back then, it would’ve been considered a massive clue. Instead, the police were checking to see if the DNA from the fingernails matched the deceased in previous autopsy cases (it turned out the coroner wasn’t sterilising the nail clippers). If the fingernail and underwear samples matched, why on earth would they be trying to link that DNA to people who were being autopsied before the murder was committed? If they did match, the obvious conclusion would be that the DNA came from the murderer. You’d take that sample and look for a suspect … someone alive at the time of the murder. It only makes sense to DNA test prior autopsy cases if the fingernail DNA doesn’t match anything else and you’re grasping for any explanation as to where it came from.
The detectives and cops didn’t such a shoddy of the initial investigation, give heir opnions a side eye. Even if the family is guilty they did such a horrible job at the crime scene it would be ripped apart if it ever went to trial. A extremely botched investigation. Honestly, think they are defending their botched investigation over finding the actual perpetrator.
From what I have seen/read, the police had a severe case of “group think” and decided early on that Patsy and John or just Patsy were guilty. Other leads were summarily dismissed. So can’t say that I blame him or his parents for not “cooperating”. The investigating detectives should be ashamed.
I’m disappointed that he has chosen to talk to Dr Phil who I think capitalizes on peoples’ grief for ratings but his choice. And I think he is socially awkward and probably nervous. All normal.
For goodness sakes, he’s nervous. Not everyone is media savvy and feels comfortable being interviewed for tv with cameras everywhere and tons of people standing around behind the cameras and lights. I always laugh nervously when I’m uncomfortable. God forbid people accuse me of murder because of it.
His attitude is disturbing. No one forced him to talk about the case now. His reason to do it sounds off. He sounds off. And I Will stop here.
Why on earth did his father let him do the interview? I know Burke is an adult and can do what he wants – but I’d guess he would never have done that interview if his father strongly encouraged him not to. If Burke is that socially awkward, his father HAD to know how he’d come across on tv. Mr Ramsey clearly didn’t care that Burke was going to be raked over the coals for his odd demeanor.
The family attorney said on Twitter (where he threatened to sue anyone who said anything negative about the Ramseys!) that Burke did the Dr. Phil interview because of the upcoming CBS special (which apparently implicates him). See: Lin Wood.
What’s disturbing is the number of armchair psychologists who come out for a story like this. Based on one interview, commenters have thus far ruled this guy to be autistic, gay, creepy, too withdrawn, not withdrawn enough…the list goes on. None of us are his treating psychologist and most of us, thank god, will never have to know whether we would react “normally” in such a horrible situation.
The fact the detectives that botched the initial investigation have a CBS special blows my mind. Trying to cover their tracks from the horrible job they did at the time. No better than the West Memphis Three case. Ramseys were lucky enough to have a DA that knew it was a shoddy investigation.
@Starkiller, exactly, not even psychological assessment can provide factual information on another person, there are many complexities that stop people from providing facts when it comes to human behaviour.
It’s troublesome that some commenters here think they know how he should behave when they have not experienced the things he has.
Thank god I don’t know what it feels to have one sibling brutally murdered, that’s True. I’m still questioning his motives here. If it’s preemptive strike, why not say it? Like, there’s something going out soon accusing me/my parents, I want to set the record straight. I could hear That. But that’s not what he’s saying. I’m not accusing him of anything, This Is way too serious. But I’m not feeling he wants justice for his sister here and This Is disturbing to me. Personnally I want justice for JonBenet. That’s all I’m saying.
ETA: And yeah I hope his family/entourage told him not to go public cause he really shouldn’t have.
The CBS special is with Jim Clemente and Laura RIchards. Jim was with the FBI, he wasn’t a detective.
ladysussex, I’m the same way. I have horrible responses to stress!! Someonebroke into our house when I was home with a friend and she was showing the “appropriate” response while I was laughing like I was at a comedy show. I’m giving him a break on this.
I say there is no one appropriate response to stress. Whoever got on their high horse and decided what it should be should be shot (jk, but really – what hubris).
I think the family is definitely involved somehow in the murder, but I don’t think that smiling oddly or at awkward moments should be singled out as a sign. I myself have a very uncomfortable looking smile and an unfortunate tendency to use it when I’m unsure of how to behave in a situation – for instance, at my grandmother’s funeral, I didn’t want to cry, so I basically had that same kind of grimace going on, which some of my relatives apparently thought was quite odd. So I’m not going to nitpick Burke’s emotions, especially given the inherent danger of assigning guilt to people based on how we think they ‘ought to’ react to this kind of terrible event – let’s not forget the case of poor baby Azaria, whose innocent mother was torn apart by the press because they thought she was too cold and formal when talking about her daughter’s death.
Confession…I not only smile when I’m nervous, but I tend to giggle almost uncontrollably, and this has happened several times at open-casket wakes. I get nervous seeing them but everyone is supposed to be quiet and somber and I usually have to step out of the room because I feel like I have to giggle. It’s terrible.
I’m the same. My friend and I laugh inappropriately at funerals. it’s a coping mechanism for the awkwardness and emotions felt and not really know how to channel it. Don’t mean to be rude or anything, but it can be hard for me to deal with that kind of sad energy.
In regards to the smiling, I wonder if it’s from hearing their mom tell JB to smile all the time for pictures and at pagents, or when seeing JB being tired or upset at a pagent and witnessing their mom yell at her to stop crying at start smiling (purely speculation on my part with the yelling). So maybe it’s learned behaviour coupled with nerves/anxiety/awkwarness from being on national TV talking about a tragic event in your family history where you were suspect?
Oh god yes. I had to fight like hell to not laugh at my grandmother’s funeral. It was the first one that registered because during my grandfather’s funeral I was a child. I was a teenager by the time she died though and the pressure was just too much. There were too many people and I nearly lost it. I was NOT in a giggling mood, obviously.
This tends to happen to me when I’m forced into social situations where one particular emotion is acceptable and expected. It’s why I get the church giggles too.
I watched the whole thing on Dr Phil and something stood out to me (besides his odd smiling). Burke admitted to Dr Phil he had gotten up in the night to come downstairs and play with a toy. That, and the weird “iced tea” next to the pineapple bowl. Someone made iced tea by putting a tea bag in a water glass. Seems like something a child would do – putting a tea bag in a water glass with water to make iced tea. Plus only Burke’s fingers prints were on the tea bag.
This all makes the time frame for the intruder pretty small. With Burke up wandering around and making snacks (tea, pineapple) this intruder had to wait a long time to move in on Jon Benet. IF it was an intruder….which I doubt…
So he told Dr. Phil he got up out of bed and went downstairs to play? That has never been revealed, at least not in anything I’ve ever read about the case, and I have read a lot. Gah! I hate that my husband cancelled our cable and my DVR is gone!
Ah, so he said he went downstairs and prepared snacks, including pineapple?
News to me, too, and I’ve followed this story closely.
I simply want to believe the family had nothing to do with it and look forward to officials solving this.
But the pineapple found in JonBenet’s stomach has been an issue.
The parents told police that she was sleeping when they got home and carried her straight up to bed from the car and that she didn’t have pineapple that night since it wasn’t served at the party.
But there is was on the counter/island.
And now Burke said he put it out.
Could it be he played downstairs and snacked…went back to bed.
JonBenet’s killer brought her downstairs and before the gruesome murder, she snacked on some pineapple?
I don’t know…it’s all too horrible to imagine.
On Burke’s demeanor – I feel for him.
He does seem to have some sort of social disorder like Asburgers.
I’m struck by how much he looks like his mom down to the expression in his eyes.
BURKE SAID HE GOT OUT THE PINEAPPLE? I have never been so upset about missing an episode of Dr. Phil!
I read about Burke going downstairs to play a while ago, but I can’t remember where.
To be fair, he didn’t say for sure he made the tea or put out the pineapple. But he also did not say he definitely DIDN’T make the tea or pineapple. He was very wishy washy about those details. But he did say he went downstairs that night.
yeah, it has been known he went to play downstairs for a bit because some of the investigators thought the small round marks on Jons face were marks from Burkes train set, part of the train tracks.
@Isabelle Actually, on the Investigation ID channel documentary they said the round marks were thought to be from a taser’s prongs, not a train set.
Wow I didn’t know he admitted to going downstairs that night…. Interesting is all I’ll say
I think he said he went downstairs with a flashlight and used it because he wanted to play with a toy – I think it was a model. Mr. Ramsay said he had to go back downstairs to get Burke away from the model and put him back to bed. I’m not sure of the timeline though of when it all happened.
Burke also said that it was not common for his mom to have dishes laying about – namely the iced tea glass and bowl of pineapple. That she kept a tidy house.
That is in contrast to what I heard: That Patsy only kept the “viewable” parts of the house immaculate but was generally a slob. John was apparently frustrated by her lack of housecleaning/house keeping duties and it was putting a strain on their marriage. I believe it was a podcast I listened to I heard that from.
I have not seen the interview with Burke yet but am curious to know if the flashlight(heavy) he used to go downstairs with was the same flashlight found on the kitchen counter by police. Didn’t the Ramsey’s deny owning the flashlight on the kitchen counter?
I didnt watch the Dr Phil interview so I cant speak to the iced tea thing but I am not buying that it presents a timeline problem. How long does it take to make iced tea.
Setting that aside, their house had four stories and two staircases leading to each floor. The house had also been recently featured on one of those local magazines and Patsy had even held an open house tour like the typical socialite she was trying to become. An intruder would not have had to wait for Burke to do his thing. He would have used the back staircase and happily done his thing knowing that the only adults were on an entirely different floor and that any screams from the first floor would faint anyway.
I was shocked when Burke said he had gone downstairs, after everyone was asleep to put together on of his Christmas toys. I had never heard this before. Also, on the three part, ID channel show about JonBenet, a neighbor said that Burke had, previously, hit JonBenet in the face with a golf club and that he was extremely jealous of the attention she received,
This is new info as well for me!
I don’t think it’s unusual for the older sibling to be jealous of the younger or for the younger to take a few hits from the older.
The golf club is severe, though, but jealous kids are impulsive.
The gruesome murder of this child is entirely too sophisticated for a 9 yr. old to commit, wouldn’t you agree?
And, I believe the evidence shows that a stun gun was used.
Many elements of a planned sophisticated sick murder.
The tea is odd. People don’t usually make hot tea in a glass. They usually make it in a coffee mug. This was someone’s odd version of iced tea – a tea bag in a glass cup with water. Not a normal way for an adult to make iced tea. Hence suspecting Burke made it.
As to the intruder: if an intruder is in the house waiting and hears Burke wandering around, how does he/she know that Burke won’t wander in again while he’s grabbing Jon Benet – because Burke’s room was on the same floor as Jon Benet. Even once Burke gets in bed after wandering around – if you are an intruder you know Burke’s going to be awake in his bed for awhile after he returns upstairs. He’d could hear things.
MrsBPitt, the neighbor didn’t say he was jealous, she pointedly said she didn’t know. She said, “All I know is I would be.”
@Myrna
The stun gun was a theory to explain some marks on JBR’s back and cheek, but they were never able to find a stun gun where the marks lined up perfectly with the prongs on the stun gun. In fact, the marks do not line up with the brand of stun gun Lou Smit believed was used (American something I think). The marks line up exactly with the pins on the end of a piece of the type of toy train track (with the middle pin missing – apparently they fall out easily) that was in the room adjacent to where JBR was found.
If Burke had been interviewed and said from the beginning that he had been downstairs in the night with a flashlight and that it was his pineapple bowl and glass with weird tea bag, I believe this investigation would have gone in a totally different direction.
I don’t understand the issue with the iced tea. What other way is there to make it, beyond putting a tea bag in a water glass? I admittedly don’t drink iced tea as I find it vile, but anyone I know who does drink it makes it this was. Is there really another, more common method?
You have to use hot water to make iced tea. That’s why you would never ever do it that way, with a tea bag in a water glass.
“Iced tea” is almost always hot tea that has been chilled. Hot liquids extract flavours better.
You can make an iced tea with cold water, but you have to let it steep for several hours. (Or buy special teabags designed for use with cold water.)
Pouring cold water over a tea bag and drinking it straight away wouldn’t make “tea” it’d make water that tastes a little funny.
If you use boiling water in a regular glass, it could crack the glass. That’s something a kid would do. Heck, I tried it once as a kid.
I believe he said the golf club was an accident. He didn’t see her when he was swinging.
When I want a glass of iced tea and I don’t have any on hand, I’ll put a teabag in a regular glass with water, microwave it for about a minute, then let it steep for a few minutes. Then I throw a couple ice cubes in. Voila – a quickie iced tea. Not saying that’s the same situation as this, but it’s not as bizarre as some of you are thinking.
the photo of the iced tea was a tall standard glass for a cold drink but the tea bag was still steeping in that tall cold glass. it wasn’t in a glass like you would make hot tea in. it would have shattered if they put hot water in the tall glass which included the tea bag.
If it was an intruder he or she could have been making the tea in the quietest way possible. The buttons and door to our microwave are pretty loud, even with stopping it before it makes a noise. Idk how their pots and pans were set up but I can’t get one out of ours without making a lot of noise.
Be careful Christine! Regular glass isn’t microwave safe. (And even special microwave safe glass can shatter, it’s just extremely rare.) At least make sure you’re covering your hands with something (oven mitt or tea towel etc) when you take it out. You don’t want to grab it bare-handed and have it turn into a handful of glass shards and boiling water!
Lot’s of people smile when uncomfortable or at times when it’s extremely inappropriate. It’s the same thing as people who laugh when they get bad news or at the worst time possible, like during a funeral.
I 100% think the family played some part, but all this says is that the guy was uncomfortable, as anyone would be while being asked about their murdered sister and their possible role in it in television.
Given what happened in his childhood, and the subsequent media frenzy, accusations, death of his mother, all of it…I’m not surprised he seems a bit off or awkward. I don’t think many people could go through all that and come out the other end perfectly happy and “normal”.
But it is a little unsettling to watch.
i don’t trust any male with vampire fingernails. PERIOD
That’s incredibly sexist
I do. Nikki Sixx still my forever crush. Oh and your comment is shallow, zero logic in it.
This is why TV viewers aren’t cops. You can’t decide he’s a murderer based on a couple of admittedly weird facial quirks. That’s a real slippery slope to go down. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s a little on the spectrum, if you know what I mean. Or PTSD-d from the fact that his sister was murdered and his family became a national spectacle. That would do a number on any young child.
He doesn’t strike me as being on the spectrum, but that is really hard to gauge from just a one minute clip. Sometimes you can tell almost immediately, though. My 17 year old son is on the spectrum and his default affect is generally the opposite when speaking to people he doesn’t know well — very somber and serious. But as they say, “when you’ve met one person with ASD, you’ve met one person with ASD.”
I just think his grin is his “resting” face and he’s nervous. I cannot imagine what it must have been like for him as a kid to have been subjected to the media scrutiny, all those tabloid photos of Jon Benet were disconcerting even to me!
He is the spitting image of Patsy
I know, that strikes me every time I see him.
He truly is. The resemblance is uncanny.
My mother laughed hysterically when her father died… At the funeral. She was the one who loved him the most and she didn’t know how to behave because she’s not used to crying. She did when we got back home. Don’t be so harsh on this kid. Every one handles these situations differently.
I don’t get the weird comments about him having a 20 year silence. He was a kid when the murder happened.
I feel bad for this guy. He’s obviously really socially awkward now, but that’s not exactly surprising given the circumstances of his childhood. I smile and laugh at inappropriate times when I’m incredibly nervous. It’s hard to control.
In case it’s not him who did this I feel truly sorry for him (my main reason for why he did it is that it is more believable the parents would protect their own son rather than each other). He obviously has some psychological issues but probably was neglected by him parents, I mean why not get some profesional help for your son after all that he had to go though – the murder, the media attention, loss of friends and accusations? It seems like all his parents were interested in is keeping the fasade of a perfect family not even admitting their own child may need help. And then living all your life with the guilt and the doubt of people around you who think you are a killer.
I watched part of a documentary about this and was astounded at how many potential pedophiles/murders were in this little girls life. Each time they told the facts about one I was convinced that person did it. Then, they would come back on and say that the DNA didn’t match and go onto another suspect who looked equally as guilty. By the end of it I was ready to raise my kids survivalist style in the woods.
Her brother looks uncomfortable and nervous to me, nothing more.
Did he get paid, and if so how much? He turned down interviews in the past when they wouldn’t pay him big bucks so I’m really side-eying the whole “this is about remembering my sister” angle.
We also have to remember, this guy has been through trauma. His sister was murdered in his house, he was a suspect, his family were suspects, and the killer was never brought to justice. If i remember correctly, his mother lost her battle with cancer.
I’m not saying him smiling and laughing is not creepy and totally off-putting (it is and I had to keep pausing it), i just think we should take into account what this guy has dealt with his whole life. That’s gotta warp a person.
As to why he’s doing the interview now I think it’s totally a preemptive strike to try to diffuse all the chatter that is going to come out with the 20th anniversary, TV series, etc. Some of that chatter is going to be centered on speculating that Burke killed JonBenet.
I read somewhere that the longtime Ramsey family attorney Lin Wood also reps Dr Phil.
I know hindsight is 20/20 but I don’t think he should have done this interview at all. Just let everyone think what they was because they already do. The expression on his face is really disconcerting and while I know he might be on the autistic spectrum, there’s something that’s not right about it.
Sometimes it’s better to let sleeping dogs lie.
From this short clip, I can see both sides: he could be socially awkward/on the spectrum, or honestly 100% creepy. I’ve always suspected Burke in his sister’s death. Something a lot of people don’t know is that a book on aggressive sexual behavior in children was found on the Ramsay’s bookshelf. Coupled with the past sexual abuse suffered by Jon Benet, alarms should be raised. Why would parents (who weren’t psychiatrists) have this book unless it applied to their child? Just some things to consider. Love all you celebitches.
I was still in grade school when this happened. After reading a few books and then watching one of the tv specials I fully agree with detective Lou Smit who was called out of retirement to work the case. He was one of the best profilers many specialists had ever encountered. He was responsible for uncovering key evidence that the Boulder police missed. He also in a way, embarrassed the department by exposing the completely irresponsible actions the local police took from the start of the case such as letting numerous friends walk into the house, cleaning the kitchen, walking into the bedrooms… It was unbelievable. But also shed light on the fact that many of the officers had zero leadership skills in how to properly conduct an initial investigation. It was not suppose to be a free for all.
The media always look for the next big story to sell. In this case they sensationalized this family scritizing every aspect of their entire lives. I believe the parents in a small way liked the attention. After all Patsy was a former beauty queen who was always turning on the charm for judges as well as for her guests at parties and with her daughter at pageants. It’s a stage mom personality. Seen it 100 times when I was in dancing competitions. It may look strange to an outside audience but to me it looked normal. It’s just her personality. I work in behavioral therapy and I agree with many that the Ramsey’s behavior can look odd but it is nothing to jump to conclusions or assign blame because of a mannerism that makes you feel uncomfortable. Everyone is different in expressing grief, anger, anxiety.
A group of detectives in the Boulder police admitted the case was handled incorrectly from the start. Those that opposed detective Lou’s findings had their reputation on the line. They ignored evidence and it was obvious to the other detectives as well.
Detective Lou Smit exposed key facts like the open window the Boulder police said no one could fit through. Lou actually demonstrated by fitting himself through the window with ease. The stun gun markings which were confirmed by specialists in the US and the U.K. The suitcase by the window. Normally the suitcase was not downstairs. Also the fact that pathologists stated that above all else this case will be solved with DNA evidence now. The DNA tests are now able to confirm a persons heritage. The test results confirmed that whoever was responsible was 10,000 times more likely to be of Hispanic background than anyone else. Pathologists also using DNA evidence found on the daughters body cleared both parents in 2008ish.
Detective Lou Smit had never lost a case in his career. He made sure to save detailed files and evidence that he archived before his sad death in 2010. (Cancer) His children admitted he was so concerned that her killer was still out there. He was working on the case in hospice up until few days before he passed. – Now if that doesn’t show dedication I don’t know what does. Before his death Lou created a matrix spreadsheet with a small list he had narrowed over the years. He believed if the police started cross checking they would hit a match with the new DNA evidence.
Lou’s theory was that Jonbenet was exposed to a world where child predators often prey. The pageant world exposed her making her a target for scary sadistic obsession. The Ramsey family was very naive and often left doors unlocked and had a very carefree perfect life. The kidnapper entered the house setting up the note then took the girl and stunned her. Then the intruder carried her downstairs to basement where she woke up and started to make a fuss. They know she had a blow to the head but ultimately it was the strangulation that killed her. Then the intruder panicked tried to put body in suitcase but then realized the suitcase was too small, the kid was already dead ending any chance of pay day. He fled.
The only thing that matters is the DNA that proved there was a sadistic sexual predator of probable Hispanic origin inside the house that left evidence on the victim. That’s it people. All she wrote. Police need to come together and get over their macho crap and finger pointing and solve the case with the CLEAR evidence in front of them.
A few things are wrong here, important things: the possibility that those are stun gun marks was very much disputed (not ever confirmed to my knowledge) and I believe the CBS special delves into this and the possibility that those were marks from a train or train track is explored. The CBS Special recreated the home so if accurate we should know more about that window (which seemed undisturbed. the broken aspect of it, John Ramsey admitted he had broken some months prior). And the suitcase was said to have been moved under the window by a friend, Fleet White, who went into the room with John Ramsey.
I agree that the police made the mistake of letting the friends in (but why did the Ramseys call everyone and their brother, particularly after reading the * ransom note * ?). At that point they believed it was a kidnapping (still should not have occurred), not a murder in the home. The Ramseys got away with some of this because of their wealth, status in the community and no one believed they could have been involved but normal * protocol * still should have been in play so that a lot of these questions would not remain.
AND a stun gun doesn’t make you unconscious. It makes your muscles seize temporarily and makes you scream like heck.
Actually a stun gun can semi-paralyze you and make you unable to talk for a short period of time depending on where it is administered. Jon Benet was a small child not an adult so it could have incapasitated her.
I’ve seen tasers take down 300 pound men and make them a gibberish mess if metal prongs are put in wrong place (head, neck, etc.)
But why the weird short story length ransom note? The stomach contents of the girl? How uncooperative the Ramsay’s were? The reticence? I get them trying to protect their son, but the type of people you describe would have no issues going full tilt after a Hispanic male. Or any outside person, really. The window, the suitcase, all of that could have been staged. But the pageant world is likely crawling with pedos, and the idea that JB could have been pursued by one who eventually killed her.
I don’t really know what to believe, but it doesn’t seem out of the question that much of the kidnapping evidence could have been faked.
“The only thing that matters is the DNA that proved there was a sadistic sexual predator”
Don’t think that DNA can prove whether someone is a “sadistic sexual predator” or not.
Burke is a creeper. This case is so disturbing. The A&E documentary totally absolved the family & made sense to me. The Discovery channel was more gossipy & not so pro Ramseys. It’s really hard for me to believe that someone broke into the house, used a stun gun, took her from her bedroom, raped & killed her, wrote a 2 page ransom note plus fed her pineapple without someone waking up. Defies logic.
and was so familiar with that huge house to find a small room off the basement to hid her body.. there are just so many strange things about the case. I was really hopeful with time and DNA, etc.. they would be able to figure this out. Poor little girl so sad.
Yes, I have questions too after watching that show. 1) They said that suitcase was never housed in the basement, but they didn’t say where it was housed. They made it sound like it was definitely the Ramsay’s luggage, so my question is where was it normally kept? The answer might be enlightening, if say it was kept in the Ramsey’s bedroom. 2) The only fingerprints on the pineapple bowl were Patsy’s and Burke’s. Patsy said she didn’t put that pineapple there. If Burke got the pineapple out, I’m wondering if Patsy is lying about knowing about the pineapple, because if it was Burke that got it out in the middle of the night for snack, and Jon Benet had some, that would be enlightening too b/c it would indicate Jon Benet was in fact up with Burke in the night and Patsy lied to protect him. 3) First I read that the glass from the broken window was outside – not inside. On the show they keep inferring it was an intruder who came through the window. If that’s true, why was there any glass anywhere? John supposedly broke that window himself when he accidentally locked himself out of the house. He didn’t clean up the glass? When he broke the window to get in, the glass landed outside rather than inside? None of it makes sense. 3) If an intruder did it, why write the ransom note there at their house? How would an intruder know there would be paper and pen handy in the kitchen? How would an intruder know to put it at the base of those stairs rather than the other stairs? why put a ransom note at the base of any staircase for that matter? Wouldn’t you leave a ransom note on the kitchen table or somewhere where you know it will be seen? 4) I’ve listened to the audio tape of the Ramsey on the phone with the police when Burke is supposedly overheard in the background asking what DID you find? and they yell at him to go back to bed. People assume that because he emphasised teh word “did” that means he didn’t know what was going on. I beg to differ. He didn’t ask what was going on. He asked what they found in the basement. If he hurt Jon Benet and his parents staged it all to cover for him, it would make sense for him to ask what they found because he didn’t know what they’d done with the body.
I no longer have much of an opinion as to who the guilty party is. But I still can’t get past that ransom note. I do not believe a hostage taker would write a ransom note at the house where he’s kidnapping a child. I also cannot get past Patsy refusing to submit hand-writing samples even after John did. I still think her behavior was more odd than Burke’s is now. I think she invited all her friends over that morning to purposely contaminate the scene and to put on a big show for them when Jon Benet’s body was brought upstairs. There’s that scenario. But I also highly suspect that blonde guy who was shot at that junk yard – the one with the HiTek boots. But again, if he had a partner in crime and it was a kidnapping gone wrong, why the sexual assault or staging of it? Which one did that part and where was the other? Why write the ransom note there at the house? That doesn’t make sense either. I give up. My brain hurts.
I watched one of the recent documentaries (Bravo maybe?). His father was interviewed and I noticed the same smiling characteristic that I found odd. So maybe it is a learned / family thing.
The documentary debunked a few things (major one : autopsy that had a single sentence about previous possible sexual abuse……..it wasn’t known to the coroner that she had a history of vaginitis that could cause the irritation he noted ……several other experts stated that was a miss…). It also concluded there were marks on her body consistent with the use of a stun gun which suggests someone outside the family as well.
They basically concluded that the police department focused on the family and reached that conclusion prematurely, developed group think mentality in the investigation….and became at odds with the DAs office who felt they couldn’t convict……
Shame that happened.
I don’t believe the family had anything to do with the murder.
I suspect there was a stalker following Jonbenet on the pageant circuit and that individual cased the Ramsey house and may very well entered the Ramsey home when Patsy had the open houses prior to the xmas season. The Ramseys said they had many groups of people go through their home.
It was proven there was an access point through the basement. It was someone who knew the Ramseys indirectly and waited for the best time to sneak into their home and wait. John Ramsey admitted they were too trusting of others and he didn’t activate a home security system. The Ramseys fully cooperated with police until they realized the police were focused entirely on the family.
The son Burke is socially awkward, has PTSD and may also be autistic.
There are so many cold cases out there such as the Ramsey’s which go unsolved. It’s a sad reality.
In case anyone has not seen the documentary footage regarding Burke… Dr. Phil (as well as actual investigative documentaries) show footage of different recorded interviews with Burke and various psychologists. He was most definitely interviewed multiple times and eliminated as a suspect even back as a child. In fact, a clip was shown to Burke on Dr. Phil of one of the interviews he did as a child and Butke commented on it. It was the first time that interview had ever been shown it seen by anyone outside of the investigation.
My first take is oh my god, he’s so handsome. Also, I’m 99% sure he’s gay which is great for him! I do think dealing with the unsolved murder of your young sister would mess you up as a kid. On top of also at one point being blamed for it. His whole life he was probably think things like “can’t believe this all happened while we were right here asleep” to “that could have been me.” The guy just needs to go back to doing his own thing.
Yes I thought Aspeger Syndrome. He did not kill his sister. No way.
That people fail to identify reasons for his “inappropriate” affect I think speaks more to people’s lack of knowledge about the after effects of trauma than to this guy’s potential ASD diagnosis. He found out his sister was killed when he was 9, an age when kids are resilient and figure out ways of coping with stuff. It was a tragedy and he had to deal with it – unless they are subject to repeated trauma, kids often manage to adapt and figure out ways of staying positive. Humor and being distant is one of them. He probably has had to tell that story so many times, and only wants to forget it. If anything the memory is probably really negative, and his “inappropriate” affect is his way of keeping his ironic distance and not forcing himself to re-experience intense horror of learning about his sister’s fate. Eff the reporters and eff Dr. Phil for lacking the insight, I hate that people are so quick to judge someone who went through something so intense instead of looking deeper, but people are usually stupid..or…he maybe he did kill her. I don’t know.
I actually smile a lot when I’m nervous, as I’m sure he was not being used to being interviewed in television and discussing something difficult. Often, if I’m nervous about something, I will default smile and then realize, omg, that person just said something sad and my dumbass is smiling like an idiot! I can relate. Doesn’t mean I killed anyone, it means I’m socially awkward.
In one of the shows I watched about this a few weeks ago, the showed an image of the garrote used to strangle Jon-Benet and I kept going back to “how could a 9 y/o know how to make something like that, let alone kill someone like that?”
Also…the show speculated that the killer may have snuck in while the family was attending the party, waiting in the basement until everyone was sleeping to begin their attack on J-B….
if you google a bit more, you would know that the Burke Did It theorists believe the family (father and/or mother) stepped in later to make it look like an intruder to protect him … that he injured her by accident but it was a close to fatal blow… is how the theory goes. That * speculation * about someone sneaking in what the family has put out there as well. But there are many holes there…
They had over 2000 people in their home in the few days preceding Christmas. 2000! people. Yet, the investigators zoomed in on the family from the very first second.
After listening to a podcast about this whole case I truly believe the brother “did it”. Besides shoddy police work, they ignored so much evidence around the house. The timeline never matched up, there was papers, books, and literally a marked page in a book all about child incest. I think he was molesting his sister, accidentally Took it too far and killed her, and his parents covered it up. Why have one kid in the ground and one in jail? Listen to the generation why podcast on it!
There was a dictionary laying open in the study that was earmarked and pointing to the word incest. Nothing else in the house related directly to incest. The Ramsey’s did own books regarding out of control child behavior and aggressive child behavior. In addition, Burke did seem to hold some negative feelings toward his sister. Police he found he had smeared his feces around her bedroom and inside a box of chocolates his sister was given. In addition, he once hit his sister in the head with a golf club, although his parents said it was accidental. JonBenet required stitches.
It appeared there was brown substance on her candy box but it was never proven to be fece, it was eyewitness account only. The housekeeper told them this. It was rumored she was going to write a book but it never sold, reads like a money grab. She has a blog accusing Patsy Ramsey and her blog reads batshait crazy. She was only with them for about 2 years.
The police found Burke’s feces in JonBenet’s room in underwear and a chocolate box. A nanny later told police that she cleaned up Burke’s feces that he spread on the wall. That nanny absolutely is nutty, however Burke did Infact have an issue with soiling himself.
Just listened to the podcast and while I disagree on some conclusions they make (such as: Mother’s fingerprints on the plate with the pineapple are not necessary evidence because somebody HAS to actually touch the plate to get it out from the dishwasher and on the cupboard. Or the books about incest and predatory sexual behavior in children don’t necessary point to the brother as it could be something that happened to a parent in the past and they work shit out or a pattern that Jonbenet showed? Kids don´t usually show adult kind of sexual behavior unless they fall victims to molestation. And since pageants attract child molesters…and her parents are creepy as fuck… who knows?) but overall it was great and informative. I, too, suspect one or more family members of Jonbenet´s murder.
This whole thing is still just so tragic. A family was destroyed. I feel for this kid.
What did I watch? There’s social awkwardness then there’s Burke Ramsey. That’s more than being nervous.
I agree. This guy creeps me out. There’s socially awkward, there’s shy and then there’s just…this. JMO.
Well, this is not a smile. You can see that his eyes are not “smiling”
(for curious check how orbicularis oculi muscle behaves in something called genuine smile). He is probably just very nervous.
Aspergers is no longer given out as a diagnosis. And you can’t have mild Autism, you are either on the spectrum or you’re not. Someone can be high functioning, but it’s not like having a touch of the flu.
When people say mild autism I think they are referring to high functioning autism or what was once considered Aspergers.
It’s still incorrect. Not to mention, even high functioning ASD is most definitely not mild.
Thank you for saying this. Celebitchy is really sensitive to criticism and I’m surprised she let your comment through, but she is not a good “journalist”. I know this is a gossip site, but they could at least get the facts right about Autism. Such a lazy mistake.
This is very off topic, but at first glance of the original post with his photo I thought it was Ramsay from GoT.
Burke’s smirking is strange and unsettling. But equally strange is that evidently a PR coach did not advise him at all or perhaps just did not spend enough time coaching him to not smile.
My thoughts exactly. Why would they think it wise for him to do a tv interview? It seems it would have been a much better idea to be interviewed over the phone/email for a news article or something along those lines.
A lot of people, i.e. The Pioneer Woman smile when they talk. It drives me crazy….but so does saying yummy when you’re over ten…regressing back to the Pioneer Woman. This kid seems odd but his little sister was murdered on Christmas, he was a suspect, his mother was a loon, his half sister was killed in a plane crash……hasn’t had exactly what one would call a typical life. I feel bad for him, smiling or not, this guy seems troubled. Hope he finds peace somehow.
She was killed in a car crash but yes, I agree the family situation certainly did not set Burke up to ever live normally.
I haven’t watched any of this yet, but I do intend to watch the CBS show that’s coming up about this. Personally, I’m of the belief that Patsy was basically pimping JonBenet out to pageant judges and that one of them got too rough with her, and a cover up ensued after she was killed. JonBenet was sexually abused for a long time before her death. She was treated for vaginitis multiple times in a single year (which the doctor SHOULD have reported!!), her hymen was torn, and her vaginal opening was much bigger than it should’ve been. She had extensive vaginal trauma that was not just the product of what happened to her that night.
I can see why people are saying it’s creepy that Burke was smiling, but he also barely knew his sister and this has been something that has followed him his entire life, and he was just a child himself when it happened. To expect him to be a sobbing mess over it is unfair and unrealistic. I also believe he might have Aspergers, which would coincide with all the books on behavioral issues that his parents had around the house.
Second that. He looks more awkward that anything else. And just thinking about the life he had since he was little it is not surprising at all. And i agree that it’s unrealistic to expect him to be all broken up right now about something that happned 20 years ago and would make me more suspicious if he actually did act like he was still mourning her. I was just thinking that it’s the same age difference as bewteen me and my brother. He was nasty to me when he was nine and I was nasty to him right back. We fought a lot. And today he is my best friend. I feel out of breath just thinking about loosing him now, thonking now back to when I was Burke’s age and if something happned to him then I am not sure I would be so sad and broken up 20 years later. Whatever bond we developed it developed later in life. Without that experience of 30 plus years I am on this planet with him I am not sure I would really felt like I lost something so significant. Siblings fight, memories fade and probably in his case he was more forced to remeber and think about her due to peoples’ interest in her murder that thinking about her as someone close to him. Add to that the suspicion that he killed her and I can see how he could be completely indiferent while talking about his sister.
The hymen was stretched, not torn. Vaginosis is a chronic condition in some little girls, and not in itself indicative of molestation. IMO, those most married to the chronic molestation theory are those most invested in the Ramsey are guilty theory. There is much disagreement on this evidence.
Smiling can also be a sign of trauma. I once watched an 8 hour Holocaust documentary and quite a few survivors were smiling when recounting the horrors they barely survived. It’s really not that uncommon. I noticed that I had done it myself when talking about the time I was beaten up as a teen.
My theory has always been that he might have done it, but watching him be so forthright and provide details of that morning, as a child would, makes me think I have been wrong all along. Also, it is possible that the Ramseys, who were raising their daughter to be pageant contestant, may have put a premium on smiling behavior. Particularly after the family became suspects, and under constant scrutiny, I can imagine the parents insisting Ramsey smile whenever he was in public.
He’s like a real life Corky Romano.
I shudder to think what was really going on in that house. I hate to say this, and it’s only a suspicion. Completely opinion-based…but child molesters often associate with one another, use their kids at “parties” like favors, and I hate to think this could have been the case here. But her brother’s behavior is so odd. And his manner is disturbing me greatly. Of course, I am a survivor of sexual abuse, so maybe I am seeing monsters where there aren’t any. But this story has been rotten from the jump.
Classic Duping Delight.
Layla, I agree.
I don’t find his smirking or laughing creepy. People tend to laugh or smirk when they are talking about things that make them uncomfortable or upset. I, myself, am guilty of doing so. Even when talking about the murder of my loved one. What I find creepy is his eyes. They send chills down my spine.
Speaking of creepy do you want to know what I find creepy ? Spray tans, make up, wigs and hairspray on preschoolers. That and the nineteen million other things so very very wrong about child pageants.
I’ve known more than a few ppl who are constantly smiling due to trauma. He can easily be another. Also, even outside of the media circus, it’s the way he was raised. Both his parents were always surprisingly upbeat in their interviews.
Burke was not involved in JonBenet’s death. I, too, think he is on the spectrum that would explain the odd behaviors including the fecal soiling. As to the golf club incident, it was accidental by the history – JonBenet came up behind him as he was swinging the club. I, too, believe that it was intruder(s) and am very suspicious that it had to do with her being a victim of a pedophile/sadist. There was a homeless shelter at a church not 10 doors down from the home where one of the suspects was later found to be a sexual predator and admitted being enthralled with her. Then the very suspicious death of Michael Helgoth who was found to have a possible motive and ties to JonBenet and may have had an accomplice.