Patsy Ramsey Fingered As JonBenet's Killer

<h5><I>By Darlene Dunn</I><P></H5> <P /> <B>NEW YORK, April 10, 2000, 2:24 p.m. EDT </b> -- A former JonBenet Ramsey murder investigator says that he believes that Patsy Ramsey killed her little girl.<P> <P /> <IMG SRC="/Images/Screengrabs/1ransomnote_41000.jpg" ALIGN="LEFT" WIDTH="200" HEIGHT="150" ALT="Ransom Note" BORDER="0" HSPACE="10" VSPACE="5"> <P /> Steve Thomas appeared on "Good Morning America" in an exclusive interview to talk about his book, "JonBenet: Inside the Ramsey Investigation." The book will be released Tuesday.<P> <P /> Five pages into the book, Thomas gives his theory on who killed JonBenet.<P> <P /> "There are only two possible answers. One is that an intruder crept into the house, killed JonBenet in a botched kidnapping attempt while the family slept, leaving behind what has been called the war on peace and ransom note and disappeared. The other scenario is that the little girl was killed by a family member whom I believed to be her panicked mother, Patsy Ramsey, and her father, John Ramsey, opted to protect his wife in the investigation that followed."<P> <P /> <H3>The Note Points To Patsy</H3> <P /> Thomas said that the Boulder Police Department has been accused of not investigating other suspects. He said that investigators cleared 100 potential suspects, interviewed 590 witnesses and presented 1,058 pieces of evidence.<P> <P /> <nosuchobject /> <P /> "I cannot tell you how much time and time on the road I spent chasing leads far and wide, interviewing suspects, witnesses and potential suspects," Thomas said. <P> <P /> He said that the evidence in the case always led back to the mother.<P> <P /> The ransom note, he believes, incriminates Patsy the most.<P> <P /> The note, which was addressed to John Ramsey, asked for $118,000. It was written on a notepad found in the house. The pen was found in the house. In addition, it was signed SBTC and had indentation that was customarily used by Patsy when she wrote letters.<P> <P /> Thomas told ABC that 73 potential suspects' handwriting samples were ruled out during the investigation. <P /> <IMG SRC="/Images/Screengrabs/2ransomnote_41000.jpg" ALIGN="LEFT" WIDTH="200" HEIGHT="150" ALT="ransom note" BORDER="0" HSPACE="10" VSPACE="5"> <P /> Again, only one person -- Patsy -- could not be ruled out as the author because the way the As in the letter match Patsy's As.<P> <P /> "In Patsy's pre-homicide writings she consistently used what we called the lower-case manuscript. In the ransom note, almost exclusively the lower-case manuscript A was used -- I think -- 98 percent of the time was used," he said.<P> <P /> After the Ramseys were given a copy of the note, Thomas said that Patsy changed her As to the lower-case cursive As. <P> <P /> "She would almost consistently sign off with the exclamation point and then a double indented closure to the point that you could almost overlay the ransom note and some of Patsy's previous writings," he said. "The indentation I found remarkable."<P> <P /> Thomas said that Patsy was known for signing letters with acronyms. <P> <P /> For example, she signed her Christmas cards PPRBSJ, which means Patsy P. Ramsey, Bachelor of Science In Journalism.<P> <P /> <H3>No Fingerprints</H3> <P /> He also found it unusual that the Ramseys found the ransom letter, but their fingerprints weren't found on the letter.<P> <P /> He said that he tried to pin Patsy down on that at the onset of the investigation. <P /> <IMG SRC="/Images/Screengrabs/letterindentations.jpg" ALIGN="RIGHT" WIDTH="200" HEIGHT="150" ALT="Letter Indentations" BORDER="0" HSPACE="10" VSPACE="5"> <P /> He asked, "Did you grab the note? Did you pick up the note? Clench it in your hand and read it and run upstairs with it? Who moved it to the hardwood floor?"<P> <P /> Thomas said that he found it odd that investigators who handled the letter left fingerprints.<P> <P /> <H3>Did Patsy Go To Bed That Night?</H3> <P /> Thomas told ABC that he doesn't believe that Patsy went to bed the night that JonBenet was killed. <P /> She claimed that she woke up at 5:30 and didn't take a shower. She said she dressed in the same clothing from the day before and went to make coffee. That's when she found the note. <P /> So far, the Ramseys have stuck by the intruder theory to explain their daughter's homicide.<P> <P /> Thomas also said that he planted a microphone at Jonbenet's grave, hoping to catch someone confessing to the child's murder as he or she mourned at the grave site.<P> <P /> The camera did not help the case.<P> <P /> <B>Previous Stories:</B> <UL> <LI>March 17, 2000: <A HREF="http://www.newsnet5.com/news/stories/news-20000317-203718.html">Ramseys Exclusive Interview To Air On '20/20'</A> <LI>February 28, 2000: <A HREF="http://www.newsnet5.com/news/specialassignment/news-specialassignment-20000228-151149.html">Ramsey Publisher: Couple Didn't Kill JonBenet</A> <LI>November 30, 1999: <A HREF="http://www.newsnet5.com/news/stories/news-990913-140048.html">JonBenet Ramsey: Detective Suspicious Of Father</A> <LI>October 28, 1999: <A HREF="http://www.newsnet5.com/news/stories/news-19991028-022717.html">JonBenet: Governor Says No To Special Prosecutor</A> <LI>October 20, 1999: <A HREF="http://www.newsnet5.com/news/stories/news-990916-150554.html">JonBenet Ramsey Story Archives</A> <LI>October 14, 1999: <A HREF="http://www.newsnet5.com/news/stories/news-991014-071939.html">Ramseys: Speculation Marred The Case</A> <LI>October 12, 1999: <A HREF="http://www.newsnet5.com/news/stories/news-991012-103129.html">Indictment Pending In Ramsey Case?</A> <LI>October 12, 1999: <A HREF="http://www.newsnet5.com/news/stories/news-991009-131717.html">Ramsey Trial Winds Down</A> <LI>September 30, 1999: <A HREF="http://www.newsnet5.com/news/stories/news-990930-155855.html">Ramsey Children to Testify?</A> <LI>September 24, 1999: <A HREF="http://www.newsnet5.com/news/stories/news-990916-113227.html">Ramsey Case: Was Detective Incompetent?</A> <LI>September 17, 1999: <A HREF="http://www.newsnet5.com/news/stories/news-990917-085455.html">Investigator: I Know Who Killed JonBenet</A> <LI>September 15, 1999: <A HREF="http://www.newsnet5.com/news/stories/news-990915-071949.html">Investigator: JonBenet Suffered Severe Trauma</A> <LI>September 14, 1999: <A HREF="http://www.newsnet5.com/news/stories/news-990914-085850.html">Investigator: Father Covered JonBenet's Body</A> <LI>May 26, 1999: <A HREF="http://www.newsnet5.com/news/stories/news-990526-150515.html">JonBenet: If Not Brother, Then Whom?</A> <LI>September 29, 1998: <A HREF="http://www.newsnet5.com/news/stories/news-980928-203754.html">Who Done It? Find JonBenet's Killer Online</A> <LI>September 26, 1998: <A HREF="http://www.newsnet5.com/news/stories/news-980926-122839.html">Did Jon Benet's Mother Write Ransom Note?</A> <LI>August 21, 1998: <A HREF="http://www.newsnet5.com/news/stories/news-980821-052203.html">New Information In JonBenet Case</A> </UL> <P /> <P />