Who killed JonBenét Ramsey? The true story behind one of history's ...

It has been nearly 30 years since the body of six-year-old child pageant queen JonBenét Ramsey was discovered in her family home in Boulder, Colorado – but we are still no closer to finding out the perpetrator.

Now, a new three-part documentary series, by the Oscar-nominated director Joe Berlinger, will scrutinise the murder which has been dubbed one of ‘the biggest cold cases’ in criminal history.

The Netflix show Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey? will also observe how an inexperienced police force, compounded by media outlets hungry to place blame, made numerous mistakes that allowed for the murderer to evade justice for nearly 30 years.

Berlinger says the series takes aim at those who “played armchair detective for three decades, often callously pointing a finger at the very people who suffered such an unthinkable loss”.

“Through unprecedented access and a comprehensive multi-year investigation, we reveal the deep flaws in how the case was originally handled, resulting in a sea of conspiracy theories that nearly destroyed the Ramsey family for a second time,” he said ahead of the show's release.

Ahead of the docuseries landing on the streaming service, we take a look at what we know for certain about JonBenét Ramsey and those associated with the case.

JonBenét Ramsey was born on 6 August 1990. She went on to win numerous child beauty pageants, including America’s Royal Miss and Little Miss Colorado. She had been entered by her mother, Patsy, who previously had been a regular participant in pageants in her youth.

On the early morning of 26 December 1996, JonBenét was reported missing by her parents, who had found a ransom note demanding $118,000 (around £93,000) to ensure the safe return of their daughter.

JonBenét’s father, the businessman John Ramsey, claimed the amount being demanded was around the same as his Christmas bonus, which led him to believe that the kidnapper was someone who knew him.

While an initial search of the Ramsey’s upmarket family home proved fruitless, a second search of the property saw John discover his daughter’s body in the basement. JonBenét’s mouth had been covered in duct tape, cord was tied around her wrists and neck, and her body had been covered by a blanket. A post-mortem revealed she had died from asphyxiation, as well as having had a fractured skull. Her death was ruled by detectives to be homicide.

Suspicion in the aftermath of the murder fell on immediately on the Ramseys themselves. Police investigating the murder raised concerns about the ransom note that had been left, as it was unusually long and written using a notebook and pen that was already in the family home. The strange ransom amount also aroused suspicion.

Police also claimed that John and Patsy were reluctant to co-operate with police enquiries. However, the family have rebuked this, saying they didn’t want to become scapegoats and that police needed to do a full investigation.

Both John and Patsy, as well as their son Burke, who was nine at the time of the murder, were questioned by police. They also had to submit handwriting samples to prove they had not written the note. While John and Burke were cleared, Patsy’s handwriting sample was inconclusive – however, there was no evidence to support the theory she had written the note.

No members of the Ramsey family were ever officially named as suspects by authorities, and in 2000, John and Patsy released The Death of Innocence about their daughter’s killing, staunchly denying they were involved.

In 2008, fresh tests on JonBenét's clothing found DNA which pointed towards an "unexplained third party" in her death. This lead Boulder district attorney Mary Lacy to clear the Ramsey family of any involvement, claiming the family were "also victims of this crime". The Ramseys’ being cleared came two years after Patsy died from ovarian cancer.

Burke has also maintained his innocence; in 2008, he sat down with American talk show host Dr Phil and described how he had grown up as part of a loving family.

There was physical evidence that pointed to it being an intruder who killed JonBenét; as well as the new DNA evidence, there was a boot print found next to her body, and a broken window in the basement, which suggested a break in.

In 2006, the schoolteacher John Mark Karr, who was living in Thailand, confessed to JonBenét's murder. Karr, who was also connected to child pornography charges in the US at the time, claimed to have drugged the child, before sexually assaulting her. Karr claimed that he killed her by accident.

However, many of Karr’s claims were quickly disproven under scrutiny; JonBenét’s autopsy showed she wasn’t drugged, and Karr's DNA did not match any found on the body. The only details Karr gave around the case were those already in the public domain, and his confession was quickly discredited.

In more recent years, the convicted sex offender Gary Oliva has emerged as a suspect. In 2016, he was arrested after he was found to be using public WiFi to upload images of children being sexually abused. He also had several images of JonBenét – including 19 pictures of her autopsy that had previously been leaked to the press.

While serving a 10-year sentence (he was released on parole earlier this year),

Oliva wrote to a school friend, Michael Vail, claiming he killed JonBenét.

In 2019, he wrote: “I never loved anyone like I did JonBenét and yet I let her slip and her head bashed in half and I watched her die. It was an accident. Please believe me. She was not like the other kids.”

Oliva was living in Boulder at the time of the murder, just 13 houses away from the Ramsey family.

Vail also claims Oliva rang him on the night JonBenét was murdered before her death was made public, claiming he had “hurt a little girl”. While Vail reported the phone call to the Boulder authorities twice, he claimed they never responded.

Oliva’s DNA did not match that found on JonBenét's body – but his handwriting is thought to be similar to that on the ransom notes. Despite developments, Oliva has never faced charges related to the case.

Boulder police reopened the case in 2010, and have since claimed to reviewed more than “21,000 tips, over 1,000 interviews conducted across 17 states and two foreign countries, and samples from more than 200 different individuals, including handwriting, DNA, fingerprints, and shoeprints.”

The case file consists of nearly 2,500 pieces of evidence and roughly 40,000 reports, with more than one million pages documenting the investigation.

'Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey?' is available to watch on Netflix now