Yahoo Lifestyle Could the New Netflix JonBenét Ramsey Docuseries Lead to an Arrest? Director Joe Berlinger Thinks So
The unresolved case of JonBenét Ramsey has been the subject of countless documentaries and dramatic television retellings throughout the last 28 years. The latest content about the case is Netflix’s “Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey” — a three-part docuseries about the 6-year-old child beauty queen who was brutally murdered on Dec. 26, 1996, in Boulder, Colo.
JonBenét’s parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, woke up the morning after Christmas in 1996 and discovered a ransom note in their kitchen. Later that same day, John Ramsey found his daughter’s body in the basement, revealing that JonBenét had not been kidnapped but was instead sexually assaulted and killed in the family home. Soon after, the Boulder police, who had little experience in homicide investigations, quickly turned their suspicions toward the Ramsey family, igniting a media frenzy that painted JonBenét’s parents as the prime suspects.
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Directed by Oscar-nominated director Joe Berlinger, “Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey” investigates the mishandling of the case by law enforcement and the media. Berlinger chronicles how Boulder police fed the media false information, which led to one-sided reporting that fueled a national obsession with the case. Close to three decades later, no one, including John and Patsy Ramsey, has been charged with the murder of JonBenét.
For the documentary, Berlinger spoke to John Ramsey, 80, as well as lawyers and journalists who covered the case. (Patsy Ramsey died in 2006.) The doc also features recordings made by the late Colorado Springs homicide detective Lou Smit, who, after JonBenét’s murder, came out of retirement to help the Boulder DA’s office investigate the case. He left 18 months later because he was frustrated that Boulder Police would not seriously consider that an intruder had killed JonBenét.
“No one really has looked at the work of Lou Smit, who I think was a pioneering genius in this space,” says Berlinger. “My series ultimately takes a very strong point of view that the Ramsey’s are innocent and that the police and the media completely abused them.”
Although there have been many docs made about JonBenét’s murder, Berlinger says that he never wavered on making “Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey.”
“I want to do something when I have something to say, and I feel like I have a number of things to say here,” he says. “Most importantly, I think that this crime can actually be solved.”
While previous docs about the crime don’t bother him, Berlinger did admit that the upcoming Paramount+ limited series about the case, which will star Melissa McCarthy and Clive Owen, has him worried.
“I am deeply concerned about that production perpetuating false ideas. I don’t know the [route] that they are taking, but it was somewhat shocking for me to hear from John Ramsey that that production hasn’t reached out to him,” says Berlinger. “I don’t want to knock other filmmakers, but Ryan Murphy also had no interest in talking to the Menendez brothers [for ‘Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story’], from what I read. If you are going to take on somebody’s life and not talk to them, how do they know the nuances of so many situations?”
Variety spoke to Berlinger ahead of the Nov. 25 of “Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey” on Netflix.
What needs to be done in this case to move the needle forward?
The first is that there were a bunch of crime scene objects that were sent to the crime lab in 1996 but were never tested. We need to do that testing. Also some things were tested, but the technology was primitive at the time. Those things need to be retested. But the most important DNA test that I think would provide a really good opportunity to solve the crime is the existing DNA in the case that involves a mixed sample of JonBenét’s blood and the unidentified male DNA — not linked to any family member — mixed in with her blood. If JonBenét’s DNA is separated from the perpetrator’s DNA, then the perpetrator’s DNA can then be expanded and put into genealogical DNA, like 23andMe. That is a new technology that has been used very successfully and has recently become a major tool for solving cold cases.
Is that one of the main reasons why you decided to make this docuseries — to push Colorado authorities to finally take the necessary actions to bring JonBenét Ramsey’s killer to justice?
The Ramsey family have been so brutalized for close to 30 years. One of the new things about my show that hasn’t been highlighted in other shows is the degree to which the Boulder Police, who, from day one, “had a feeling” that John Ramsey was the killer, started that suspicion. They couldn’t get off it.
Did you approach John Ramsey about making this docuseries, or did he approach you?
We approached him. This is not me picking up his advocacy. This is me thinking this would be a good show and reaching out to him and giving him my usual wrap — I have final cut. You will not be paid. You will have no editorial input. He agreed to all of that.
You have made several true crime docs, including the “Paradise Lost” trilogy and “Conversations With a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes.” How do you feel about true crime sleuths who try to solve murder cases on their own?
While it’s not overtly in the show, this [series] was a way for me to comment on the dangers of all these armchair sleuths and people who go down these Reddit rabbit holes. This series was meant to remind people that as popular as true crime is, you always have to remember that there is a victim on the other side. All of these people who are convinced that the family did it and trade in conspiracy theories and half-baked ideas to continue to pound that drum, to me, it’s unethical.
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