Yahoo Lifestyle Netflix's New JonBenét Ramsey Docuseries Aims to Finally Crack the Cold Case After Nearly 30 Years
Anyone who watches, reads or listens to the true crime genre knows the JonBenét Ramsey case. The 1996 murder of the six-year-old beauty pageant queen became instantly notorious, not only because of its gruesome nature, but also because no one has ben able to solve it. Even now, nearly 30 years later, the internet is still fascinated by what happened to that little girl on Christmas night in Boulder, Colorado.
This November, the search continues in the form of Netflix's new docuseries Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey? The limited series, which will have three parts, is the latest in a string of true-crime productions that can be found on the streaming platform. But how does Cold Case differ from previous JonBenét Ramsey projects? And will it get us any closer to uncovering the identity of her killer?
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Here’s everything we know about the project so far, including where the Ramsey case stands today.
What is the release date for Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey?
Netflix’s new docuseries on JonBenét Ramsey will launch Nov. 25, 2024, with all parts of the series arriving on the platform at once.
How to watch Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey
All episodes of Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey will be streaming exclusively on Netflix starting on Nov. 25, 2024.
How many episodes is Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey?
The new Netflix miniseries will consist of three episodes.
What happened in the JonBenét Ramsey case?
For those who don’t know, JonBenét Ramsey was a 6-year-old girl who lived in Boulder, Colorado, with her parents and siblings in the 1990s. On the morning after Christmas in 1996, her parents woke to discover JonBenét missing and a ransom note downstairs. Later the same day, her father discovered her body in the basement, where she’d been sexually assaulted and murdered.
Because the murder happened in the family’s home, Boulder police began investigating family members as potential perpetrators. The fact that JonBenét was a young pageant queen—her mother, Patsy, a former beauty queen herself—only served to raise national interest.
“This case would have lasted in regional newspapers for one week if not for two elements,” Lawrence Schiller, author of a leading biography on the Rasmey case, told the New York Post in 2016. “It’s the release of videos of JonBenet in beauty pageants, and the release, days later, of still photos of her in hair and makeup. The tabloids latched on to that. What sustained it? Very simple: The police department said, ‘The parents did it,’ and a DA who said, ‘I’m not going to prosecute.’”
To this day, the case still remains unsolved.
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What’s happening now with the JonBenét Ramsey case?
Now, nearly 30 years after the murder, the JonBenét Ramsey case remains unsolved. Why? According to an analysis by the Los Angeles Times in 2016, at least part of the reason is missteps made by the Boulder police early in the investigation. Another part is the intense media coverage and the pressure it placed on police to come up with a quick answer.
In 2008, then-District Attorney Mary Lacy publicly exonerated JonBenét’s parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, after they found new DNA evidence that suggested an unidentified male may have committed the crime.
The exoneration cleared the whole Ramsey family of wrongdoing—including JonBenét’s brother Burke, who was only nine years old at the time, but had previously been a prime suspect. But that didn’t change the fact that police didn’t know who killed JonBenét. The Ramseys still don’t know the circumstances that led to the ransom note or how the assault and murder happened in her own home.
The DNA discovered in 2008 does add another layer to the case, but the police have not discovered a confirmed match for the DNA. And even if they did, that wouldn't immediately solve the case.
“I don’t think the case is entirely a DNA case,” former District Attorney Stan Garnett told the L.A Times. “To be able to put together a coherent theory of prosecution, you’re going to have to explain the cause of death, explain the garrote, explain the ransom note, explain the circumstances in which the body was found [and] you’re going to have to account for the DNA that was found.”
Related: Oscar Nominees Announced to Play JonBenét Ramsey's Parents in New Limited Series
Who is the director of Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey?
Joe Berlinger is the director of Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey? He aims to examine all elements of the Ramsey case in his new three-part docuseries.
Berlinger was behind Netflix’s Conversations with a Killer, which looked at famous serial killers like Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy and Jeffrey Dahmer. He also directed Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills, which is credited with helping to exonerate the West Memphis Three and aiding in their release from prison.
How is this different from other JonBenét Ramsey coverage?
The murder of JonBenét Ramsey is one of the most publicized cases in recent history. It’s been the focal point of books, podcasts, multiple docuseries and TV specials that have aimed to unearth the truth of what happened that day in 1996. Netflix even already has one series about the case, Casting JonBenét, a dramatization of the story that was released in 2017. Paramount+ also recently ordered a new limited series based on the case.
So what sets apart Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey? According to Deadline, Berlinger’s take on the Ramsey case will “revisit the case with fresh eyes” and look at key details related to how law enforcement and the media initially mishandled the investigation. It will also feature interviews with people involved in the case including JonBenét’s father, John Ramsey. (Her mother has since passed away.)
“Many people think they know the JonBenét Ramsey story and have played armchair detective for three decades, often callously pointing a finger at the very people who suffered such an unthinkable loss,” Berlinger said. “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.”
Netflix subscribers can watch Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey? when it premieres on the streaming platform on Nov. 25.
