Burke Ramsey, the brother of murdered child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey, has called for fresh testing of unidentified DNA evidence from the 1996 investigation, saying it offers the best chance of finally catching her killer.
Speaking in his first major interview for a decade, the now 39-year-old told the Daily Mail that the DNA found beneath his sister's fingernails did not match any family member. 'We need to find that match. It's the best evidence we have,' he said. 'It was underneath her fingernails and it didn't match any of us. It's probably the person who did it, you know, and it's the best chance we have to solve this.'
Evidence in Police Lock-up
Burke, who was nine when his six-year-old sister was killed, wants the samples examined by more laboratories using modern forensic technology. He admitted he finds it difficult to study the finer details of the case because of the emotional toll it takes.
'They need to send those samples to different labs again and keep testing,' he said. 'Find the match. That will go a long way to bringing justice. It's been 30 years and enough is enough.'
The 1996 Murder
JonBenet was found dead in the basement of her family's home in Boulder, Colorado, on December 26, 1996. She had suffered a severe skull fracture and been strangled with a cord tightened using part of a broken paintbrush. Her mother, Patsy, had called police that morning after discovering a lengthy ransom note demanding $118,000 and finding her daughter missing from her bedroom.
Despite officers attending the property, it was around seven hours before her father, John, discovered her body in a basement wine cellar. The investigation soon became one of America's most notorious unsolved murder cases, with intense scrutiny falling on the Ramsey family.
DNA Evidence and Investigation Status
The ransom note, written using materials from inside the house, attracted particular attention because the amount demanded was extremely close to a bonus John had received through his work. But DNA recovered from JonBenet's clothing and beneath her fingernails did not match members of her immediate family.
In 2008, Boulder County district attorney Mary Lacy wrote to John saying the family should no longer be considered under suspicion, although other officials subsequently questioned that decision. The unidentified DNA has never led investigators to a killer and its significance remains disputed. Some samples are extremely small or contain genetic material from multiple people, making it difficult to establish whose DNA is present and how it got there.
Burke, however, is adamant that the evidence points away from his family. 'The DNA says we didn't do it. I know none of my family did it,' he said. 'I didn't do it. You know, it's like, stop. There was this energy looking at the family, but the DNA is sitting right there.'
Renewed Interest Ahead of 30th Anniversary
Boulder Police insist the investigation remains open and active, and say that detectives have continued testing evidence as forensic technology improves. In an update last December, the force confirmed it had conducted fresh interviews, collected new evidence and retested existing material. Police chief Stephen Redfearn has also told ABC News that his department is in discussions with laboratories about forensic genetic genealogy, a technique that can help identify people through DNA matches with relatives.
Whether the evidence in JonBenet's case is suitable for such testing remains an important question. Burke told the Daily Mail that he would happily do whatever he could in order to help investigators. He said: 'I'm an open book. I've told everybody everything I know. And if I can help in any way, I'm all ears.'
The interview comes amid renewed interest in the case ahead of its 30th anniversary next month. A new Diane Sawyer investigation aired on ABC on Friday, while Netflix will release an eight-part drama on December 10, starring Melissa McCarthy as Patsy and Clive Owen as John.
Burke admitted that each new wave of publicity brings back painful memories, although he hopes it might eventually help solve the murder. 'It's the most tragic, personal, awful thing to happen in my life… that anybody could imagine happening to them,' he said. 'And it's tough to have it come up every ten years or so. It just brings all that pain back, you know. But I want this solved. So if this helps get this solved then OK, that's fine.'
Their mother Patsy died from ovarian cancer in 2006, aged 49, while Burke has largely kept out of the public eye since appearing on the popular CBS talk show Dr. Phil back in 2016. He now works from home as a software engineer in Michigan, where he has built a quiet life away from the attention surrounding his sister's death.
And while much of the world remembers JonBenet for her elaborate beauty pageant costumes, Burke's memories are rather more ordinary. 'Everyone focuses on the pageants and stuff. But that was only a small part of JonBenet's life,' he said. 'She had a lot more to her than that. To me, she was just a normal sister who would slide down hills on boxes with me. We'd play in water together. Very normal stuff.'
