It’s been 19 years since 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey was found strangled in the basement of her Boulder, Colo., home, but the murder case still haunts the Ramsey family. In a new interview on Barbara Walters Presents American Scandals, JonBenet’s father, John Ramsey, spoke out about the difficulties his family faced during the investigation.
At the time, prosecutors looked into both John and his wife, Patsy, who later died in 2006 from ovarian cancer, and even at their 9-year-old son, Burke, as potential suspects. The little boy’s face appeared on the cover of several tabloids as the public remained fascinated by JonBenet’s mysterious death.
“Friends would ask us, ‘What can we do to help?’ and we’d say, ‘Well, the next time you go to the supermarket, call the manager over when you see our child’s photo on the front cover and ask them to remove it,’” John recalled of trying to protect his son. “A lot of them did it.”
Though the family members were cleared by the courts, District Attorney Stanley L. Garnett maintains there’s more to the case than meets the eye.
“The Ramsey case is very compromised,” Garnett told NBC News in a statement. “The exoneration gave the impression that the evidence is clear and unequivocal, which it is not.”
After JonBenet’s death, John quit his job and moved his family away from Colorado, but looking back he regrets those rash decisions.
“When something really tragic happens in your life, put your life in park,” he recommended. “Give your checkbook to a trusted friend, avoid making any big decisions.”
