48 Hours Correspondent Erin Moriarty and Producer Mary Murphy discuss the cold case of JonBenét Ramsey, who was murdered at home when she was just six years old. They discuss 48 Hours' decades long reporting, false leads on suspects, and a new interview with JonBenét's father, who believes genetic genealogy could identify the killer. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What is the JonBenét Ramsey case about?
But first, I want to remind you guys, if you have not listened to the 48 Hours episode yet, you can find the full audio version just below this episode on your podcast feed. So go and take a listen and then come on back so you can join our discussion. All right. Erin, like I said, you've been covering this case for over two decades.
You first spoke to JonBenet's parents, Jon and Patsy Ramsey, back in 2002. That was just six years after JonBenet was murdered. And it was a really interesting time. The murder was rife with speculation and conspiracy theories and the Ramseys were right in the middle of that. Why do you think they were so willing to talk to 48 Hours?
Well, in a way, in 2002, 48 Hours and the team that I worked with, we were a bit of outliers because they actually did polls back then and showed that most people in America thought that John and Patsy Ramsey had something to do with it. But we had really been looking at the real facts, not the rumors, not the things that appeared in the tabloids. And we were really open to the idea.
There was a lot of evidence pointing to the fact that an intruder could have come in the home. And so they opened their doors to us and we got incredible access. You know, at that time, Patsy was undergoing chemotherapy again, you know, her cancer had come back. And she took us and showed us her paintings that showed great pain.
And then the other thing that I will never forget, she did the interview with makeup and a wig, as I learned. And then after the cameras are off, she flips off the wig. And there she is. You know what? She's bald. Wow. And it really told you what she was going through. But she also said many times, that's nothing compared to losing a child. I may have cancer, but the real pain is losing a child.
I think that's so interesting because she in particular was the one that took a lot of heat. There was a lot of suspicion towards her and she could have easily displayed all that she was going through in order to get some sympathy, but she chose not to.
She was very, very strong. She had to be. And I think it's because she was going through cancer. There's no question she could have called for sympathy. In fact, what she was most vocal about was finding the killer of her daughter. That's what you'll see in the interview is that she really wanted them to find who killed her daughter. Right.
Why was 48 Hours so convinced that... taking a look at the possibility of an outside intruder was the way to go.
Well, I think there are so many different reasons, including the strength of Aaron's reporting and also her producer, Doug Longini, who predates all of my involvement. And my hat is off to him as well.
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