Editing Killing of JonBenét Ramsey (section)

==Investigation==
Experts, media commentators, and the Ramseys have identified potential suspects in the case.<ref name="CBS DNA Rules" /> Boulder police initially focused almost exclusively upon John and Patsy,<ref name="CBS DNA Rules" /> but by October 1997 had over 1,600 people in their index of [[person of interest|persons of interest]] for the case.<ref>{{cite news |author=Krupski |first=Alli |date=October 24, 1997 |title=Police cast wide net in Ramsey investigation |newspaper=Daily Camera |url=http://web.dailycamera.com/extra/ramsey/1997/10/24-1.html |url-status=live |access-date=October 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210307224443/http://web.dailycamera.com/extra/ramsey/1997/10/24-1.html |archive-date=March 7, 2021}}</ref>

Errors that were made in the initial investigation complicated the resolution of the investigation and applicable theory. Those errors included loss and contamination of evidence, lack of experienced and technical staff on the investigation, evidence shared with the Ramseys, and delayed informal interviews with the parents.<ref name="Newsweek 2016" />{{efn|A Boulder defense attorney, Lee Hill, commented that: "The public feels that the police have coddled the Ramseys because they are rich and influential in Boulder."<ref name="NYT Bungled" />}} Other issues include misleading information intentionally leaked by Boulder Police in hopes of creating public pressure on John and Patsy Ramsey to better cooperate with police interview requests, which contributed to the intense media attention surrounding the family.<ref name="NYT Bungled" /> 

[[Lou Smit]] was a detective who came out of retirement in early 1997 to assist the Boulder County [[District Attorney]]'s office with the case. In May 1998, he presented his findings to the Boulder police with other staff members of the DA's Office, concluding that the evidence pointed away from the Ramseys. They were unable to successfully challenge the police department's belief that the Ramseys were guilty. The DA's office sought to take control of the investigation.<ref name="KoJB">{{cite AV media |title=The Killing of JonBenét: The Truth Uncovered |date=September 5, 2016 |last=Mills |first=David |last2=Taylor |first2=Janet |medium=television |publisher=Mills Productions for [[A&E (TV network)|A&E]] network}}</ref> Due to the animosity between the police and the DA's office, and the pressure to obtain a conviction, [[Governor of Colorado|Colorado governor]] [[Roy Romer]] interceded and named Michael Kane as [[special prosecutor]] to initiate a [[grand jury]].<ref name="NW No Justice">{{cite news |url=http://www.newsweek.com/no-justice-jonbenet-168028 |title=No Justice For JonBenet |work=[[Newsweek]] |date=October 24, 1999 | access-date=September 30, 2016 | archive-date=February 25, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225125942/http://www.newsweek.com/no-justice-jonbenet-168028 | url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Florio |first=Gwen |date=August 11, 1998 |title=Special Prosecutor For Ramsey Case? Colorado's Governor Will Meet With Four Area District Attorneys To Decide Whether To Appoint One |newspaper=The Philadelphia Inquirer |url=http://articles.philly.com/1998-08-11/news/25727328_1_special-prosecutor-roy-romer-district-attorney-alex-hunter |url-status=dead |access-date=September 30, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161002133852/http://articles.philly.com/1998-08-11/news/25727328_1_special-prosecutor-roy-romer-district-attorney-alex-hunter |archive-date=October 2, 2016 |via=philly.com}}</ref>

Two of the lead investigators in the case had opposing views. Both Lou Smit and Steve Thomas ultimately resigned—Smit because he believed that the investigation had incompetently overlooked the intruder hypothesis,<ref name="NW No Justice" /> and Thomas because he believed the DA's office had interfered with and failed to support his hypothesis of the case.<ref name="Klaver"/><ref name=inside/><ref name= courttv /><ref name=ThomasResignation>{{cite news |first=Steve |last=Thomas |url=http://web.dailycamera.com/extra/ramsey/1998/07thomle.html |title=The Thomas resignation letter |date=August 6, 1998 |newspaper=Daily Camera | access-date=October 2, 2016 | archive-date=November 11, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111215949/http://web.dailycamera.com/extra/ramsey/1998/07thomle.html | url-status=live}}</ref>

A grand jury was convened beginning September 15, 1998, to consider [[indictment|indicting]] the Ramseys for charges relating to the case.<ref name="HP Timeline">{{cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/28/jonbenet-ramsey-case-time_n_2561598.html |title=JonBenet Ramsey Case Timeline: 1996–2012 |date=January 27, 2013 |author=<!-- Daily Camera staff --> |work=Huffington Post | access-date=September 29, 2016 | archive-date=October 17, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161017163903/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/28/jonbenet-ramsey-case-time_n_2561598.html | url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Garnett /> In 1999, the grand jury returned a [[true bill]] to charge the Ramseys with placing the child at risk in a way that led to her death, based on the [[probable cause]] standard applied in such grand jury proceedings. [[Boulder County, Colorado|Boulder County]] District Attorney Alex Hunter did not prosecute them, because he did not believe that he could meet the higher standard of proving guilt [[beyond a reasonable doubt]] that is required for a criminal conviction.<ref name=Garnett />

Mary Lacy, the next Boulder County District Attorney, took over the investigation from the police on December 26, 2002. In April 2003, she agreed with a federal judge who sat on a 2002 [[libel]] case that evidence in the suit is "more consistent with a theory that an intruder murdered JonBenét than it was with a theory that Mrs. Ramsey did".<ref name="HP Timeline" /> On July 9, 2008, the Boulder District Attorney's office announced that, as a result of newly developed DNA sampling and testing techniques ([[touch DNA]] analysis), the Ramsey family members were excluded as suspects in the case. Lacy publicly exonerated the Ramseys.<ref name=ramseyspressrelease>{{cite news |title=Ramsey Press Release |last=Lacy |first=Mary T. |publisher=District Attorney's Office, Twentieth Judicial District, Boulder, Colorado |date=July 9, 2008 |url=http://www.bouldercounty.org/newsroom/templates/?a=1256&z=13 |access-date=July 9, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080801081500/http://www.bouldercounty.org/newsroom/templates/?a=1256&z=13 |archive-date=August 1, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna25608543 |title=Family cleared in JonBenét Ramsey's death |date=July 9, 2008 |website=NBCNews.com|access-date=November 19, 2014|archive-date=February 21, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200221212912/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/25608543/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/t/family-cleared-jonbenet-ramseys-death|url-status=live}}</ref>

On February 2, 2009, Boulder police chief Mark Beckner announced that Stan Garnett, the new Boulder County District Attorney, was turning the case over to his agency, and that his team would resume investigating it.<ref name=bonus/> Garnett found that the [[statute of limitations]] for the crimes identified in the 1999 grand jury true bill had expired, and did not pursue review of the case against the Ramseys.<ref name=Garnett>{{cite web |last=Garnett |first=Stan |title=Boulder DA Stan Garnett: Another perspective on release of Ramsey indictment |url=http://www.dailycamera.com/guest-opinions/ci_24389428/stan-garnett-boulder-district-attorney-jonbenet-ramsey-case |website=Daily Camera |date=October 25, 2013| access-date= October 27, 2013| archive-date= March 25, 2019| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190325195301/http://www.dailycamera.com/guest-opinions/ci_24389428/stan-garnett-boulder-district-attorney-jonbenet-ramsey-case| url-status= live |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

In October 2010, the Boulder police reopened the cold case. New interviews were conducted following a fresh inquiry by a committee that included state and federal investigators. Police were expected to use the latest [[DNA]] technology in their investigation.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/8044818/JonBenet-Ramsey-murder-case-reopened.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/8044818/JonBenet-Ramsey-murder-case-reopened.html |archive-date=January 10, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |location=London |work=The Daily Telegraph |first=Nick |last=Allen |title=JonBenét Ramsey murder case reopened |date=October 5, 2010}}{{cbignore}}</ref> There was no new information gleaned from those interviews.<ref name="HP Kolar">{{cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/18/jonbenet-ramsey-case-jame_n_1687905.html |title=JonBenet Ramsey Case: James Kolar, Former Leading Investigator Rejects Intruder Theory In New Book |date=July 20, 2012 |work=Huffington Post | access-date=September 30, 2016 | archive-date=March 22, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170322235352/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/18/jonbenet-ramsey-case-jame_n_1687905.html | url-status=live}}</ref> It was reported in September 2016 that the investigation into JonBenét's death continues to be an active homicide case, per Boulder Police Chief Greg Testa.<ref name="DC Brennan">{{cite news |author=Brennan |first=Charlie |date=September 1, 2016 |title=Boulder police chief updates JonBenét Ramsey case, 20 years on |newspaper=[[Daily Camera]] |url=http://www.dailycamera.com/news/boulder/ci_30317043/boulder-police-chief-updates-jonbenet-ramsey-case-20 |url-status=dead |access-date=September 26, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190405062646/http://www.dailycamera.com/news/boulder/ci_30317043/boulder-police-chief-updates-jonbenet-ramsey-case-20 |archive-date=April 5, 2019}}</ref>{{efn|Boulder Police Chief Greg Testa stated in September 2016 that "To date, the Boulder Police Department has processed more than 1,500 pieces of evidence, including the analysis of over 200 DNA samples. [...] Our major crimes unit has received and reviewed or investigated over 20,000 tips, letters or emails. Our detectives have traveled to over 18 states and interviewed or spoken with more than 1,000 individuals."<ref name="DC Brennan" />}}

In 2015, Beckner disagreed with exonerating the Ramseys, stating, "Exonerating anyone based on a small piece of evidence that has not yet been proved to even be connected to the crime is absurd."<ref name="Time Inc."/> He also stated that the unknown DNA from JonBenét's clothing "has got to be the focus of the investigation" at this point in time and that, until one can prove otherwise, "the suspect is the donator of that unknown DNA."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Charlie |first1=Brennan |title=Mark Beckner opens up about JonBenet Ramsey case, then regrets it |url=https://www.dailycamera.com/2015/02/24/mark-beckner-opens-up-about-jonbenet-ramsey-case-then-regrets-it/ |access-date=December 22, 2020 |work=Daily Camera |date=February 24, 2015 |archive-date=November 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125025250/https://www.dailycamera.com/2015/02/24/mark-beckner-opens-up-about-jonbenet-ramsey-case-then-regrets-it/ |url-status=live |url-access=subscription}}</ref> In 2016, Gordon Coombes, a former investigator for the Boulder County District Attorney's office, also questioned total absolution of the Ramseys, stating, "We all shed DNA all the time within our skin cells. It can be deposited anywhere at any time for various reasons, reasons that are benign. To clear somebody just on the premise of touch DNA, especially when you have a situation where the crime scene wasn't secure at the beginning ... really is a stretch."<ref name="NYP Morabito">{{cite news |author=Morabito |first=Andrea |date=September 12, 2016 |title=JonBenét Ramsey series questions key DNA evidence |newspaper=New York Post |url=https://nypost.com/2016/09/12/jonbenet-ramsey-series-questions-key-dna-evidence/ |url-status=live |access-date=September 28, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111231359/https://nypost.com/2016/09/12/jonbenet-ramsey-series-questions-key-dna-evidence/ |archive-date=November 11, 2020}}</ref> Steven E. Pitt, a [[forensic psychiatrist]] hired by Boulder authorities, said, "Lacy's public exoneration of the Ramseys was a big slap in the face to Chief Beckner and the core group of detectives who had been working on the case for years."<ref name="Time Inc."/>