Netflix documentary director JonBenét Ramsey reveals who he believes was behind the six-year-old beauty queen’s murder – and why her family is innocent

The director of Netflix’s new JonBenét Ramsey documentary has revealed why he believes the murdered six-year-old’s family are innocent – and who might be behind the mystery.

American documentary filmmaker Joe Berlinger spoke about his own thoughts on the 1996 Colorado murder after directing “Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey.” The film targets detectives for botching the investigation and the media for portraying the girl’s family as prime suspects.

The six-year-old beauty pageant princess was reported missing after her family found a ransom note in her Boulder home on Dec. 26, 1996, demanding $118,000 for the child’s return.

The child’s body was later found by her father in the basement of the family’s plush home, brutally beaten and strangled.

Speaking to the New York Post, Joe said, “I firmly believe that the Ramsey family is innocent.” And I also firmly believe that this case can be solved if the Boulder police finally do what they do should do.”

He added that he believes all suspects should be “put back on the table” as many “likely suspects” were ruled out at this point due to the faulty DNA analysis.

However, he acknowledged that the Ramsey family should also undergo DNA testing again as they would like to help.

Grieving father John Ramsey, 80, took part in the Netflix documentary in the hope that it could find answers to his daughter’s murder case.

The director of Netflix’s new three-part documentary JonBenét Ramsey, American documentarian Joe Berlinger (pictured), believes the family of the murdered six-year-old is innocent

Joe said: “John Ramsey agreed to sit down with us, didn’t ask for payment and wasn’t paid – we don’t pay our subjects – and didn’t ask for any editorial input.”

“No questions were off limits. To me, this is an 80-year-old man who… wants to solve this case. “It’s just unthinkable that the family had anything to do with it.”

Joe told the publication that he believes a burglar entered the home and murdered the little girl, calling that “a much more plausible scenario.”

JonBenét was found brutally beaten and strangled to death and was charged with murder, but no one was ever prosecuted and the case remains unsolved.

The details of the crime and the video footage of JonBenét at her beauty pageants made the case one of the most famous criminal cases in the United States.

She was crowned Little Miss Colorado, Little Miss Charlevoix, Colorado State All-Star Kids Cover Girl and National Tiny Miss Beauty.

The mystery sparked a series of true crime books and television specials.

The district attorney at the time of JonBenét’s death said her parents were under “suspicion” from an early age.

The six-year-old beauty pageant princess was reported missing after her family found a ransom note in her Boulder home on Dec. 26, 1996, demanding $118,000 for the child’s return

Grieving father John Ramsey, 80, took part in the Netflix documentary in the hope that it could find answers to his daughter’s murder case

Theorists have also questioned whether her son Burke, who was nine at the time of JonBenet’s death, accidentally killed his sister in a moment of anger and his parents covered it up.

But tests in 2008 of newly discovered DNA on her clothing suggested an “unidentified third party” was involved in her murder, rather than her parents or Burke.

That prompted former District Attorney Mary Lacy to clear the Ramseys of any involvement two years after mother Patsy died of ovarian cancer in 2006, calling the couple “victims of this crime.”

Investigators had identified additional suspects and developed a theory that one or more intruders had entered the house and killed the pageant princess.

The suspects included convicted pedophile Gary Oliva, who allegedly confessed to the murder.

Others included Ramsey’s housekeeper and the man who portrayed Santa Claus at a Christmas party the boy attended.

In 2006, officials announced that another suspect, John Mark Karr, had been arrested in Bangkok, Thailand.

He allegedly told an American investigator that he had drugged JonBenét and sexually abused her before accidentally killing her.

JonBenet was crowned Little Miss Colorado, Little Miss Charlevoix, Colorado State All-Star Kids Cover Girl and National Tiny Miss Beauty

The three-part documentary attempts to solve one of the most tragic cold cases in US criminal history

The pageant star’s cause of death was “asphyxia due to strangulation combined with traumatic brain injury,” meaning she had been suffocated and beaten

But prosecutors dropped the investigation after DNA tests failed to link him to the crime scene.

The investigation is ongoing. Police and officials in Boulder said in December 2021 that they had processed 1,500 pieces of evidence and analyzed nearly 1,000 DNA samples in their hunt for the killer.

Investigators have digitized all samples of handwriting, fingerprints and shoe prints collected over the years and regularly check for DNA matches in hopes of solving the case.

But Papa John has questioned whether they are doing their job properly. In May 2022, he asked an outside agency to take over DNA testing in the case.

The new series combines archival footage of JonBenét happily running around the family home and the frantic recording of mother Patsy’s 911 call announcing that her “daughter is gone.”

The show, which airs from November 25, focuses on police mistakes, including the failure to secure the home and the possible removal of evidence.

It includes an interview with Burke, who describes the Ramseys as “just a normal family” before the fateful Christmas.

The trailer shows 80-year-old father John remembering how the “unbelievable” tragedy unfolded.

The crime scene in the Ramseys’ plush home in Colorado after the murder of their six-year-old

The Ramsey family is pictured in a vacation photo from December 1993. (L-R) JonBenét, John, Patsy and Burke Ramsey

It also includes commentary from a person involved in the case who said: “We excluded people for the wrong reasons.”

“Everyone should be back at the table.” “You have to go deeper,” says the person.

The show also examines whether Patsy, a former beauty queen herself, made JonBenet a target for predators by encouraging her to dress up for her beauty pageants.

She was buried in Marietta, Georgia, next to her mother and half-sister, Elizabeth Ramsey, who died in a car accident in 1992.

Director Joe Berlinger says the series is aimed at those who “played armchair detectives for three decades, often callously pointing fingers at the very people who had suffered such unimaginable loss.”

He added: “Through unprecedented access and a comprehensive, multi-year investigation, we are uncovering the serious flaws in the original handling of the case that led to a sea of ​​conspiracy theories that nearly destroyed the Ramsey family a second time.”

Dionne Waugh, a spokeswoman for the Boulder Police Department, declined to comment on an “open and ongoing investigation.” Anyone with information about the killing should call the hotline at 303-441-1974, she said.

Shannon Carbone, a spokeswoman for the Boulder district attorney’s office, said a recent case review was “helpful” and that investigators “continued to make progress in this tragic case.”

“The overall goal is to look at the facts and evidence with fresh eyes and an open mind, armed with the latest developments in forensic science,” Carbone told DailyMail.com.