1999 Flashback

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_912274,00.html

Rocky Mountain News

When 'the system' falls short

Ex-investigator for Ramseys says case has eroded his belief in DA, cops, media, PR people, 'the entire cast of characters'

By Charlie Brennan, News Staff Writer

December 18, 2001

CORRECTION
Attorney L. Lin Wood should have been given the opportunity to respond to accusatory comments about his conduct reported in this story. Wood told the News after the story appeared that the statements by private investigator Ellis Armistead regarding Wood's handling of the defense of JonBenet Ramsey's parents were "totally false." His full response appears below.


Ex-Ramsey investigator's statement assailed

In your Dec. 18 story, "When 'the system' falls short," News staff reporter Charlie Brennan quoted one of the former investigators for John and Patsy Ramsey, H. Ellis Armistead, as saying that he had quit the case because I, as the Ramseys' lawyer, had misled the public.

"By that time, the case was being run out of Atlanta," Armistead is quoted as saying. "The attorney there was telling the public that their investigators had 'startling new revelations,' and I knew that wasn't true.

"I felt it was misleading, and that's just not the way I would choose to conduct an investigation."

Armistead's statement about me is totally false and constitutes a malicious attack on my professional integrity and credibility. I challenge Armistead or your newspaper to find any public statement attributed to me that is even remotely similar to the statement described in the article. [The News, in an extensive search of publications, could find no such statement.] The truth is that I never stated publicly that Ramsey investigators had startling new revelations. I have never misled the public, and that also applies to any statement I have made about the Ramsey case. To the contrary, in my almost 25 years of practicing law, I have always adhered to the standard of addressing legal and factual issues in a candid and forthright manner -- whether in a court of law or in the court of public opinion.

The Ramsey family hired me in September of 1999. Armistead was employed by the firm of Haddon, Morgan & Foreman. I am unaware of any work performed by Armistead on the Ramsey case from September of 1999 until the date of his public resignation from the case in June of 2000.

Based on my review of the quality of the work performed by Armistead and members of his firm, I would not have even considered hiring him to assist me in the Ramsey case. Perhaps that best explains his false and defamatory attack on my professional integrity in your Dec. 18 article.

L. Lin Wood
Attorney for John and Patsy Ramsey
Atlanta, Ga.

Quote misleading

In your Dec. 18 story, "When 'the system' falls short," I was quoted as saying of L. Lin Wood, John and Patsy Ramsey's current lawyer, "The attorney there was telling the public that their investigators had 'startling new revelations' . . ." To the extent that my comment attributes this statement to Wood, it is inaccurate. At the time I resigned from the case, statements were being made, but not by Wood, to the effect that the investigators had developed promising information. My concerns over those statements contributed to my decision to terminate my work on the case. I am not aware of Wood ever making a false statement or in any way attempting to mislead the public.

Regarding Wood's letter to the editor that was published Dec. 19 ("Ramsey attorney assails investigator's claim") and his comments regarding the quality of work performed by my firm, I would only note that at the time I resigned from the case, Wood was quoted as saying that I had "done an absolutely spectacular job for John and Patsy."

H. Ellis Armistead
Denver

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Case haunts DA's aide who led grand jury

Private investigator Ellis Armistead's belief in many aspects of "the system" were shaken by his 3 1/2 years working for John and Patsy Ramsey.

"I don't have as much confidence in the system now," said Armistead, in the first interview he has given in the case. "And, when, I say 'system,' I mean not just the police, but the entire system -- including to a degree, the media, to a degree the police, to a degree the prosecutors, to a degree the PR people, just the entire cast of characters."

Armistead, a 51-year-old Alabama native, was hired by the Ramseys' lawyers to work on the couple's behalf. He quit the case June 2, 2000, one day before the family posted on the Internet a sketch of a possible suspect that was produced by a psychic.

At the time he left, Armistead -- for his disinclination to discuss any current client with the media -- issued a brief statement that said, "I made this decision in light of the events that are taking place in the media."

He offered no elaboration -- until now.

"By that time, the case was being run out of Atlanta," Armistead said, referring to the Ramseys' current lawyer, L. Lin Wood. "The attorney there was telling the public that their investigators had 'startling new revelations,' and I knew that wasn't true.

"I felt it was misleading, and that's just not the way I would choose to conduct an investigation."

Armistead, who still works as a private investigator, voiced somewhat muted support for John and Patsy Ramsey, saying he leans toward believing they are innocent in the murder of JonBenet.

That belief, he said, is "based on me having spent my adult life doing this. And I've been around a lot of nice people who have done horrible things."

Armistead counts Timothy McVeigh, quadruple murderer Nathan Dunlap and the parents of Columbine gunman Eric Harris among his past or current clients.

Even with seemingly "nice" people who were eventually proved to be killers, Armistead said, "There was some pathology, someplace, that you wouldn't need long to figure out."

He said he never saw that in JonBenet's parents.

"I went through their background as thoroughly as the police did, if not more so, and I interacted with them on a fairly regular basis, in both informal and formal settings," Armistead said, "and I did not see the pathology that I would expect from somebody who had killed their daughter."

While defending the Ramseys' character, Armistead was more critical of several decisions made by JonBenet's parents, their lawyers, or both.

"It seemed to become a contest of who could be on television next, and I don't think that's where these cases belong," Armistead said. "I don't think that the clients belonged on TV. To me, it's nonproductive and took away from the focus of the case."

Armistead said the Ramseys' use of paid public relations personnel "was bizarre, to me," and that he voiced his opinion to the lawyers at Haddon, Morgan & Foreman.

"I think I expressed my concerns, along with several other people, that this was not in their best interests," he said. "I don't know that I ever really got a response."

Armistead said that, contrary to what many might believe, he was privy to very little firsthand information or evidence in the case, other than what he and other defense-team investigators developed.

And he learned that much of what the public considered "evidence" in the case, was something less. For example, Armistead is unsurprised that former Ramsey neighbor Melody Stanton, who reported hearing a scream the night JonBenet died, now believes she heard it two nights before the murder -- if she heard one at all.

"The 'scream in the night' thing, I put it in the classification of a lot of this quote, unquote, other evidence," Armistead said. "It became more and more unreliable, as the case progressed."

It was close to two years after the crime that he first saw crime-scene photographs.

"I was surprised about how devastating the injuries were," Armistead said. "It's one thing to read them on paper. It's another thing to see them. I've seen plenty of injuries like that, but I was surprised that these were that devastating."

Other low points for Armistead during the case included the week his own pictures from inside the Ramsey house -- taken after the crime scene had been released -- ended up in a supermarket weekly. It was later determined they were spares that had been stolen from his firm's trash.

Also, there were the unscrupulous journalists who posed as potential clients only to get inside Armistead's office with hopes of somehow obtaining Ramsey-case secrets. One went so far as to pay Armistead a $1,000 "retainer," which Armistead kept.

Armistead said his assignment, working for the Ramseys' lawyers, was not to solve the crime. It was to keep the Ramseys from being arrested.

"I was alert to the fact that there's no getting around the fact that many children who are killed are killed by their parents," he said. "It was not like I was naive. It wouldn't have changed how I did anything. It didn't really matter to me whether they did it or didn't do it.

"I saw my mandate as being to protect the Ramseys. At some point in time, there was some pressure to 'find the killer.' But I was not in a position to do that. I didn't have access to the evidence."

So who did it?

"I tend to think it was someone who was familiar with the house," he said. "I don't believe that on Christmas night it was just some guy walking down the alley that decided to go in there. I don't think it was some complete stranger."

Armistead believes the case will be solved.

"I think some day there will be a break," he said. "I'm in Seattle now, where they've just arrested a guy for the Green River murders. That case was 18 years old.

"Particularly in a case of this national magnitude that has had such public scrutiny, I think the chances of somebody stumbling at some point are reasonable."


Copyright 2004, Rocky Mountain News. All Rights Reserved.

 

Thanks DejaNu

For posting the articles on this thread!!!!!

The relationship between Ellia Armistead and LinWad is particularly interesting. This "b**** fight" took place on the letters to the editor page of the Rocky Mountain News. Once again, LinWad proved himself as a classic example of the old addage: "You can take the boy out of the trailer park, but you can't take the trailer park out of the boy."

 

No Prob, Spade!

I'm happy to do it, and just getting warmed up. I plan to finish the RMN archives tonight and will march on to others over the next week. God knows, there are plenty of articles, etc. out there where LW has shot his mouth off against everyone over the years.

Yes, this was a memorable word-war with Armistead, n'est-ce pas? In one of those other articles, I found DH's prognostications interesting as well. Walking back through the history of this case always reveals long-forgotten treasures. Stay tuned.....

 

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_907050,00.html

No news in John Ramsey deposition

Lawyer for plaintiff in libel lawsuit cuts questioning short

By Owen S. Good, News Staff Writer

December 13, 2001

No new information about the night JonBenet Ramsey was murdered turned up Wednesday during a three-hour deposition in Atlanta involving her father, attorneys said.

"We heard a lot of 'I can't recall,' " said Evan Altman, an Atlanta lawyer working with attorney Darnay Hoffman of New York. Hoffman is pursuing a libel lawsuit against John and Patsy Ramsey.

"There were certain things he did recall, certain things he could not recall, and we took it for what it was, as far as his testimony," Altman said.

Altman said John Ramsey was questioned about the ransom note his wife found the morning of Dec. 26, 1996, before John discovered JonBenet in the basement, beaten and strangled. He was also shown photographs of handwriting from personal items belonging to JonBenet and the family, Altman said.

Like Patsy's deposition a day earlier, John Ramsey's deposition ended Wednesday before the federally allowed time limit of seven hours expired. Altman said Hoffman is staking out his playing field for the trial, and being careful not to betray any strategy to the Ramseys' lawyer.

"You have a theory of the case, and your goal is to obtain evidence you need to prove that case," Altman said.

Hoffman is representing Chris Wolf, a former Boulder-area journalist whom the Ramseys called a murder suspect in their book, Death of Innocence.

In a libel case, proof of actual malice is required. Hoffman wants to prove the Ramseys knew their allegation against Wolf was false because, he says, they knew they were responsible for JonBenet's death.

So while other works have discussed police suspicion of Wolf, suing the Ramseys presents an opportunity for Hoffman to try them, in civil court, for their daughter's murder.

Ramsey attorney L. Lin Wood said Hoffman's two days of questioning were a flop compared with the billing he had given it.

"For years (Hoffman) has been claiming this would be the big day, (when) they were finally under oath and would have to answer every question," Wood said. "He really didn't ask Patsy anything about the 25th or the 26th, and with John, it was a straightforward, narrative questioning. Not probing at all."

Altman conceded that the depositions were unlikely to produce a smoking gun.

"There wasn't anything that was earth-shattering or a major revelation out of Patsy's deposition," he said. "With respect to expecting her to break down and admit everything, we knew that would not happen."

Altman said both sides will take depositions from handwriting experts. Motions to throw out the case or extend the discovery phase should be made in early February, he said.

Contact Owen S. Good at (303) 442-8729 or goodo@RockyMountainNews.com.

 

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_803375,00.html

Tipster provides possible DNA evidence in Ramsey case

By Owen S. Good, News Staff Writer

August 16, 2001

BOULDER -- Police Chief Mark Beckner has asked a state lab to test possible DNA evidence, given to him by an Internet tipster, with genetic traces found in the JonBenet Ramsey murder investigation.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation also will examine DNA evidence from a former suspect in an unsolved Arapahoe County murder for possible links to the Ramsey case.

Beckner, confirming the testing, said so little is known about the source of the DNA that he can't say if it will produce a meaningful lead.

"I don't have enough information on where it came from to even tell you whether it's worth a look," Beckner said Wednesday. "We're doing it just to cover all our bases, and if something pans out, super, great."

It is at least a new lead in a five-year investigation that has focused on the girl's parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, as suspects in her death. The case has appeared to grind down since a grand jury disbanded without an indictment in 1999.

While police figures say more than 100 suspects have been considered, and people continue to be interviewed, DNA testing has "dwindled down" lately, Beckner said. The number of interviews stood at 590 in June 1998 and increased to "roughly 600" in the past three years, according to city press releases.

While the chief is taking evidence of unknown origin and testing it without the name of a possible suspect in mind, he said it is not an endorsement of a so-called "intruder theory." It still examines the possibility that a stranger murdered JonBenet, 6, whose body was found Dec. 26, 1996.

"I wouldn't characterize it as moving in any direction other than investigating the crime and trying to answer unanswered questions," Beckner said. "And wherever it leads us, it leads us."

The tipster, who goes by the Internet name Jameson in maintaining a Ramsey case Web site, said the sample is a "personal belonging" of a man who lived in the Boulder area at the time of the murder. It contains hair and bodily fluid traces, she said, and was mailed to her eight months ago by "someone intimate" with the man, who suspected his involvement.

Jameson wanted written assurances from Beckner that he would test the item before she turned it over, but Beckner had been reluctant to give them, she said. She said he verbally agreed last month.

"I can tell you that the person has been talked about in Boulder as a suspect," she said, although she withheld that name from the police.

Unknown male DNA was found underneath JonBenet's fingernails and in her panties. The Ramseys are not the source.

"I really do think JonBenet got a piece of her killer, and he left something behind," said Lou Smit, whom Beckner has criticized for taking his intruder theory public. "Some day, that is going to catch him."

Smit said he is "really encouraged" Beckner is doing the DNA testing. "I hope that they do more," he said. "It must be worth something or they wouldn't test it."

Beckner characterized the DNA comparison as part of ongoing laboratory tests. "We are still doing DNA tests, and we are doing DNA tests on some things that have been submitted," he said.

Beckner could not say how many other tests have been performed this year. "It's dwindled down significantly," he said. "There aren't many we ask for now."

Sheriffs' detectives in Arapahoe County received a similar DNA tip from Jameson earlier this year, according to Detective Rick Fahlstedt. Testing showed enough of a link that the person was brought in and gave a voluntary sample, which eliminated that person as a suspect, he said.

Jameson said the person also lived in the Boulder area at the time of the Ramsey murder. She also gave the person's name to Beckner. The chief thinks the CBI may have already examined it for Ramsey links.

"Any DNA that's tested by CBI is compared against their entire database," Beckner said. "It's basically an automatic kind of thing."

Atlanta attorney L. Lin Wood, who is representing the Ramseys in three civil lawsuits, said he was "slightly" encouraged by the news.

"I'd be more encouraged if I saw the police taking aggressive actions to solicit new tips and new leads, to take this case off the shelf and genuinely go back and revisit it start to finish," he said.

Contact Owen S. Good at (303) 442-8729 or goodo@RockyMountainNews.com.

 

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_738315,00.html

Lawyer: Open JonBenet grand jury files

Attorney for Ramseys' former housekeeper says public has right to secret testimony

By Owen S. Good, News Staff Writer

July 3, 2001

BOULDER -- In a spin-off case from the JonBenet Ramsey murder, a lawyer will argue in federal court Thursday that the Colorado courts' rule keeping grand jury witnesses from revealing their testimony is unconstitutional.

If his challenge is successful, Darnay Hoffman of New York said Tuesday, it will pick the lock on 13 months of secret grand jury proceedings and leave reporters and lawyers free to dig for answers as to why the panel disbanded without issuing a report.

"I've used the term floodgate and I'm not exaggerating," Hoffman said, characterizing the information that could come from dozens of witnesses if they are free to divulge what they told grand jurors.

Hoffman is representing former Ramsey housekeeper Linda Hoffmann-Pugh, who testified before the grand jury. She wants to include her testimony in a book she plans to write about the murder.

Under a rule adopted by the Colorado Supreme Court, and then verified by the state legislature, witnesses cannot talk about their testimony until a grand jury decides to indict or not to indict, or when it issues a report. The Ramsey grand jury did none of the three, leaving the secrecy rule in effect indefinitely.

Hoffman calls that a violation of the witnesses' First Amendment rights, and has accused then-District Attorney Alex Hunter of abusing the process to seal off the record of his prosecution, and immunize himself from criticism.

"If it turns out a great deal of information was given to the grand jury, which could have led to an indictment and there was no indictment, then should a special prosecutor have been appointed?" Hoffman said.

Though he did not file a supporting brief, Ramsey attorney L. Lin Wood also would like the secrecy rule abolished. But whereas Hoffman is convinced it would help prove a special prosecutor should have been appointed, Wood believes it would show the grand jury voted not to indict John and Patsy Ramsey in the death of their daughter.

"I believe it was a vote straight-up, straight-down, no indictment," he said. "I believe the D.A.'s office circumvented the law by allowing that fact to be covered up."

Hunter did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Assistant County Attorney Andy Macdonald, representing the district attorney's office, said the rule is only a prohibition on a witness identifying his or her knowledge as something told to grand jurors. It doesn't prohibit them from disclosing that knowledge.

For example, former investigator Lou Smit has shown reporters a computer presentation advancing an intruder theory about the murder. Smit fought Hunter to present it to the grand jury, and though he has never said so, it is an open secret that grand jurors saw all or part of it.

"If I were Darnay, that's what I'd be arguing," Wood said, that Smit's discussion of a presentation prepared for the grand jury has not harmed the case.

Smit declined to comment on the secrecy rule.

Also, Hoffman said, if the secrecy law were struck down, reluctant witnesses couldn't use it as a shield against subpoenas in the civil trials growing out of the case. Ramsey ex-friend Fleet White, who faces contempt proceedings for ignoring a subpoena in an offshoot criminal case in Jefferson County, is someone Hoffman would call.

Wood said he would bring in Hunter and get to the bottom of how the grand jury voted.

Hoffman is basing his argument on a Supreme Court ruling striking down a Florida grand jury secrecy law. Macdonald contends it was different from Colorado's rule.

The hearing is 2:30 p.m. before Judge Wiley Y. Daniel.

Contact Owen S. Good at (303) 442-8729 or goodo@RockyMountainNews.com.

 

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_582987,00.html

Attorney asks Keenan to seek state help in probe or clear clients

By Owen S. Good, News Staff Writer

June 1, 2001

BOULDER -- The attorney for John and Patsy Ramsey has asked the district attorney to seek investigative help from the state attorney general, or admit the investigation of his clients is over and charges against them will not be filed.

Atlanta attorney L. Lin Wood, in a May 10 letter to District Attorney Mary Keenan, said the Ramseys "are not asking to be excluded from a new investigation" into the 1996 murder of their 6-year-old daughter, JonBenet.

If the investigation is sent to "experienced, unbiased homicide investigators, my clients pledge their full cooperation," he wrote.

Keenan refused to respond.

"I am not going to be baited by the Ramseys' attorney," she said Thursday.

A special criminal investigation cannot happen unless Gov. Bill Owens appoints a special prosecutor, or Keenan asks for help from Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar.

If that will not happen, "my clients are owed a public statement from you and the Boulder Police Department that . . . the investigation of John and Patsy Ramsey is over," Wood wrote.

City spokeswoman Jana Peterson declined to respond to Wood's letter, saying that it was addressed to the district attorney.

"The Boulder police do not wish to get into a tit-for-tat with the Ramsey attorney," she said.

Wood referenced recent interviews with Lou Smit, a former investigator assigned to the case, who discussed his theory on national television that an intruder murdered JonBenet.

"Many citizens share my feelings and the feelings of (the Ramseys) that the Boulder Police Department is not capable of solving this case," Wood wrote.

 

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_107387,00.html

Ramseys settle with Globe tabloid

By The Associated Press

March 8, 2001

BOULDER -- John and Patsy Ramsey have settled a lawsuit against a supermarket tabloid over stories that suggested their teen-age son molested and killed his sister.

Also Thursday, the Ramseys' former housekeeper, Linda Hoffmann-Pugh, filed a $50 million libel suit against the couple in federal court in Atlanta, claiming that their book falsely named her as a suspect in JonBenet's murder. The lawsuit also names Patsy Ramsey as JonBenet's killer.

The Daily Camera in Boulder reported that the Ramseys had reached a settlement with Globe International Inc. in the $35 million lawsuit filed last May. The suit claimed false headlines and stories in November 1998 subjected Burke Ramsey to public hatred, contempt and ridicule and permanently damaged his reputation.

Court clerks in Atlanta said the amount and terms of the settlement were sealed under a confidentiality agreement.

The Ramseys' attorney, Lin Wood, said he could not comment on the case other than to say, "The parties are pleased with the resolution."

Globe publisher Tony Frost referred questions about the case to Milo Smith, who declined comment.

Wood said he plans other lawsuits on behalf of the Ramseys. He said Wednesday that he will file suit against author and former Boulder Police Detective Steve Thomas by the end of the month "for the libelous accusations he made against them in his book about the investigation and during his media tour promoting the book."

The Hoffmann-Pugh lawsuit claims Patsy Ramsey killed JonBenet and then named her former housekeeper and others as suspects to throw off police. Hoffmann-Pugh claims the Ramseys' allegations in their book, "The Death of Innocence," caused her to be "shunned, hated, ridiculed and held in contempt by members of her community."

Wood, in a statement, said Hoffmann-Pugh turned on the Ramseys in order to make money from paid interviews with supermarket tabloids and a possible book deal.

"Ms. Hoffmann-Pugh is not worthy of belief as a witness and her lawsuit is a frivolous publicity stunt," the statement said.

The Ramseys also are the target of a lawsuit by Chris Wolf, a former Boulder reporter who is mentioned as a possible suspect in the girl's slaying in the Ramseys' book.

JonBenet Ramsey, 6, was found beaten and strangled in her family's home Dec. 26, 1996. Her parents and brother were home the night she was killed.

John and Patsy Ramsey remain under Boulder police suspicion. The couple denies killing their daughter, saying an unidentified intruder is responsible for the death.

Mary Kennan, elected to succeed Boulder District Attorney Alex Hunter on his retirement last year, said the investigation continues.

She said, "No murder case goes away. There are a lot of them that are unsolved. There's no statute of limitations."

 

http://www.longmontfyi.com/ramsey/storyDetail02.asp?ID=23

03/21/02
Ramseys to receive settlement in libel suit
The Associated Press

BOULDER — The former police detective who wrote a book accusing John and Patsy Ramsey of killing their daughter has agreed to pay them an undisclosed amount of money to settle a libel lawsuit.

Ex-detective Steve Thomas, his co-author, Don Davis, and publisher St. Martin’s Press are participating in the settlement, Ramsey attorney L. Lin Wood said. He would not say how the three will divide the payment.

“The settlement agreement is a repudiation of Steve Thomas’ theory,†Wood said Wednesday. “I think it clearly is a vindication of the Ramseys .â€

The Ramseys filed a civil libel and defamation lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Atlanta in March 2001, alleging that Thomas made false accusations about the couple in a book he co-authored and in television interviews promoting the book, titled “JonBenet: Inside the Ramsey Murder Investigation.†In the book, Thomas theorized that Patsy Ramsey killed her daughter in a fit of rage and then tried to make the death look like a botched kidnapping. Thomas accused John Ramsey of participating in the cover-up.

The lawsuit sought $80 million in damages.

Wood called the settlement a victory for the Ramseys and a repudiation of a theory naming them as the killers of their 6-year-old daughter at their Boulder home on Dec. 26, 1996.

Police have said JonBenet’s parents, who now live in Atlanta, remain under an umbrella of suspicion, but no one has been charged in her death. A grand jury in 1999 disbanded without issuing an indictment. Thomas’ attorneys, Daniel Petrocelli and Chuck Diamond of Los Angeles, did not return calls seeking comment. Thomas’ spokeswoman was unable to reach him.

Wood said that the libel claim was a gamble for the Ramseys , who would have had to prove their innocence to win the case. That the defendants decided to pay money is vindication for the Ramseys , Wood said.

“They didn’t sue this case under any false impressions, that it would be easy or worth millions,†he said. “They sued this case as a matter of principle. A man wrote a book accusing Patsy of murder, and John of covering it up, and profited off a child’s death. And win, lose or draw, they were not going to tolerate it.â€

There are four defamation cases related to the killing still pending in court: two on behalf of JonBenet’s brother, Burke Ramsey , and claims by a former housekeeper and a Boulder journalist the Ramseys identified as suspects in their book.

 

Talk About Profiteering, Lin!

http://www.longmontfyi.com/ramsey/storyDetail02.asp?ID=38

11/29/02
Ramsey friend says she sold information to tabloid
The Associated Press

BOULDER — A confidant of John and Patsy Ramsey said she sold handwriting samples and interrogation transcripts from their daughter’s murder investigation to a supermarket tabloid for $40,000.

Susan Bennett, 51, of Hickory, N.C., told the Rocky Mountain News she sold the material to the National Enquirer because she believed that its publication would prove the Ramseys ’ innocence.

It was used in the tabloid’s Dec. 3 edition in a 31-page story headlined: “JonBenet Secret Video Evidence: New Clues Expose Mom & Dad!,†on newsstands today.

Ramsey attorney L. Lin Wood said the couple feels betrayed that a friend would sell information. Wood said tabloids have cast suspicion on the parents throughout the six years of reporting on the unsolved case.

“It’s horribly naive to believe that the tabloids are going to fairly and accurately report on any issue or piece of evidence as it pertains to John and Patsy Ramsey ,†Wood said.

Wood said the information sold to the Enquirer was part of a discovery order in a federal libel lawsuit brought against the Ramseys by Chris Wolf, who the Ramseys called a suspect in a book they wrote about the murder .

Wood said Wolf’s lawyer, Darnay Hoffman of New York, denied providing Bennett with the material. Hoffman was unavailable for comment.

Bennett, befriended by the former Boulder couple through her advocacy of their innocence, said she sold a transcript from an April 1997 police interrogation of the Ramseys , videotapes of a June 1998 police interrogation and handwriting samples from Patsy Ramsey .

“People make it sound as though I turned on the Ramseys ,†Bennett said. “I still believe 100 percent they are innocent.â€

JonBenet Ramsey was found beaten and strangled in the family’s Boulder home on Dec. 26, 1996. No arrests have been made, but JonBenet’s parents have remained under suspicion.

David Perel, editor of the National Enquirer, did not confirm the source of the information in his publication. He said the Enquirer is planning to publish a book about the case next year.

 

http://www.longmontfyi.com/ramsey/storyDetail03.asp?ID=22

02/11/2003
Boulder police end investigation of Ramsey slaying
The Associated Press

DENVER — The Boulder Police Department said Monday it has ended its investigation of the JonBenet Ramsey murder, handing over the case to the district attorney’s office.

Police Chief Mark Beckner confirmed that his department’s only involvement in the case would be to provide new leads to prosecutors or provide assistance if requested.

The decision to shift the investigation to the district attorney helped avoid a lawsuit by Ramsey ’s parents, John and Patsy. Their lawyer, L. Lin Wood, had said police ignored leads about the Dec. 26, 1996, slaying.

“I suspect this is unprecedented in modern law enforcement to have an unsolved active investigation taken away from a police department,†Wood said in a phone interview from Atlanta.

The Ramseys have denied any involvement in JonBenet’s death, saying an intruder killed their 6-year-old daughter. They moved to the Atlanta area after the slaying.

Newly elected District Attorney Mary Keenan agreed in December to reopen the investigation and focus on new leads.

 

http://www.longmontfyi.com/ramsey/storyDetail03.asp?ID=23

04/08/2003
Judge throws out suit
The Associated Press

DENVER — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit against the parents of slain beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey , criticizing police and the FBI for a media campaign aimed at making the family look guilty.

It is the second victory for John and Patsy Ramsey this year. In February, Boulder District Attorney Mary Keenan announced she had taken the case out of the control of Boulder police.

Lawyer L. Lin Wood, who represents the Ramseys , says they have won every time the case has gone to court, including four cases in which he has defended them against lawsuits. He said the civil suits were attempts to prove the Ramseys guilty of their daughter’s murder.

“I think this decision, coupled with Mary Keenan’s decision, should allow the Ramseys to win in the court of public opinion also,†Wood said Saturday. “(U.S. District Judge Julie E. Carnes) recognizes in her order that the FBI and the Boulder police used the media to convince people the Ramseys were guilty,†Wood said in a telephone interview from his Atlanta-area home, where the Ramseys live.

“Pursuant to the FBI’s suggestion that the Boulder police publicly name defendants ( Ramseys in the civil suit) as subjects and apply intense media pressure to them so they would confess to the crime, the police released many statements that implied defendants were guilty and were not cooperating with police,†Carnes said.

Boulder police have never charged the Ramseys in the murder of JonBenet, whose body was found in the family home on the morning of Dec. 26, 1996. However, they refused to clear the parents of suspicion and ruled out the possibility that an intruder killed the 6-year-old.

U.S. District Court Judge Julie Carnes of Atlanta, in a decision released this week, said there is no evidence showing the parents killed JonBenet but considerable evidence showing that an intruder killed the child.

Carnes’ 93-page ruling came in a lawsuit brought by Chris Wolf, a former Boulder journalist the Ramseys described as a suspect in a book they wrote about the murder. She said the Ramseys had defamed Wolf, but to win his case he would have had to put the Ramseys on trial for murder.

“In short, plaintiff’s success in this litigation requires him to prove, by clear and convincing evidence, that defendants killed their child.â€

The judge said she dismissed the suit “because there is virtually no evidence to support plaintiff’s theory that they murdered their child, but abundant evidence to support their belief that an intruder entered their home at some point during the night of Dec. 25, 1996 and killed their daughter.â€

The judge said former police detective Steve Thomas had no previous experience with murder cases before playing a key role in the Ramsey investigation. She said a former police detective hired by the Ramseys , Lou Smit, had considerable experience and gathered abundant evidence in support of the intruder theory.

 

http://www.longmontfyi.com/ramsey/storyDetail03.asp?ID=38

12/26/2003
DNA submitted in Ramsey case
By Valerie Singleton
The Daily Times-Call

BOULDER — DNA found in the underwear that JonBenet Ramsey was wearing when she was found murdered in her home has been submitted by the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office to the FBI’s national DNA databank.

The latest development has left several people involved in the 7-year-old murder investigation optimistic that the 6-year-old girl’s murderer will be identified.

The submission to the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System is a significant step forward in the investigation, says Ramsey attorney Lin Wood, who confirmed that the sample had passed standards required for submission within the last several months.

Wood says this recent development — coupled with news that the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the Denver Police Department are lending a helping hand in the investigation — improves the likelihood that JonBenet’s murder will be solved.

“There was probably no chance that the case could be solved while it was being handled by the Boulder Police Department,†Wood said, adding that the department did not try to submit the male DNA sample while it held the reins of the investigation. “The fact that (Boulder County District Attorney) Mary Keenan took over the case with an aim toward conducting a fair and objective investigation alone increases the chances of success.†That optimism isn’t universal.

“My honest answer on this is I do not know if it’s solvable,†says Tom Bennett, the lead investigator on the Ramsey case for the DA’s office. “I’m only one guy. I’ve been here six months. I have a lot of stuff I have to look through.†That “stuff†includes stacks of tens of thousands of documents that date back as far as Dec. 26, 1996, when the girl’s beaten and strangled body was found in the basement of her Boulder home.
- - -
Little JonBenet’s murder once permeated lives.

Pictures of a young, blond debutante haunted families waiting in the checkout aisle of their local grocery store as they glanced at the weekly tabloids. Evening news reports reviewed the latest leads in the investigation with no avail.

Seven years later, media attention has wavered. The public — largely callused by a barrage of what it deemed exploitation — is granted occasional peeks at Star magazine covers featuring the tragic, prepubescent celebrity.

But JonBenet has become a full-time investment for Bennett, who said he works at least 40 hours a week, knocking on doors and interviewing folks who might hold the key that unlocks the answer to the girl’s murder. In addition, retired Colorado Springs homicide investigator Lou Smit works the case part time.

And while Keenan says the investigation is on the right track, she and her office have tendered a “no comment†policy, avoiding the leaks that some believe sullied the early stages of the investigation.

“Our investigator, with 28 years of homicide experience, is working on it full time,†Keenan said. “In terms of our expectations, we are making progress.â€

Ollie Gray, a private investigator hired by the Ramseys in 1999, said his side of the investigation is ongoing, and that the district attorney’s office has not been in touch with him since a special meeting in July.

“We did provide them with some things that we thought should be of interest,†Gray said. “I’m hoping that they have looked at those things and either disproved or are still looking (at them).â€

Keenan said Gray and other investigators have been fully cooperative with her office. And while details of the status of the information Gray provided are unavailable, she said the public can rest assured it is now in competent hands.

- - -

It’s a 15-foot walk from Keenan’s office to the quarters where Bennett works in the Boulder County Justice Center.

But the daily grind of running the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office doesn’t afford Keenan the opportunity to become fully immersed in the time-consuming Ramsey investigation, she said.

In June, after one investigator aiding in the Ramsey investigation left the case, the office decided that the special demands of the murder investigation necessitated the hiring of a full- time investigator. Bennett applied for the position, which pays $25 an hour, and was initially hired as a contract employee.

Keenan said her office has been frugal in funding the investigation and has managed to stay within its allocated budget. She could not offer specific numbers as to the amount of money that has been filtered into the investigation.

“We’re making due with what we have,†Keenan said. “We have not asked for any extra money outside of our regular budget, so it’s pretty much on a shoe string. I can't give you a dollar amount because we don’t spend money on it; we spend time.â€

Not a moment of that time is wasted, she said.

“He’s very competent, very detailed, very experienced, and I've been impressed by his work here at our office,†Keenan said.

Bennett’s career in law enforcement afforded him many other opportunities to work high-profile murder and sexual assault cases, including that of Richard Collins, who received three life sentences after he raped a woman, then hired teenagers and his prison cellmate to murder her and her attorney.

Bennett was the 1997 recipient of Arvada’s Medal of Valor for his involvement in a hotel shootout with a man wanted in the murder of his girlfriend. And in 2001, he received the Colorado Association of Robbery Investigators’ Lifetime Achievement Award.

Most recently, he has been called upon to assist in the Kobe Bryant sexual assault investigation. Bennett says the Ramsey endeavor has distinguished itself from the others.

This is the most difficult thing I’ve worked on in my life,†he said. “Nothing compares to it. Nothing. Nothing comes close to it. This is mind-boggling.â€

- - -

Tricia Griffith admits that interest in the JonBenet Ramsey murder investigation has wavered. But to say that it has deteriorated altogether is a gross exaggeration, she says.

Type in “JonBenet Ramsey†on the search engine www.google.com and you will receive at least 27,600 hits — or Web pages — about the young girl. That doesn't take into account alternate spellings, like “Jon Benet Ramsey,†for which there are more than 7,500 matches.

“You would be surprised how many people are interested,†says Griffith, owner of www .forumsforjustice.org, a Web site intent on discussing “true crime cases.’ The primary focus of Griffith’s site, like thousands of others, is the JonBenet Ramsey investigation.

Owners of some sites profess they know who is behind the December murder. Others post graphic pictures in an attempt to demonstrate how JonBenet was killed. Griffith says her site is distinguished by the fact that its many members — ranging from business professionals to housewives — conduct research and have gathered limited facts about the case to promote civilian justice.

“I think we’re very dedicated,†Griffith said. “You’ll find that we have a lot of intelligent posters and we're proactive. We try to poke a stick in the tiger's cage to get it up and moving again.â€

That was precisely Griffith’s motive when she requested from the Boulder District Attorney's Office a copy of the 911 call placed by Patsy Ramsey on the morning of Dec. 26, 1996. Her request was prompted by statements made by Wood, who appeared on numerous TV programs this summer to deny reports that Patsy, John and Burke Ramsey could be heard at the end of the tape.

Wood was responding to reports that in an enhanced 911 tape, Burke could be heard asking his parents questions while Patsy repeatedly said “Help me, Jesus.â€

Griffith believes what she heard refutes Patsy Ramsey’s statement to Boulder police that Burke was sleeping when she called police to report that JonBenet was missing.

Wood, who on Tuesday filed a defamation suit against Fox News, says Griffith’s statements are “absolutely and unequivocally false.†The tape is a genuine representation of Patsy Ramsey’s distress and further proves that none of the Ramseys was involved in JonBenet's murder, Wood said.

“I challenge anyone who says to the contrary to publicly release their ‘recording’ and the full report of any so-called ‘expert’ who claims to hear Burke and John on the tape,†Wood said. “I will be more than happy to take the sworn testimony of any such individual as part of the Ramsey v. Fox News litigation and prove that person upon cross-examination to be a fraud.â€

Griffith’s proactive behavior began earlier this year, when she retained ownership of the 2-year-old site. In December 2002, the Boulder Police Department handed the reins of the Ramsey investigation to the District Attorney’s Office. Griffith was immediately dumbfounded by the office’s actions, she said.

In April, Keenan took a controversial stance when she openly defended a federal judge’s ruling supporting the theory that an intruder — not Patsy Ramsey — was responsible for JonBenet’s murder. “That was appalling,†said Griffith, who believes the intruder theory is false. “There was no need for her to comment on that case.â€

Keenan, who issued a statement calling the ruling a “thoughtful and well-reasoned decision,†would not comment on what specifically provoked her to issue public support for the ruling.

- - -

At the seven-year anniversary of JonBenet’s murder , there are no concrete answers as to when or if the young girl’s killer will ever be found.

Wood is confident — particularly in light of recent developments — that identifying the killer is feasible. “I believe DNA will ultimately be the evidence that brings the murder of JonBenet to justice,†Wood said.

The status of the investigation — vague as it is — is as important as any other investigation being handled by the district attorney's office, Keenan said.

“I just think it’s an extremely serious case and we’re taking it seriously,†she said. “But not because of the presence that the media gave to it; because it involves the very violent death of a young child. And that does have a lot of meaning to me, as all of them do.â€

As the Tricia Griffiths of the world make their pleas, Keenan says Bennett and the other investigators continue to work diligently.

Until then, optimism prevails within most of the investigative communi

“I still feel this case could be solved,†Gray said. “As far as if anything can be solved soon, that’s really an unfair question, based on our limited involvement with the internal workings with the district attorney's office.â€

“I think it is solvable,†Keenan said. “At some point I think it will be solved.â€

Valerie Singleton can be reached at 303-776-2244, Ext. 319, or by e-mail at vsingleton@times-call.com.

 

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,78164,00.html

Police End JonBenet Ramsey Murder Investigation

Monday, February 10, 2003

DENVER — The Boulder Police Department said Monday it has ended its investigation of the JonBenet Ramsey murder, handing over the case to investigators in the district attorney's office.

Police Chief Mark Beckner confirmed his department's only involvement in the case would be to provide new leads to prosecutors or provide assistance if requested.

The decision to shift the investigation to the district attorney's office helped avoid a lawsuit by Ramsey's parents, John and Patsy. Their lawyer, L. Lin Wood, had said police ignored leads and tips about the Dec. 26, 1996, slaying.

"I suspect this is unprecedented in modern law enforcement to have an unsolved active investigation taken away from a police department," Wood said in a telephone interview from Atlanta.

The Ramseys have denied any involvement in JonBenet's death, saying an intruder killed their 6-year-old daughter. They moved to the Atlanta area after the slaying.

Newly elected District Attorney Mary Keenan agreed in December to reopen the investigation and focus on new leads.

"We will not exempt the Ramseys from this investigation," she said in a Dec. 20 letter to Wood. But she also told Wood she believed "the Boulder Police Department has done an exhaustive and thorough investigation of the Ramseys as potential suspects."

 

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,91437,00.html

Lawyer for Parents of JonBenet Ramsey Releases 911 Tape

Wednesday, July 09, 2003

DENVER — A lawyer for the parents of JonBenet Ramsey released a tape of a 911 call they made after the 6-year-old girl was found slain, saying it shows police exaggerated evidence against them.

John and Patsy Ramsey were under suspicion but never charged. They have maintained their innocence and said an intruder killed JonBenet, found strangled and beaten Dec. 26, 1996, in the basement of their Boulder home. The Ramseys now live in Atlanta.

Their lawyer, L. Lin Wood of Atlanta, said police had leaked a story that a 911 call made by Patsy Ramsey included a conversation of the Ramseys and their son, Burke, that contradicted their statements to police.

"The idea of this conversation was either an intentional fabrication or the product of a prejudiced mind," Wood said Tuesday.

Police Chief Mark Beckner did not immediately return a telephone message left at his house.

A federal judge ruled in a civil case in April that the evidence was more consistent with the intruder theory, and Boulder District Attorney Mary Keenan, who took over the case from police, said she agreed.

Keenan hired a detective last month to lead the investigation and said her office is consulting with experts and investigators hired by the Ramseys.

 

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,106762,00.html

DNA from JonBenet Ramsey's Clothes Sent to FBI

Friday, December 26, 2003

DENVER — A sample of male DNA found on JonBenet Ramsey's underwear has been submitted to FBI investigators seven years after the 6-year-old was slain in her parents' home, the family attorney said Friday.

"The Ramseys have a lot of hope that the DNA will solve the case," said their lawyer, L. Lin Wood .

The DNA sample was taken from two drops of blood on the garment, which has been in storage with authorities since the investigation began into the child's murder.

JonBenet, a competitor in child beauty contests, was found beaten and strangled in the basement of her parents' Boulder home on Dec. 26, 1996.

Earlier DNA tests on the blood indicated it was from a male who was not a member of the Ramsey family. At the time, the DNA sample wasn't of a high enough quality to compare against a national databank of DNA, the attorney said.

Within the last few months, the Boulder District Attorney's office was able to get a high quality sample of DNA from the garment to send to the FBI, Wood said.

Phone lines at the district attorney's office were continuously busy Friday and no one could be reached for comment.

"I do believe the single most important evidence in the case is the DNA," Wood said in a telephone interview from his office in Atlanta, where John and Patsy Ramsey now live.

The DNA will be compared with other samples in the FBI's national databank to see if it matches men convicted of violent crimes or samples from other unsolved crimes, Wood said.

Wood accused Boulder police of not aggressively pursuing the DNA because it appeared to have been from someone outside the Ramsey family. The Ramseys have long contended that an outsider killed their daughter, and they have accused police of ignoring that possibility.

Police declined to comment, referring questions to the district attorney's office.

District Attorney Mary Keenan took over the case this year after a five-year investigation by police failed to result in arrests or indictments.

 

http://www.cnn.com/2000/US/04/25/ramsey/

Attorney: Police made 'offer they knew would not be accepted'

April 25, 2000
Web posted at: 7:34 p.m. EDT (2334 GMT)

From staff and wire reports

BOULDER, Colorado (CNN) -- The parents of JonBenet Ramsey will not take lie detector tests arranged by the Boulder Police Department because the examiner who was to have administered the tests was not "fair and independent," their lawyer said Tuesday.

John and Patsy Ramsey, in recent interviews that coincided with the publication of their book, "The Death of Innocence," had said they would be willing to take polygraph tests in an effort to clear their names in the Christmas 1996 murder of their daughter.

The Boulder Police Department this month had offered to schedule the tests for the parents, saying the arrangements for the tests met conditions the parents set in a March 23 television interview.

"Obviously, we're disappointed that the Ramseys have declined to take the polygraph exams after very publicly saying they would," Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner said in a written statement. "However, our offer still stands, should the Ramseys decide to change their position."

The Ramseys had specified that the exam be conducted in Atlanta by an examiner independent from the Boulder Police Department and that the results be made public. Authorities had hoped to complete the tests by Wednesday.

The Boulder Police Department had made arrangements for an FBI specialist who had no prior knowledge of or involvement in the Ramsey case to conduct the exams. But the specialist was deemed unacceptable by the Ramseys.

Ramsey attorney Lin Wood said the Ramseys want a "truly independent third party" to conduct the exams. "The FBI is not independent of the investigation," he said.

"I know what the spin will be against John and Patsy," Wood said. "The spin can be created that they offered and refused.

"If there's any unreasonable or lack of fairness in this," Wood added, "it's coming from the Boulder Police Department. ... They made an offer they knew would not be accepted."

Last month on CNN's "Larry King Live," John Ramsey said he and his wife wanted the lie detector test to be "fair and independent and we want the results to be made public."

"If police have confidence in the lie detector test, it seems to me that if we pass it, they ought to say we're cleared," he said.

No charges have been filed in the Christmas 1996 strangulation and beating death of the 6-year-old beauty queen, though authorities have said the parents remain under an "umbrella of suspicion" even after a grand jury investigation failed to return an indictment in the case.

 

http://www.cnn.com/2000/LAW/05/11/ramsey/index.html

Ramseys file two more lawsuits on behalf of son

May 11, 2000
Web posted at: 6:29 p.m. EDT (2229 GMT)

DENVER (AP) -- The parents of JonBenet Ramsey have filed two multimillion-dollar lawsuits claiming a book and a supermarket tabloid falsely accused their 13-year-old son of molesting and killing his sister.

John and Patsy Ramsey filed the suits in Atlanta and Austin, Texas, against the Globe and Windsor House Publishing Group, the publishers of "A Little Girl's Dream? A JonBenet Ramsey Story."

"Here's a totally innocent child, there's no evidence to support the speculation, and the speculation is of the worst kind," the Ramseys' Atlanta attorney, Lin Wood, said Wednesday. "They are accusing him of sexually molesting his sister, mental illness and murder."

Boulder County District Attorney Alex Hunter has cleared Burke Ramsey of any involvement in the death of 6-year-old JonBenet, who was found beaten and strangled in her family's Boulder home on Dec. 26, 1996.

Boulder police have said the couple remains under "an umbrella of suspicion." The Ramseys, who now live in Atlanta, say they are innocent.

The couple has already filed several libel suits relating to Burke, who was 9 at the time of the killing.

On Monday, the Ramseys sued the New York Post and Time Warner in federal court for $4 million each, and in March, the Ramseys settled a $25 million lawsuit against the supermarket tabloid the Star.

In the latest libel lawsuits, the Ramseys seek $35 million from Globe International Inc. and Globe Communications Corp. The lawsuit said false headlines and stories in November 1998 subjected Burke to public hatred, contempt and ridicule and permanently damaged his reputation.

Globe International could not be reached for comment.

The Ramseys seek $11.7 million from Windsor House Publishing Group and authors Eleanor Von Duyke and Dwight Wallington. Von Duyke defended the book and said she was not surprised by the lawsuit. "I kind of knew it would be coming," she said.

Wood said he planned one or two more lawsuits for Burke Ramsey and then would begin filing libel suits for John and Patsy Ramsey.

 

http://www.cnn.com/2000/LAW/08/28/ramsey.meeting/index.html

Boulder police interview Ramseys

August 28, 2000
Web posted at: 12:23 p.m. EDT (1623 GMT)

From CNN's Brian Cabell

ATLANTA (CNN) -- John and Patsy Ramsey met with Boulder, Colorado, police Monday, saying if the police have new questions that will lead to the killer of their daughter "we're here to help."

"We shouldn't have to prove our innocence," said John Ramsey. "We want them to objectively look for the killer of our daughter, and if they have new questions which they say they do which will help them in the investigation, then we're here to help."

The Ramsey's 6-year-old daughter, JonBenet, was killed in 1996 and prosecutors have said they remain under "an umbrella of suspicion."

The meeting marked the first time in two years that the Ramseys have met with police. Their attorney, L. Lin Wood, said police have said they have new questions about the killing.

Wood said he believed the session was an interrogation, not an interview. He said he would be present.

Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner is leading the interview.

Wood said the question and answer sessions will take place in his office and may last up to two days.

The Ramseys smiled and chatted with reporters as they went into Wood's office.

"I hope to answer their questions and find out who killed my child, that's why we're here," said Patsy Ramsey.

JonBenet was found strangled and beaten in the basement of her family's Boulder home December. 26, 1996. No suspect has ever been named, and the Ramseys deny any involvement.

The Ramseys and their son, Burke, moved to Atlanta following their daughter's death. They recently put their home in an exclusive section of Atlanta up for sale.

 

http://www.cnn.com/2000/LAW/08/28/ramsey.meeting.02/index.html

Ramseys' attorney calls questioning 'waste of time'
He's 'not hopeful' about Tuesday's session

August 28, 2000
Web posted at: 9:36 p.m. EDT (0136 GMT)

ATLANTA -- The attorney for John and Patsy Ramsey said that if a prosecutor continues his "fishing expedition" to prove the couple killed their daughter, JonBenet Tuesday's session would be short.

Patsy Ramsey talked to Boulder, Colorado, investigators Monday for the first time in more than two years about the 1996 murder of the couple's 6-year-old daughter in Boulder. The Ramseys have been named as possible suspects in the girl's death, but no charges have been filed.

The Ramseys' attorney, Lin Wood, told reporters that Monday afternoon's session had been "a waste of time." He blamed lead interrogator Michael Kane, calling him an "overzealous, obsessed special prosecutor from Pennsylvania who long ago lost all objectivity and has no interest in justice."

Kane is a grand jury specialist who was hired in 1998. That grand jury was discharged in October 1999, without issuing any indictments.

"We are going to try to move forward, but I will tell you if Michael Kane's conduct and his demands to ask any question in what appears to be an effort to do nothing more than that of a fishing expedition try to find something to say against this family--- if that what happens tomorrow morning it will be a short day," said Wood.

"It was clear from our standpoint that Mr. Kane's goal was to reinvent the investigation, to claim the right to ask any question that he choose to do so, despite the very clear request of (Boulder) Chief (Mark) Beckner," said Wood referring to a letter from the police chief saying they would not be going over old questions.

Security for JonBenet's brother

Wood also said that Kane threatened to leave after he was asked to explain the relevance of questions about security measures for the Ramseys' son. Those measures were set up after JonBenet was killed.

But most of the afternoon was spent talking about security precautions for Burke Ramsey after he returned to school, Wood told reporters. The defense attorney said authorities also asked questions about what donations have been made by the JonBenet Foundation.

Another point of dispute were questions about fiber evidence. Wood said he was refused an opportunity to see the fiber evidence report so he could decide whether to let his clients answer the questions.

"Beyond that, I don't think we disagreed on anything other than the scope of the investigation by Mr. Kane," said the defense attorney. He also said because of the wrangling, Patsy answered questions for only about four hours Monday.

Wood said if authorities moved on to questions in "productive areas consistent with what they asked us to do, Patsy would complete her interview and John Ramsey would then answer questions. "But I'm not real hopeful," said Wood.

Ramseys pleased with morning session

After the morning session, Wood had said he thought the questioning was fair.

Before the meeting, Beckner indicated that questioning would focus on evidence developed in the last two years and statements the Ramseys made in their book, "The Death of Innocence," published this year.

Some of the new evidence has come from forensic testing conducted after a grand jury investigating the case disbanded.

When asked if the Ramseys were the focus of the investigation, Beckner replied, "I don't know if I'd word it that way, but certainly they are under suspicion."

Patsy Ramsey told reporters during a break for lunch Monday that she felt comfortable with the seven-member team that questioned her.

"I feel they're asking pertinent questions. I'm happy to be here," Patsy Ramsey said.

When asked if she thought she had helped, she said, "I hope so."

As they went into the session in Wood's office Monday morning, John Ramsey told reporters, "We shouldn't have to prove our innocence. We want them to objectively look for the killer of our daughter, and if they have new questions, which they say they do, which will help them in the investigation, then we're here to help."

The Ramseys smiled and chatted with reporters as they went into Wood's office and later during the lunch break.

"I hope to answer their questions and find out who killed my child. That's why we're here," said Patsy Ramsey.

JonBenet was found strangled and beaten in the basement of her family's Boulder home December 26, 1996. No suspect has ever been named, and the Ramseys deny any involvement.

Police first interviewed the Ramseys separately in April 1997 after months of negotiations. They were questioned separately again in June 1998.

The Boulder police team that met with the Ramseys on Monday is much different from the team that investigated the murder in 1996 and 1997. Beckner has replaced Tom Koby as chief, and three of the top investigators have left the department.

The Ramseys and their son, Burke, moved to Atlanta, Georgia, after their daughter's death. They recently put their home, in an exclusive section of Atlanta, up for sale.

CNN Correspondent Brian Cabell and The Associated Press contributed to this report.