JonBenet Ramsey Case: Child Beauty Queen's Parents Were Voted to Be Indicted in Murder
The Colorado grand jury investigating the death of JonBenet Ramsey voted to indict the child beauty queen's parents over a decade ago, however, prosecutors reportedly declined to go forward with the case, new reports revealed.
The grand jury voted in 1999 to indict John and Patsy Ramsey for child abuse that resulted in the death of the 6-year-old, a Class II felony that could've put them behind bars for up to 48 years, according to The Boulder Daily Camera.
Boulder District Attorney Alex Hunter refused to endorse the charges, as he believed that the case couldn't be proved "beyond a reasonable doubt."
"I and my prosecution task force believe we do not have sufficient evidence to warrant a filing of charges against anyone who has been investigated at this time," he said to reporters on Oct. 13, 1999.
At least one legal expert noted that Colorado state law might have forced Hunter to sign the indictment, even if he decided not to prosecute the case.
"We didn't know who did what. But we felt the adults in the house may have done something that they certainly could have prevented, or they could have helped her and they didn't," one of the jurors stated about the murder.
The former child beauty queen was murdered inside the family's Boulder, Colo. residence on Christmas day in 1996. After serving 28 years as Boulder County's district attorney, Hunter left office in 2001. He recently addressed the grand jury's actions but refused to comment on the prosecutor's decision to not go forward with the case.
"Colorado statutes, the ethical canons which govern the practice of law, and the Boulder District Court's oaths, instructions and orders in the JonBenet Ramsey grand jury proceedings, are well established and absolutely clear with respect to the various participants' legal obligations, duties and responsibilities," he said, "including the inviolate secrecy of the proceedings and the differing burdens of proof applicable to jurors and prosecutors.
"As the duly elected district attorney at the time and as an officer of the court then and now, I must respectfully decline further comment."
Boulder police Chief Mark Beckner also refused to comment on the details of the Ramsey grand jury.
