McReynolds' big heart made him a popular instructor, said Doug Cosper, who taught with him at CU. The 26-year-old committed suicide two days after a 1997 press conference where the Boulder DA announced that they were looking at a new suspect. Shortly after Ramsey was found dead, investigators pursued a number of suspects, including the 6-year-old's parents, Patricia and John Ramsey but the couple weren't the only suspects on the investigators' radar. All because they thought Burke might be arrested for eating pineapple with JonBenet? He quickly began reviewing the evidence and finding potential leads that the police and public had overlooked or dismissed. Yet, at this late date, we may never know. For further details of our complaints policy and to make a complaint please click this link: thesun.co.uk/editorial-complaints/, JonBent Ramsey was strangled to death twenty-five years ago and her killer has never been brought to justice, John and Patsy Ramsey were prime suspects for years but were later exonerated when DNA testing had cleared them of any involvement, Investigators could not prove whether or not Patsy wrote the ransom note but she was later cleared by a federal court, Gary Oliva, a sex offender, was found with magazine photos of JonBent in his backpack when police arrested him on drug charges, John Mark Karr falsely confessed to killing JonBent in a 'love game' gone wrong but DNA had cleared him, Many people believe that an intruder killed JonBent but it has never been proven by police, Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). The Colorado detective who died from cancer in 2010 had investigated over 200 cases over the course of his career and every one of them had led to a conviction, according to his granddaughter Jessa van der Woerd. The team referred to the database Smit had created to begin narrowing down suspects. Madison McReynolds played Lindsey from Season One to Season Five; Kay Panabaker took over the role in the Season Six finale Way to Go, and continued to play it up until Season Twelve's episode Zippered, via photo, where she's uncredited. Apart from it, how come the killer left no traces behind? Right from the start, Bill McReynolds raised the suspicions on people by the way he was behaving and the things he was saying about JonBenet Bill McReynolds quoted in The Gazette, Colorado Springs, CO - December 29, 1996 "She had an angel's spirit, which is unusual not only among adults, but children, and I'm just devastated that she's gone," said Bill McReynolds, who played Santa at the . By subscribing to this BDG newsletter, you agree to our. He was beloved by many people here," said Janet McReynolds. A local Santa Claus did it. YouTube Yes. JonBenet remembering that Santa is suppose to visit her wakes up sometime after midnight. Bill allegedly had an unusually close and trusting relationship with JonBenet, and easy access to both her and her brother, Burke. | So who is Bill McReynolds? Three months after JonBents death, he brought Smit into the fold. Two days before the murder he visited the house. Former CU professor Bill McReynolds died of a heart attack By Christine Reid, Camera Staff Writer September 5, 2002 The Santa Claus figure in the JonBenet Ramsey murder case died over the weekend from a heart attack. Advertisement. Patsy Ramsey died of ovarian cancer in 2006 and was buried next to JonBent in Georgia, JonBents half-brother, John Andrew Ramsey, said. 1 Trackhouse Racing Team's spotter in the NASCAR Cup Series. His latest book, "Larry McReynolds: The Constant Pursuit of Perfection," was released in 2016. And if there were other reasons for them to worry about it, then it's far more logical to think that Burke indeed killed JonBenet. Letting them go was a big mistake, as they soon layered up and did not get to formally interview them again until May of 1997, five months after their daughter was murdered., The case was then passed to the DAs office in 2002 after the Ramseys said they had no confidence in the police.. The child had also suffered an 8-inch skull fracture, shocks from a stun gun and sexual abuse with a broken piece from the paintbrush used in the garrote, according to Brad Garrett, a former FBI agent and ABC News contributor who wasnt involved in JonBents case. Wait, I meant, this is complete bullshit. According to The Daily Camera, the McReynolds' middle daughter, 9-years-old at the time, was abducted on December 26, 1974, and witnessed the sexual molestation of her friend. Apparently, not unlike in the JonBenet Ramsey case, no one was ever arrested for that perverse crime. The first non-family suspect in the case was a friend, Bill McReynolds who was at the house two days before her death and liked to dress up as Santa Clause. But to this day, the case still remains cold. Stop it already". It also said that JonBents parents would receive a call from the supposed kidnapper tomorrow between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. It was awful, John Ramsey told ABC News Barbara Walters in 2000. She was found with duct tape over her mouth and a smooth cord around her . The revelations prompted police to call. There were other similarities about McReynolds' play and the Ramsey murder that spiked investigators' interest. On December 26, 1996, Patsy Ramsey woke up around 5:45 a.m. and found a three-page handwritten note. According to a 1999 New York Post article, McReynolds was a retired journalism professor. In that particular movie, a fat cat industrialist, his son was kidnapped. Bill McReynolds, a man who dressed up as Santa Claus for Christmas parties at the Ramseys home for three years, was also investigated but ultimately cleared when his DNA did not match that found by investigators. She had dressed up as Mrs. Claus at the Christmas party and way back in 1976, Janet McReynolds wrote a play about a young girl who was abducted, molested, and found dead in a basement. Authorities collected hair and handwriting samples from the couple in the first few months following the killing, but police sources said they did not consider the McReynolds serious suspects. Many sleuths believe that Helgoth had heard he was a suspect in the case, with a popular theory believing that it was his footprint at the crime scene. With everything that was known it really was no wonder. Michael Helgoth, who owned a pair of Hi-Tec boots and a stun gun and had died by suicide shortly after JonBents murder, was also cleared after the team found his DNA did not match that found at the crime scene. Simson trial and quickly gained traction with news outlets around the world. Despite their denials, police continued to suspect the parents in JonBents murder. Indeed, despite their apparently good friendship, Bill McReynolds was cited by John Ramsey himself during a taped interview after JonBenet's gruesome death as being suspect in his own mind. I tried to untie the cord that was around her arms and I couldnt get the knot untied.. Whoever committed it, the crime appears to me to bear the signature of a sadistic pedophile. You could arguably do this whole thing again if JBR doesn't say anything. missoula jobs part time; best fitness tracker for hockey Catherine Willows Eddie Willows CSI Wiki Katie Stevens Morgan Brody Warrick Brown Immortality Gil Grissom Another was Michael Helgoth, an electrician who worked at a nearby auto salvage yard. Cookie Notice Bill was both a Prefect and Head Boy. Bill McReynolds was found dead in his Mashpee, Mass., home Monday by his wife, Janet, when she returned from a weekend trip. Any information that we come up with a match will be turned over immediately to the Boulder [district attorney] and Boulder Police Department, and they will follow that.. Psychology Today 2023 Sussex Publishers, LLC, How to Handle People Who Are Eternally Evasive. Therefore, he very controversially decided not to file any formal charges against the Ramsey's at all. They were in the kitchen, they were in the living room. Following the Ramseys exoneration thanks to new DNA technology, many hoped the killer would eventually be found. People in the community who tell the police, Give them room. Bill McReynolds, a man who dressed up as Santa Claus for Christmas parties at the Ramseys' home for three years, was also investigated but ultimately cleared when his DNA did not match that . (See Part 2.) You are putting a lot of stock in what may be a throw away line by a 6 year old. Why did he even write it in the house? The McReynolds said at the time that the coincidences between their daughter's abduction, the play, and JonBent's death were all just coincidence. It said that she would receive a "special present" after Christmas, and the note was found in the trash at the Ramsey home during the initial investigation. Bill McReynolds had been enjoying life as a retired journalism professor in Boulder, Colo. Then his life suddenly changed after volunteering to play Santa at an annual Christmas party attended by JonBenet. When Haney suggested there might be trace evidence that appears to link Patsy Ramsey to her daughters murder, Patsy Ramsey said, That is totally impossible. One of the suspects investigated and cleared early on by authorities in JonBenet's death was family friend and neighbor Bill McReynolds, a man who had evidently been hired by Patsy to play Santa Claus at the Ramsey family's Christmas parties in both 1995 and 1996 (and possibly 1994, too). Why not bring it with him? He was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2010. She was lying on a white blanket. Pedophiles are highly skilled at finding ways to gain access to attractive children, and cultivating a close and trusting affectionate relationship with the intended victim in hopes that this will prevent him or her from reporting inappropriate sexual behavior to other adults. The presence of pedophilic urges and fantasies could, of course, also have strongly motivated beautiful JonBenet's molestation and conceivably led to her sadistic torture and murder. According to a CNN report in 2006, Trip DeMuth, an original prosecutor on the case, said that McReynolds' alleged Christmas card to JonBent was particularly concerning: The McReynolds were reportedly cleared of charges after submitting DNA samples, CNN reported. McReynolds . He told the Denver Post that when he first met JonBent in 1995 he was struck by her smile, her "pensive, almost retiring" demeanor, and her angelic glow. You're right. But even as dozens of people visited him each day to pay their respects at the hospital, and later in hospice, he never stopped talking about JonBents case, according to his other daughter, Dawn Miller. and take a fresh and unbiased look at the totality of the evidence as it stands right now and its implications regarding the deeply disturbing possibility that JonBenet's murderer may not have been an immediate member of the Ramsey family, as most still believe, nor some mysterious random intruder(s), but rather a close and trusted friend and confidant. My play was loosely based on, or suggested by, a We needed to look back at the family, the people who were in the home that night to determine what motive, what opportunity, what could have caused this situation to occur and eventually be reported to police on the morning of December 26, he said. | Photo: Getty Images. According to The Guardian, Bill McReynolds had written a note to JonBent, as Santa, days before her body was discovered. I wish we would have done a better job of securing and controlling the crime scene on day one, said Beckner. DNA has since cleared Helgoth of any involvement. It's certainly a mysterious, and heart-breaking case that has long raised many questions about the young girl's death. He spent 15 years calling races with Mike Joy and Larry McReynolds before Jeff Gordon replaced McReynolds in 2016. At the time of Bill's death, the couple resided in Cape Cod they reportedly left Boulder in 1998 in order to seek a new beginning, far from where the tragic murder occurred. McReynolds and her husband, a journalism professor at the University of Colorado at the time of JonBent's murder, were at the Ramsey home on December 23, 1996, playing Mr. and Mrs. Claus for the kids. McReynolds daughter was kidnapped 22 years before which caused more suspicions towards him. Marra said that after his death, her family teamed up with some of Smits former homicide partners to keep investigating the case. What exactly were these findings and related recommendations, and what became of them? bill mcreynolds daughter bill mcreynolds daughter. edwin lara andrea mays; luke g jones gemma jones; where was the clue to love filmed; . JonBent's mother, Patsy, called police initially believing that her daughter was missing after a ransom note was found on the staircase. So in this theory, did John lie about the chairs in the basement, or did the killer magically slip out among all the family and LE there? We are just trying to eliminate people from that list and we just figure, if we keep at it, hopefully, well finally whittle it down to one person remaining on that list, said Marra. 2023 BDG Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Over 20 years ago, on Christmas night, the six-year-old was brutally murdered in her own home in Boulder, Colorado. Why write a ransom note? Helgoth was tied to a supposed property. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. As we looked at each other, I remember -- and I wore a shoulder holster -- tucking my gun right next to me and consciously counting [that] Ive got 18 bullets, Arndt said, adding, I didnt know if wed all be alive when people showed up.. The still unsolved case has seen many people come under suspicion as it's shrouded in conspiracies - with some even suggesting her older brother Burke could have been behind the grisly murder. The McReynolds vehemently denied any involvement in JonBent's murder and Janet stated that the couple felt "sensitive to the horror" due to what had happened to their own child. It seems there are only a few realistic possibilities, the most likely, some would say, being that the grand jurors could have been referring to Burke as being the killer, a controversial theory proposed by a recent CBS program about the case. He was born in Donna, Texas, in 1930, and received his degree in journalism from the University of Texas. Because almost none of it is supported by anything - there is nothing to imply that McReynolds was interested in snuff movies, could have hired a killer, that the killer recorded anything, etc. JonBent Ramsey via Criminal Minds Wiki Fandom "I want to be a doctor or a nurse to help people get well." JonBent Ramsey. Maybe that family member enlists a friend to do it instead so that police wouldn't quickly make the connection and unbeknonst to them, that friend is a creep, so things go horribly wrong and turn from kidnapping to murder. Theres a lot of the same verbiage in this note as was in even the note that was written in that particular movie, Smit said in the recordings. McReynolds daughter was kidnapped 22 years before which caused more suspicions . He knew they were at the party and he knew how to get into the Ramsey's home because McReynolds told him. On the very same day in 1974 - Boxing Day - McReynolds's nine-year-old daughter had been abducted with a friend, and had witnessed the sexual molestation of her friend. But why would someone do it? Smits daughter, Cindy Marra, said the interviews firmed up his belief that the Ramseys had nothing to do with JonBents murder. A little more than two decades earlier, in 1974, spookily or maybe synchronistically, on the exact same day JonBenet was found dead in her basement decades later, December 26, the day after Christmas, McReynolds' own 9-year-old daughter had evidently been abducted along with her friend and reportedly witnessed the sexual molestation of her fellow victim during the abduction. 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