To this day, questions around the note still arise. They wrote a book, which locked them into a version of the story; they sued Steve Thomas, which could have brought them into a courtroom; in 2004, John Ramsey ran for the state legislature in Michigan, where they now live - why would a guilty man do that knowing the scrutiny to which politicians are routinely subjected? Tracey is a professor of journalism at the University of Colorado; he has made three documentaries about the Ramsey case, is currently at work on a book about it, and has the ear of John and Patsy Ramsey, in whose innocence he firmly believes. It's not like she was a target for a stranger. Boulder auto salvage worker, Michael Helgoth, was named the potential killer by a private investigator hired by the Ramsey family. I've seen many things regarding homicide, suicide, natural deaths, etcetera. Died one day after the BPD announced the suspect list was closing to just one person. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), In 1997, Brennan teamed up with Lawrence Schiller, who had written a bestseller about OJ Simpson, and conducted almost 600 interviews for a book that was to become the most authoritative on the Ramsey case, Perfect Murder, Perfect Town. Judith, a photographer, now lives in Denver with Tom 'Doc' Miller, a wild-eyed, electric-haired lawyer, private investigator and handwriting expert who she met through the Ramsey case. 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. He's a hell of an investigator. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), But the country didn't care about any of them as much as it cared about JonBenet. Helgoth was. He was born July 9, 1970. in Boulder, the son of Russell G Helgoth and Coni R. Nye Helgoth. 2016, that Ollie Gray, a private investigator hired by John and Patsy Ramsey claimed to have named the killer as one Michael Helgoth. He worked for Valmont Auto Parts for 11 years, where he was a mechanic and performed other duties. On Christmas night in the year of 1996 a six old girl named Jonbenet Ramsey was killed and found in the family's wine cellar, long with a ransom note. January 1, 1997: Patsy and John Ramsey appear in first TV interview . Here are nine things you need to know about Ramsey's murder. After this, he moved in with his aunt and uncle in their home that was on the Valmont Auto junkyard property and proceeded to live there until his death. Suspect Michael Helgoth had a baseball cap that bore letters used to sign the ransom note. The total files include more than 60,000 pages of confidential police and FBI records, handwriting analyses, DNA evidence, medical examinations and emails amassed during the investigation and could finally reveal whom authorities believe is the murderer. John Gigax contacted the Boulder DA's office when he discovered Michael Tracey was targeting him, he provided documentation that he wasn't in Boulder on December 25, 1996. They had been called at 5.52am, 20 minutes after Patsy had woken up and found a three-page handwritten ransom note at the foot of the stairs (the Ramseys were up early; they were due to leave for Michigan in their private plane at 7am). I'm on my way to becoming a forensic scientist, as I absolutely am enthralled by forensics. It was a tradition - the previous year she had sailed down the high street as Shirley Temple, singing 'The Good Ship Lollipop'. MEAWW brings you the best content from its global team of However, Olivas DNA was cleared for the murder but was later arrested for possessing child pornography. Michael died very slowly and painfully. Her mother maybe wanted her to become famous, and maybe she was famous on the pageant circuit, but who the hell even was aware of that? For those committed to the intruder theory, there was no shortage of strange characters, though none was ever charged. Police chief Mark Beckner has also said that the crime scene wasnt properly sealed off after police arrived. The case remains open, although private investigator Ollie Gray is convinced that an electrician named Michael Helgoth was involved in JonBenet's murder with The ENQUIRER revealing how police . Michael Helgoth, a man who worked near the Ramsey home allegedly spoke to a friend the night of the murder saying that he would make "between $50,000 and $80,000 that night." Helgoth had a history of violence and sexual abuse. Wise tells me that he was taken off the case for complaining about the police department's incompetence. Even though she was in that parade, nobody knew her. We're talking about a murder that occurred on Christmas night in which Santa Claus is actually a suspect. Thank you xxx. You must remember that this was a man who served in the Army for 13 months, he was more than trained with firearms, and if he wanted to shoot himself and end his life, he would have known very well how to successfully and effectively do it quickly. Any day now, the FBI may find a match. Died one day after the BPD announced the suspect list was closing to just one person. At the back of the house is a public alleyway that runs the length of the block. Michael Helgoth, who used to work at a junkyard, was a prime suspect in the murder of little JonBenet. She was asphyxiated - that begins to explain why there's no blood in the head - and he's getting off on this. window.googletag.cmd.push(function() { / 33.95501; -84.55637. He was also right handed, and was shot slightly diagonally from the top left of his torso through the back right of his torso, midway. He laughs, and points a smoky finger at various details. In 2006, just after Mrs Ramsey died from cancer, former teacher John Karr confessed to killing JonBenet. In her explanation, the letter Awritten in four different variations was exactly how Patsy wrote them. Michael Helgoth. She was named after her parents, John Bennett . }); JonBenet Ramsey the name still sends shivers down the spine. The Ramsey familys private investigator, Ollie Gray blasted the Boulder Police Department for not considering Oliva a credible suspect. She also wanted a loan to clear her rent dues. Last year, Patsy's cancer recurred so aggressively that it was assumed she would die. He would talk to John sometimes just because he was there, he didn't live on the property, he just worked on his family's lot. Michael Helgoth At the time of JonBenet Ramsey, Michael Helgoth was 26. 'No,' said Tracey, 'he's on the side of JonBenet. Her mouth was slightly open, her eyes were closed. He began working at the newspaper in 1998, after writing for newspapers in Mesa, Ariz., and Twin Falls, Idaho, and The Associated Press in Salt Lake City. pg.acq.push(function() { He showcases them proudly. The handwriting on the note matched Patsy's handwriting. In 1996, 804 children were murdered in America. I'm not saying it coloured his objectivity, but it certainly lends itself to that appearance.'. She was lying down, and shot in profile. 'It haunts a lot of people,' she says. She was dressed up 'as Little Miss Christmas, or something like that'. eventAction: 'click_image_ads' The geography of the house was so complicated you'd have to be extremely familiar with it to know which was JonBenet's room and how to get to the basement. The death of Michael Helgoth was ruled a suicide by police. It was a combination of voyeurism, resentment, anger, irrationality, a cultural viciousness. Just before one o'clock Detective Linda Arndt dispatched John Ramsey and his friend Fleet White to search the house again. DNA evidence cleared both him and the boot, and no traces of him were in that house. His killer had to have known how to enter the house, where they could find Michael, and how to catch him off-guard or in a vulnerable state. During the investigation, enforcement officials declared that Patsy and her husband were under an umbrella of suspicion and the two constantly defended their innocence for the next 10 years. 'I can make the whole argument - it came from the factory, it came from the cleaners, it came from the pants being placed in a hamper with other clothes that had other foreign DNA on them - it could have come from any number of places. I also read that Helgoth had some kind of a property dispute with the Ramseys and like to dress up as a ninja and break into homes. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), if(document.querySelector("#google_image_div")){ In her youth, Patsy had been crowned Miss West Virginia, and so had her sister Pam. Indeed, some effort has been made to claim that it no longer exists at all. A high metal fence now cuts across the front lawn of 749 15th Street, and fortifies the entire property. 'I'll bet you a nice steak dinner and a good bottle of wine that they have a bunch of evidence they have never processed. 'It's a sickening, sickening, sickening thing!' 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.. He graduated from Boulder High School in 1989 (Google search him and you'll find his senior yearbook photos), then joined the U.S. Army, serving 13 months, and was trained to handle firearms and grenades. His chest cavity was filled with blood. . The really interesting stuff about Helgoth was how he died. window.googletag.pubads().addEventListener('impressionViewable', function(event) { At some point and certainly in 1994, he had a girlfriend named Chris Vasquez. } Printer-friendly . Before his death in 1997, Helgoth had claimed that he and a partner would be . The case is officially unsolved, and has become one of the most mysterious and controversial in America's history. Police, however, appeared to have made up their minds. He never worked for them, and appears to have never known of JonBenet's existence before her death. Did they compare any handwriting samples when it came to Michael?? }); Olivas high school friend, Michael Vail claimed that Oliva had call him on the phone to confess that he had hurt a little girl. But back she came, the seemingly sleeping child. I believe they may have lived together, in a house (possibly her own? The DA's office called out of retirement a legendary investigator from Colorado Springs, who had solved over 200 homicide cases: Lou Smit. Most of his past is hear-say, people claim one thing about him and then claim another thing especially regarding his legal guardians, but according to his obituary his legal guardians were his aunt and uncle, Doug and Rita Helgoth. Burke's lawyers stated in the filing, "The accusation that Burke Ramsey killed his sister was based on a compilation of lies, half-truths, manufactured information, and the intentional omission and avoidance of truthful information about the murder of JonBenet Ramsey.". In the letter of resignation he sent to Alex Hunter in September 1998, Smit wrote: 'Shoes, shoes, the victim's shoes, who will stand in the victim's shoes?'. JonBent Ramsey photographed by Randy Simons on June 5, 1996. Smit drove up to Michigan to visit her. Another man, Michael Helgoth, was also a prime suspect. They had lived in Atlanta together, Patsy had been a colleague of Judith's then-husband, the two women had been pregnant at the same time. His whole family at one point, even uncle whom he lived with and worked with, have claimed that every accusation against him is ludicrous and that he was a good person. He was thrust into the case after he was turned in by colleague John Kenady, a convicted sex offender with a long criminal record. A known sex offender, Gary Oliva was said to be in Boulder at the time of the murder. He could be found, Smit thought, if DNA evidence was carefully considered. All Filters. I've known and have been good friends with several people who sound like him and he sounds like a typical 90s metalhead based on his physical description, to be absolutely honest. Charlie Brennan is a reporter for the Rocky Mountain News. For many years, Helgoth was named in a theory which stated that there were two intruders in the kidnapping case gone wrong. ga('ads.send', { Remember that Michael was quiet and a private person. Yet, when the case was reopened in 2009, the intruder theory was brought once again as a possible option. I don't know much about this relationship, other than that she had a young daughter that Michael cared for as if it were his own, and that she went against him after his death along with John Kenady -- the only two people who have come out against him, mind you -- and accused him of behaving inappropriately with her daughter (having her in the bed, naked and having her on top of him) which led to her filing a restraining order against him. 'There's a killer out there.'. But the suspect who looked most likely was dead within two months of the murder. I just don't think the DNA is really all that reliable. Police found no evidence to link Meyer to the crime scene and no credible motive for him to commit the crime. Well,' he adds more slowly, 'she's famous now.'. But to this day, the case still remains cold. A long handwritten ransom note was found in . He was cremated and buried in his family's plot in Alliance, Nebraska. Patsy Ramsey's over-the-top Christmas decorations were still in place - red and white striped candy canes dotted along the walkway, white lights around the doorframe, an illuminated Santa in a sled on the snow-strewn front lawn. Meyer was fully cooperative with the Boulder Police Department. 'She wasn't famous in Boulder, you know,' he says. You're just taking more blood out of her. The Boulder Police Department was hit with a lot of criticism due to their handling of the investigation. }); In March 1997, a tip came in about Oliva: he had called a friend on 26 December and sobbed hysterically, saying he had done something terrible to a little girl. He was born July 9, 1970. in Boulder, the son of Russell G Helgoth and Coni R. Nye Helgoth. 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 . I know he's been talked about a little bit on this sub before, but the evidence against him shown in the Investigation Discovery doc (mysterious "suicide" just two days after Beckner's statement/warning to the perpetrator, the taser found in his room, the same boots that might be the same as the footprint found, his bragging about wanting to crack a skull & that he and his partner were going to make lot of money a month before the murder, etc) was pretty jaw dropping. At this point, for the prosecutors, the case was over - it was, as Grant realised early on, an 'unprosecutable case'. He wouldn't talk of criminal activity with John, and even then Michael was never involved in any criminal activity. The Ramsey case has a lot of curlicues - it's still puzzling, even if you think you know who did it. The JonBenet Ransom Note Was Signed "S.B.T.C." The JonBenet Ramsey case has managed to maintain its place in headlines for decades now for one important reason: multiple aspects of the murder . Did you know she could also hula hoop, rollerblade, and ski? underneath. Doug and his brother Richard "Dick" worked on, and later managed, the Valmont Auto Parts junkyard in Boulder, CO. I know everything about the Kennedy assassination - that's pretty obvious really, when you look at the evidence. The day after Christmas in 1996, the body of 6-year-old beauty pageant queen JonBent Ramsey was found in the basement of her parents Boulder, Colorado home. Many believe that Patsy Ramsey had hired Michael Helgoth to murder her beloved daughter or to help cover up. He's on their side. Then Coffman stops and tells me something that became lost as soon as the media frenzy began. There was a connection to the Ramsey case because he had some sort of obsession with JonBenet, (according to a friend). 'This was a vicious attack. The correspondence took a disturbing turn, with Karr talking about his sexual fascination with JonBent. Just one facet of the case, the cord, the handwriting, the DNA - - any ONE area can easily take over a week to study. He does think he was killed, however. if(document.querySelector("#ads")){ Email us at exclusive@the-sun.com or call 212 416 4552. He had spent time in prison for raping a seven-year-old girl in Oregon, and talked about making bacon out of a little girl's skin. hitType: 'event', We are one of the worlds fastest growing Helgoth was tied to a supposed property dispute with the Ramsey family, which many theorize could have. He became furious when he saw news reports of JonBenet's death on TV. document.querySelector("#adunit").addEventListener('click',function(){ But this, too, began to look like murder. After the police were called, Ramsey's father, John Bennett, found . They needed the police to co-operate, and now that the police files have been handed over to the DA's office, they need the DA to co-operate. Todd Fuss' imprisoned wife Bernice Johnson turned him in as their kid was allegedly a part of the same pageants. I think they have reports that basically prove that the Ramseys are innocent. Michael Landon Helgoth (1970-1997) had no criminal record and no documented history of violence. Part of Karrs twisted confession involved diary entries written about crime in which Karr describes strangling JonBent as a love game gone wrong. Tracey's voice became background noise. Maybe he knew something others didn't. John and other family members were cleared of suspicion through a handwriting test, but police couldnt conclusively determine if Patsy wrote the letter. hitType: 'event', Disclaimer: Piggybacking off my other post. A stun gun like the one police believed left two marks on JonBenet's lower back . It's not known when Michael and his family moved down to Boulder considering they had family down there, but I assume it was in the mid-70's considering his first youngest sister, Catherine, was born in Kimball as well on December 20th, 1973 and his second youngest sister, Kimberly (who died of cancer at age 21 on October 8th, 1998; a month before her 22nd birthday) was born on November 28th, 1976 in Boulder, CO. Not much is known about his childhood, other than the fact that he was brought up well. If you looked closely, there were marks on the child's back and neck that were consistent with the use of a stun gun. Gradually, the whole hidden flip side comes into view - the English country scene is replaced by a fleeting kind of zoo. . 10 possible suspects from the heartbreaking unsolved case that remains a mystery. 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