Ramsey Jonbenet

A convicted paedophile confesses to her murder

FOR THE PAST 22 YEARS, JONBENÉT Ramsey’s family have tried to crack the case of the 6-year-old’s murder while defending their own names as suspects. Now, they might finally have an answer, after convicted paedophile Gary Oliva allegedly confessed to killing the pageant princess, whose body was discovered in the basement of her Colorado home on Dec. 26, 1996. An autopsy found the young girl had been strangled after suffering a blow to the head.

“I never loved anyone like I did Jonbenét and yet I let her slip and her head bashed in half and I watched her die,” Oliva reportedly wrote in a prison letter, obtained by the Daily Mail. “It was an accident. Please believe me. She was not like the other kids.”

Jonbenét’s parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, became suspects after finding their daughter’s body in their basement hours after reporting her missing. It would be 12 years before they were cleared of involvement – which finally came in 2008, two years after Patsy died of cancer. In 2016, a documentary called The Case of Jonbenét Ramsey presented a new theory, that Jonbenét’s then 9-year-old brother, Burke, had been the one to bludgeon her to death. Burke strongly denied these claims and appeared on Dr Phil to proclaim his innocence. “Did you do anything to harm your sister Jonbenét? Did you murder your sister Jonbenét?” Phil asked Burke, to which he responded: “No.”

During the interview, Burke presented another theory, which matches the alleged confession of Oliva. “I kinda always thought it was a paedophile who saw her in one of the pageants and snuck in [to our house], who knows.” The 31-year-old filed a defamation lawsuit against the US network CBS, for the sum of $1.05 billion, which was settled in an “amicable resolution” early this month.

The breakthrough confession will come as a shock to the family. The Daily Mail issued a statement, revealing police knew about the alleged confession to the murder, for which no-one has ever been charged, saying, “The Boulder Police Department is aware of and has investigated Mr Oliva’s potential involvement in this case.” •

John and Patsy Ramsey on May 1, 1997, during an interview with reporters about their daughter’s death. Jonbenét was a child pageant princess, winning several titles including Little Miss Colorado.

The Ramseys’ Colorado home, where Jonbenét’s body was found.

Oliva, a child sex offender, 54, has been a longtime suspect for Jonbenét’s murder.