Quote · The Megyn Kelly Show
Amanda Knox and John Ramsey - Megyn Kelly's "Double Feature" of Fascinating Interviews
Where this was said
The Path to Solving the Case: Genealogy DNA and the Governor
At 2:46:57 · chapter starts 2:44:48
Ramsey outlines what he calls his 'gloves off' campaign against Boulder PD after a pivotal moment: FBI agents in Denver told the Ramseys that government databases and labs are behind the technology curve, and that only a handful of private cutting-edge labs can perform the genealogical DNA analysis that has solved dozens of cold cases. The FBI offered to facilitate at no cost, giving Boulder all the credit. Boulder PD said no. Ramsey then wrote to the Colorado governor asking him to either move the case out of Boulder PD's hands or compel the department to submit evidence to one of those private labs. As of the interview, the governor had not responded. Ramsey is also troubled by five to six crime scene items — including the garrote — that were sent to an outside lab in the 1990s but returned untested. Kelly explains CeCe Moore's genealogical technique in detail: even if the perpetrator is not in any criminal database, if a relative has uploaded ancestry DNA to a public site, the family tree can be built backward to find him.
The FBI told John Ramsey the government doesn't have the latest DNA genealogy technology — only private cutting-edge labs do. The FBI offered to facilitate, take no credit, and let Boulder PD solve the case. Boulder said no. That's when Ramsey decided to go to the governor.
John Ramsey's eldest daughter Beth was killed in a car accident four years before JonBenét. His first words were 'There is no God.' After years of Bible study with a mentor, he rebuilt his faith — and when JonBenét was killed, his belief was not shaken because he had already wrestled those questions to the ground.
If any relative of JonBenét's killer has uploaded their DNA to a public ancestry site, CeCe Moore's genealogical method could build a family tree backward to identify the suspect. The Golden State Killer — a retired cop, never in any criminal database — was caught exactly this way in a 40-year-old cold case.
John Ramsey revealed that 5 to 6 items collected from the JonBenét crime scene and sent to an outside lab were returned untested, including the garrote used to strangle her.
In the first years after JonBenét's death, Ramsey told people he would kill her murderer without remorse if he ever met him. Gradually he came to see forgiveness not as excusing the killer but as releasing his own anger — 'a gift you give yourself.' He still wants the killer held to the fullest extent of the law.
