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JonBenet Ramsey Intruder Theory Clues Inexplicably Point Two Ways

One of the cool elements of the CBS docu-series The Case Of: JonBenét Ramsey is the investigative team's efforts inside a replica of the Ramsey family's Boulder, Colorado home, which has been built out in a 50,000-square-foot warehouse. It contains to-scale models of "key rooms" in the murder investigation, including the basement where Ramsey was eventually found and the window through which some believe an intruder entered the house. The show's trailer depicts investigators speculating whether or not they believed someone could fit through the window in question. JonBenét Ramsey intruder theories that have popped up since the 1996 murder, however, inexplicably point both toward an unknown intruder murdering her and away from the idea, pointing to someone in the house instead.

John, Patsy, and Burke Ramsey have never been charged in the case, and DNA evidence exonerated them in 2008. But many still believe someone in the Ramsey family is responsible for the six-year-old's murder and that the whole family worked together to stage the crime as a kidnapping in an effort to throw investigators off the scent. Regarding these allegations, family attorney, L. Lin Wood had the following to say in a statement to Romper:

In terms of the accusations against John and Patsy Ramsey, the Boulder DistrictAttorney, Mary Lacy, publicly exonerated them in 2008 based on irrefutable DNA evidence. She apologized to the family and assured them that in the future, they would be correctly treated as victims. The days of Ramsey accusations should have ended then and there.

The focal point of the intruder theory is the broken window in the basement. The glass inside a window well was found broken, with evidence that it had been slid opened and closed, and debris from outside tracked into the house. A shard of wood found on JonBenét's body also matched a baseball bat found hidden in the bushes outside. Finally, a shoe print found outside the house didn't match any shoes owned by the Ramsey family members.

The problem is that John Ramsey admitted to having previously locked himself out of the house one day, breaking a basement window to let himself in. So the materials found tracked inside the house from outside could easily have blown in over time, and not been brought in by an intruder on the night of the murder. Furthermore, footage shot by police of the house on the night of the murder found a shard of glass under the broken window, an undisturbed cobweb on the window sill, as NY Daily News reports, as well as a suitcase underneath the window, presumably used by someone to hoist themselves back out. While one could argue that the suitcase was staged, and that the presence of the cobweb and the piece of glass indicate that no one actually climbed through, a shard of glass seems to be proof someone kicked their way in.

The evidence is definitely confusing — which continues to be very on brand for this case, since no one knows what happened that night. Hopefully investigators on The Case of: JonBenét Ramsey are able to parse through the theories and determine just what happened, and if an intruder was involved.