Suspects Resurface in the JonBenet Ramsey Case
The murder of JonBenet Ramsey shocked the nation and continues to make headlines all of these decades later.
The question of “who killed JonBenet” remains on the lips of detectives, private investigators, and the lay public even though it is nearly a quarter of a century since the brutal killing of the tiny beauty queen.
One of the names that come up early in the investigation among the list of suspects on the list of detective Lou Smit concerned the Henderson family. A recent podcast talked about the family’s connection to the murder.
JonBenet was found dead in the basement of her family’s home in Boulder, Colorado. She was six years old at the time, and her body showed signs of sexual and physical abuse. A major clue in her murder – DNA recovered from her underwear and under her fingernails – has yet to be identified over two decades later. If the source of the DNA can be identified, it would point to the killer and bring to an end the speculation about the many suspects who remain in the case.
Investigator John San Agustin said in the podcast. “I would tell you, in my experience of almost two decades of law enforcement experience, that if there was a suspect whose DNA matched the victim’s underwear, long-johns, and under her fingernails, that person would rise to the top as being a suspect.”
Paula Woodward, a reporter and the author of “We Have Your Daughter: The Unsolved Murder of JonBenét Ramsey Twenty Years Later,” said, “Do I think this case can be solved? Yes. Through genetic DNA, but it has to be actively and vigorously pursued by the Boulder Police Department in terms of trying to track that DNA, and I don’t know if they’re doing it.”
Detective Smit died, convinced that JonBenet’s killer was one of the many suspects listed on his detailed spreadsheet, which included the Henderson family.
Speaking about the Hendersons, JonBenet’s dad, John Ramsey, says in the podcast: “Well, one of the important things to look for is a motive in any killing. And this one person had a potential motive in that the mother, who worked for my company, was caught embezzling a fair amount of money, and we terminated her. And she eventually, my understanding was, went on to another company, did the same thing, and then was put in prison.”
John’s comments are in reference to Sandra Henderson and her stepsons Clay and Cameron Henderson. Detective Lou saw them as potential suspects before he died, but the Boulder PD dismissed the Hendersons from their investigation after one inquiry. At the time, Clay and his dad, Bud, submitted DNA samples that were later ruled out.
“So we thought, well, there’s a motive for a relative, a husband, angry at whomever got her put in prison. And so, there was some interest in siblings. One sibling left town fairly quickly after the murder, went to France and stayed in a monastery for two years now. That’s pretty bizarre. Coincidental? Maybe, but circumstantially it ought to raise some red flags, which it did for us,” John continued.
After recording those words of John Ramsey for their show, Doug Longhini and Dylan Howard, two members of the investigative team that produces the podcast, “The Killing of JonBenet,” decided to take another look at the Hendersons.
Confrontation With a Possible Child Murderer?
Doug vowed he would track down one of Sandra Henderson’s sons, Clay, who still lived in the Boulder area. He found two addresses for him, and he, along with John Ramsey, went to confront him and insist he gives them a DNA sample.
While knocking on possible suspects’ doors, the investigative team arrived at Clay’s home, and he agreed to talk.
“No one’s talked to me about it. My dad… Here’s what I know. Here’s what I know. Logically I would assume they went to Sandra because she was terminated from Access. She was in a half-way house. She had been divorced from my dad. They had had a not so great divorce. She fingered him. She fingered my dad,” he says. “Dad gave hair and blood samples to [the investigators]. They ruled him out immediately. Any deeper than that, I don’t see where you could go with us as a family. That’s all I’m saying.”
Clay refused to hand over a DNA sample to the investigators and says he’s baffled to learn he’s named on Detective Smit’s suspect list.
He can be heard saying on the podcast, “Well, dad’s already been ruled out. He’s already given, he’s already been ruled out, so now you’re going down a second generation to try and find out. Oh well, okay, here’s there could be maybe his sons. So he’s already been ruled out but let’s go further down the list down to his sons. That’s a stretch. That’s a real stretch for even, not just in my opinion, the D.A. or the police, but for any type of prosecutor to try and find anybody to saddle this on because they have nothing. And still have nothing 20 years later.”
Clay’s brother Cameron also agrees to talk but refuses to provide a DNA sample, saying that he’ll give one to the “state” if he is asked to, but not to a group of people he does not know. When asked about his family’s involvement in the case, he says his former stepmother Sandra was trouble and left his father Bud homeless after their divorce.
After speaking to both men, the investigative team leaves the Hendersons’ residences convinced that for now, at least, the brothers should no longer be a focus in the murder case of JonBenet Ramsey.
Somewhere online in all my reading, I came across a synopsis of a book written by one who seemed to be Jon Benet’s father (used a pen name). The Title of the Book was “2 Is 2 Young 2 Die”. It seemed like a confession of the murder. It was very disturbing. It was written to a Pedophile community on the dark web.