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JonBenet Ramsey: A&E Shows Burke Ramsey’s 1998 Police Interview Footage

By Leigh Egan
Published on: 09:52 PST, Sep 7, 2016

Footage from Burke Ramsey’s 1998 interview with Colorado police, conducted two years after the murder of his sister, JonBenet Ramsey, was released on Monday, during the premiere of A&E’s documentary The Killing of JonBenet: The Truth Uncovered. The emotional footage depicts what Burke remembered about the day police found JonBenet lifeless in the basement of her family’s Boulder, Colorado, home.

Bustle reports that the interview with Burke, conducted by Detective Dan Schuler, took place in a room with two cushioned chairs, situated across from each other. A toy dinosaur and a can of soda sat on a small table positioned in between the chairs, and a small notebook sat on its edge.

The detective asked the then 11-year-old exactly what he remembered of Christmas Day 1996, the last day the family saw JonBenet alive. Burke replied that he mostly remembered his little sister getting a bike for Christmas, and how she kept falling off of it.

“I just remember her falling on the bike and sitting on it.”

Burke also recalled an outing that the family had later on Christmas Day. He told the detective that he likely saw his sister alive for the last time as they drove back home. Recalling his last interactions with JonBenet, her older brother said,

“Probably in the car, tired and laying down.”

Det. Schuler then touched on where Burke was and what he did the day after Christmas. The young boy said he was confused after his mother, Patsy Ramsey, began frantically running around the house, opening doors, looking for JonBenet. Burke stayed in his room with his eyes closed, wondering what was going on and why his parents kept talking about his sister. He admitted he was too scared to leave his room and ask them.

“Because I was so scared.”

Burke, who sat casually in front of the detective, often fidgeted around or bit his fingers. He was considered a suspect for quite a while, mainly by amateur sleuths who attempted to solve the case on their own. Police, however, eliminated Burke and his parents after DNA testing cleared them.

John Ramsey has always been protective of his son, especially when accusations flew at the boy, who was a child himself going through the trauma of losing his sister. According to John,

“The accusation that Burke is some violent 90-pound, 9-year-old-child … is laughable. I’m sorry — I can’t think of a better word. It’s absurd.”

The allegations haven’t escaped Burke. He didn’t respond to the accusations during the two-hour A&E documentary, but he talked about it during his interview with Dr. Phil, scheduled to air on NBC later this month. He said that he knows that some people still believe he killed his sister, something that he’s always denied. He also indicated that he knew that his parents were also blamed.

Burke clearly remembered learning for the first time about JonBenet’s death. During his 1998 interview, he recalled that he anticipated his sister being found safe after a number of police officers came to his house.

“I thought JonBenet was gonna be there, I thought they found her. So I came in excited… almost relieved… then my dad told me that JonBenet was in heaven.”

So far, no one has been charged for JonBenet’s death. Patsy Ramsey, who many still believe played a part in her daughter’s murder, passed away in 2006 from ovarian cancer. John, now 71, lives in a rented house and makes ends meet by repairing airplanes. The once wealthy computer tycoon apparently lost his fortune after the publicity surrounding JonBenet’s murder. According to John,

“I had one company that I had talked to…..They said you can really help us, but we can’t afford to have our company’s good name [in the news], so we can’t hire you.”

Burke wants to clear his family’s name and help his father live out his senior years in peace. He also wants to honor his late sister and hopes his Dr. Phil interview will assist him in achieving that.

“I want to honor her memory by doing this interview. I don’t want anyone to forget.”

[Photo by David Zalubowski/AP Images]

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