Revealed: Grand jury indicted JonBenet Ramsey's parents over beauty queen's murder 13 years ago - but D.A. refused to press charges

A grand jury voted to indict the parents of murdered beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey 13 years ago, but prosecutors refused to press charges, it was revealed today.

The six-year-old was found bludgeoned and strangled to death in the basement of her home in Boulder, Colorado, on Christmas Day in 1996.

For years, her parents John and Patsy Ramsey, remained suspects until finally being exonerated in 2008. No-one has ever been convicted.

Unsolved: Six-year-old JonBenet was found bludgeoned and strangled to death in the basement of her home in Boulder, Colorado, on Christmas Day in 1996

Now it has been revealed that a Colorado grand jury voted to indict the Ramseys in 1999 on charges of child abuse resulting in death, a felony that can carry up to 48 years in prison.

But sources, including members of the grand jury, told the Boulder Daily Camera that District Attoey Alex Hunter refused to sign the indictment vote, apparently believing he could not prove the case beyond reasonable doubt, and never revealed the result.

Instead he announced the end of investigation, saying: 'I and my prosecution task force believe we do not have sufficient evidence to warrant a filing of charges against anyone who has been investigated at this time.'

A lawyer for John Ramsey has praised the decision.

Attoey Bryan Morgan said: 'If what you report actually happened, then there were some very professional and brave people in Alex’s office.'

It is unclear whether the DA acted properly in not signing the indictment.

However, one expert told the paper that in her opinion proper legal procedure would have been to sign the document and file it with the court before going to open court to dismiss the charges.

'Last picture': JonBenet with her mother, apparently on the moing of her death. Her parents remained suspects in the murder until finally being exonerated in 2008

 

Horrific: JonBenet was found with her wrists tied above her head and duct tape over her mouth

Hunter, who left office in 2001 after 28 years as Boulder County's district attoey, declined to discuss the grand jury's actions.

But he released a statement last week to the Boulder Daily Camera, saying: 'Colorado statutes, the ethical canons which gove the practice of law, and the Boulder District Court's oaths, instructions and orders in the JonBenet Ramsey grand jury proceedings, are well established and absolutely clear with respect to the various participants' legal obligations, duties and responsibilities, including the inviolate secrecy of the proceedings and the differing burdens of proof applicable to jurors and prosecutors.

'As the duly elected district attoey at the time and as an officer of the court then and now, I must respectfully decline further comment.'

On Christmas Day of 1996, the family received a ransom note saying that JonBenet had been kidnapped and were demanding $118,000 - the amount of a bonus Mr Ramsey had recently received - or else she would be beheaded.

But it was not long before her body was found in the basement of the house.

Her wrists were tied above her head, and she had duct tape over her mouth. An autopsy report revealed that she had been strangled and bludgeoned to death.

Defending accusations: Patsy and John Ramsey hold a picture of their daughter during a press conference in 2000 where they released the results of an independent lie detector test, which revealed they had no knowledge of who killed their daughter

Under suspicion: The Ramseys arrive at their attoey's office in August 2000 to answer questions about the death of their daughter

Within hours, the Ramseys themselves became the chief suspects of the investigation and police were later criticised for losing focus of the crime scene and other leads by concentrating on the family - including JonBenet's brother Burke - instead of following up other leads.

For the next 12 years, the blame for their daughter's death - who was given the name Little Miss Sunshine - lay largely on their shoulders as they fought to clear their name and find the real killer.

Eventually, Boulder district attoey’s office completely cleared the Ramseys of any wrongdoing in their daughter’s slaying and issued an apology in 2008.

Since then, John Ramsey has kept the memory of his daughter alive, despite losing his reputation, a thriving business and Patsy to ovarian cancer in 2006.

Mr Ramsey eventually found happiness through his relationship with fashion designer Jan Rousseaux, who he married at a private ceremony in Charlevoix, Michigan, in July 2011.

Basement case: This 1996 police video shows the basement hours after JonBenet's body was discovered

Last year, a former detective officially broke his silence over the investigation, saying that overlooked clues like cobwebs and a child's toy could prove important in finding the killer in the high-profile cold case.

In his self-published book, Foreign Faction: Who Really Kidnapped JonBenet Ramsey?, former detective Jim Kolar reveals thousands of pages worth of investigations and police reports.

He said he wanted the truth to be out in the public domain, and has a theory that a children’s toy could be responsible for the marks on JonBenet’s back.

Mr Ramsey, told police in 1996 that an intruder broke through a window in the basement.

But in macabre police video that shows the basement hours after JonBenet was found dead, Koler pointed out that there are wispy cobwebs, moving ever so slightly.

Koler speculates that an intruder would have brushed away the cobwebs upon entering the Ramsey’s residence and thus JonBenet’s killer would have already been inside the house.