JonBenét Netflix docu-series set to air in November

Much of the three-part series was filmed in Colorado.

Twenty-eight years after JonBenét Ramsey was found dead in the basement of her family’s Boulder home, a Netflix docuseries and a Paramount movie are honing in on the country’s obsession over the cold case.

The three-part series “Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey” will scrutinize what is referred to as “missteps of law enforcement and the media,” according to a background release statement sent to The Denver Gazette by Netflix.

The unsolved case heated up in the mid-to-late nineties and became a tabloid sensation.

The 6-year-old died the day after Christmas in 1996. She was found in a dark utility room in the basement by her father seven hours after her mother, Patsy Ramsey, found a ransom note and called 911. JonBenét had been strangled with a garrote made from a length of rope and a broken paintbrush handle. White cord was loosely tied around her wrists and black duct tape covered her mouth. Her favorite Barbie nightgown lay on the concrete floor nearby.

A Cold Case team of outside experts reviewed the case last year and made recommendations to the Boulder Police Department investigators about how to move forward, including recommendations on ever-evolving DNA science.

Last December, in a news release, the Boulder Police Department noted that “DNA testing continues to be an investigative focal point.”

Executive producers for the Netflix show told The Denver Gazette that the series will offer insight as to what’s next in the case asking the question: ”Will Colorado authorities finally take the necessary actions to bring JonBenét Ramsey’s killer to justice and offer her family the peace they’ve long sought?”

Netflix brought production crews to Colorado to interview law enforcement and journalists who were involved in the case for its three-part series, including this reporter. John Ramsey, JonBenet’s father, and her brother John Andrew Ramsey also participated in the production, which is scheduled to air Nov. 25, the Monday before Thanksgiving.

Grand jury prosecutor Michael Kane, who has never sat down for a television interview, also participated in the documentary.

In addition to the Netflix doc-series, a major film produced by Paramount has been in production in Calgary since late September. It stars Melissa McCarthy as Patsy Ramsey, JonBenet’s mother, and Clive Owen as her father.

The filming for JonBenét Ramsey — which is a working title — should wrap up by January 2025, according to the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television, and Radio Artists (ACTRA).

In addition to starring in the film, Melissa McCarthy is an executive producer on the project along with Anne Sewitsky, who also produced Presumed Innocent.

The release date for Paramount’s eight-part movie series has not been announced.

JonBenét-phobes will likely be interested in the Paramount production, since it was CBS Corp. who settled with Burke Ramsey after he filed a $750 million defamation lawsuit over the 2016 documentary “The Case of: JonBenét Ramsey.”

Throughout the years, there have been many media attempts to explain JonBenét’s murder, including “Perfect Murder Perfect Town,” which was a book and a movie, Amazon’s “The Killing of JonBenét: The Truth Uncovered,” and “Casting JonBenét,” also a Netflix production.

JonBenet-phobes will likely be interested the how the murder will be portrayed by the upcoming Paramount Global production since the CBS documentary “The Case of: JonBenet Ramsey.”

Paramount Global owns the television network, CBS.

Patsy Ramsey died of cancer in 2006. Two years later, Boulder County District Attorney Mary Lacy formally apologized to the family in a letter, saying neither the parents nor the son were considered suspects.

Stan Garnett, the DA who followed Mary Lacy, maintained that the exoneration was “misleading” and called the apology letter unusual since no charges had ever been filed for JonBenét’s murder.

The case has been in the spotlight for so long, it has been overseen by four district attorneys in Boulder’s 20th Judicial District and at least five police chiefs since JonBenét was killed.

John Ramsey interviewed with Netflix for the upcoming three-part docuseries which is scheduled to air Nov. 25. (Courtesy photo, Netflix)
John Ramsey interviewed with Netflix for the upcoming three-part docuseries which is scheduled to air Nov. 25. (Courtesy photo, Netflix)
This is a police photo of the crudely-made garotte which was found embedded in JonBenét Ramsey's neck and of the two-and-a-half page ransom note, two of the most critical pieces of evidence in the unsolved murder. The photo was supplied to The Denver Gazette by producers of Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey, a three-part docuseries scheduled to air Nov. 25. (Courtesy photo, Netflix)
This is a police photo of the crudely-made garotte which was found embedded in JonBenét Ramsey’s neck and of the two-and-a-half page ransom note, two of the most critical pieces of evidence in the unsolved murder. The photo was supplied to The Denver Gazette by producers of Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey, a three-part docuseries scheduled to air Nov. 25. (Courtesy photo, Netflix)
JonBenét Ramsey was six-years-old when her father discovered her body in the basement of her family home. (Courtesy photo, Netflix)
JonBenét Ramsey was six-years-old when her father discovered her body in the basement of her family home. (Courtesy photo, Netflix)

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