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Home / World

Handwriting expert says JonBenet Ramsey's mum, Patsy, wrote the ransom note found at murder scene

By Staff writers
news.com.au·
16 Dec, 2016 11:05 PM3 mins to read

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A handwriting expert believes the ransom note left in the JonBenet Ramsey case was likely written by the girl's mother. Photo / Supplied

A handwriting expert believes the ransom note left in the JonBenet Ramsey case was likely written by the girl's mother. Photo / Supplied

A handwriting expert who examined the ransom note left in the JonBenet Ramsey case says it's likely the letter was written by the girl's late mother, Patsy.

In an interview with US news show 20/20, which is taking a look at the case 20 years on, handwriting expert Cina Wong, said: "It's highly probable that she wrote the ransom note."

Wong spent three weeks back in 2000 examining the note, comparing it to 100 examples of Patsy Ramsey's writing, and found multiple similarities between the two.

In a US TV news special, handwriting expert Cina Wong says that Patsy Ramsey could have written the ransom note found in the case of her murdered daughter, JonBenet. Photo / ABC
In a US TV news special, handwriting expert Cina Wong says that Patsy Ramsey could have written the ransom note found in the case of her murdered daughter, JonBenet. Photo / ABC

Wong says the ransom note had the letter 'A' written in four different variations, and Patsy Ramsey wrote that same letter in those some four ways.

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In total, Wong found more than 200 similarities in the writing of the ransom note and the 100 samples of Patsy Ramsey's penmanship.

Also appearing on the TV special is one of the jurors who voted to indict Patsy and her husband, John, on charges related to the murder of the daughter after a year-long grand jury trial.

That man said that he believes he knows who murdered the child on December 26, 1996.

When asked if he believed that JonBenet's parents should have been tried for murder, the juror said: "Based on the evidence that was presented I believe that is correct."

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When asked however if he thought that the district attorney would have been able to get a jury to find the parents guilty, he said: 'There is no way that I would have been able to say, 'Beyond a reasonable doubt, this is the person'."

John and Patsy Ramsey holding a reward poster for their murdered daughter, JonBenet Ramsey. Photo / AP
John and Patsy Ramsey holding a reward poster for their murdered daughter, JonBenet Ramsey. Photo / AP

He then added: "And if you are the district attorney, if you know that going in, it's a waste of taxpayer dollars to do it."

20/20 host Amy Robach then asked the juror if he knew who murdered the young girl after the evidence that was presented to the grand jury.

"I highly suspect I do," said the juror.

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The juror also spoke about going to the Ramsey home, and being in the basement where the young girl's body was found by her own father, just hours after she was reported missing to police.

"In the basement where she was found, it was actually kind of an obscure layout. You come down the stairwell and you had to go into another room to find a door that was closed. It was a very eerie feeling. It was like, 'Somebody had been killed here'," said the juror.

Patsy Ramsey's sister Paulette Davis at JonBenet's grave in 2006. Photo / AP
Patsy Ramsey's sister Paulette Davis at JonBenet's grave in 2006. Photo / AP

In the end, the grand jury indicted the Ramseys on four counts.

The Ramseys were indicted for child abuse resulting in death and accessory to a crime.

The child abuse charge stated that John and Patsy "did unlawfully, knowingly, recklessly and feloniously permit a child to be unreasonably placed in a situation which posed a threat of injury to the child's life or health, which resulted in the death of JonBenet Ramsey, a child under the age of 16."

And the accessory charge declared that the two "did unlawfully, knowingly and feloniously render assistance to a person, with intent to hinder, delay and prevent the discovery, detention, apprehension, prosecution, conviction and punishment of such person for the commission of a crime, knowing the person being assisted has committed and was suspected of the crime of Murder in the First Degree and Child Abuse Resulting in Death."

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Patsy Ramsey died in 2006.

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