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Rating: 
Summary: Did they 'clear their name'?
Review: From the beginning of the media assault on the Ramsey's, I assumed John or Patsy murdered their little girl. The basis for my assumption was that I could not imagine parents evading ANY question that might help find the murderer of their daughter. Then I decided to read this book. I found it very thorough and believable. I also read the books by the lead detective on the case, Steve Thomas, and the one by Lawrence Schuller. I'm left wondering why these parents were ever accused by the police or the media. How can DNA on JonBenet's body that matches no known person be ignored? In fact, none of the tangible evidence points to the parents. We were told repeatedly by the media that the Ramsey's refused to answer questions. All three books confirm that simply isn't true. The parents were answering questions from day one. I now believe the parents are innocent, but I believe the police lost their chance to find the murderer by seeking only evidence against the parents. If I met the Ramsey's today, I would give them my kindest, heartfelt wishes and my apology for believing them guilty of harming their beloved darling girl.
Rating: 
Summary: deserves a fair reading
Review: I began reading this book asking myself the question, "What if the parents didn't commit this awful crime?" It occurred to me that the very fact that I was asking "what if they DIDN'T do it" rather than "what if they DID it" shows that the media frenzy following JonBenet's murder had robbed the Ramseys of the presumption of innocence. In that respect, I believe the book lives up to its title and I recommend it to anyone who is willing to read it with an open mind. There was information here I had never heard before, evidence that didn't get much publicity, reasonable explanations of things that had been reported inaccurately. Above all there was a picture of a normal, bubbly, bright little girl (not the sensational child beauty queen that seemed to be the media's sole focus). And there was a picture of a family that has suffered a double tragedy: the brutal murder of their daughter and the murder of their reputation while never even being named officially as suspects in the killing. Most readers will have probably made up their minds about the Ramseys' guilt or innocence before cracking the spine of this hardcover, but the book deserves a fair reading on its own merits. Only after hearing their own story in their own words can you decide if John and Patsy Ramsey could have committed this atrocity.
Rating: 
Summary: This book is disgusting
Review: I have read this book and I am so mad that I spent my money on it. I should have waited until it came out in the library. I should have known that the money wasn't going to be going to a charity (that doesn't even exist!) But to be used to help with the Ramsey's home by redecorating it, since Patsy is another Martha Stewart and poor old John doesn't have a job. Then why doesn't he look for one?? Oh wait, that's right, I almost forgot, they don't hire killers! Since he may kill someone else on the job! And Patsy sits at home all day feeling sorry for herself and sitting in a corner talking to God. God can't help you if you don't help yourself. And poor Burke is just in school walking around with a fake smile and saying 'hey, everything okay. I'm doing great!' while really, he's PETRIFIED and wants his Mom and Dad in jail. It also makes me sick that they put pictures of themselves on the cover and not JonBenet. Although the picture on the back is beautiful, why don't they switch places and put thier ugly picture on the back and let JonBenet's beautiful and innocent face grace the front cover? After all, she does deserve it. This is about JonBenet, not thier miserable years they've been going through. Although the Ramseys killed thier daughter because they thought that doing so would gain them fame and money, but instead they have to crawl in a hole and hide and scrimp and save. And since Patsy was a former beauty queeen, she just HAD to kill her daughter to get back into the spotlight, which is not the same as she thought it would be back in 1977. Now it's the complete opposite and she wants to get away from it all. Well Patsy, you don't tell the truth, they're going to be after you as long as you live. Same with John. And as with poor Burke, having to live with killers, I wonder what's going through his mind? I wonder if he was even awake and saw everything what happened that night. But unfortunatly, the parents are brainwashing him and talking to him that being rich and get you out of anything, I hope that Burke doesn't forget anything and will come forward when his parents are gone and tell the police what happened. I KNOW Burke knows a lot about the killing that he's dying to tell. He's old enough to know right from wrong by now. This book is all about the parents and not about JonBenet. What selfish and whiney parents. They cry about how they've been abused by the public and media. Well, looks like killing thier child didn't get them what they wanted....fame and money. Yeah, they got fame, but not good fame. no wonder they are labled "The most hated couple in America." I sure can see why!!
Rating: 
Summary: Damning account of the rush to judgement
Review: I'm really appalled at the anti-Ramsey venom that has been spewed by my fellow reviewers. Whatever happened to the presumption of innocence? Unlike the OJ Simpson fiasco, where the blood and DNA evidence resonated his guilt, there is not ONE reliable shred of evidence tying them to this crime. In fact, it is quite the contrary; foreign DNA was found under JonBenet's fingernails and a foreign pubic hair was found on her blanket. While a pubic hair can perhaps be explained away, DNA evidence cannot. As I have stated in other reviews, DNA and other forensic evidence doesn't lie, manipulate, or exaggerate. But people can and do. The Ramseys were unspeakably assailed when their daughter was murdered. Given time and space, they could have begun to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives. They have been denied both - victimised again by an ineptitude police force who covered up their incompetence with a smear campaign, and media vultures who have chequebooks (checkbooks) where the heart should be and who can ALWAYS be relied upon to make the news instead of reporting it. Regarding the likes of Steve Thomas et al, while they are well intentioned, I believe they are also sadly misguided, and as far as I am aware, at the time of JonBenet's murder they were woefully inexperienced homicide detectives. Any detective who infers guilt just from "looking into someone's eyes" should be laughed out of police work. More reliable and certainly more credible are the insights and opinions of veterans such as Lou Smit and John Douglas. It doesn't matter whether the Ramseys are likeable or not. It doesn't matter whether they were rich or not. A Colorado grand jury failed to indict them, citing "lack of evidence." What matters is that the media, not a jury, has already tried, convicted, and punished them. What is truly frightening is that it isn't politicians who govern countries; it's the media. It's not politicians who are powerful; it's the media. We, the public, have given them that power. That is something that matters. But what matters most is that throughout all the hoopla, all the fiasco, all the lies and innuendoes, a sadistic killer has escaped detection, free to prey on more innocent children.
Rating:
Summary: The Ring of Truth
Review: Like most people, I initially thought the probabilites of the parents being somehow involved was high. However, this book has the ring of truth about it. Further, it deals with the subject matter in a more complex (and thus satisfying)way. After many instances of justice gone awry coming to light and after the way we have seen rushes to judgment in the press and other media, I think we should read this book and any others that challenge the current tendency of the public and even of some law officers to prefer quick, dramatic, and simple solutions.
Rating:
Summary: In their Shoes.....
Review: One of the things that has always bothered me about books, talk shows, and discussions about this case has been the rampant speculation that the Ramseys' behavior at one point or another betrayed their guilt. Only people who have lost a child (and there is no experience remotely similar to it) know how it feels. Those of us who have lost a child often react in different ways. Unless and until you experience it, you have no idea how you will react. Some people react publicly, some people want to be around family, some people want to be alone, some people become angry, some people become focussed on events at hand i.e. funeral arrangements. This book goes a long way to explain why they behaved the way they did at each point in their lives since that tragic night. They explain why they retained attorneys, they outline what efforts they made to cooperate with the police and the reasons that in some cases they didn't. Most importantly to me, when they obtained "expert" analysis or opinion they cited the actual person they used and his credentials. When they took lie detector tests they listed who gave them the tests and the results. Many of the other books, particularly the one by Steve Thomas, lists too many "unnamed friends" or "panels of experts" which in some cases have been disputed by others inside the investigation as never been stated or occurred. Most of the other books point at John or Patsy or Burke with the same evidence. They can't all be guilty and as a parent who has lost a child (though not by murder) I can tell you one thing: If one were guilty and the other knew it, there is no way the innocent parent would cover it up and stay married to the guilty one.
Rating:
Summary: Scamsey Ramsey???
Review: Putting guilt or innocence aside, this book is not about Jon-Benet and her murder,it's about the parents. Written by themselves, with probably the help of others, this portrayal of innocence lost and tradegy obtained is nothing more than a spewing forth of their own personal reflections on themselves. It's shallow beyond belief. How these people can talk about being Christian when all they talk about is things, is beyond me.
Rating:
Summary: Did they 'clear their name'?
Review: The fact that this widely publicized case has gone unsolved for 7 years is so pathetic it's intolerable. However, as much as I'd love to believe these parents are innocent, it's hard to believe they don't have some knowledge/involvement that they are just not sharing. Also, the theory that they're innocent b/c they haven't been arrested is drivel. Steve Thomas states in his book 'JonBenet' that only 2 homicide cases have seen the inside of a courtroom in 7 years!!! The Ramseys are not helping their case by trying to appear as victims. I don't know if they did it or not and it isn't my place to judge, but how is it that God delivered Patsy from her cancer with a 'miracle cure' (which I can believe can happen) yet He has not delivered them from their miserable life of constant criticism? Although parents have to be examined first in a child homicide, the Ramseys have taken it too far. They have NOT cooperated with the police. If they need to convince ANYONE of their innocence, it is the BPD, not the American public. They are not following up on important leads and aren't expressing a ton of concern about info providing insight into this case. They say a dozen times that they don't know what came of this lead or that lead." HOW ABOUT LOOKING INTO IT??? Their passive, ridiculous, evasive behavior is infuriating. If they didn't do this, then they're guilty of not doing all they can to find the killer. Cold cases are solved all the time, and the Ramseys are making sure this one slows to a crawl b/c of their pride and selfishness...and potential guilt? I don't want to think this about them, but the fact is, we haven't seen an unsolved case like this in ages, where the parents don't seem to give a darn what comes of the investigation. I think the Ramseys have a negative cast to them for a reason. I don't want to hear about their lives and how they're coping. I want to hear about what they're doing to solve the murder of that beautiful and innocent child. It's important to remember something: they can love JonBenet and miss her terribly, but that does NOT mean that they aren't responsible for her death. If they aren't, they are being irresponsible for not helping to bring her some justice. I do not believe these parents are doing all they can to find the assailant.
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