The Death of Innocence: My Thoughts on the Atadero and Jon-Bonet Ramsey Cases

This is from my journal from August of 1999, as I was detailing some of the major news events of that month and writing down my thoughts about them.  Interestingly enough, however, I just saw a rather fascinating old TV miniseries recently rebroadcast on TV called Perfect Murder, Perfect Town, made in 2000, detailing the events surrounding the Ramsey murder.  My final words on this subject in 1999 are, unfortunately, still true today!

Colorado held its collective breath when a little three year old boy, Jaryd Atadero, became separated from his church group and got lost in the mountains.  They never found him… Not knowing what happened must be torture for his parents!!!

This book tells the whole story

     Also, Governor Bill Owens discreetly pointed a finger at John and Patsy Ramsey concerning the murder of their little girl Jon-Bonet, asking them to “quit hiding behind their high-priced lawyers and help with the investigation.”  The Ramseys’ answer to Gov. Owens, and the nation, will be a tell-all book about Jon-Bonet and her murder, told from a Christian perspective.  I’m sure John and Patsy will paint themselves as an upstanding, loving, Christian family who are victims of this tragedy.  If they are innocent, may God be with them.  But why do they feel so guilty?

John and Patsy Ramsey

     Is it the overexposure in a biased media, who are trying them out of court in front of the public and finding them guilty?  Is it a bungling police investigation that has taken more than three years without any results?  Is it the action of the parents of the murdered girl, who don’t seem to be cooperating and are using their money to hide from the investigation?  Would I act the same way if I had a murdered daughter and the media tried and convicted me and I had the money and power to hide from a police force that was trying to prove my guilt?

Susan Smith

     I don’t want to try them out of court, but everybody has an opinion based on the evidence they’ve seen.  And the sad fact remains that guilty people will so often proclaim their innocence.  Remember Susan Smith?  She cried in front of TV cameras for a week, begging her sons’ kidnappers through tear stained eyes to please return them safe and sound, and her husband quietly supporting her from the sidelines.  Then the truth came out:  She had locked them into her car and pushed the vehicle into a nearby river, where her little boys drowned.  People maintaining their innocence doesn’t mean they’re innocent!  That’s what police investigators are here for, to catch the liars.  What little evidence we have in the Ramsey case seems to point to John and Patsy due to inconsistencies in their actions and statements, yet I’ll admit, I’m not the one with all the answers and am only casually following all of this.

            Only one thing for certain can be derived from all this:  Justice has not been served, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to be served either.