Sex offender tells TV show of JonBenet obsession

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A convicted sex offender,

suspected by John and Patsy Ramsey of involvement in the 1996

murder of their beauty queen daughter, has spoken of his

obsession with the child in a CBS television investigation

into one of the most riveting unsolved crimes in America, the

network said on Thursday.

The CBS program "48 Hours Investigates", to be broadcast on

Friday, will also show never before seen police interrogation

tapes of the Ramseys and interviews with the couple, who have

never been charged but who police have said remain "under an

umbrella of suspicion."

JonBenet Ramsey, a former Little Miss Colorado, was found

beaten and strangled in the basement of her Boulder, Colorado

home on the day after Christmas 1996.

Her parents and retired homicide detective Lou Smit have

said repeatedly that they believe an intruder, possibly

carrying a stun gun, entered the house, and they have accused

Boulder police of failing to follow up on thousands of leads.

One of those leads involves Gary Oliva, a sex offender who

is believed to have been in the Ramsey neighborhood the night

of the murder and who turned himself into Boulder police about

two weeks ago because he was wanted in Oregon for probation

violations.

Oliva told "48 Hours Investigates" in a jailhouse interview

that he did not hurt or kill JonBenet. But he added; "I believe

that she came to me after she was killed and revealed herself

to me."

A CBS spokeswoman said Boulder police were in the room

during the interview but, correcting an earlier network

statement, said Oliva had not to her knowledge been formally

interviewed by police.

A friend of Oliva's, identified only as Michael, told the

program that Oliva had called him just days after the murder

saying he had done something horrible.

The spokeswoman said the Ramseys had talked "openly and

without restrictions" in the television interviews, which were

conducted last month immediately following Patsy Ramsey's

chemotherapy treatment for a recurring ovarian cancer.

Boulder police interviewed 650 people during an

investigation costing $1.7 million but have never charged

anyone with JonBenet's murder.

REUTERS

10-03-02