April 23rd, 1997 <BR> Ramsey Family Statement <P> MEDIA ADVISORY <P> Our clients, John and Patsy Ramsey, offered specifically to meet with the and Boulder police in a <BR> formal interview on December 27, 1996 and again on January 18, 1997. Since then, we have made numerous <P> attempts to schedule interviews the Boulder Police Department. Yesterday at 4:00 p.m. the Boulder <BR> Police Department canceled the separate interviews scheduled for today at 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. <P> We have forwarded the following letter today to the Boulder County District Attorney Alex Hunter. <P> Hal Haddon <P> Patrick Burke <P> April 23, 1997 <P> VIA HAND DELIVERY <P> Alexander M. Hunter Boulder County District Attorney <BR> Boulder County Justice Center <BR> 1777 Sixth Street <BR> Boulder, CO 80306 <P> Re: John and Patsy Ramsey <P> Dear Mr. Hunter: <P> By this letter, we express our profound dismay at yesterday's actions by the leadership of the Boulder <P> Police Department. After representatives of the Boulder Police with Department and your office <BR> requested and agreed to a format for separate interviews of John Patsy Ramsey beginning at 9:30 a.m. today, <BR> we were advised at approximately 4:00 p.m. yesterday afternoon that the interviews were canceled <BR> because Boulder Police Department leadership no longer agreed to the format of the interviews -- despite <BR> previous statements to the contrary. <P> When we received this information from your office yesterday, we offered to discuss any additional <BR> matters which might facilitate the interviews but no one from the police department was willing to <BR> even have that discussion. In view of the bizarre position of the police department, we then offered to <BR> make Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey available this morning for separate interviews by Detective Lou Smit and any <BR> member of the District Attorney's office who wished to attend. This offer was also declined. <P> This action is incomprehensible in light of the previous history of this issue. The Police Department, <BR> directly and through a campaign of leaks and smears, has portrayed the Ramseys as unwilling to <BR> grant police interviews or assist the investigation. Although we know this innuendo to be false, we have <BR> avoided criticizing the police because we believed that it would only fuel a media war which would be <BR> counterproductive to the overarching goal -- finding and prosecuting the killer of JonBenét Ramsey. <BR> Yesterday's actions make further silence untenable. <P> HISTORY OF DISCUSSIONS WITH THE RAMSEYS REGARDING TODAY'S INTERVIEWS <P> On Friday, April 11, 1997, John and Patsy Ramsey, with their attorneys, met with Peter Hofstrom of <BR> youroffice and Tom Wickman of the Boulder Police Department. This meeting was held at Mr. Hofstrom's <BR> request. The Ramseys were told at that meeting that they had been treated unfairly in the past and <BR> that authorities wanted to put the investigation on a new track. They were told that "we need your help <BR> to solve this crime." The Ramseys were asked to give interviews and continue their previous <BR> cooperation. Noconditions were placed on the manner in which the interviews would be conducted and, in fact, we <BR> were invited to propose any conditions we considered reasonable. At that meeting, John Ramsey <BR> immediately said that he would gladly meet with your representatives if it would help the effort to find his <BR> daughter's killer. <P> The day after that meeting, Patsy Ramsey voluntarily provided a fourth handwriting sample. The <BR> Ramseys also agreed to let authorities search their house again without a warrant; agreed to <BR> destructive testing of materials located at their home; agreed to identify Patsy Ramsey's prior writings; and <BR> agreed to make themselves available for separate interviews on Wednesday, April 23, 1997, beginning at 9:30 <BR> a.m. The Ramseys agreed to answer any questions put to them by any investigator chosen by your office <BR> or the Police Department. We requested that these interviews be of two hour durations, respectively, but <BR> we were certainly flexible on time and your agencies voiced no objection to that time frame. <P> All the arrangements for these interviews had been made and agreed upon. John and Patsy were <BR> anxious to participate, based on Mr. Hofstrom's representations that such interviews would assist in <BR> apprehending the killer of their daughter. We cannot describe their anguish and disappointment when we were <BR> forced to advise them that the police had reneged on the very interviews you earnestly requested on April 11. <P> PREVIOUS INTERVIEWS AND OFFERS <P> This episode is the latest in an inexplicable series of events which appear to be senseless efforts to <BR> intimidate and smear the Ramseys without any valid investigative purpose. We can document that <BR> both John and Patsy Ramsey were extensively interviewed by Boulder police, including detectives, on <BR> December 26, 1996, the day JonBenét's body was discovered. John Ramsey answered more police <BR> questions the next day. On doctors' directions, Patsy Ramsey was not interrogated on December 27. <P> What occurred next was the most insensitive and outrageous action in this case, at least to date: <BR> Boulder police refused to release JonBenét's body for burial unless the Ramseys agreed to come to the police <BR> station and submit to a hostile interrogation. We had to threaten legal action to obtain her release <BR> for burial. This was the first in a series of insensitive and incomprehensible actions by the Boulder Police <BR> Department leadership to destroy every sincere attempt to have an open and honest relationship of <BR> trust with the Boulder Police Department. <P> After John and Patsy returned from the funeral, we offered to make them available for a joint <BR> interview on January 18, 1997, at 10:00 a.m. We told the police that Patsy Ramsey was too ill to attend the <BR> entire session but that John Ramsey would answer all questions put to him. The police declined this offer <BR> and stated in writing that such an interview would not "be helpful" because "the time for interviewing John <BR> and Patsy as witnesses who could provide critical information that would be helpful in the initial stages of <BR> our investigation has passed." The police countered with an offer that the Ramseys come to the police <BR> station at 6 p.m. on a Friday night and subject themselves to inquisition for as long as "the nature and <BR> quality of the information" warranted. That absurd suggestion was rejected, especially since the police did not <BR> believe that the Ramseys possessed any "critical information." <P> Since that time, law enforcement authorities from several agencies have launched a cowardly smear <BR> campaign against John and Patsy, fueled by leaks and smears attributable only to "sources." We will <BR> no longer endure these tactics in silence. It is beyond comprehension that law enforcement authorities <BR> prefer to leak information rather than interrogate the persons who they characterize as "suspects" in this <BR> investigation. <P> It is apparent that the leadership of the Boulder Police Department lacks the objectivity and judgment <P> necessary to find the killer of JonBenét Ramsey. Mr. Hofstrom told John and Patsy that he wanted <BR> their help to solve this crime. They remain willing to meet with Mr. Smit, Mr. Ainsworth or any other <BR> members of your office to that end. <P> Sincerely, <P> Harold A. Haddon <P> Patrick Burke <P> <BR>