Couple says article falsely implicated them in sex ring

By Christine Reid, Camera Staff Writer
October 23, 2002

A second request was made on Tuesday by the Boulder County District Attorney's
Office for a special prosecutor to review a case that alleges criminal libel by the Daily
Camera and other media in their coverage of the unsolved slaying of JonBenet
Ramsey.

Chief District Judge Roxanne Bailin terminated the investigation into the criminal libel
case in October 2000, she said, at the request of Fleet White Jr. and Priscilla White.
However, the Whites said they made no such appeal.

District Attorney Mary Keenan said the new motion came at the request of the Whites,
who tried to get the state Attorney General's Office involved in the investigation to no
avail. The motion states it had not been the Whites' intent to place their matter in a
"dead end" with special prosecutors.

"Our position is someone needs to look at it," Keenan said.

The Whites were friends of John and Patsy Ramsey — the parents of the 6-year-old
whose strangled body was discovered Dec. 26, 1996, in the basement of her family's
home.

The Whites asked Boulder police to investigate the Daily Camera for publishing a story
in February 2000 in which a California woman said she was abused in a child sex
abuse ring in a manner similar to the way JonBenet died. Other media also published
reports about the unidentified 37-year-old woman after the Camera's article ran.

The Whites claim that the California woman falsely implicated their family of being
connected to the sex ring.

The case was assigned to the Pueblo district attorney because of a conflict of
interest with the Boulder County District Attorney's Office, and shortly after
terminated.

The statute of limitations on the case expires Feb. 25, 2003, according to court
records.

Prosecutor Bill Nagel, who filed the motion Tuesday, said it would be up to Judge Bailin
to determine who, if anyone, would be appointed as a new special prosecutor.

"We are puzzled by this action since the court has ruled previously. Still, we look
forward to putting this matter to rest," said Colleen Conant, the Camera's editor and
publisher.

The Whites did not return a call from the Camera.

Contact Christine Reid at (303) 473-1355 or reidc@dailycamera.com.

http://www1.dailycamera.com/bdc/county_news/article/0,1713,BDC_2423_1496765,00.html

Personally I would love to see this come to trial and get it all out in the open. I think Nancy Krebs is not well and I think she made false accusations. As I feel with the Ramseys - - Fleet has the right to be publicly cleared if the evidence says he is innocent. I can see why he wants it to be an open book - - the accusations were terrible and the suspicion will always sit out there unless the issue is forced. The Whites want a public apology and retraction - - what is the big deal?

ST, p. 404 (paperback)

In another twist, the chief of the editorial page started playing investigative
reporter,
and the newspaper ran a banner headline about a California woman with a history
of
providing questionable information to police who claimed to possess
tabloid-esque
information about the case involving a pornography ring. The newspaper went
beyond
normal journalistic standards of independence by arranging a meeting between the woman's lawyer and the district attorney, after which Alex Hunter said he found the comments of the surprise witness to be "very believable" and demanded a thorough police investigation. The Rocky Mountain News in Denver called Hunter's response "worse than bizarre" in an editorial piece and cited his behavior as "a public official behaving no better than a gossip monger."

Three months later, the Camera headline was "No Ramsey link found." The publisher admited the episode "tested our best editors and news judgement." If that was the test, they failed miserably. The alleged witness was just another wild goose for police to chase, and her claims masked only another unwarranted attack on the reputation of one of Hunter's most severe critics, Fleet White, and his family.

I have to say I disagree with Thomas on this - - the accusation was made and it was NOT something the BPD could ignore - - they should have investigated it thoroughly and made a full statement on their findings.

I believe they would have said Nancy was mentally troubled and had a history of making accusations. While some may have been true, there was no evidence indicating the thoughts about Fleet White and his activities were anything but delusions or hallucinations.

I fully understand Fleet White's desire to have this cleared up. I understand suing Nancy would be throwing money away - - he couldn't gain a thing and if she is mentally ill, she couldn't be changed. But he obviously wants more from the Boulder Camera and the BPD - - and, personally, I don't know why that can't happen.

As for Fleet White's ctiticism of Hunter, I wonder if he still feels as strong about that. He now knows a bit more about Boulder politics, egos, gossip, egos, power plays, egos, and a willingness to NOT serve justice.

JMO

NK has no resources to give out if she were sued. The same can't be said for the Daily Camera, however.

She wanted people to believe Fleet White was hosting a party on Christmas day for pedophiles - - she indicated her niece was there as a potential victim. Well, that was all totally untrue. I reported early on that Patsy told me the young niece of Nancy did NOT attend the party - the only kids there were Burke, Fleet, JonBenét and Daphne. It was not the situation Nancy was describing - - and the rest of her accusations then fell suspect in my views.

When LP and others did more research, it seemed clear Nancy needed help - - and her therapist, IMO, needed just as much if not more.

"Fleet and Priscilla White have won a partial victory from the judge in their request to receive
BPD documents related to the Nancy Krebs investigation. Some things they will receive are
"the transcripts of Nancy Krebs two interviews with the police and Detective Tom Trujillo's
summary of her interviews will be released with some redactions." The judge has said some
other documents must remain in the police files. The first deadline for the BPD to comply with
this is November 11th, but it may be extended if they are not able to meet that deadline."

from the Denver Post 10/23/02:

JonBenet figures want to pursue case

The Boulder County District Attorney’s Office has made a second request for a special prosecutor to review a case that alleges criminal libel by the Daily Camera newspaper and other media in their coverage of the unsolved murder of JonBenet Ramsey. Chief District Judge Roxanne Bailin said she terminated the investigation into the criminal libel case in October 2000 at the request of Fleet White Jr. and Priscilla White. The Whites, however, said they made no such appeal. District Attorney Mary Keenan said the new motion came at the request of the Whites. The Whites were friends of John and Patsy Ramsey - the parents of the 6-year-old JonBenet, whose body was discovered Dec. 26, 1996, in the basement of her family’s home. The Whites objected to the published reports because they contained sex-abuse claims by an unidentified California woman that the Whites felt falsely implicated their family was connected to an alleged sex ring.

Fleet and part of his family were publically accused of vile criminal acts. If I were them, I'd also want it corrected in the public system.

They didn't have to threaten, the threat clearly was there. It would be so easy to see the Whites stand wrongly accused of a crime every bit as heinous as that the Ramseys were accused of.

Under those circumstances, would the Whites stand against the police and scream that they had been misled in the Ramsey affair and ...

I reread the letters and speeches the Whites made - and they don't accuse the Ramseys - - they ask for investigation - - maybe they were putting out a hidden plea for their own safety.

Power perceived is power achieved. I think the Whites were very aware of how difficult the BPD was makinglifefor the Ramseys and they didn't want to be targets too.

It might make the Whites wonder what the Ramseys believed about the Whites when Krebs accusations were made public. Did the Ramseys think the Whites were so lacking in character to have actually done such horrible things as Krebs accused them of? Could the Ramseys have completed misjudged their old friends?

Kinda the shoe on the other foot...