What does this mean to us?
For some of us, it means to quit jumping to conclusions. It means “innocent until proven guilty.” It means “Oh, my gosh, I was wrong.”
How many of us thought someone in the Ramsey family was responsible for JonBenet’s death?
Many of us.
Now, members of the Ramsey family have been cleared because of DNA evidence.
The Ramsey family dealt with the loss of a cute and apparently precocious child. On top of that, they dealt with the scrutiny from the media and from the general public. So much of public opinion convicted the Ramseys. They appeared on national TV shows professing their innocence and trying to convince the world of their innocence. In an interview with Barbara Walters, Patsy Ramsey discussed how hurt and insulting it was to be dealing with accusations and questions.
It’s hard to face the fact that some parents hurt their children. [At first, I wrote that it is hard to imagine such behavior, but, unfortunately, we don’t have to imagine it; we know it’s a fact. Consider Susan Smith and Andrea Yates, among many others.]
Anyway, the news that DNA evidence has cleared the family of JonBenet Ramsey’s murder was something of a tragedy in itself.
The tragedy of this new revelation some 12 years after JonBenet’s death (she would be 18 this year) is that her mother didn’t live long enough to receive this news. She died of cancer two years ago – and probably somewhat of a broken heart.
One thing I don’t understand about all of this is why this took 12 years. News reports indicate this is “new” evidence. If the DNA samples were taken from JonBenet’s clothing, how is it new? How did authorities not come up with that evidence immediately? Crime scene investigation is not an area of expertise for me, so I hesitate to second-guess the experts. Certainly there must be an explanation for the 12-year time lapse; I just haven’t heard it yet. The good news is that authorities have not given up on this matter.
Regardless, this is still a tragedy within a tragedy.
(Photo of JonBenet from the Internet. Z Studio/Zuma Press.)
2 comments:
From what I heard on the news, this is just now being revealed because of advances in technology in DNA examination.
I know, it's so sad that it took 12 years. What's even worse is how the press, the media and the world convicted these parents. I didn't. Why would they do that to their daughter?
Thanks for your comments...they made my day!
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