Ramsey Lawyer Vetoes Interview
A lawyer representing JonBenet Ramsey's brother, Burke, has ruled out a police interview with the 11-year-old, saying he fears police will leak misleading information about it.
The chief investigator in JonBenet's murder, Cmdr. Mark Beckner, had been trying to negotiate terms for an interview with Burke. News reports said Beckner wanted to interview the boy without his parents present.
The little girl's body was found Dec. 26, 1996, in the family's Boulder home. No arrests have been made, but authorities say the child's parents, John and Patsy, remain one of focuses of their investigation.
The Ramseys now reside in the Atlanta area, having relocated since the death of their six-year-old daughter.
Jim Jenkins, the lawyer hired by the Ramsey family to represent Burke, said he was working to arrange the interview because he had been promised the talks would be confidential.
But, he said details of the discussions were reported by news outlets, leading him to conclude that Boulder police wanted only to "use an 11-year-old child as a pawn in a sorely misguided publicity war against his parents."
Beckner said the leak did not come from his department.
"I have since discovered that there are other sources where this information could have come from," he said in a statement Thursday.
"Given the refusal, for whatever reason, of some people to cooperate in this investigation, we will attempt other investigative avenues to obtain the information necessary to complete this investigation," Beckner said.
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