Perfect Murder, Perfect Town

by Lawrence Schiller

  The next day Burke hand-delivered a letter to Hofstrom, agreeing to Hofstrom’s suggestion designating the Ramseys as suspects for the sole purpose of allowing their representatives to observe the testing procedures.

  When Carl Whiteside was told about Burke’s reply, he faxed a formal letter to Alex Hunter stating that he would not let any of the Ramsey representatives observe the CBI’s testing unless the Ramseys were “charged defendants.” That was the way he read the law. He would not accept Hofstrom’s “designated suspects,” and he had made his position clear in Hunter’s office. The next day, Hofstrom told Burke the CBI’s reading of the law, and Burke withdrew his approval for the Ramseys to be named “designated suspects.” But Burke voiced no objection to the CBI’s tests as long as they did not destroy or consume the evidence.

  In the meantime, the Ramseys’ attorneys had been looking for a prominent DNA expert to represent them. They contacted Barry Scheck, who at the time hadn’t been called by Hunter’s office but who later said on the Larry King show that he declined any association with the Ramseys.

  During the same week, the CBI discovered that the stain found on JonBenét’s panties contained the DNA of more than one individual. JonBenét’s DNA was the major component, but there was a minor component consisting of DNA from another person—or possibly more than one. The CBI told the police that the Ramseys’ neighbor Joe Barnhill could be tentatively excluded as a source for the minor component of DNA, if the minor component came from one source, but that he could not be eliminated if the minor component originated from two or more sources. Further testing would take several months, the lab said.

  A week later, on January 30, the police asked the Barnhills’ boarder, Glenn Meyer, for another handwriting sample, the first one having shown some similarities to the writing in the ransom note.

  Meanwhile, Detectives Thomas and Gosage were still working on the list of Access Graphics ex-employees, and on January 21 and 22 they interviewed Bud and Sandra Henderson, who each owed Access Graphics $18,000.

  Bud Henderson had come to Colorado in 1971 and married his fourth wife, Sandra Chiselbrook, in 1984. That year the couple started Henderson Technology, which sold telecommunications equipment. One of their suppliers was CAD Distributors of Boulder. Henderson purchased equipment from CAD Distributors, while Sandra went to work for Jim Hudson, who owned the company. Before long she became operations manager, supervising the employees who took the orders and shipped the merchandise. Then CAD merged with John Ramsey’s Atlanta company and CAD Sources of Piscataway, New Jersey. This is the combination that became known as Access Graphics, with John Ramsey as president.

  Henderson Technology ordered equipment from Access Graphics, which Henderson then sold. Sandra paid the bills and kept the books. In 1991, without prior notice, Access abruptly placed a credit hold on Henderson Technology’s account and told Bud Henderson he owed the company $145,000 for invoices that his wife hadn’t paid. He was shown a promissory note with his and his wife’s signatures. Henderson had never seen it and said that his signature had been forged.

  “Where in the hell did the money go?” an infuriated Bud asked Sandra.

  “We spent it,” she answered.

  Henderson later said that his wife had agreed to pay off the debt over the next twelve months, made only one payment, and then defaulted. Within a week Access Graphics fired Sandra Henderson when it was discovered that she had altered Henderson Technology’s account at Access. Henderson said that his wife tried to delete the balance that was owed.

  The company that bonded Access Graphics employees paid the firm $100,000, leaving a balance of about $40,000 to be paid. The Hendersons made one payment of $4,000 before they divorced in 1995. In family court, their outstanding obligation of $36,000 was divided into two notes for $18,000 each. By then, Henderson believed that John Ramsey was furious at him and his ex-wife.

  He told the police that on the night of JonBenét’s murder, he had been alone but had no witnesses to provide an alibi. Sandra’s alibi checked out. She was at the Independence halfway house, having just been released from jail on an unrelated charge.

  During the interview, Detective Thomas gave Henderson a sheet of paper containing some typed words, handed him a pen, and asked him to print the words in capital letters—sometimes two, three, and four times. Henderson had to write out the words so many times that he memorized them. The police also took strands of hair from his head but didn’t ask for a blood sample. When they asked him to take a polygraph, he refused.

  A month later, Henderson was asked for another handwriting sample. Now the police wanted both capital and lowercase letters. Detective Thomas tried hard to persuade him to take a lie detector test because the police needed to eliminate suspects. You’re just one of several suspects that need to be eliminated, Thomas told him.

  Later in the year, Detective Melissa Hickman called him. Come down and take a blood test, she said. Later Hickman was taken off the case and the calls stopped. Bud Henderson never gave a blood sample and never took a polygraph test.

  Everything they asked me to write was from the ransom note. I wondered if the police had my telephone tapped. You have to wonder, what do you say over the phone? You start to think people are following you. Every time I walk into a restaurant, go into a bar, the first thing I do is ask myself, Who in the hell do you see in here that looks like a detective? I’ve been stopped twice for absolutely no reason. They say I was weaving. They check my ID. These are Boulder cops.

  I hear a knock on my door, I open it, and a video camera is running. The interviewer sticks a microphone in my face. “Have the police talked to you?”

  Hard Copy went and taped Sandra going to prison. The media knew we owed Access Graphics money. How they found out, I don’t know. One writer told me Sandra orchestrated JonBenét’s murder from prison to get back at John. I have one friend that calls me “Killer.”

  Finally I did a long interview for Hard Copy and American Journal. It wasn’t a hell of a lot of money.

  I still get calls. A call a week. From Hollywood, from New York, even from the Daily Camera.

  —Bud Henderson

  Meanwhile, producers for TV shows such as Extra and Hard Copy started calling the Ramseys’ housekeeper, Linda Hoffmann-Pugh. She received so many calls that eventually she got an unlisted number. Then reporters started knocking on her door. One day, after she had stopped answering the door, someone from the National Enquirer left a note under her door, offering her $20,000 and a trip to Florida. That was enough money to buy a new car, which the family needed, so she agreed to give the tabloid an interview.

  The Enquirer picked up the Pughs in a limousine and flew them to Ft. Lauderdale. Linda answered all their questions. One thing they were curious about was Patsy’s attitude toward sex. The police had asked Linda similar questions. They wanted to know if Linda had found any signs of sex on the Ramseys’ sheets. In whose rooms? She told them she’d found such signs only on Patsy and John’s linens. Linda, who had shared her own problems with Patsy over the years, told the detectives that in June 1996, Patsy mentioned that she didn’t take pleasure in sex anymore. She asked Linda for advice on how to make it better. Linda suggested some adult movies or some magazines. Better yet, she might want to see a psychiatrist. She and Patsy never discussed the subject again, Linda told the police.

  FAMILIAR DETAIL DOTS RANSOM NOTE

  WRITER APPARENTLY KNEW THAT JOHN RAMSEY SERVED AT A NAVY TRAINING BASE IN THE PHILIPPINES

  The ransom note tied to the murder of JonBenét Ramsey contains a reference to the Navy air base in the Philippines where her father once served, sources said.

  People asked by police to give handwriting samples—Ramsey family members, friends, and past and current employees of Access Graphics and their spouses—are told to write the acronym “SBTC.”

  Investigators believe the acronym is a reference to the now-defunct U.S. Naval training center at Subic Bay, just west of Manila in the Philippin
es.

  Meanwhile, sources close to the case said the four misspellings in the note appear to be deliberate, possibly designed to throw investigators off the author’s trail.

  —Charlie Brennan

  Rocky Mountain News, January 23, 1997

  On January 23, the Boulder PD presented to Alex Hunter and his staff all the evidence collected to date. The detectives believed that they had crossed the threshold of probable cause and that Patsy Ramsey should be arrested for the murder of her daughter. After several hours of arguing back and forth, Hofstrom told the detectives that in his opinion there still wasn’t enough evidence to file a case against anyone. Nobody would be charged at this time.

  The same day, on January 23, Bill Wise reached Barry Scheck at his home in New York as he was leaving for his daughter’s soccer game. Wise introduced himself, outlined the status of the Ramsey case, and told Scheck that the CBI would be conducting DNA tests, which the Ramseys’ attorneys wanted witnessed. The tests, Wise said, might involve the destruction of minute sample quantities. Shortly afterward, Scheck spoke to Alex Hunter about advising the Boulder DA’s staff as well as the police. He agreed to consult for both, depending on how much time was involved. He made it clear that he didn’t want to be part of a prosecution team, however, since he was now involved with the defendant-oriented Innocence Project.

  Before the month was out, Hunter also spoke to Henry Lee. A week after that, Lee’s employer, the State of Connecticut, said that he could consult on the case.

  POTENTIAL PAST ABUSE IS PROBED IN SLAYING

  Authorities are investigating the possibility of past child abuse in the murder of JonBenét Ramsey, sources said.

  Over the past several weeks, police have questioned friends and relatives of the Ramseys about the family’s behavior.

  “They asked me if the first divorce ended because of child abuse or if I had heard anything about child abuse ever mentioned,” said Shirley Brady, the Ramsey nanny in Georgia from 1986 to 1989. “And they asked me how the children acted when they were around their daddy.”

  —Alli Krupski

  Daily Camera, January 24, 1997

  On January 24, after the scheduled monthly meeting of the Colorado District Attorneys’ Council, Hunter asked to meet privately with Denver DA Bill Ritter; Jefferson County DA Dave Thomas; Arapahoe County DA Jim Peters; and Adams County DA Bob Grant. All of them worked in the metropolitan area and had experience with high-profile cases. They also all had much more experience with homicides than he did. When Hunter showed up, the others took pleasure in kidding him, since he’d never before been personally active in the organization and had sent Bill Wise instead.

  I came to Boulder in 1972 and went to the University of Colorado law school. After graduating, I got a job in Brighton, Colorado, as a deputy district attorney. Fifteen years later I was elected district attorney of Adams County, and reelected in 1996.

  Hunter’s approach to the Ramsey case is vintage Alex Hunter. We have Hunter saying, “Homicides I understand intellectually, but I don’t understand them experientially.” He never says, “I can take care of this. I’m Superman.” He looks for people who have experience, gets them together, and sees what they have to say. He’s got a prosecutor’s heart in a Boulder body. You could write volumes and volumes about that.

  When we first met with Alex, he said, “I’m not abdicating my responsibility. I just hope you guys will help me.

  “I don’t want you to take my heat,” he said. “If something goes wrong, I want you to understand that it’s all on me. That’s what I’m elected to do, and that’s what I want to do. But I need you to be candid and tell me everything and anything you can. Please don’t hold anything back. I’m just looking to suck things out of you.” Frankly, I don’t think I would have done what he did.

  Hunter wanted our input about some specific evidentiary areas. He asked us what we thought about the direction he was thinking of pursuing. He wanted to know where we felt he was off base. “Is there something I’m not thinking about?” he asked. He took our experiences away with him. Now he’s attempting to adjust his relationship with the police in a complex case.

  —Bob Grant

  By now the DA’s office and Chief Koby had agreed that there was a case against the Ramseys based on probable cause.* But Hunter wanted to see evidence that proved their quilt beyond a reasonable doubt.** Some detectives believed that the department’s time and energy should be used to obtain the evidence to support beyond a reasonable doubt. Pete Hofstrom, however, didn’t see it that way. The officers, he said, should march out and investigate the entire case and not only the case against the Ramseys. Let the evidence fall where it fell naturally. If it filled the gap between probable cause and reasonable doubt, that would be OK, but he didn’t want the detectives to exclude anything that supported the notion that someone other than John or Patsy Ramsey had committed the murder. It was hard, though, because there weren’t enough detectives to do both jobs, and Eller wouldn’t request help from outside the Boulder PD.

  Now that Larry Mason had been taken off the case, the police had to reinterview everyone he had spoken to during the first days of the investigation. The interview subjects were told Mason’s notes and tapes had been lost, which wasn’t true. Boulder detectives were required to write their own reports and transcribe their interview tapes, but Mason hadn’t yet done this when he was suspended on January 5, and nobody else in the department was likely to do his work for him.

  On January 27, Detective Jane Harmer interviewed Suzanne Savage, one of JonBenét’s baby-sitters, who had a key to the Ramseys’ home. She told Harmer she had given a key to another helper, Linda Wilcox. The day after the murder, Mason had asked Savage if Burke and JonBenét got along. Yes, she said. Did the two kids do any roughhousing? Did they get very physical with each other? No, said Savage. Mason’s conversation with the baby-sitter had focused on the possibility that the family might be involved in JonBenét’s death. Harmer’s focus was different. What did JonBenét like to wear? Was she potty-trained? Savage repeatedly told Harmer that she only knew the family well when JonBenét was three. Since 1993, Savage had sat for the Ramseys only twice. Harmer still wanted to know if JonBenét had wet the bed on the nights Savage was there. No, she said. Would JonBenét cry if she was woken up? She might have when she was three, said Savage, but she had no idea about now. Back then, JonBenét had been a sound sleeper, and so was Burke. Then Harmer asked Savage if she knew whether John or Patsy were having any affairs—then or now. She had no clue, said Savage.

  At the time of her interview with Detective Harmer, Savage gave the police a writing sample. In September she would be asked to give them palm prints and fingerprints. She complied.

  I first met the Ramseys in 1991, when Take a Break, a professional sitting service, called me. JonBenét was seven months old.

  Two years later, in 1993, Patsy was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and I went to work full-time for the Ramseys. It was a really hard time for Patsy. Nedra came to help, because Patsy had to be isolated from the family. She couldn’t risk catching a cold or flu while she was in treatment.

  I traveled with the family to Atlanta to take care of JonBenét and Burke. Patsy was open with everyone. Even if you just worked for her, she treated you like a friend. She made you feel comfortable. Nedra was different. She was the boss and you were the servant. In Atlanta I saw Patsy’s pageant crowns. They were displayed in her parents’ house, with pictures of her and her trophies.

  JonBenét was a happy child, never really grouchy. She never fretted like some kids do when they aren’t getting constant attention. Burke was quiet and self-entertaining. He liked learning to fly airplanes with his computer games.

  When Patsy’s cancer had passed, she wanted to make up for all the time she’d lost with the children. They were a busy family, always on a schedule, but their children were on a different schedule from other kids. Patsy and John used to pick up and fly off to here and there. Not what the
average Joe Blow did.

  John was gone a lot. It’s hard to be a style-A family when your dad is gone all the time. I think they were used to it. They accepted it. Patsy stayed home and read a lot, and she’d go to church every Sunday with the kids. The following year, JonBenét went to preschool. That’s when I stopped working for them.

  In 1996, Priscilla White called and asked me to watch the kids again. They were having a surprise birthday party for Patsy. I hid out in a car down the block until Patsy’s friends picked her up. By then, JonBenét had changed a lot. She was taller and thinner and her hair was colored. I didn’t know about her pageants until that night, when I saw all her trophies.

  Then Patsy called me on December 1, the night of the Access Graphics Christmas party. She wanted me to sit with JonBenét and Burke. Patsy told me to make sure JonBenét kept her hair in rollers overnight. She had a pageant the next day. Now tell me—what kid wants to sleep in rollers?

  While we were watching TV in her parents’ room, JonBenét put one of her crowns on my head. Then she started doing my makeup. She thought it was funny.

  When I came home from working at the mall on December 26, I turned on the evening news. They were talking about a child’s body being found in Boulder, but they didn’t mention any names. Then my friend called and said that on her station, they said the dead child was JonBenét Ramsey.