Your Affiant is Jim Byfield, a Detective with the Boulder Police Department. After being duly sworn, Your Affiant states the following:
Through official police reports and conversations with other members of the Boulder Police Department, including commissioned officers Linda Arndt, Michael Everett, Rick French, Tom Trujillo and Larry Mason. Your Affiant personally learned the following from those officers:
On December 26, 1996, at approximately 5:52 a.m., Boulder Police Officers Karl Veitch and Rick French responded to 755 15th St., Boulder, Colorado, regarding a possible kidnapping. The residents of 755 15th St., John and Patsy Ramsey, informed the officers of the following:
The Ramseys reside at 755 15th St., and are the parents of JonBenet Ramsey, who is six years old.
This morning at approximately 5:45 a.m., Patsy Ramsey discovered that JonBenet Ramsey was missing from the residence. JonBenet was last seen by Patsy Ramsey in the residence at approximately 10:00 p.m. December 25th.
On the floor of the residence the Ramseys found a hand written note, a copy of which is attached hereto as Attachment A" and incorporated in to this affidavit.
According to Officers French and Veitch there were no obvious signs of forcible entry into their residence and the Ramseys believed that the house was locked when they went to bed.
Your Affiant, through Boulder Regional Communications Center Dispatch, was advised at approximately 1:05 p.m. on December 26th, 1996, that the body of JonBenet Ramsey was discovered in the basement of 755 15th St., Boulder, Boulder County, State of Colorado. Your Affiant personally met with BPD Detective Linda Arndt. Det. Arndt personally provided Your Affiant with the following information:
Det. Arndt had been inside the residence located at 755 15th St., Boulder, Boulder County, Colorado from approximately 0800 hours until 1435 hours on December 26, 1996. Det. Arndt had been called out to respond to this residence earlier this morning on the report of the 6 year old female child at this residence who had reportedly been kidnapped. There was no sign of forced entry to this residence. The female child, JonBenet Ramsey, had last been seen by her father, John Ramsey, at approximately 2200 hours on December 25, 1996. This information had personally been told to Det. Arndt by John Ramsey. JonBenet had last been seen in her bed. JonBenets bedroom is located on the second floor of the residence. According to John Ramsey, the only persons at this residence from approximately 2200 hours on December 25, 1996 until 0545 hours on December 26 were: John Ramsey (father of JonBenet); Patricia Patsy" Ramsey (mother of JonBenet); and Burke (10-11 year old brother of JonBenet). When Det. Arndt arrived at the Ramsey residence, persons present included: John Ramsey, Patsy Ramsey, Priscilla and Fleet White (friends of the family), Barbara and John Fernie (friends of the family), the pastor from St. Johns Episcopalian Church (1400 block in Boulder), BPD officers Rick French and Barry Weiss. Ofc. French personally told Det. Arndt that the Whites and Fernies had been phoned by either John or Patsy Ramsey shortly after the note was found and had immediately come over to the Ramsey residence. The pastor also responded to the Ramsey residence shortly after the note was found.
Patsy told Det. Arndt that she found a note at the bottom of the staircase leading from the first floor to the second floor. Refer to Attachment A. The note was found at approximately 0545 hours on December 26. Det. Arndt had personally viewed this note. The note was written on white lined paper with a felt type writing utensil with black ink. The note stated that JonBenet had been kidnapped. The note stated that JonBenet would be decapitated if the demands of the note were not met. The note stated that police were not to be contacted. The note stated that $118,000 was demanded as ransom. The author(s) of the note stated that they would phone Mr. John Ramsey tomorrow" between 0800-1000 hours.
Detective Arndt monitored incoming phone calls to the Ramsey residence from approximately 0800-1300 hours. John Ramsey answered the incoming phone calls. None of the incoming calls were from the reported kidnappers. At approximately 1300 hours Detective Arndt asked John Ramsey, Fleet (friend of the family, and John Fernie to check the interior of the residence for any sign of JonBenet, or anything that may have been left or taken that belonged to JonBenet. JonBenets bedroom had been sealed off by Detectives Arndt and Fred Patterson at approximately 1030 hours. John Ramsey immediately went to the basement of the house, followed by Fleet White and John Fernie. Within a few minutes, Fleet came running upstairs, grabbed the telephone in the back office located on the first floor, and yelled for someone to call for an ambulance.
Detective Arndt ran to the front of the house, where the door leading to the basement was located. Det. Arndt saw John Ramsey run up the basement stairs. John Ramsey was carrying a young girl in his arms. Both arms of the girl were raised above her head. There appeared to be a string hanging from the girls right wrist. The girls lips were blue; she appeared to have livor mortis on her back side of her body; she had rigor mortis; she was not breathing. JonBenet was dressed in a light colored long-sleeved turtleneck and light-colored pants (similar to pajama bottoms). John Ramsey placed the girl onto the floor, inside the front door. The girl was identified by John Ramsey as being JonBenet. JonBenet was not breathing; her body was cool to the touch; she had a white cloth string around her neck, similar to the cloth string around her wrist; there was a red circular mark in the front of her neck, about the size of a quarter, at the base of her throat; she had an odor of decay to her; she had dried mucous from one of her nostrils. Based on Det. Arndts experience, JonBenet appeared to be dead, and appeared to have been dead for a period of time. John Ramsey told Det. Arndt that he had found JonBenet in the wine cellar in the basement, underneath a blanket, with her wrists tied above her head and a piece of tape covering her mouth. John Ramsey had removed the tape from her mouth before he carried JonBenet upstairs to the first floor. Detective Arndt personally told Your Affiant JonBenets body was left inside the residence.
Det. Michael Everett informed Your Affiant that after the discovery of the girls body that he walked through the basement area of the house to attempt to determine if any persons were present in the basement. In the area where Det. Arndt had told Det. Everett that the decedent had been found by her father he observed two blankets on the floor in the center of the room. (The remaining two lines of this paragraph have been blacked out.)
The scene is currently being secured by members of the Boulder Police Department.
Your Affiant has investigated numerous crime scenes including at least ten homicide crime scenes. Your Affiant knows through personal experience, training, and the details stated within this affidavit that the following items may be found at this potential homicide crime scene and can be material evidence in a subsequent criminal prosecution;
Still and video photography, measurements, implements or articles of every kind that could have caused or contributed to the injuries of the victim, trace material of every kind such as clothing, fibers, hair, body fluids, latent prints and the objects on which they are found, documentary evidence tending to establish the motive, identity of the victim, any suspects or witnesses, the body of JonBenet Ramsey, any writing paper or pads lined and white in color, any examples of handwriting, any felt-type writing utensil with black ink, (parts of two lines are blacked out here) light colored cloth string type material including shoes or clothing missing drawstrings or shoestrings, and footprints or other physical evidence of intruders either inside or outside of the residence.
Your Affiant requests a search warrant for the premises, for a 1995 Jaguar 4 door with Colorado passenger license plate #MAN8301 which is in the garage of the premises, for a 1996 Jeep Cherokee utility vehicle with Colorado license plate #MAH5615 which is located in the garage of the premises, and for the curtilage of the premises which is located at 755 15th St., Boulder, Colorado to search for the items listed in Attachment B, which is attached and incorporated into this affidavit. Your Affiant believes that a search of these areas at 755 15th St., Boulder, Colorado, might lead to the discovery of items that would be material evidence in a subsequent criminal prosecution. The residence at 755 15th St., Boulder, Colorado is described by Detective Linda Arndt to Your Affiant as a multiple story wood frame house with an attached garage which has a brown brick exterior with tan siding and brown and white trim. The numbers 755" appear to the left (south) of the front door. It is the third house south of Cascade Street on the westside of 15th Street. The front door to the residence faces east, toward 15th Street.
Det. Arndt told Your Affiant that she briefly viewed the two (2) vehicles parked inside the attached garage. She described one of the vehicles as a Jaguar 4 door and the other vehicle as a utility type vehicle. Detective Arndt obtained a Cosin printout of the vehicles listing to John Ramsey. The Cosin printout indicated that John Ramsey is the driver of a 1995 Jaguar 4 door with Colorado passenger license #MAN8301. Cosin indicated that John Ramsey is the driver of a 1996 Jeep utility vehicle with Colorado passenger license #MAH5615.
James R. Byfield
AFFIANT
Sworn to and subscribed in my presence this 26th day of December, 1996, in Boulder, Colorado.
Diane R. McDonald
JUDGE
