The night JonBenét Ramsey was murdered inside her Boulder family home her brother Burke heard nothing as he slept inside his room. A neighbor had reported hearing blood-curdling screams coming from the residence.
Burke Ramsey, the older brother of child beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey, whose body was found inside their Boulder home almost 20 years ago, appeared on a television program Monday answering questions about his sister and the long-unsolved murder case.
Burke Ramsey, 29, fielded questions from TV host Phillip C. McGraw during a 60-minute segment of the “Dr. Phil” show.
Monday’s show included past news TV clips and interviews with Burke’s parents, John and Patsy, who both publicly denied, on multiple occasions, having anything to do with JonBenét’s Christmas night death in 1996.
Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post
Patsy Ramsey holds up a reward sign for any information leading to the arrest of the murderer of their daughter JonBenét Ramsey in 1997. The couple met with a small selected group of the local Colorado media after four months of silence.
David Zlubowski, AP file
Boulder Sheriff's Department cadets V. Montez, left, and E. Hill are shown standing guard in this Dec. 27, 1996 file photo outside the home in Boulder, Colo. in which 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey was found dead on December 26.
David Zalubowski, AP file
A Boulder Police Department detective leaves the home of John and Patricia Ramsey in this Jan. 3, 1997 file photo in Boulder.
David Zabulowski, AP file
A police officer sits in her cruiser on Jan. 3, 1997, outside the home in which 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey was found murdered in Boulder.
Ric Feld, AP file
In this May 24, 2000 file photo, Patsy Ramsey and her husband, John, parents of JonBenet Ramsey, look on during a news conference in Atlanta regarding their lie-detector examinations for the murder of their daughter.
Andy Sharp, Atlanta Journal Constitution via AP
The grave of JonBenet Ramsey, is shown decorated Monday, Dec. 17, 2001, at the St. James Episcopal Church in Marietta, Ga. People have been hanging ornaments on a tree near the grave.
Andy Sharp, Atlanta Journal Constitution via AP
Patsy Ramsey holds a rock someone left at the grave of her daughter, JonBenet Ramsey at St. James Episcopal Church Cemetery in Marietta, Ga., Monday, Dec,. 17, 2001. On the rock the writing says "God Bless the Sweet Heart of JonBenet Ramsey. 7/01/01." Patsy Ramsey, along with a sister and friends of her family, were there to plant pansies and hang ornaments around the grave at rear with the items placed on it.
Michael S. Green, AP file
Candles surround a portrait of JonBenet Ramsey outside her home after a candlelight vigil on the one-year anniversary of her murder Dec. 26, 1997, in Boulder.
Marty Caivano, Boulder Daily Camera
Boulder District Attorney Alex Hunter speaks at a press conference the day after a grand jury in the JonBenét Ramsey murder case failed to hand down any indictments before being dismissed Oct. 14, 1999 in Boulder.
Michael S. Green, AP file
Flowers rest in the snow outside the home of JonBenet Ramsey on the one-year anniversary of her murder, Dec. 26, 1997, in Boulder, Colo.
Ellen Jaskol, Rocky Mountain News via AP
John and Patsy Ramsey sit on a porch swing with their 10-year-old son, Burke, at an undisclosed location in this Aug. 16, 1997 file photo.
Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post file
Patsy Ramsey wipes tears off her face during a small press conference the couple held in Boulder in 1997.
Joe Mahoney, AP file
District Attorney Alex Hunter, right, answers questions, Feb. 13, 1997, about the murder of 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey during a news conference with Boulder Police chief Tom Koby in Boulder, Colo.
Gregory Smith, AP file
Patsy Ramsey speaks as her husband John Ramsey listens during a short news conference,Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2000 in Atlanta, after answering questions from Boulder, Colo., police authorities about the death of their daughter, JonBenét.
Ric Feld, AP file
Patsy Ramsey answers a question during a press conference in Atlanta on May 24, 2000, about her lie-detector examination concerning the murder of her daughter JonBenet as her husband John Ramsey looks on at right. The Ramseys presented lie-detector test results they said showed they were not 'attempting deception' when they denied killing their 6-year-old daughter.
Ed Andrieski, AP file
Boulder County Sheriff George Epp refers to his notes during a news conference in Boulder, Colo., on Jan. 15, 1997, where he announced that two people were arrested in connection with the sale of crime-scene photographs in the death of 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey. Boulder County District Attorney Alex Hunter, left, listens. Lawrence Shawn Smith, a processor with Photo Craft Laboratories, and Brett Allen Sawyer, a former deputy, were booked and released.
Dressed in a dark blue sweater, Burke Ramsey answered questions about why he hasn’t spoken publicly, over almost two decades, since the incident, what he was doing the night it unfolded and how he reacted.
“For the last 20 years I wanted to grow up like a normal kid,” said Burke Ramsey, who was a 9-year-old at the time of his sister’s murder.
He recalled elaborate Christmas decorations inside and outside his family’s Boulder home, a tour group that came through the decked-out 15-room residence just before Christmas and a well-attended Christmas Eve party.
Burke Ramsey said the last time he recalled seeing JonBenét alive was in a car, coming home from a family friend’s home, before he went to bed on Christmas night.
McGraw showed Burke Ramsey a photo, which McGraw described as the last known photo to be taken of JonBenét.
“I don’t remember her hair being that long,” Burke Ramsey said, gazing at the photo and smiling.
Despite a neighbor telling investigators that she had heard screams coming from inside the home, Burke Ramsey told McGraw that he didn’t hear anything. In past video clips, John Ramsey recalled Patsy finding a ransom note at the bottom of a spiral staircase.
“Patsy screamed my name,” John Ramsey said in the clip.
Burke Ramsey did recall his mother, Patsy, frantically coming into his room in the early-morning hours, it was still dark, of Dec. 26 looking for JonBenét.
“She woke me up,” Burke Ramsey told McGraw.
” ‘Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. …Where’s my baby? Where’s my baby?’ ” Patsy said inside his room, according to Burke Ramsey.
About an hour later a detective came through the room with a flashlight. Burke Ramsey stayed in bed.
Patsy Ramsey died of cancer in 2006.
McGraw, as part of his questioning, told Burke Ramsey he found it “odd” that the 9-year-old remained in his room during the commotion in the home.
“I guess I kind of like to avoid conflict,” Burke Ramsey said. “I don’t know, I felt safer there. I was scared, I think.”
At some point in the day, the body hadn’t been discovered yet, John Ramsey came up to Burke’s room and took him downstairs.
He recalled going into the kitchen, as well as understanding that JonBenét was missing.
“I think I was trying to be positive,” Burke Ramsey said.
“I think she is hiding somewhere,” he recalled telling a detective in the home. “She is probably hiding somewhere. Have you searched the whole house?”
Burke Ramsey said he later recalled going to a family friend’s home, where a lot of people were gathered and “everyone was sad.”
It was there his father told him: “JonBenét is in heaven.”
He said his father started crying and he started crying.
“How is that possible? I started crying. I didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to believe it at first.”
McGraw set up a second interview with Burke Ramsey, to air at 4 p.m. Tuesday in Denver on KCNC Channel 4, closing Monday’s episode by showing Burke Ramsey a photo of a ransom note, evidence in the case which claimed JonBenét had been kidnapped.
“I don’t think I’ve read the whole thing,” Burke Ramsey said smiling. “I’ve seen pictures of it, though.”
McGraw asked: “Does that look like your mother’s handwriting?”
