1 p.m.
Detective Arndt asked John Ramsey and Fleet White to check the interior of the home. They started in the basement.
1:05 p.m.
John Ramsey, JonBenet's father, and Fleet White, a family friend, discover Jonbenet's body in the basement after police recommend they search the home. John Ramsey removes the tape from her mouth and carries her upstairs in outstretched arms, where he lay her on the floor at the top of the stairs and requests a blanket from the couch to cover her.
***Fleet White returned to the basement alone after they found JonBenet's body and picked up the tape that had covered her mouth and put it back down. NEED TIME & SOURCE FOR WHITE'S RETURN TO THE BASEMENT...
2:00 p.m.
As the Ramseys are leaving their home after the body was discovered and the property is declared a crime scene, John Andrew, Melinda and Stewart Long (Melinda's fiance arrive in front of the house.
Evening
The Ramsey's moved to the Fernies home in South Boulder. Friend Pam Griffin describes White's demeanor that evening:
Presumed Guilty, author Stephen Singular Page 99-102
I once asked Griffin if she remembered anything more than what she had already told me about her visit to Patsy on the day after JonBenét's body was discovered. She said that the most visible and forceful person at the Fernies' home that day was not John Ramsey, but Fleet White, John's best friend before the murder.
"White was everywhere," she told me. "Ordering everyone around. Telling people what to do and not to do. Giving me the creeps. He didn't want me to be alone with Patsy. Didn't want me in the bedroom with her. Didn't want me talking to her as she was falling asleep. He didn't even want me to help her drink water to keep her from getting dehydrated. I was trying to assist my friend and couldn't understand why he was acting this way. Someone finally had to tell him to back off, so he took a hike and disappeared.
According to Griffin, White behaved similarly at JonBenét's memorial service at St. John's Episcopal Church the following Sunday, Patsy's fortieth birthday."
December 27:
Missing girl found dead / Six-year-old was reported kidnapped earlier in day
http://www.thedailycamera.com/extra/ramsey/1996/12/27-1.html
The Boulder County coroner reported that an autopsy revealed the cause of death was asphyxia due to strangulation, and her death was ruled a homicide.
December 29
A memorial service is held for JonBenet at St. John's Episcopal Church in Boulder.
December 30
Death of Innocence & Vanity Fair
Later that day we left the Jefferson County Airport, south of Boulder, where Lockheed Martin made a corporate jet available to us for our trip to Atlanta. This was the first of many acts of kindness from this company that had purchased Access Graphics. ...
Our good friend Mike Archuleta volunteered to fly his airplane to take the overflow of our friends to Atlanta. ... Among those who went there to comfort the Ramseys that first week were Fleet and Priscilla White.
John Ramsey said the following about the White's transportation to Atlanta:
13 Q. Also, I think much has been made about the
14 Whites traveling to Atlanta on the company plane that was
15 made available, but not traveling back on the company
16 plane. And I'm wondering if you could better inform me
17 about that?
18 A. I don't think Fleet was on the plane going out
19 to Atlanta. I don't remember if Priscilla was or not. I
20 remember that Fleet was not. That, I know for sure.
21 Q. He came down some other way to Atlanta?
22 A. Right.
23 Q. So it's your testimony that there was no heated
24 disagreement between you and the White family during that
25 time span?
John Ramsey's deposition from Oct. 20, 1998/Stephen Miles case
December 31
JonBenet is buried at a cemetary in Marietta, Georgia, her birthplace, next to her half-sister Elizabeth, who had been killed at age 22 in a car accident in 1992.
During stay in Atlanta:
Fleet White phoned the Paugh house and said he wanted to come by and speak with John. When the Whites arrived, they were led into the sunroom, where Ramsey, his brother Jeff, and Don Paugh were waiting. According to an insider, Ramsey sat down next to Priscilla and began to pat her arm as if to calm her down as her husband pelted him with questions: "Why do you need all these attorneys? Why aren't you cooperating with the police?" His distress mounting, he declared, "I don't understand what you are doing." Priscilla later told friends that she had told John that going on CNN was a big mistake.
Nedra would later tell police that White was "a wild man and a lunatic." Ramsey would inform friends that "the worm had turned." According to a D.A. source, Ramsey told his lawyers and the D.A. that he regarded Fleet White, whom he had often identified as his best friend, as a prime suspect in JonBenet's murder.
Pam Griffin, in describing Fleet White said, "This man has a dark side," she told me over the phone. Pressed to explain how Fleet White could have possibly killed JonBenet, she said, "I don't think Fleet White with his two hands murdered that child. I just think he knows something."
DA Alex Hunter's comments about the incident, Presumed Guilty, Stephen Singular:
Hunter said that John Ramsey and White had gotten into a bad argument in Georgia, when they had taken JonBenét there for the burial. The altercation - unreported in the media - had become so heated, the D.A. continued, that the police had to be called in.
"The cops stayed at the house," Hunter said, "for about six hours."
"Six hours?"
"Six hours."
"That's a very long time."
"Yes, it is."
I asked what they were fighting about.
"The Ramseys have never said. White has told us that it was because he wanted John Ramsey to cooperate more with the authorities and Ramsey said no."
"Why was White so concerned about that?"
"I don't know."
"Do you believe White?"
The D.A. hesitated, and then said, "I've met the man and he made me very uncomfortable. He's six-foot-four, with big shoulders and huge hands. An iron grip. He just gave me a feeling. We know one thing for sure. The Ramseys and the Whites stopped being friends after the trip to Georgia. That's strange, because they used to go sailing together and had been very close. They'd socialized a lot in the past and the Ramseys had gone over to their home on Christmas night. Both families had young daughters the same age. We've heard that Daphne White was JonBenét's best friend."
"Has anyone talked to Daphne?"
"Social Services has, but I'm not satisfied with what they've done."
1997
January 1
John and Patsy Ramsey appear in an interview on CNN and state that they are not the killers and that "there is a killer on the loose." They also say that they have hired their own investigators (Ellis Armistead and David Williams) and were offering a $50,000 reward for information on the killer.
Boulder detectives go to Georgia to interview relatives, friends, and associates of the family.
January 2
It is reported that JonBenet had been sexually assaulted.
January 10
It is reported that the 911 call made during the Ramsey's party three days before the murder was not an emergency, but an accidentally made call by a guest at the party, that was later reported to have been Fleet White.
December 18:
Fleet White urged Gov. Romer to remove Alex Hunter from the case and appoint a special prosecutor. LINK NEEDED
1998
January 7
The governor informed Fleet White that he would not interfere in the case.LINK NEEDED & MORE DETAILS
January 16
The Daily Camera publishes a letter from former Ramsey friends Fleet and Priscilla White to Gov. Roy Romer. It demands a special prosecutor be named to the Ramsey case. The governor stands by District Attorney Alex Hunter and declines to act on the request.
• 01/16/98: Romer should remove D.A. from Ramsey case
• 01/16/98: Romer rejects friends' request to replace Hunter
April 6
Fleet White wrote a letter to the president of the University of Colorado. LINK NEEDED & MORE DETAILS
May 14:
Fleet White sent a letter to the Boulder city manager complaining about the case.
LINK NEEDED & MORE DETAILS
June 23
PATSY DESCRIBES CONCERNS ABOUT FLEET & PRISCILLA
http://timelinewhite.pbwiki.com/Timeline
Excerpts from Patsy Ramsey interview with BPD, June 23, 1998
Patsy Ramsey interview with BPD, June 23, 1998 (full transcript)
http://jonbenetramsey.pbwiki.com/Legal%20Documents
b]August 17
Former Ramsey friend Fleet White writes a second letter to Gov. Roy Romer, asking for a special prosecutor in the Ramsey case.
08/20/98: Ramsey friend again calls for prosecutor
http://www.bouldernews.com/extra/ramsey/1998/620fleet.html
August 20:
Fleet White's Letter to the People of Colorado
http://www.bouldernews.com/extra/ramsey/1998/fleetletter.html
08/21/98
Phillips wants special prosecutor
http://www.bouldernews.com/extra/ramsey/1998/21ramssi.html
August 24
Fleet White's Letter to the Editor
September 1:
Fleet White letter read to Boulder City Council.
September 17
City of Boulder Letter to Fleet White
December 28
From Peter Boyles Show,
Jeff Rutledge, writer for Penthouse, states that Dan Glick tried to get him to pursue Fleet White as a suspect
1999
PRESUMED GUILTY PUBLISHED
Quotes about Fleet & Priscilla White
http://www.webbsleuths.org/dcforum/DCForumID61/2369.html
January 17:
Fleet White wrote a letter to the Board of Regents.
February 26:
Whites call book pack of lies
Daily Camera
http://www.bouldernews.com/extra/ramsey/1999/26crams.html
March 14
Ramseys: Killer may be familiar with family
Pair urges search of 'inner circle'
John and Patsy Ramsey suggested that police look to their "inner circle" to find their daughter's killer, perhaps someone who was familiar with the family and may be a pedophile, according to transcripts of an interview released Monday.
Full Story
http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/extra/ramsey/0314jbox2.shtml
2000
February 25
DA pursues new Ramsey lead
Hunter asks police to investigate woman's story of sex abuse
February 26
Charges shed new ligh
Daily Times-Call
BOULDER — A California woman's allegations of childhood sexual abuse at holiday parties have turned the JonBenet Ramsey murder investigation upside down, and the woman's credibility could determine the future of the case. FULL STORY
http://www.longmontfyi.com/ramsey/storyDetail00.asp?ID=26
February 27
Therapist backs client who claims to have JonBenet murder information
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- A private therapist said Friday that she stands behind her client who claims to have crucial information to help investigators of the death of JonBenet Ramsey.
Full Story
http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/extra/ramsey/0227mary2.shtml
March 3
Sex abuse claims being taken seriously
http://www.longmontfyi.com/ramsey/storyDetail00.asp?ID=26
March 7
Accused molester was Ramsey family friend
http://www.longmontfyi.com/ramsey/storyDetail00.asp?ID=28
May 16JonBenet investigation finds no child sex ring
Police investigating slaying checked out theory put forward by California woman
BOULDER — Police said Monday they have found no evidence to support a California woman's theory that JonBenet Ramsey was killed by a child sex ring.
Full Story
http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/extra/ramsey/0516rams1.shtml
August 2
Boulder Police Report on Fleet White Criminal Complaint
August 1:
Fleet and Priscilla White file criminal libel suit.
August 10:
Several news organizations and journalists are targets of a Boulder police investigation into whether they criminally libeled Ramsey murder case witness Fleet White. Denver lawyer Tom Kelley, a specialist in libel and other First Amendment issues, said Friday the criminal libel statute has never been used against a news organization or journalist.
Criminal-libel inquiry targets journalists in Ramsey case"
http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/extra/ramsey/0826libe3.shtml
September 6
Criminal libel being reviewed over Ramsey coverage
Boulder Daily Camera
A Boulder County district judge has appointed a Pueblo prosecutor to review a case that alleges criminal libel by news media covering the unsolved slaying of JonBenet Ramsey.
Full Story
http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/extra/ramsey/0906spec1.shtml
b]November 14:
Fleet White wrote a letter to the editor endorsing Dave Sanderson for DA.
November 19
Fleet & Priscilla White Letter to CU Board of Regents
http://thewebsafe.tripod.com/11171999whitetoboardregents.htm
2001
April 21:
Fleet White asked the Colorado Court of Appeals to overturn an order that ended an investigation in which he sought criminal charges against journalists who wrote stories mentioning him in the JonBenet Ramsey slaying.
May 5:
Lawyer to stand trial
GOLDEN — A Jefferson County district judge has refused to throw out criminal charges against a Boulder lawyer accused of trying to buy the JonBenét Ramsey ransom note.
http://www.thedailycamera.com/extra/ramsey/2000/05lwhite.html
May 26
Former Ramsey Friend May Be Jailed
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/841487/detail.html
June 29:
Former Ramsey friend Fleet White Jr. charged with contempt of court for ignoring two subpoenas in a criminal case related to the JonBenét Ramsey homicide.
Bench Warrant for Contempt of Court
Hearing re-scheduled for Thursday July 19, 2001
Fleet Russell White, Jr, 52 of Boulder, Colorado received a subpeona to testify at the trial attorney Thomas Miller on Wednesday, June 13, 2001. Thomas Miller was charged by a grand jury with commercial bribery for accompanying Globe tabloid editor, Craig Lewis to offer money for the ransom note in the Ramsey case.
Fleet White did not appear for the trial. District Judge Jane Tidball had charged White with contempt of court and issued a bench warrant. A jury acquitted Miller on the bribery charge on Thursday, June 14, 2001, but Judge Tidball said Miller might have appealed a conviction based on White's failure to show up at his trial.
On Monday, June 18, 2001 Fleet White was arrested on contempt of court charges when he showed up at the Jefferson County courthouse to inquire about a warrant that had been issued for him. White was processed into the Jefferson County jail, then released to his wife, Priscilla, who posted the $1,000 bond.
A hearing was re-scheduled for Monday, June 25, 2001 so White could obtain an attorney. White appeared without a lawyer and asked to read a statement,
"I have respect for this court," White began. "In this case, however, I did not have so much respect for this case in which I'd been subpoenaed." He said avoiding testimony in the Miller trial was "in the best interest of the ongoing JonBenet Ramsey investigation, the best interest of the Colorado justice system and, most importantly, the best interests of my family."
Friday, June 29th was Fleet White's hearing extension where he appeared with his lawyer, Craig Truman. A Jefferson County judge formally charged Fleet White with contempt of court after White ignored two subpoenas in a criminal case. A new scheduled hearing was then set for Thursday, July 19, 2001.
August 24:
An additional letter is sent by Fleet White to the press.
In a letter to "the people of Colorado," Fleet White raises questions about Lt. Gov. Gail Schoettler's relationship with John and Patsy Ramsey.
• 08/25/98: Fleet White claims bias in Ramsey case
http://www.bouldernews.com/extra/ramsey/1998/82598rams.html
• 08/20/98: Fleet White's letter
Oct. 25:
Former Ramsey friend Fleet White Jr. is sentenced to 30 days in jail for ignoring subpoenas in connection with a case related to the JonBenét Ramsey homicide.
Fleet White Comtempt Hearing . 2002-01-11 (T) Fleet White Deposition (Atlanta)(Wolf vs Ramseys)
Courts ruling:
THE COURT: Thank you. The facts here in so far as they are relevant to the issue of sentencing include the following: On April 30, 2001, Mr. White was served with a subpoena to appear at a motions hearing in the case of People v. Miller. He did not appear even though service was proper. That subpoena was for a May 3rd hearing. When he did not appear, he was called before Judge Tidball who made it crystal clear to the defendant that he was obliged to respond to subpoenas. Thereafter and on June 3, of 2001, he was subpoenaed to appear at trial. And even after having been strongly admonished by Judge Tidball about the necessity of complying with subpoenas, he failed to appear for Mr. Miller's trial. In his plea of guilty to indirect contempt, Mr. White acknowledges that one of the elements of the crime of indirect contempt to which he has now pled guilty was his willful failure to comply with the subpoena requiring his attendance on June 13, 2001. So - and it is appropriate for the Court to consider this in sentencing. There have been two failures to comply with properly served subpoenas, the second occuring after a very strong admonition made directly to Mr. White explaining to him how important it was that he comply with properly served subpoenas. And the Court finds it noteworthy that even today in advising Mr. White of his rights and in his written plea of guilty reciting what his rights are, one of his rights in connection with this charge of indirect contempt includes the right to compel the attendance of witnesses with regard to this charge by a court order called a subpoena. In Mr. White's written plea, he didn't add nor did the Court add in advising Mr. White today, but you need to realize, Mr. White, that people can either chose to comply with subpoenas or not; depending on how they feel at the moment. In other words, even in this very plea that has been taken today, there has been a recognition of this defendant that when his own personal rights are concerned, those rights include the very important right to compel the attendance of witnesses at proceedings involving him by means of a subpoena. Yet when a subpoena was sought to be used by counsel representing Mr. Miller in the underlying case, Mr. White took it upon himself to decide whether or not the subpoena is one that should be honored. Exhibit A submitted on behalf of Mr. White and consisting of some six and a half pages is essentially not relevant or material to this proceeding with very, very few exceptions, most of which I have now stated in this ruling. Mr. White's view of the Ramsey case and of all of the events surrounding the Ramsey case has absolutely nothing to do with his obligation or the obligation of any other citizen to comply with a properly served subpoena unless and until an order has been entered quashing that subpoena. What this Court frequently finds it necessary to say both in criminal cases involving serious crimes and in domestic relations cases and sometimes in civil cases is, Mr. White, and this applies to everybody, you don't get to make the rules. And you thought you did even after Judge Tidball made it clear to you that you didn't. The subpoena that was served upon - the subpoenas that were served upon Mr. White, although this probably isn't terribly relevant, were subpoenas caused to be served by Gary Lozow, a highly competent and responsible criminal defense attorney. And it is not up to Mr. White or any other witness in any case to decide "Well, I don't think there was any legitimate basis for me to be subpoenaed, so I just won't go." This Court has been involved in the legal process for over 40 years and often in those 40 years, and frankly mostly in civil cases, has encountered people like Mr. White who think they either know enough about the underlying case or their time is too important that they decide they will not comply with subpoenas. It happens with physicians, it happens with politicians, it happens with celebrities. And one of the messages that the Court has to send by the sentencing in this case is none of those people get to make the rules. And when a doctor gets subpoenaed in a personal injury case or when a celebrity gets subpoenaed in a domestic violence case or whatever the situation may be, the law does not treat people differently depending on their view of the underlying matter. In this case, we're dealing with a college educated successful businessman, a mature man. And yet, what has been presented to the Court is six and a half pages of unwarranted and baseless explanations as to why this individual, just like any other individual in our society, should not be required to respond to legally served subpoenas. Mr. White took this matter into his own hands. He didn't even seek counsel. He certainly has highly competent counsel now, but his counsel now is in the unenviable position of trying to justify the unjustifiable. The unwarranted attempts to excuse Mr. White's conduct contained in Exhibit A are not unlike the baseless and self-serving explanations that the Court often hears in criminal matters from people far less well situated in our society than Mr. White is. The Court acknowledges that indeed the impact on the trial may have been slight, if any. That has absolutely nothing to do with whether citizens are required to respond to subpoenas. The Court certainly takes into account what it has been advised, namely, that this defendant has no criminal record and that he has now acknowledged belatedly, very belatedly that there is no legal justification or excuse for his having failed to appear. This is one of those cases where when the Court considers the factors to be considered in sentencing, the most important one is the message that is sent to other people in our society who may at some time in the future be served with subpoenas that they find it either inconvenient to respond to or in their considered judgement, subpoenas they find baseless or maybe subpoenas in an underlying case that they find baseless, but it is not up to any of us, and the Court certainly includes itself, to decide whether or not to respond to a properly served subpoena unless and until and order quashing that subpoena has been granted. Is there a likelihood that Mr. White will again engage in such conduct in the future? No, there is not. Is there remorse? The Court doesn't really think so. The impression from Exhibit A is that the defendant knows best and he has been extraordinarily inconvenienced and put upon, all of which may be true, but does not exempt him, nor would it exempt anyone else from a properly served subpoena. The obligation to respond to a subpoena goes to the heart of the criminal justice system and in fact the justice system overall. Again, one of the rights the Court advised Mr. White about today that he has was the right to subpoena people to come to trial, and it shouldn't have been necessary for the Court to say as a subtext, and you actually have a right to expect them to respond to that subpoena. So I will tell both counsel that this Court's view is that number one, a jail sentence is in order; and number two, a jail sentence in the range that Mr. Lozow proposed is woefully inadequate to achieve the purposes that the Court believes must be achieved. Having said that, if either counsel has anything to add, I will hear it before pronouncing sentence. Mr. Truman.
2002
June 24
Fleet White Letter to City of Boulder to show just cause
July 4:
Fleet White filed a lawsuit in District Court asking a judge to order the Boulder Police Department to turn over numerous documents related to the investigation. He was seeking documents pertaining to a claim by a California woman that serious crimes had been committed against her when she was a child by Fleet White and members of his family. The Boulder police had dismissed her claims.
August 6
Fleet White Letter to the Boulder City Council
September 26
White vs City of Boulder (Ruling and Order)
November 21
Part of JonBenet Ramsey file made available to public
http://www.longmontfyi.com/ramsey/storyDetail02.asp?ID=35
2003
January 29
Colorado Springs DA Office Letter to Fleet White
April 7
White vs David Thomas Complaint ( 2003-08-12 (T) Fleet White's Letter to Eagle County Court
April 16:
Fleet White filed a motion claiming that Mary Keenan failed to prosecute whoever leaked information from grand jury proceedings in the summer of 1999.
April 21:
Fleet White asked Gov. Bill Owens to assign a special prosecutor to the JonBenet Ramsey murder and remove Mary Keenan from her position as Boulder County District Attorney. The governor said he would stand by a commission's findings in 1999 that recommended against a special prosecutor.
May 2:
Fleet White filed another suit demanding that a hearing be held ordering Jefferson County District Attorney Dave Thomas to explain why he failed to prosecute Globe tabloid reporter Craig Lewis.
May 16
White turns his focus to Keenan
http://www.longmontfyi.com/ramsey/storyDetail03.asp?ID=28
August 20
August 20, 2003
Vail Daily - Colorado
JonBenet figures pop up in Bryant case
By Randy Wyrick
Two of the central figures in the JonBenet Ramsey case are thrusting themselves into the Kobe Bryant sexual assault investigation.
But no one's quite sure why.
Fleet and Priscilla White wrote a nine-page letter to Eagle County Judge Fred Gannett asserting that his order lacked teeth where it reminded court officials and those connected with the Bryant case not to discuss the case with the media.{FULL STORY can be found at Vail Daily}
2004
2005
2006
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