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The Haddon Letter
#1
The Haddon Letter

April 23rd, 1997 Ramsey Family Statement
MEDIA ADVISORY

Our clients, John and Patsy Ramsey, offered specifically to meet with the and Boulder police
in a formal interview on December 27, 1996 and again on January 18, 1997. Since then, we
have made numerous attempts to schedule interviews the Boulder Police Department. Yesterday
at 4:00 p.m. the Boulder Police Department canceled the separate interviews scheduled for today
at 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

We have forwarded the following letter today to the Boulder County
District Attorney Alex Hunter. Hal Haddon Patrick Burke April 23, 1997

HAND DELIVERY
Alexander M. Hunter
Boulder County District Attorney
Boulder County Justice Center
1777 Sixth Street Boulder, CO 80306

Re: John and Patsy Ramsey

Dear Mr. Hunter: By this letter, we express our profound dismay at yesterday's actions
by the leadership of the Boulder Police Department. After representatives of the Boulder
Police with Department and your office requested and agreed to a format for separate
interviews of John Patsy Ramsey beginning at 9:30 a.m. today, we were advised at
approximately 4:00 p.m. yesterday afternoon that the interviews were canceled because
Boulder Police Department leadership no longer agreed to the format of the interviews
-- despite previous statements to the contrary.

When we received this information from your office yesterday, we offered to discuss
any additional matters which might facilitate the interviews but no one from the police
department was willing to even have that discussion.

In view of the bizarre position of the police department, we then offered to make Mr.
and Mrs. Ramsey available this morning for separate interviews by Detective Lou Smit
and any member of the District Attorney's office who wished to attend. This offer was also declined.

This action is incomprehensible in light of the previous history of this issue.

The Police Department, directly and through a campaign of leaks and smears, has portrayed the
Ramseys as unwilling to grant police interviews or assist the investigation. Although we know this
innuendo to be false, we have avoided criticizing the police because we believed that it would only
fuel a media war which would be counterproductive to the overarching goal -- finding and prosecuting
the killer of JonBenét Ramsey.

Yesterday's actions make further silence untenable.

HISTORY OF DISCUSSIONS WITH THE RAMSEYS REGARDING TODAY'S INTERVIEWS

On Friday, April 11, 1997, John and Patsy Ramsey, with their attorneys, met with Peter Hofstrom of your
office and Tom Wickman of the Boulder Police Department. This meeting was held at Mr. Hofstrom's request.

The Ramseys were told at that meeting that they had been treated unfairly in the past and that authorities
wanted to put the investigation on a new track. They were told that "we need your help to solve this crime."
The Ramseys were asked to give interviews and continue their previous cooperation.

No conditions were placed on the manner in which the interviews would be conducted and, in fact, we were
invited to propose any conditions we considered reasonable. At that meeting, John Ramsey immediately said
that he would gladly meet with your representatives if it would help the effort to find his daughter's killer.

The day after that meeting, Patsy Ramsey voluntarily provided a fourth handwriting sample. The Ramseys also
agreed to let authorities search their house again without a warrant; agreed to destructive testing of materials
located at their home; agreed to identify Patsy Ramsey's prior writings; and agreed to make themselves available
for separate interviews on Wednesday, April 23, 1997, beginning at 9:30 a.m.

The Ramseys agreed to answer any questions put to them by any investigator chosen by your office or the
Police Department. We requested that these interviews be of two hour durations, respectively, but we were
certainly flexible on time and your agencies voiced no objection to that time frame.

All the arrangements for these interviews had been made and agreed upon. John and Patsy were anxious to
participate, based on Mr. Hofstrom's representations that such interviews would assist in apprehending the killer
of their daughter.

We cannot describe their anguish and disappointment when we were forced to advise them that the police had
reneged on the very interviews you earnestly requested on April 11.

PREVIOUS INTERVIEWS AND OFFERS

This episode is the latest in an inexplicable series of events which appear to be senseless efforts to intimidate
and smear the Ramseys without any valid investigative purpose. We can document that both John and Patsy
Ramsey were extensively interviewed by Boulder police, including detectives, on December 26, 1996, the day
JonBenét's body was discovered. John Ramsey answered more police questions the next day. On doctors' directions,
Patsy Ramsey was not interrogated on December 27.

What occurred next was the most insensitive and outrageous action in this case, at least to date: Boulder police
refused to release JonBenét's body for burial unless the Ramseys agreed to come to the police station and submit
to a hostile interrogation. We had to threaten legal action to obtain her release for burial.

This was the first in a series of insensitive and incomprehensible actions by the Boulder Police Department leadership
to destroy every sincere attempt to have an open and honest relationship of trust with the Boulder Police Department.

After John and Patsy returned from the funeral, we offered to make them available for a joint interview on January 18, 1997,
at 10:00 a.m. We told the police that Patsy Ramsey was too ill to attend the entire session but that John Ramsey would
answer all questions put to him. The police declined this offer and stated in writing that such an interview would not "be helpful"
because "the time for interviewing John and Patsy as witnesses who could provide critical information that would be helpful
in the initial stages of our investigation has passed."

The police countered with an offer that the Ramseys come to the police station at 6 p.m. on a Friday night and subject
themselves to inquisition for as long as "the nature and quality of the information" warranted. That absurd suggestion
was rejected, especially since the police did not believe that the Ramseys possessed any "critical information."

Since that time, law enforcement authorities from several agencies have launched a cowardly smear campaign against John and Patsy,
fueled by leaks and smears attributable only to "sources." We will no longer endure these tactics in silence. It is beyond
comprehension that law enforcement authorities prefer to leak information rather than interrogate the persons who they
characterize as "suspects" in this investigation.

It is apparent that the leadership of the Boulder Police Department lacks the objectivity and judgment necessary to find
the killer of JonBenét Ramsey. Mr. Hofstrom told John and Patsy that he wanted their help to solve this crime. They
remain willing to meet with Mr. Smit, Mr. Ainsworth or any other members of your office to that end.

Sincerely,
Harold A. Haddon
Patrick Burke
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#2
And the BORG continues to say the Ramsey's refused to cooperate when clearly BPD was playing games and giving unrealistic options to the Ramsey's like being interrogated at 6pm on Friday instead of a normal time like 10am.  They knew the Ramsey lawyers would refuse that so then BPD could leak more to the media about how the Ramsey's won't subject themselves to interviews.

After John and Patsy returned from the funeral, we offered to make them available for a joint interview on January 18, 1997,
at 10:00 a.m. We told the police that Patsy Ramsey was too ill to attend the entire session but that John Ramsey would
answer all questions put to him. The police declined this offer and stated in writing that such an interview would not "be helpful"
because "the time for interviewing John and Patsy as witnesses who could provide critical information that would be helpful
in the initial stages of our investigation has passed."

The police countered with an offer that the Ramseys come to the police station at 6 p.m. on a Friday night and subject
themselves to inquisition for as long as "the nature and quality of the information" warranted. That absurd suggestion
was rejected, especially since the police did not believe that the Ramseys possessed any "critical information."
Reply
#3
From Steve Thomas' deposition in Wolf v Ramsey - - the FBI advised not to do interviews (I think because that would make the BORG lynching harder, dealing with interviews of people who might just be innocent and tell the truth.)

Q. Okay. Last question, page 181, the last two questions and then I'm done. Are you with me?
A. 181.
Q. 181, you make reference to three FBI agents, intruder theory?
A. Help me. Where on the page?

Q. I'm looking myself. Oh, I'm sorry, I'm looking at the paperback. 161, I apologize. Do you see
where it starts "Three FBI agents"?
A. Yes.
Q. What I want to know is if you can date that for me? "'The case is not being handled well,' said
the CASKU agents."
A. Shortly before I believe the Ramseys' April 30, 1997 interview.
Q. Can you identify the three agents for me?
A. Supervisory special agent Bill Hagmaier, special agent Mike Morrow, and their partner and the
third special agent, his name just escapes me at the moment.
Q. And those three agents prior to April 30, 1997 said that the intruder theory was absurd, Hofstrom
needs to act like a prosecutor not a public defender. Don't do tomorrow's interview and get a grand
jury as soon as possible, right?
A. Yes.
Reply
#4
Ramseys send DA scathing letter
Family says police canceled parents' interviews this week
By ALLI KRUPSKI
Camera Staff Writer

Thursday, April 24, 1997

In a scathing 2-page letter Wednesday to Boulder County District Attorney Alex Hunter, attorneys for John and Patsy Ramsey said the Boulder Police Department on Tuesday suddenly canceled two separate interviews scheduled with the parents of the slain beauty queen.

Lawyers Hal Haddon and Pat Burke expressed "profound dismay" with the investigators' abrupt decision.

"It is apparent that the leadership of the Boulder Police Department lacks the objectivity and judgment necessary to find the killer of JonBenet Ramsey," the attorneys said.

The letter marks the most aggressive declaration to date from the Ramsey family in the four-month investigation. Except for a New Year's Day interview on CNN, John and Patsy Ramsey have not talked with the police or the media about their daughter's murder.

In a statement, police officials said they continue to re-

quest interviews with the parents, and "their reluctance to provide witness information continues to hinder the police investigation into the murder of their daughter." The Ramseys have no legal obligation to submit to questioning unless police formally name them as suspects.

Authorities also declined a proposal from the Ramsey lawyers to permit retired detective Lou Smit and any member of the district attorney's office to interview the couple.

Hunter, who recently identified the parents as the focus of the investigation, declined to comment.

Haddon and Burke described Tuesday's cancellation as the "latest in an inexplicable series of events which appear to be senseless efforts to intimidate and smear the Ramseys without any valid investigative purpose."

In the most "insensitive and outrageous action in this case," for instance, authorities refused to release JonBenet's body for burial unless the parents agreed to "a hostile interrogation" with investigators at the Boulder police station, the lawyers wrote.

Law enforcement officials have launched a "cowardly smear campaign" against the Ramseys, the lawyers added. "We will no longer endure these tactics in silence," the letter said. "It is beyond comprehension that ... authorities prefer to leak information rather than interrogate the persons who they characterize as "suspects"in this investigation."

Detectives began requesting interviews from the couple shortly after John Ramsey and a friend found the 6-year-old strangled in the basement of the Ramseys' Boulder home on Dec. 26. About eight hours earlier, Patsy Ramsey discovered a ransom note demanding $118,000 and called police.

After the homicide, investigators extensively interviewed the parents on Dec. 26 and John Ramsey on Dec. 27, Wednesday's letter said. The Ramseys also offered to submit to another interrogation with detectives on Jan. 18.

At that time, the Ramseys insisted investigators interview the couple together for one hour in a doctor's presence at the family attorney's office, according to city spokeswoman Leslie Aaholm. In addition, the parents hoped to select the detectives conducting the session, Aaholm said. For those reasons, police declined the proposal.

Haddon and Burke said in their letter that police rejected the January interview because "the time for interviewing John and Patsy as witnesses who could provide critical information that would be helpful in the initial stages of our investigation has passed."

On April 11, authorities agreed to hold audio taped interrogations at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday with John Ramsey and at 1:30 p.m. with Patsy Ramsey at a Boulder office building. Police, however, canceled the two-hour interviews at 4 p.m. Tuesday, after the FBI's Child Abduction and Serial Killer Unit concluded the Ramseys' conditions would not facilitate a productive interrogation, city officials said.

"It was a no-holds-barred question-and-answer session," said Pat Burke, Patsy Ramsey's attorney. "No questions were off limits. It was at a neutral site."

But police disliked the location and the specified length of the interviews, sources said.

"The building might have favored them, and we might not have had enough time to ask them everything we wanted to," a source close to the investigation said. "(The Ramseys) have tried to help in some other ways, though."

The couple, for example, agreed to allow authorities to search their Boulder home again without a warrant, test material at the house and identify Patsy Ramsey's prior writings, the letter said.

"The DA asked for that last week, and we haven't gone back through the house yet, but we need to go into the basement for evidence and destroy some walls," a source said. "We may have to do it before we get an answer back about Patsy's fifth handwriting sample (that) we asked for a couple weeks ago."

Patsy Ramsey may supply investigators with that sample, family attorneys noted.

"The only reason that that hasn't been concluded is that we were focusing on the interview," Burke said. "If it hadn't been for the interview, my guess is we would have provided the fifth sample by now."

Nevertheless, the Ramseys may submit to a police interview, Burke added.

"We are convinced that despite the cancellation that there are qualified people of good faith working on the investigation whose viewpoints will prevail," Burke said.

David Kaplan, a criminal defense attorney and former president of the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar, said law enforcement officials have an obligation to provide the Ramseys with an opportunity to submit to a police interrogation.

"The police department has been ranting and raving about wanting the interview for months," Kaplan said. "It couldn't be they are not prepared for it, and if it's anything to do with who would do the interview, that just shows the investigation is a mess because they don't even know who's leading it.
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#5
Officials list conditions for Ramsey interviews
Alli Krupski, Camera Staff Writer

Friday, April 25, 1997

Investigators remain willing to interview the parents of JonBenet Ramsey, Boulder Police Chief Tom Koby and Boulder County District Attorney Alex Hunter said Thursday in a conciliatory letter to the family's attorneys.

Koby and Hunter, however, listed six conditions for the proposed interrogation:

John and Patsy Ramsey must be interviewed separately.
Patsy Ramsey must be interviewed first.
There must be an open-ended time frame for the interview, with reasonable breaks.
The interviews must be tape-recorded.
The interview must be conducted by two Boulder police detectives selected in consultation with Hunter. The Ramseys may be accompanied by their attorneys.
The interviews must be conducted at a neutral location such as the Child and Family Advocacy Center in Niwot.

Hunter and Koby also noted they "understand the feelings of frustration" the Ramseys have experienced. The officials acknowledged the "unfortunate miscommunication" between investigators and the family. "We're encouraged to hear you indicate a continued willingness to accomplish the critical interviews with Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey. We share that goal."

The Ramseys' lawyers have not decided if the couple will submit to questioning under such circumstances.

"They are pretty reasonable conditions, and we really need to talk to them separately to validate their accounts," a source close to the investigation said. "We want to talk to Patsy first for a lot of reasons. There's a possibility she might reveal some information that her husband might not. And we can then check that information with him after we talk to her."

City spokeswoman Leslie Aaholm would not elaborate on authorities' request to interrogate Patsy first.

"They (Ramsey attorneys) evidently felt a need to go public with this information, and we felt there were some inaccuracies in what they put out," Aaholm said. "We felt that it would be appropriate to provide first to the attorneys and then to the public the conditions, which frankly are not significantly different from the conditions we set on Feb. 11."

Thursday's letter from Koby and Hunter re sponded to a stinging document Wednesday from Ramsey attorneys to Hunter after authorities suddenly canceled separate interviews with John and Patsy Ramsey. The lawyers' statements marked the most aggressive declaration to date from the Ramsey family in the four-month investigation. The parents have not discussed the murder of their daughter since a CNN interview on New Year's Day.

A Thursday response from the Ramsey lawyers was cool toward the overture.

"The bizarre cancellation of the scheduled interviews, and the attempt to "spin' recent events in an inaccurate and self-serving way, continues to be a source of concern," the Ramseys' attorneys said in a statement Thursday.
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#6
Coroner: police tried to keep body to force interview
Tests on JonBenet were complete
By CLAY EVANS Camera Staff Writer

Friday, April 25, 1997

Boulder police investigators asked the Boulder County coroner's office if it could withhold the body of 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey from her family - even though forensic work was complete - to pressure them into submitting to a police interview, Coroner John Meyer confirmed Thursday.

Meyer, a physician who was legal custodian of the girl's body following her murder and an autopsy, and the only official who could sanction release, refused the police request. JonBenet's body was released to her family Dec. 29, then flown to Georgia for burial.

The request from investigators came through Tom Faure, chief medical examiner for the coroner's office, on Dec. 28, Meyer said.

"My impression at the time was it was sort of a trial balloon, wondering if we could do that," Meyer said. "It was, could we do this ... not necessarily to force the family, but could we put a hold on the body until they do come to an interview."

JonBenet Ramsey was found strangled in the basement of her family's home the afternoon of Dec. 26 by her father, John Ramsey, and a family friend. About eight hours earlier, her mother, Patsy Ramsey, found a ransom note demanding $118,000 and called police.

John and Patsy Ramsey still have not been formally inter viewed by police, but their attorneys said Wednesday that police on Tuesday abruptly canceled separate interviews scheduled for Wednesday.

After receiving the inquiry about holding the body, Meyer told Faure that "certainly I didn't think that was a reason for me to put the body on further hold, that I couldn't use that as justification."

Meyer said the examination of the girl's body was complete, except for toxicology reports, which take up to six weeks for results. He said, however, that his office routinely holds the bodies of homicide victims from 24 to 72 hours after an autopsy is complete, "in case anything comes up."

Police on Wednesday said they were "reluctant to release JonBenet's body because they were not sure all the necessary forensic work had been completed, nor had they had an opportunity to discuss the circumstances of JonBenet's death with the parents."

Boulder Police Chief Tom Koby did not immediately return telephone calls from the Daily Camera on Thursday.

District Attorney Alex Hunter said Thursday there may have been other considerations that led police to ask the body be withheld for additional time.

"For example, was there everything that the CBI (Colorado Bureau of Investigation) needed? Had a pediatrician been involved? A child abuse expert involved?" Hunter said. He said that, all told, the body underwent about 12 hours of examination.

In a telephone conversation the afternoon of Dec. 28, the district attorney's chief trial deputy, Peter Hofstrom, asked Meyer if there was any medical reason to retain custody of the body.

"I told him no," Meyer said. He said he had decided to release the body on Dec. 29, before investigators made their inquiry.

But Meyer said Thursday he believes police investigators "have been doing the best they can" with the 4-month-old case. He also noted the investigators' request did not hold up the release of the body in any way.

Attorney Saskia Jordan, who works for the firm of Haddon, Morgan and Foreman, which is representing John Ramsey, said she accompanied her client to the Boulder County Justice Center on Dec. 28 to provide hair and handwriting samples when she first heard that police wanted to withhold the body.

"At no time when I got there was I told that it had anything to do with a medical or forensic reason," she said. "I was told they would not release the body until they got an interview."

Jordan faults the Boulder Police Department for the situation.

"The D.A.'s office and the coroner did everything they could to do the right thing," she said, "to dissuade the police from ransoming the body."
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