On 'Larry King Live,' accuser says Patsy is JonBenet's killer

By Tillie Fong
Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer

Patsy Ramsey challenged former Boulder Detective Steve Thomas on Wednesday night to accuse her face-to-face on national television of killing JonBenet.

And he did.

"I want you to look at me and tell me — what do you think happened?" she asked Thomas on the Larry King Live show.

"I can look at you right in the eye," Thomas said. "I think you are good for this. I think that's what the evidence suggests."

"You are so wrong, Steve Thomas," said Ramsey in a whisper, closing her eyes in exasperation.

The Ramseys and Thomas hurled countless accusations in the hourlong show.

It was the first time they have been together since April 30, 1997, when Thomas, then a Boulder police officer, questioned them about their daughter's death.

Since then, Thomas and the Ramseys have written books about the case, offering different theories about who killed the Ramsey's daughter, JonBenet, Dec. 26, 1996.

Wednesday, the host had a difficult time moderating the discussion, in which John Ramsey often interrupted Thomas.

"Let me finish," said Thomas a few times. "I can't get three words in," he said at another time.

The tone was set early when John Ramsey explained why he and his wife were willing to do the show with Thomas.

"This man, as a police officer, has caused irreparable harm to my family," he said.

"He has called my wife a murderer. He's called me ... a liar, he has slandered my relationship with my daughter, Patsy's relationship to JonBenet. He did it in a public forum, and it's reprehensible. It needed to be addressed in a public forum."

When King asked why the Ramseys didn't just sue Thomas, John Ramsey replied, "That's coming down the road."

But when John Ramsey went on to accuse Thomas of failing in his responsibilities as a police officer, saying "an experienced homicide investigator could have solved this case by now," Thomas countered with "let's talk about parents who failed their daughter." He asked them why they waited for four months to talk to police.

"Let's cut to the chase, John," he said.

"A dead child, your child, was found in your basement, (to) which you could not offer a satisfactory explanation."

When Thomas outlined his theory of what happened that night — Patsy Ramsey killed JonBenet after a bedwetting accident — the Ramseys were indignant.

"Where am I supposed to have learned how to do this garrote?" asked Patsy Ramsey, referring to a device found around the child's neck.

"You admit, do you not, it was your paintbrush that was used," countered Thomas. "Do you admit that?"

Patsy Ramsey said she didn't know.

"The perpetrator was in our home," she said. "He had access."

But Thomas scoffed at that.

"The kidnapper who forgot his ransom note? The kidnapper who forgot his pens and all his tools and all his instruments?" he asked.

Patsy Ramsey replied, "We're not going to solve this tonight, and I refuse to have a Jerry Springer-type exchange."

Thomas challenged the Ramseys on their offer to meet with Boulder investigators.

"Are you making the commitment to go into the Boulder Police Department next week or next month and sit down for an unlimited amount of time and cooperate?" he asked.

"Cooperation is a two-way street," said Patsy Ramsey.

John Ramsey said they would be willing to go along with their investigators to share their findings and also ask their questions.

The Ramseys maintain an intruder killed JonBenet, and that the Boulder police won't consider anyone else.

Thomas said that wasn't true.

"Why do we have to prove our innocence?" asked John Ramsey.

When Thomas said evidence pointed to the couple, John Ramsey disagreed.

"Tell me one piece of evidence that's admissible in the court of law," he said.

Thomas told Patsy Ramsey there was enough evidence to arrest her for the murder.

She replied, "I wish I had," saying she could then have been exonerated in trial.

Contact Tillie Fong at (303) 892-5489 or fongt@RockyMountainNews.com.