List of Suspected Intruders

(Back to Key People)

During the investigation of JonBenet Ramsey's death, the Boulder Police Department has investigated at least 140 people as possible suspects, in 17 states. It has formally interviewed more than 600 people, many of whom have been interviewed on multiple occasions. In addition to this, the Boulder District Attorney's office has re-investigating several suspects it believed the Boulder Police had not looked at closely enough, and pursued several tip-offs from members of the public. In addition to this, the private investigators employed by the Ramsey defense team have also re-investigated several suspects themselves. No intruder suspect has ever been successfully linked to the crime scene through physical evidence.

List of Suspected Intruders

 * John Mark Karr: (Investigated 2006, DNA taken 2006) Falsely confessed in 2006. Police determined he was not in Colorado at the time of the killing. His confession was not consistent with the facts. Karr could not be linked to the scene by hair, fingerprints, footprints DNA, handwriting, fibers or any other form of physical evidence.


 * Michael Helgoth: (Investigated 1997, 1998, 2000, DNA taken 1997) Accused by John Kenady. The Ramseys' private investigators believed one of Helgoth's boots may have been linked to a footprint from the scene. CBI and FBI testing determined the boot was not a match. There was no evidence Helgoth had ever heard of the Ramseys. He could not be linked to the scene by hair, fingerprints, footprints, DNA, handwriting, fibers or any other form of physical evidence.


 * John Gigax: Accused by John Kenady - labeled a "suspect" in a documentary. Sales receipts and "a dozen witnesses" confirmed Gigax was in Indiana at the time of the killing. Confirmed not to be a suspect by Boulder Police, District Attorney's office, and Ramseys' private investigators.


 * Glenn Meyer: (Investigated 1997, DNA taken 1997 ) Tabloid "suspect". Meyer was staying in the Barnhills' house at the time of the killing. Meyer was interviewed by police, gave DNA, handwriting, hair samples, and fingerprints, passed a polygraph test, and had an alibi from the Ramseys' elderly neighbor Joe Barnhill. Meyer was fully cooperative and nothing was found to link Meyer to the crime scene. Theory resurrected in 2018 by tabloid https://radaronline.com/photos/jonbenet-ramsey-ransom-note-lettering/


 * Gary Oliva: (Investigated 1997, 2003, DNA taken 1997) Tabloid "suspect".


 * Kevin Raburn (Investigated 1997, DNA taken 1997)


 * Robert Ferbrache - Denver rock musician accused by CBS 48 Hours Mystery because he had a candy cane and a shrine. Questioned by the District Attorney's office and DNA was taken.


 * Todd Fuss (Investigated 2019, DNA taken 2019)

Scott Caruthers (Investigated 2019, DNA taken 2019)

Todd Schonlau (Investigated 2019, DNA taken 2019)


 * Randy Simons (Investigated 1997 , DNA taken 1999 )

Chris Wolf

James Selby: Convicted rapist who falsely confessed in prison in 2003. Was investigated and cleared by the Boulder District Attorney's office who was in charge of the case at the time. He also falsely confessed to the murder of another child, Danielle Van Dam.

Bill McReynolds: (Investigated 1997, DNA taken 1997) AKA "Santa Bill". A Santa Claus impersonator

Linda Hoffman-Pugh: (Investigated 1997, DNA taken 1997) steve thomas said "Hoffman-Pughs immediate and even some extended family were investigated. Again, absent a great conspiracy (I am not a conspiracy theorist), these simple people of simple means were not involved. Linda accused Patsy of murdering her daughter or covering it up, the husband, although some scrapes with law, showed no evidence to suggest involvement, etc. Linda went on to write a book and called JonBenet a spoiled rich brat, and continued to point the finger at the Ramsey family. She had a key to their home and was denied a loan from the Ramsey’s only days prior to the murder. LP’s husband slept on the couch the night of the murder, she says she was in their bedroom." ....

List of "Suspects" provided to the media by Lou Smit and Ollie Gray (May 25, 2001):


 * 1) Michael Helgoth "A Boulder County man who committed suicide on Feb. 14, 1997"
 * 2) Gary Oliva "A man who showed up at a memorial service for JonBenet a year after her death."
 * 3) "Candy Cane Man" "A man living in a suburb east of Boulder who an informant said had a basement shrine to JonBenet"
 * 4) Darrel Kirkwood " A man who said he killed JonBenet in an e-mail last October to Gray, Ramsey attorney Lin Wood and John Ramsey, as well as in phone calls to John Ramsey. Gray said he believes the man is probably running a scam because he sought money as part of his contact."

Smit and Gray eventually moved on from these suspects and focused instead on John Mark Karr, at one point even planning to fly to Paris to confront him.

After Karr was determined to be uninvolved in the crime, Gray went back to accusing Helgoth. In 2016 Gray said "there's no doubt" that "Helgoth and his accomplices committed the crime".

https://jonbenetramseymurder.discussion.community/post/individuals-known-to-have-been-dna-tested-10361824