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CBS' True Crime Series Revisiting The JonBenet Ramsey Case Airs Next Month
It's been 20 years since the yet-unsolved murder of 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey. CBS will re-examine the case in a three-part mini-series airing next month. Case Closed: JonBenet Ramsey will premiere on September 18. The show is described by CBS as a "six-hour limited event docu-thriller," and will feature both investigators who worked on the case when it first broke, as well as new experts, according to E! News. This includes forensic scientist Dr. Henry Lee, former FBI supervisory special agent Jim Clemente, former Boulder D.A. chief investigator James Kolar, and forensic pathologist Dr. Wener Spitz. Evidence from the original case will get a second look using modern technology, and the show will recreate the original crime scene. The show will also explore some new theories about what might have happened.
JonBenet Ramsey was murdered on December 26, 1996. Her body was discovered by her parents in the basement of their Boulder, Colorado home, several hours after her mother Patsy Ramsey, called police to report that her daughter was missing and a ransom note had been found demanding $118,000 for her return. It was determined that JonBenet had been strangled as well as hit in the head by an unknown assailant. JonBenet's relatives, including her father, mother and brother, were the first suspects in the case, though DNA evidence cleared them in 2008 as the DNA found on JonBenet's clothing did not match anyone in the family. Media attention focused on the fact that JonBenet, at only age 6, was a frequent beauty pageant contestant. Patsy Ramsey died of ovarian cancer in 2006.
JonBenet's brother, Burke, who is now 29 years old, gave an interview to Dr. Phil, according to People. It will air in three parts on September 12.
Case Closed is just one of several true crime series to come to TV lately. There's FX's The People vs. O.J. Simpsons: American Crime Story, as well as another upcoming series about the same case produced by Nicole Brown Simpson's sister. NBC and Dick Wolf are also developing a series about another shocking 90s case, the Menendez brothers' murder of their parents in Beverly Hills. Meanwhile, Netflix's Making a Murderer, which explored the bizarre case surrounding Steven Avery and the murder of Teresa Halbach, is getting a second season.
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