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Investigators: no arrest imminent in Ramsey killing

JonBenet January 13, 1997
Web posted at: 10:15 p.m. EST

Latest developments:

BOULDER, Colorado (CNN) -- Nineteen days after the killing of 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey, investigators denied reports the list of possible suspects is shrinking, and said no arrest was "imminent" Monday.

City spokesman Kelvin McNeill told CNN nothing had happened to change the position put forward by police that "no one has been ruled in or out" as a possible suspect. No one has been named as a suspect, he added.

McNeill made his comments in response to news reports that the list of possible suspects had been narrowed down -- to seven or eight, according to Newsweek magazine or, according to ABC News, to "several."

McNeill refused to comment on reports by both news organizations that semen had been found at the scene of the killing, though authorities had previously reported the victim was sexually assaulted. DNA testing of semen could help identify the killer.

The girl's parents, John and Patricia Ramsey, announced through a spokesman that John Douglas, a 25-year FBI veteran who specialized in profiling criminals, is joining their team of "experts" hired to find their daughter's killer.

John Ramsey said he found his daughter's body in the basement of the family's 15-room home on December 26, some eight hours after her mother said she found a ransom note demanding $118,000.

County sues tabloid for publishing crime scene photos

Boulder County commissioners went to court seeking a restraining order against the supermarket tabloid, The Globe, which published crime scene photos that authorities say were taken from the coroner's office.

Boulder County commissioners asked that the Globe be ordered to return the photos, and to refrain from publishing any others that could cause "irreparable harm" to the police investigation and possibility of a fair trial.

The lawsuit claims the photos were "obtained under criminal circumstances." District Judge Roxanne Bailin was expected to answer the request for a restraining order as early as Tuesday.

Globe editor Tony Frost declined to explain how the newspaper got the photos, saying that would compromise its sources, and he defended their publication.

Several stores in Colorado and neighboring states refused to sell Monday's national edition of The Globe, which featured the pictures.

"Our customers in Colorado let us know. They were polite, very nice, but the feelings ran very high," said Karen Roskopf, spokeswoman for Dallas-based Southland Corp.'s "7-11" stores.

Boulder County Sheriff George Epp said his agency is using polygraph tests and pursuing "a number of promising leads" in the effort to learn who leaked the photos.

Parents take case online

Ramseys

The Ramseys' public relations consultant, Patrick Korten, has set up a Web page on the Internet for "JonBenet Ramsey Information."

It includes two statements from the parents, including a weekend release condemning the "ghoulish" publication of the crime scene photos.

Korten, who has a background in broadcast journalism, did public relations work for Reagan administration Attorney General Edwin Meese and former Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North, a key figure in the Iran-Contra scandal.

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