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JonBenet grand jury convenes
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Web posted at: 12:14 p.m. EDT (1614 GMT)
BOULDER, Colorado (CNN) -- A grand jury convened Tuesday to hear evidence in the JonBenet Ramsey murder case, the Boulder County District Attorney's office said.
The jurors -- eight women and four men -- were to receive an overview from the district attorney's office Tuesday with the presentation of evidence and witnesses scheduled to continue on Wednesday, sources familiar with the investigation said.
The grand jury deliberations are expected to be a major advance in the 21-month-old investigation because the jury is empowered to subpoena anyone it wants and compel them, with few exceptions, to testify.
Michael Kane, a grand jury specialist hired by Boulder County District Attorney Alex Hunter, will present the overview along with two special prosecutors -- Bruce Levin of the Adams County District Attorney's office and Mitch Morriseey of the Denver District Attorney's office.
The jury, which was impaneled five months ago but has never met until now, convened at the Boulder County Justice Center.
The jury deliberations, which are secret, could take as long as two months.
Six-year-old JonBenet Ramsey was found dead on December 26, 1996. Among the pieces of evidence the jury is expected to see are a ransom note found in her home demanding $118,000.
In addition, jurors will be given an autopsy report which concludes there were "abrasions and vascular congestion" in JonBenet's genital area. The autopsy report concluded JonBenet died of "asphyxia by strangulation."
Her parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, along with Burke Ramsey, JonBenet's 11-year-old brother, have all given handwriting samples to prosecutors.
John and Patsy Ramsey, who now live in Atlanta, remain under suspicion in their daughter's death, but proclaim their innocence.
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