MESSAGE BOARD: Crime and punishment

September 23, 1999
Web posted at: 12:16 a.m. EDT (0416 GMT)

From CNN Correspondent Greg LaMotte

BOULDER, Colorado (CNN) -- Grand jurors in the JonBenet Ramsey case are expected to meet Thursday for the first time in nearly four months.

The jurors last met May 25 and their term expires in less than a month.

Boulder District Attorney Alex Hunter has said the investigation of the 6-year-old beauty queen's death has been continuing while the grand jurors were on hiatus. Hunter has said investigators were developing new information regarding forensic and DNA tests.

JonBenet's beaten and strangled body was discovered December 26, 1996 in the basement of her parents' home in Boulder.

Early on, police said her parents were under an umbrella of suspicion. John and Patricia Ramsey have steadfastly maintained their innocence.

JonBenet's brother Burke, who was 9-years-old at the time of his sister's murder, has been cleared as a suspect in the case.

It is believed grand jurors have gleaned over 30,000 pages of police reports and listened to dozens of witnesses, including Burke Ramsey. The parents, however, have not appeared before the grand jury.

Grand jurors have several options in the case, including issuing an indictment, issuing no indictiment with a report, or no indictment and no report.

If their term ends October 20 without an indictment, another grand jury could be seated to hear the case although legal experts say that's very unlikely.

The Ramseys have since sold the home in Boulder and John Ramsey left the computer company he headed. The family now lives in Atlanta.

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