Why JonBenét Ramsey’s Dad Got A ‘Nice Warm Feeling’ About Murder Case Update

It’s been more than two decades since the death of JonBenét Ramsey and her family has yet to gain closure in her unsolved murder case. However, newly released audiotapes have given her father, John Bennett Ramsey, a new sense of hope.

In the Discovery+ documentary “JonBenét Ramsey: What Really Happened?” John learned that Lou Smit, a Colorado detective, kept detailed audio diaries about the 1996 murder case throughout his investigation.

Smit, who died in 2010, was one of the few officers who didn’t believe John and his wife, Patsy Ramsey, were responsible for the death of 6-year-old beauty pageant star JonBenét, according to USA Today.

For the documentary, Smit’s children released their father’s never-before-heard audiotapes, much to John’s surprise. “I was not aware of the audiotapes...It’s a real asset to solving this case, still,” he told the publication.

John went on to say that hearing Smit’s voice again gave him a “nice warm feeling,” adding, “He was quite a person...a legend in Colorado for what he’d accomplished in his career.”

In the audiotapes, Smit, who solved over 200 homicide cases in his lifetime, insisted JonBenét was killed by an intruder rather than someone in her family.

“There is evidence of an intruder. I say this over and over again. Nobody wants to listen,” Smit says in one recording, reports TV Insider.

“There is absolutely no motive for the Ramseys to do it,” he added.

John hopes the latest documentary about his daughter, which is one of several to come out in recent years, will “keep the case alive" and result in someone coming forward with helpful information.

He admitted that he is still upset with the police department for focusing on how to prove his and his late wife’s guilt in their daughter’s murder rather than helping Smit look for the killer.

“The police drew a conclusion immediately that day, the next day, and then tried to find the evidence to prove it. And the evidence they were finding was, unfortunately for them, contradictory to their conclusion,” John explained.

“But they never admitted that and struggled with that for years and spent millions of taxpayers’ dollars trying to prove otherwise.”

JonBenét’s body was found on Dec. 26, 1996, in the basement of her family’s Boulder, Colorado, home.

“JonBenét Ramsey: What Really Happened?” is now streaming on Discovery+.