JonBenet Ramsey’s Brother Threatens Defamation Lawsuit Against CBS

The lawyer for the Ramsey family has threatened to file a defamation lawsuit against CBS after the network broadcast The Case Of: JonBenét Ramsey, a two-part series that posited that the likeliest suspect in the still-unsolved 1996 murder was her then-nine-year-old brother Burke.

Although the episodes contained disclaimers stating the forensic experts and investigators’ conclusions were just their hypothesis and not proven fact, L. Lin Wood, the lawyer who has long represented the Ramsey family against the many published accusations they’ve faced over the past two decades, called The Case Of a “false and unprofessional television attack.”

“I will be filing a lawsuit on behalf of Burke Ramsey,” Wood told Reuters. “CBS’ false and unprofessional attacks on this young man are disgusting and revolting.” In less formal words, Wood reiterated to TMZ, “You damn betcha I’m gonna sue CBS, the phony experts and everyone else that put this thing together.”

In a statement to Rolling Stone, Wood added, “In its desire to match or surpass the ratings and profits achieved by other networks in recent true crime series, CBS juxtaposed lies, misrepresentations, distortions and omissions with very few grains of truth to falsely accuse Burke Ramsey of killing his sister, JonBenét, in its docuseries The Case of: JonBenét Ramsey. In doing so, CBS perpetrated a fraud on its viewers – there was no new investigation by the phony TV ‘experts.'”

“CBS stands by the broadcast and will do so in court,” a rep for CBS tells Rolling Stone.

In The Case Of, the investigation team hypothesized that Ramsey was not killed in a kidnapping attempt gone wrong, but by her brother, who they allege killed his sister with a blow to the head with a flashlight. Investigators allege that the kidnapping plot and ransom note was instead subterfuge to deflect suspicion away from Burke.

“The accusations of the CBS so-called ‘experts’ lack substantial evidentiary support and contradict the factual conclusions reached by legitimate law enforcement authorities and experts familiar with the actual evidence developed in the case. CBS’ false and unprofessional attacks on this young man are disgusting and revolting,” Wood continued in his statement.

“No fair-minded person can condone this false and heinous television attack by CBS on a young man for ratings and profits. Burke Ramsey shall seek redress against CBS for its outrageous accusations in a court of law.”

Read Wood’s entire statement below:

In its desire to match or surpass the ratings and profits achieved by other networks in recent true crime series, CBS juxtaposed lies, misrepresentations, distortions and omissions with very few grains of truth to falsely accuse Burke Ramsey of killing his sister, JonBenét, in its docuseries The Case of: JonBenét Ramsey. In doing so, CBS perpetrated a fraud on its viewers – there was no new investigation by the phony TV “experts.” CBS intentionally avoided and ignored the truth of the mass of evidence that (1) led the Boulder District Attorney and Boulder Police Department to publicly and officially confirm in May of 1999 that Burke Ramsey was not a suspect or even a possible suspect; (2) supported the 2003 finding by Georgia Federal Judge Julie Carnes that “abundant evidence” supported assertions by JonBenét’s parents, “that an intruder entered their home at some point during the night of Dec. 25, 1996, and killed their daughter”; and (3) led the Boulder District Attorney to publicly exonerate the Ramsey Family in 2008 based on conclusive DNA evidence.

The accusations of the CBS so-called “experts” lack substantial evidentiary support and contradict the factual conclusions reached by legitimate law enforcement authorities and experts familiar with the actual evidence developed in the case. CBS’ false and unprofessional attacks on this young man are disgusting and revolting.

No fair-minded person can condone this false and heinous television attack by CBS on a young man for ratings and profits. Burke Ramsey shall seek redress against CBS for its outrageous accusations in a court of law where he successfully acquitted himself over 15 years ago in libel actions filed against the tabloid Star Magazine, the New York Post and Court TV for publishing similar false accusations. CBS shall be held accountable for the damage it has unlawfully inflicted on this young man’s reputation.