4/29/2003 National Enquirer

JONBENET CASE TAKES A STRANGE NEW TWIST

INVESTIGATORS FOCUS ON INTRUDER THEORY

BY DON GENTILE

Was it the strange kiddie photographer who walked naked down the street? Or was it the student with a sick sexual attraction to Barbie Dolls?

Could it have been the auto parts worker who owned a stun gun and took his own life or the convicted child molester who admitted he'd done something horrible?

Who DID kill Jonbent Ramsey if, as Boulder District Attorney Mary Keenan said recently, there is little proof she was slain by her parents John and Patsy?

"The evidence is more consistent with a theory that an intruder murdered JonBenet," said Keenan in a startling statement that turned the Christmas 1996 homicide case up-side down. In a clear slap at the Boulder cops- who were criticized for botching the initial investigation-Keenan transfered the case to her office.

And The Enquirer has learned that Keenan's investigation may re-examine some of the bizarre characters who were cleared by police, including:

Randy Simmons is the kiddie photographer who took many of the famous photos of JonBenet. He was arrested on October 16, 1998, for walking naked down the main street of Genoa, Colo. "I didn't kill Jonbent," Simons told the arresting officer who hadn't asked him if he had.

Mike McElroy was a student at of Univ. of Colo. in Boulder at the time of Jonbent's death. He hosted a sick website that featured pornographic articles about the murder and rape of young girls, photos of sexual bondage and a twisted yarn about the way to have violent sex with a Barbie doll. Several bound and gagged Barbie dolls were tossed on the lawn of the Ramseys' Boulder home months after the murder.

In late 1998, The Enquirer reported that cops discovered McElroy owned a stun gun, which police confiscated. Experts believe a stun gun was used to subdue Jonbenet.

Michael Helgoth, a Boulder auto parts worker, shot himself on Feb.14th, 1997 the day after Hunter declared in a televised press conference that the list of suspects was narrowing.. Found near Helgoth's body was a stun gun and a pair of High-/Tec boots.

Gary Olivia, a homeless sex offender, was believed to be in the Ramsey neighborhood on the night of the murder and according to a friend, he called days later to say he'd done a terrible thing. Police say Olivia also owned a stun gun.

The Ramsey attorney Lin Wood said Keenan's comments about an intruder exonerate John and Patsy, as does the recent ruling by Judge Carnes. She dismissed a lawsuit by journalist Chris Wolf, who was named as a possible suspect in a book authored by the Ramseys. Carnes' 93 page dismissal ruling also contained never before revealed evidence in the case:

Seven windows were unlocked and a door was open in the Ramsey home after the murder; pieces of a brown paper bag were found in Jonbenet's bed- the bag itself, containing rope, was in a bedroom next to Jonbent's room; and dark animal hairs were found in her hands.

"The bag and rope did not belong to the Ramseys and the animal hair, from a dog or cat, matched nothing in the Ramsey home", said an insider.

"The feeling is the killer owns a pet."

But while Keenan is looking at other suspects, she said: "Were not excluding the Ramseys."