s-evidence-knives.htm


	A Personal view of the Internet Subculture Surrounding the JonBenet Ramsey Murder case

This web page is part of a series covering found materials regarding individuals, items or events that apparently became part of what is commonly known as the vortex of the JonBenet Ramsey murder case Christmas night 1996. The webmaster of this site claims no inside official Boulder police information as to who has been interviewed, investigated, the outcome or what information is actually considered official evidence. These pages outline found material which can include but not limited to materials found in books, articles, the Internet, transcripts, depositions, legal documents, Internet discussion forums, graphics or photos, media reports, TV/Radio shows about the JonBenet Ramsey murder case. Found materials are here for historical archive purposes. (www.acandyrose.com - acandyrose@aol.com)

This webpage series is for historical archive and educational purposes on found materials

Evidence - Knives

BPD Search Warrant 12/26/1996 - Red pocket knife with broken ornament (41KKY)

1) A couple of knives on breakfast table (JR 6/98)
2) Red Swiss Army Knife in wine cellar near blanket (Bonita Papers)
3) Wooden handle knife in upstairs kitchen (PR 6/98)
4) Patsy bought Burke a Swiss Army Knife while traveling to Switzerland (Patsy 6/98)
5) Burke's name was on his Swiss Army Knife
6) Pocket knife found on basement counter?

CHAIN OF EVENTS 1997

1997-04-30: Patsy Ramsey Interrogation by Steve Thomas, Tom Trujillo

Patsy Ramsey Interrogation by Steve Thomas, Tom Trujillo
Also present, Pat Burke, Bryan Morgan, Pete Hoffstrom, Jon Foster
April 30, 1997 - Boulder, Colorado
http://www.jonbenetindexguide.com/1997BPD-Patsy-Interview-Complete.htm

ST: Patsy, once we were told that Burke at times, would walk through the house whittling and that was something that apparently got on Linda Hoffmans’ nerves somehow to clean up after him.
PR: Right.
ST: Was this consistent with his little pocketknife?
PR: Yeah.
ST: He’d walk through the house whittling and for the tape, I’m showing Patsy a photo of a little red Swiss army knife.
PR: Right. He had one we had gotten him in Switzerland, it had his mane on it. Does this have his name on it?
ST: I don’t know.
PR: You don’t know, OK

CHAIN OF EVENTS 1998

1998-06-23: John Ramsey Interrogation by Lou Smit and Mike Kane
(Screen Capture from "CBS 48 Hours Investigates - Searching for a Killer" 10/04/2002)

John Ramsey Interrogation by Lou Smit and Mike Kane
Present also were Bryan Morgan, PI David Williams
June 23, 24, 25, 1998 - Boulder, Colorado

http://www.jonbenetindexguide.com/1998BPD-John-Interview-Complete.htm

June 1998 John Ramsey Interrogation by Lou Smit and Mike Kane (Knives found in house)

0206
18 LOU SMIT: That's why I wanted to show you
19 the picture. I just didn't know what you had heard
20 of this thing. I'm going to show you what's called
21 a picture of 414.
22 This is a photograph that's taken of the dining
23 room table. And it shows various things on the
24 dining room table. Do you see the gingerbread
25 houses? And then you see a bowl on that

0207
1 (INAUDIBLE)?
2 JOHN RAMSEY: Um hmm.
3 LOU SMIT: What else do you see on there?
4 JOHN RAMSEY: I see a glass with what looks
5 like (INAUDIBLE). Tissues on the glass. A couple
6 knives.

(SNIP)

June 1998 John Ramsey Interrogation by Lou Smit and Mike Kane (Knives found in house)

0775
14 LOU SMIT: Also on photograph
15 number 58, that's a photograph of the upstairs
16 laundry room area?
17 JOHN RAMSEY: Uh-hum.
18 LOU SMIT: There is a knife on the
19 counter. What do you recall about that?
20 JOHN RAMSEY: Um, nothing. That
21 looks like a kitchen -- a knife that would
22 normally be in the kitchen. It's hard to tell.
23 Looks like it might be a grapefruit knife or
24 something. We normally didn't prepare any food
25 at that counter.

0776
1 LOU SMIT: Do you ever recall that
2 knife being there before?
3 JOHN RAMSEY: I don't recall, no.

1998-06-23: Patsy Ramsey Interview (Thomas Haney, Trip DeMuth)
(Screen Capture from "CBS 48 Hours - Searching for a Killer" 10/04/2002)

Patsy Ramsey Interrogation by Thomas Haney and Trip DeMuth - Present also were Patrick Burke and Ellis Armistead June 23, 24, 25, 1998 - Boulder, Colorado

http://www.jonbenetindexguide.com/1998BPD-Patsy-Interview-Complete.htm

June 1998 Patsy Ramsey Interrogation by Thomas Haney and Trip DeMuth (Knives found in house)

0332
1 PATSY RAMSEY: No. We had a lot of presents
2 around. I wrapped a lot of gifts, don't know what was
3 in there.
4 TOM HANEY: There is another photo of that
5 bag.
6 PATSY RAMSEY: Uh-huh.
7 TOM HANEY: Fifty-six.
8 PATSY RAMSEY: This is the laundry area
9 there. I hang things out to dry here.
10 TOM HANEY: Can you identify any of the items
11 that are there as having been worn recently?
12 PATSY RAMSEY: Not really. I can't really
13 tell what they are.
14 TOM HANEY: There is one item up here, I
15 think a dryer.
16 PATSY RAMSEY: A dryer, yeah.
17 TOM HANEY: It appears to be some sort of
18 pink -- not sure, a pink material.
19 PATSY RAMSEY: I don't know.
20 TOM HANEY: I don't. That is why I was
21 asking.
22 PATSY RAMSEY: No.
23 TOM HANEY: Nothing unusual?
24 PATSY RAMSEY: No.
25 TOM HANEY: Okay. Fifty-seven, show the --

0333
1 TRIP DEMUTH: Fifty-seven and 58.
2 TOM HANEY: Why don't you tell us what that
3 is.
4 PATSY RAMSEY: That is the red jump suit that
5 she wore at the performance at the little jacket
6 (inaudible).
7 TOM HANEY: What color is the jacket?
8 PATSY RAMSEY: It is red velvet.
9 TOM HANEY: What were you doing with that
10 jump suit that morning?
11 PATSY RAMSEY: There were some spots on it,
12 and I was kind of looking at them thinking that when I
13 got back from the lake I would take it to the
14 dry-cleaner or whatever.
15 A kitchen knife.
16 TOM HANEY: What would that be doing there?
17 PATSY RAMSEY: I don't know.
18 TOM HANEY: It does look like a kitchen
19 knife.
20 PATSY RAMSEY: Uh-huh. I don't know what it
21 is doing there.
22 TOM HANEY: Do you recall yourself having
23 anything to do with that knife being there?
24 PATSY RAMSEY: No. Is it on something? Is
25 that --

0334
1 TOM HANEY: I think that is just a shadow,
2 but a reflection off the --
3 PATSY RAMSEY: There. There is a tiny
4 yellowish color there. Can you see that?
5 I'm not sure if that is one of my kitchen
6 knives, to tell you the truth. That must be something.
7 TOM HANEY: We would have that.
8 PATSY RAMSEY: I could see that. In the
9 picture it looks like it is a very thin blade, like a
10 grapefruit knife or something.
11 TOM HANEY: What about the handle?
12 PATSY RAMSEY: I had some wooden handle
13 knives, but I don't know why I would have it there in
14 the kitchen, you know. I don't know why it is there.
15 TOM HANEY: Could one of the children brought
16 that?
17 PATSY RAMSEY: No. No. No.
18 TOM HANEY: In the previous interview on
19 the -- last April, there was some discussion about
20 Burke having a Swiss Army knife, I think at that time,
21 correct me if I am wrong. You said it had his name or
22 initials on it?
23 PATSY RAMSEY: Right.
24 TOM HANEY: Would he have had any other
25 knives or would there have been any other Swiss Army

June 1998 Patsy Ramsey Interrogation by Thomas Haney and Trip DeMuth (Knives found in house)

0335
1 type of knives in the house? Did John have any?
2 PATSY RAMSEY: I don't know. I don't
3 remember.
4 TOM HANEY: Would Burke have had more than
5 one, more than just one with his name on it?
6 PATSY RAMSEY: It seems like we might have
7 had a little tiny one like a key chain or something,
8 but it might have been -- I just remember the red one
9 with his name on it that I got him in Switzerland.
10 TRIP DEMUTH: Patsy, I read somewhere that
11 Burke would walk through the house whittling sometimes,
12 whittle in the house; is that true?
13 PATSY RAMSEY: I never saw him walk through
14 the house whittling. Now I did, on occasion, in the
15 play room see little whittling like wood, kind of
16 whittles, you know.
17 TRIP DEMUTH: You did ever see him whittle?
18 PATSY RAMSEY: No, No, I didn't.
19 TRIP DEMUTH: Is there any reason why Burke
20 would have a knife like this.
21 PATSY RAMSEY: No. Huh-uh.
22 TOM HANEY: Back to photo 57, this top
23 cabinet, it is closed in this particular photo.
24 PATSY RAMSEY: Uh-huh.
25 TOM HANEY: What is normally kept in there,

0336
1 if you recall?
2 PATSY RAMSEY: Tissue.
3 TOM HANEY: In the video that the police took
4 walking through, which was taken some time later, there
5 are -- there is packages of Pull-ups.
6 PATSY RAMSEY: They would be in there, yeah.
7 TOM HANEY: All right. They are partially
8 hanging out in the video?
9 PATSY RAMSEY: Yup.
10 TOM HANEY: Would those be the Pull-ups that
11 you would normally put on JonBenet?
12 PATSY RAMSEY: Right.
13 TOM HANEY: Do you recall the last time you
14 put those on her?
15 PATSY RAMSEY: It hadn't been for quite some
16 time, but I remember buying them to take a few with us
17 on the cruise, thinking that maybe a combination it
18 would be like on the cruise, and I didn't want her to
19 spoil the mattress. So I bought a new package, and
20 probably had taken some out and put them in the
21 suitcase I was packing. But she hadn't really worn
22 them, you know, very much recently.
23 TOM HANEY: Do you recall prior when the last
24 time you put Pull-ups on her?
25 PATSY RAMSEY: No.

0337
1 TRIP DEMUTH: Other than the knife in the
2 photo 58, I guess 57 and 58, anything unusual you see
3 there?
4 PATSY RAMSEY: This is my sewing kit, the
5 little box.
6 TRIP DEMUTH: That is in 58?
7 PATSY RAMSEY: Sewing box. I can't make out
8 what these little things are here. The detergent,
9 spray starch and fabric softener, and there is
10 something on top.
11 TRIP DEMUTH: Photo 57?
12 PATSY RAMSEY: Uh-huh. (Inaudible).
13 Something behind the Tide box. I don't know what that
14 is.
15 TRIP DEMUTH: Anything stick out as unusual?
16 PATSY RAMSEY: No.
17 TRIP DEMUTH: You would consider that knife
18 unusual?
19 PATSY RAMSEY: I would consider that unusual.
20 Uh-huh.

CHAIN OF EVENTS 1999

1999-08-02: Red knife a Ramsey mystery

http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/extra/ramsey/0802rams1.shtml
August 2, 1999
Red knife a Ramsey mystery

Housekeeper who hid tool wonders how it reappeared, doubts intruder theory
By Charlie Brennan
Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer

BOULDER -- John and Patsy Ramsey's former housekeeper doubts an intruder killed their daughter.

One big reason is a little red knife.

Linda Hoffmann-Pugh, who worked for the Ramseys in their home for more than a year up to the time of JonBenet Ramsey's slaying on Christmas night 1996, doesn't know who killed the child.

But she doubts a stranger broke in, snatched JonBenet from her bed, beat her, strangled her with a garrote, then left her bound with white cord in a little-used basement room to be discovered the next day by her father.

Central to Hoffmann-Pugh's skepticism is a mystery surrounding a knife she once hid -- and that JonBenet's killer may have found.

"I think it's a legitimate area of concern that she has pointed out," said one detective who has worked on the case and knows Hoffmann-Pugh's story.

JonBenet's brother Burke, 9 at the time of the murder, was in the habit of wandering around the family's Boulder home whittling with his Swiss Army knife.

He'd trail shavings behind him so often that Hoffmann-Pugh warned she'd take away the knife if he didn't become more tidy.

He didn't. About a month before JonBenet's murder, Hoffmann-Pugh made good on her threat.

"I got tired of cleaning it up," she said. "He'd been asked to do it over paper or a bag or something. So, I just put the knife up one day, in a cupboard over the sink in that area outside of JonBenet's room" on the home's second level, an area that also had a microwave and laundry facilities.

Hoffmann-Pugh never saw the knife again.

But it resurfaced.

Included in the exhaustive inventory of items removed from the house following the 10 -day police search: "red pocket knife w/broken ornament" from the family's basement.

Specifically, Detective Kerry Yamaguchi discovered Burke's knife on a countertop near a sink just down a basement corridor from the small basement room where JonBenet's body was found.

Hoffmann's-Pugh's question: How did the knife get there?

"That showed up where JonBenet was," said Hoffmann-Pugh. "I would stake my life that an intruder wouldn't know to get that out of the cupboard. Someone took that knife out of the cupboard where I put it."

John and Patsy Ramsey are suspects in their daughter's murder, which is under investigation by a Boulder County grand jury. They deny any criminal involvement. Burke, now 12, has been cleared.

Hoffmann-Pugh said she didn't tell JonBenet's parents where she stowed Burke's knife.

Hoffmann-Pugh has appeared before the grand jury but would not discuss her testimony. She has, however, been interviewed by authorities, and she said she told them her concerns about the knife.

Police have not disclosed whether they believe Burke's knife was used in the crime.

But while the black duct tape that John Ramsey said he pulled from JonBenet's mouth showed signs of having been torn from a roll, rather than cut, the lengths of nylon cord used in the garrote and around the child's wrists would have to have been sliced into sections by a sharp instrument.

CHAIN OF EVENTS 2000

2000-03-18: “Death of Innocence” written by John and Patsy Ramsey

DOI Page 321

"I wondered if, as they walked through the basement, any of the jurors brought up the issue of Burke's red Swiss army knife, which according to the media had been found on the countertop near a sink, just a short distance from where JonBenet's body was found. The implication was that the killer could have used the knife to cut the nylon cord used to tied (sic) JonBenet's wrists together. The cord was also used to make the garrote placed around her neck, which ultimately resulted in her death by strangulation. Linda Hoffmann-Pugh, our cleaning lady, had said on a TV talk show that she thought the issue of the knife was relevant to the murder.

Patsy and I never quite understood why she'd made those statements except that we knew she was mistaken about a number of other issues when she spoke on national television. The truth was that we had no idea where someone might find Burke's knife at any given time; he has a tendency to leave things lying around when he loses interest in them. The knife could have been anywhere in the house. And we had no idea if the knife had any relationship to anything that happened in the crime."

(SNIP)

DOI Page 382

"In mid-November 1999 we held one of these tabloids accountable by filing a lawsuit against the Star in a federal court in Atlanta for their blaring headline "JonBenet was killed by brother Burke," long after the police had officially and publicly cleared our son. The tabloids had figured out that "Burke sells," so they embarked on a smear campaign against a twelve-year-old child.

On May 25,1999, the Star had run a story with a front-page photograph of JonBenet and Burke and this headline. The article said that Burke was being looked at as the prime suspect. They told how JonBenet had wet her bed on Christmas night and crawled into bed with our son. Then Burke, they said, let loose his pent-up resentment of his sister and killed her. They cited the "fact?" that Burke's Swiss army knife was found next to JonBenet's body, as evidence."

DOI Page 383

"After that, the Star ran two other articles, one entitled the "Sad Twisted Life of JonBenet's Brother" on June 1, and the other "What Burke Saw on the Night of JonBenet's Murder" on June 8. Obviously, these articles also subjected our son to public hatred, contempt, and ridicule."

Almost a month later, on June 22, after our attorney had written to the Star, the tabloid ran a small retraction, saying oops, our sources were wrong, and admitting that the district attorney's office had unequivocally stated that Burke was not a suspect in the murder. But they never said that the facts about him were untrue."

CHAIN OF EVENTS 2001

2001-09-21: Steve Thomas Deposition (Atlanta, Georgia)
Wolf vs Ramsey Civil Action File No. 00-CIV-1187(JEC)
(Screen Capture on left is from "Today Show, October 28, 2002)

APPEARANCES
For Plaintiff: Darnay Hoffman, ESQ.
For Defendants: James C. Rawles, ESQ., L. Lin Wood, ESQ.
For Deponent: Charles P. Diamond, ESQ., Sean R. Smith, ESQ.
Also present: O.M. "Ollie" Gray
Also present: Jay R. Ren, CLVS, Todd Tompkins, Videographer Intern

Steve Thomas Deposition (Atlanta, Georgia)
Wolf vs Ramsey Civil Action File No. 00-CIV-1187(JEC)
(Burke's Swiss Army Knife)

431
10 Q. There was a pocket knife found on
11 the basement counter?
12 A. Which I learned later, right.
13 Q. And was that ever sourced, to your
14 knowledge?
15 A. No. My recollection of that is
16 terribly vague because I don't know when we
17 talked about those thousand-plus pieces of
18 evidence collected, those were potential
19 pieces of evidence, I think that the pocket
20 knife may have been collected, but I don't
21 know. There was the suggestion that I
22 overheard that that belonged to Burke.
23 Q. Was that ever sourced to Burke?
24 A. Not prior to me leaving.

Steve Thomas Deposition - 09-21-2001
Chris Wolf vs Ramsey Civil Case
(Burke's Swiss Army Knife)

2001-12-11: Patsy Ramsey Deposition (Wolf vs Ramsey Civil suit) (Atlanta, Georgia)

Patsy Ramsey Deposition by Darnay Hoffman - Present also on behalf of the Plaintiff: Evan M. Altman, Esq
On behalf of the Defendants: James C. Rawls, Esq., Eric P. Schroeder, Esq., S. Derek Bauer, Esq., L. Lin Wood, Esq., Brandon Hornsby, Esq., Mahaley C. Paulk, Esq. (Also present at deposition: John Bennett Ramsey)

http://www.jonbenetindexguide.com/12112001Depo-PatsyRamsey.htm

December 11, 2001 Patsy Ramsey Deposition Wolf vs Ramsey (Burke's Swiss Army Knife)

Page 145
8 Q. (By Mr. Hoffman) One of the most
9 controversial pieces of evidence is a red Boy
10 Scout knife or a whittling knife. I don't know
11 if it is a Swiss Army knife. Do you know
12 whether or not Burke owned a red knife at any
13 time?
14 A. He had a couple of them.
15 Q. He had more than one?
16 A. I believe so.
17 Q. Do you know if he had more than one
18 at one time?
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. So it wasn't like he owned one and
21 then lost it and then owned another one?
22 A. Oh, well, I don't know that exactly.
23 I guess he has had a couple of them in his
24 life. I don't know that.
25 Q. Do you know the whereabouts of that

Page 146
1 knife on Christmas day?
2 MR. WOOD: Which one?
3 MR. HOFFMAN: The red knife that I
4 was just referring to.
5 MR. WOOD: She said he had a couple.
6 Q. (By Mr. Hoffman) Do you know the
7 whereabouts of either one of those knifes?
8 A. No.

December 11, 2001 Patsy Ramsey Deposition Wolf vs Ramsey (Burke's Swiss Army Knife)

Page 146
9 Q. There is apparently a kitchen knife
10 found.
11 MR. WOOD: Kitchen knife found where?
12 MR. HOFFMAN: Found at the scene of
13 the crime somewhere in the kitchen, or whatever.
14 MR. WOOD: That would be news to me.
15 MR. HOFFMAN: Okay. All right.
16 MR. WOOD: I don't know what you are
17 talking about. If you can, help me. If the
18 question is, Did you have kitchen knives --
19 MR. HOFFMAN: I know she has kitchen
20 knives.
21 MR. WOOD: But when you represent,
22 please, when you represent something as being
23 evidence, I just have to make sure that that is
24 just not --
25 MR. HOFFMAN: I am not saying any of

Page 147
1 this is evidence.
2 MR. WOOD: -- made up out of whole
3 cloth because the tabloids said it was evidence.
4 Most of that doesn't exist.

CHAIN OF EVENTS 2004

2004-01-14: The Bonita Papers-1999 (Knife in Cellar)
From a poster known as "Spade" on the www.forumsforjustice.org forum posted information regarding a person known as "Bonita." Spade wrote: "These are the unedited "notes" of Bonita Sauer, secretary/para-legal to Dan Hoffman. Bonita intended to write a book from the case documents provided to her boss. But Bonita's notes were sold to the tabs by her nephew. Larry Pozner is a partner in the same law firm. I hope he reads his secretary's notes about this case before he runs his mouth about the Ramsey's. (Again) This is a long file, so I suggest copying to your own computer and printing it out. I have checked the important case info and find it accurate, however there is some BS. Please post your questions." On another postings, Spade wrote, "Bonita is the 1st name of the legal secretary who wrote up the Boulder Police reports, mailed them to her nephew in Oregon who in turn double-dealt them to two tabs for $70,000. Bonita had access to all the BPD reports. Keep in mind that Bonita wrote-up her info in 1999"

"Inside the room, investigators found the white blanket that John said had been wrapped around JonBenet, and the piece of black duct tape which had covered her mouth. .They also found bundled inside the blanket a child's pink Burble nightgown. A red Swiss army knife was also found lying in the corner of the room away from the blanket. On the floor outside the door to the cellar was a paint tray and acrylic painting supplies. One of the detectives observed a wooden handle to a paint brush, the type used by artists, which appeared to be broken and a piece missing. The floor of the wine cellar was vacuumed to collect any trace evidence. The black duct tape, blanket, nightgown, knife, broken paint brush and paint tray, and vacuumed particles were all collected and logged into evidence."

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