1998-11-13: Boulder News Forum thread, "Breakthrough"

breakthrough
obsessor - 06:26pm Nov 13, 1998 MST

(copy of letter sent 11/13/98 to ramsey case investigators)

To whom it may concern (Boulder police detectives, Jennifer Geddes, FBI, etc., Ramsey family)
It is our belief that you presently have the killer of JonBenet Ramsey incarcerated in Boulder City Jail.

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One of the sex offenders who is incarcerated on a "Peeping Tom" offense now is named in the today's Colorado Daily newspaper article as Vennie Scott Thompson. My friend and I believe very strongly that because of this man's discussion of the extortion kidnapping plot in fall or early winter 1996 (before the Ramsey killing), he may be the murderer of JonBenet.
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Previously I discussed with Lou Smit and investigators working with the Ramsey family the possibility that a "Finnie" Thompson (first name was uncertain but sounded like "Finnie") was the killer of JonBenet. The reason for this suspicion is as follows:

My contact stated that in late 1996 he was visiting with "Finnie" Thompson, who was planning to kidnap a small child for ransom money (extortion attempt). "Finnie" Thompson was seeking an accomplice to do the kidnapping. He worked at Burger King in Boulder and told my contact repeatedly how intensely he hated the little children who came into the restaurant. "Finnie" also had been jailed in Boulder for "Peeping Tom" offenses and for that reason he was hated by the women who had encountered him at Penny Lane Coffeehouse in Boulder. He told my contact that he was all set to come into a very large amount of money very soon. My contact stated that "Finnie" had the attitude of someone who was trying to solve all of his problems at once by doing a crime. However, at the time my contact did not take "Finnie" seriously and thought it was just insane raving.

In August 1997 I first learned about "Finnie"s ransom plot and immediately informed Lou Smit and the Ramsey family detectives.

About a week ago I wrote to you and said that I believed that James Michael Thompson (a.k.a. J.T. Colfax) had been confused with "Finnie Thompson and that there may be two different people with similar names. This was confirmed today when my friend noticed a newspaper article in the Colorado Daily about sex offenders in Boulder.

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One of the sex offenders who is incarcerated on a "Peeping Tom" offense now is named in the newspaper article as Vennie Scott Thompson. My friend and I believe very strongly that because of this man's discussion of the extortion kidnapping plot in fall or early winter 1996 (before the Ramsey killing), he may be the murderer of JonBenet.
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My original contact refuses to come forward with this information about "Finnie" or Vennie Thompson. However we believe that our source is a very honest person and did not make this story up.

The employment records at Burger King where "Finnie" or Vennie Thompson worked are no longer available because they were removed from the Burger King offices soon after the JonBenet murder.

Please let me know if you have received this email and tell me what action is taken in response to it.

Thank you very much.
(end of quoted letter)

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obsessor - 06:52pm Nov 13, 1998 MST (#4 of 21)

nothing has yet been done with this info as far as i know. i have pressured Boulder police and Ramsey family investigators repeatedly on this, but previously did not know the precise name of Vennie Scott Thompson, only knew an appoximate pronunciation such as "Finnie". I told them he worked at Burger King in Boulder, therefore he should have been traceable by that clue. However to my knowledge no one ever followed up on this lead thoroughly. There was certainly some name confusion with J.T. Colfax (James Michael Thompson) the corpse artist, but that confusion is now cleared up.

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v2000 - 07:18pm Nov 13, 1998 MST (#8 of 21)

Would you care to clue us in on who your contact is, how your contact got the information, who wrote the letter, what the author's (and your) relationship to the case is, and how the author met Lou Smit?

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obsessor - 07:27pm Nov 13, 1998 MST (#9 of 21)

"Would you care to clue us in on who your contact is" [my contact refuses to come forward],"how your contact got the information" [in an informal social situation at my contact's home],"who wrote the letter" [me], "what the author's (and your) relationship to the case is" [my relationship to the case occurred because my contact approached me in August 1997 and revealed this apparent lead to me voluntarily. my contact and his friend both knew that i was interested in this case out of concern for the family and the community, etc.], "and how the author met Lou Smit?"
[i met Lou Smit because my contact urged me to go to the police with the information that had been relayed to me. i went to Boulder Police Dept. and was interviewed for about a half hour by Lou Smit. Lou Smit urged me to ask my contact to come forward but my contact has always refused to be interviewed by the police or the Ramsey family investigators]

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obsessor - 07:34pm Nov 13, 1998 MST (#12 of 21)

the letter i refer to is the letter posted above on this discussion board (!) My contact spoke with a man he called "Finnie" Thompson at his home in late 1996. The man "Finnie" is the same person (we believe) as Vennie Scott Thompson. If this can be verified then we know that Vennie was planning a kidnapping in late 1996 because he was seeking co-conspirators. My contact just considered Vennie to be talking nonsense. My contact's friend knew Vennie had been previously found in a "Peeping Tom" offense in Boulder. The two talked and came to the conclusion that Vennie might be linked to the Ramsey murder because he was going around at night as a Peeping Tom and actually may have been planning (said he was planning) a ransom/extortion/kidnapping of a small child, and often raved about how much he detested children.Of course,we do not know whether Vennie Thompson is the killer or not; but at any rate it is a lead,and it is a lead that,in good conscience,needs to be investigated.

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obsessor - 07:37pm Nov 13, 1998 MST (#15 of 21)

fact is, the Burger King manager in Boulder told my friend that the personnel files for this man were mysteriously missing from the office paper files. Perhaps something is in the Burger King Computer somewhere detailing this fellow's work in Boulder Burger King?

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obsessor - 07:51pm Nov 13, 1998 MST (#21 of 29)

you can use exxon222@hotmail.com

already wrote to jtcolfax on his website and told him about this seeming identity confusion problem. i had been thinking colfax still was a suspect, but now think that this was partly a case of confused identity because of same last name Thompson. JT Colfax still seems odd but possibly just good at implicating himself.

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obsessor - 07:59pm Nov 13, 1998 MST (#24 of 29)

According to newspaper report in Colorado Daily today, Vennie Scott Thompson wrote a note to the woman he was convicted of Peep-Tomming on. The note may provide a handwriting sample, or police may be able to get other handwriting samples from Vennie's past to see if they implicate him in (or exonerate him from) the Ramsey murder.

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obsessor - 08:12pm Nov 13, 1998 MST (#37 of 44)

I am writing under my friend's handle ("Obsessor") because I do not yet have an identity/password of my own.I can assure Ruthee that she is NOT conversing with a police officer,nor is this a lesser kind of "publicity stunt" What we are trying to do is bring a child killer to justice.We are not here for purposes of idle entertainment.Also..."Beanie" appears to me to be a raving idiot.If you insist on being macabre,at least do it with the kind of witticism and ingenuity that Colfax has done it with. L Flowers

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obsessor - 08:13pm Nov 13, 1998 MST (#38 of 44)

there are 2 people using the obsessor handle right now, due to time lag in signup. my friend here knew Vennie as Finnie, but only was slightly acquainted. We searced for "Finnie" for some time, but his real name according to Colorado Daily is Vennie. We all know typos happen. The name was previously known only in casual conversation not in perfect written English.

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obsessor - 08:56pm Nov 13, 1998 MST (#83 of 83)

don't like the use of unnamed sources but the guy gave me the info on the condition that he not be named to the authorities. that's where it stands now. no emails have appeared from police ravenously hungry for clues. same as in 97 when i first informed ramseyfamily and Lou Smit about this. It was basically ignored. They are dealing with lots of leads and this was just one more. Since no one who talked with thomp would come forward they did not even go get a burger at burger king apparentment.

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obsessor - 09:01pm Nov 13, 1998 MST (#88 of 94)

"Lazarus: I cannot give her name out in good conscience.If you happen to know Lance yourself,ask him.It is not my intention to disclose any information about Lance or my friend that is not already known to the public."

In answer to your question: I remember Vennie Thompson as tall,w greyish black hair and a deceptively benevolent demeanor.He usually wore a baseball cap and could be found at Penny Lane coffeehouse in the early mornings ( 6 a.m. ish)where I would often encounter him in the late winter and early spring of 1996.At that time I worked the graveyard shift,and would usually drop by to have coffee before going home.That's about all the information on V.T. I personally can give you; the rest,of course,is speculative. LF

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obsessor - 09:15pm Nov 13, 1998 MST (#99 of 99)

I contacted the Ramsey investigators. Jennifer Geddes, I believe her name is, turned out to be a very overworked law student. She didn't have time to come to Boulder to talk with me, and it was hard for her to find time in her schedule if I was to go to Denver. She did not investigate the Burger King angle as far as I know; nor did Lou Smit as far as I know.