JONBENET

By Richard Woodbury

To bring more direction to the JONBENET RAMSEY murder probe, the Boulder, Colo., district attorney, ALEX HUNTER, has quietly merged his agents with the Boulder police and moved them into a "war room" of three offices in Boulder's Justice Center, equipping it with shredders, secure phones, computers and a high-tech alarm system that guards against eavesdropping microphones. A nine-member team of detectives and assistant prosecutors will work out of the suite, which has a private entrance. The union between these sometimes antagonistic agencies was instigated by Hunter as a go-for-broke effort to bring greater focus to the often discombobulated 5 1/2-month-old investigation. Hunter's agents have broadened their attention beyond the Ramseys to other possible suspects. While Hunter still calls JonBenet's parents the "obvious focus," he told TIME that "there are 500 to 600 leads, from minor to major." Chasing them down could take months. Any arrests, he indicated, "are some distance away." Meanwhile, it looks as if POLICE CHIEF TOM KOBY may not see the probe through. Under fire from his rank and file for a variety of grievances, including his handling of the Ramsey case, Koby was given a no-confidence vote last week by police-union members.

--By Richard Woodbury