CRIME

By Richard Woodbury

Perhaps the sunny image of JonBenet is meant to motivate the stymied investigators. But there is something haunting about the fact that the 13 loose-leaf binders in the District Attorney's office crammed with investigators' reports, interviews and leads in the murder case are emblazoned with the same color photo of a smiling JonBenet Ramsey. "The answers to this horrible crime, we feel, are in these volumes," says Boulder District Attorney Alex Hunter.

But Hunter quickly adds that because other leads and tips continue to pour in, the solution to the six-month-old case of the tiny six-year-old beauty queen's murder "might be someplace else," outside the 13,000 pages. "The obvious focus," he emphasizes, continues to be on JonBenet's parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, "but not the sole focus." The prosecutor cautions that "our job, since we don't know the truth, is to keep an open mind, not to have some kind of tunnel vision and certainly not to try to cram evidence into some pet theory."

With DNA testing apparently inconclusive, investigators are pinning hopes on an array of forensic testing, including the garrote and duct tape used to strangle and gag the little girl, and handwriting and handprint analyses of the ransom note. Detectives are using advanced software to inspect and magnify crime-scene photos--a technique that enables them to examine minute marks on door locks. The probe is still hobbled by tensions between Hunter's office and the Boulder police. For six weeks the cops refused to share the DNA findings with the D.A., making them available only last week.

--By Richard Woodbury