Sep 1, 2006 9:55 pm US/Eastern
Boulder Chief Defends Department In Ramsey Case
BOULDER, Colo. (CBS) ―
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Chief Mark Beckner shows files on suspects in the JonBenet Ramsey case.
CBS
Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner defended his department from critics who have claimed the police focused solely on John and Patsy Ramsey in the murder of their daughter JonBenet.
Beckner insisted they investigated other suspects and proved it with floor to ceiling reports filled with names. For the first time, Beckner took KCNC-TV inside his department's investigation into the Ramsey murder case.
"For a long time we have remained silent," Beckner said.
He said allegations that the department has focused on the Ramseys alone are simply not true and has an entire storage room of documents to prove it.
"All the letters we received, we logged all our phone calls," Beckner said. "You can see there are three names there, none of which are Ramsey. Here's two more again and no Ramsey name on that file."
Beckner said his detectives investigated more then 160 potential suspects in the murder case.
"That's one guy right there," Beckner said. "We took head hair, handwriting, blood samples, DNA and nothing matched. Now tell me that is not investigating other suspects. If they have alibis and the forensics don't match and there's no reason to believe they had a motive, how far do you continue?"
Beckner said he even staked out a roadway and arrested a potential suspect to get forensics on him.
The district attorney's office got copies of every report and was allowed to interview any officer even without other police present.
Beckner defended his department but said he wasn't trying to duck all the criticism.
"We deserve some of the criticism we've received and we've acknowledged that mistakes were made," Beckner said. "We have a lot vested in this case and we want to see it solved probably as bad as anybody."
Over the years, Beckner said he's had at least 20 detectives work the case at a cost of over $2 million.
Currently, the department assists the D.A.'s office when asked which they did in the case of John Mark Karr. Beckner said he still gets at least two to three tips a week which he forwards to the D.A.'s office.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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