Burke's Interview

The full transcript of Burke Ramsey's 1998 interview is now available via the Oct. 3 issue of the National Enquirer. Thanks to diamondlil16, we have a link to a Websleuth's page where the entire document has been reproduced. You'll need to scroll down a bit, but you'll eventually find it, as posted by "DrollForeignFaction." While most items emanating from the NE should be taken with a huge grain of salt, this one looks authentic. It's also important, as it provides us with some information we didn't have before, and either clears things up or muddies the waters, depending on how reliable a witness we take Burke to be.


As I recall, Burke told Dr. Phil that the baseball bat found just outside the house was his, but in the interview he apparently denies that. He says he had two knives. One of them has "this little hook thing that you tie knots better with." So he was into tying knots. Interesting.

And now for something completely new: Burke explained how his dad, John, broke the basement window once when they got locked out, so they could enter the house through the basement. . .
"One time we did get locked out and there are - this is the basement but there are two windows to the basement, and my dad had to break the window and go around and unlock the door."

VERY interesting. It's possible, of course, that Burke could have been coached into telling that story, but to me it appears genuine. Which tells us that John was probably being truthful when he referred to breaking in via that window on more than one occasion. Does that make the rest of his story more likely to be true? Not really, no -- not as far as I'm concerned -- but it does make him a tad more credible, I suppose. It would be interesting if Burke had said something about noticing if that same window had been broken again -- and left broken for months afterward -- but he wasn't questioned on that.

He says he sometimes slept in JonBenet's room when his room got too cold. But he doesn't say whether he slept in the same bed as his sister and isn't asked.

When asked what his favorite snack was, Burke says "pudding and yogurt."

"DS: So what kind of fruits would you typically have at home? BR: I wouldn't have fruit. DS: You wouldn't? BR: Like pineapple. DS: Yeah, do you like that? BR: Yeah. DS: That's your favorite fruit? BR: (Nods)"

Now that's an interesting response. And the BDI'ers are going to have a field day with it, no doubt. He first denies that he'd ever eat fruit. Then he specifically rules out pineapple, without being prompted. If that's how we interpret the phrase "like pineapple." It's also possible he said "I like pineapple" and the "I" got omitted from the transcript accidentally. When asked if it's his favorite fruit, he nods. Could pineapple be a problem for him? Could that be a sign he was eating pineapple on the night of the murder after all? Or could it reflect his awareness that pineapple was known to have been found in his sister's stomach and that his prints had been found on that bowl, which would make it a sore point for him whether he was involved or not. Or did he simply say he liked pineapple? That passage is ambiguous and puzzling.

"DS: Okay. I interrupted you when you were saying what you had heard. And you were talking about your dad telling your mom to call the police or something? BR: He was like okay, calm down, like we can call the police; let's call the police. DS: You could hear that quite clearly from your room? BR: Pretty clearly. In the distance."

This is especially interesting for me as it provides a context for Burke's reference to his parents' decision to call the police. In the version made available, in bits and pieces, via the Dateline show, we hear Burke say what could sound like either "He" or "It," followed by "was like okay, calm down, like we can call the police . . ." Now that we can see the question he was responding to, it's clear he was saying "he," referring to his father. I'm bothered, however, by what appears to be a leading question. The interviewer refers to Burke "talking about your dad telling your mom to call the police," but Burke said nothing of the sort -- though it's possible that part of the interview was cut. So. Did Burke overhear his father telling his mother to call the police? Can his version of what happened be trusted?

Well, first of all, if we can trust what he's reported about his mother going ballistic and his father trying to calm her down, that doesn't sound at all like what would have transpired if calling the police that morning was part of a plan they'd already concocted together the night before. If they were both involved in staging a kidnapping, there would have been no need for hysterics.

Secondly, as we know, Patsy reported, in both A&E documentaries, that she told John she was going to call the police, not the other way round. Did Burke accurately hear, from his bedroom, what was being said in the kitchen, located in a completely different part of this very large house? Could he have been prompted by his father to say what he said? Or was calling the police John's idea after all?

If it was in fact John's idea, then we have no choice but to return to considering an intruder theory after all. Because both of them would not have agreed to call 911 with the body in the house unless both were innocent. As I see it, Burke's version of what happened that morning is no more credible than the version presented in their book, where John tells Patsy to make that call. If, as I feel sure, John was able to manipulate Patsy into going along with that story, he would certainly have been able to manipulate Burke as well. Our only alternative would be a return to the intruder theory, which makes no sense at all.