Crucial JonBenet Ramsey ransom note was ‘written by her MOTHER’, expert claims…as video emerges of beauty queen singing Christmas songs three days before her murder
An expert claimed the note found next to her garotted body on Boxing Day 1996 was almost certainly written by her mum
A CRUCIAL ransom note found next to the body of child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey was almost certainly written by her mum, a handwriting expert has claimed.
It came as chilling footage emerged of the six-year-old happily singing Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree in front of a crowd just four days before she was found murdered in her family's basement on Boxing Day 1996.
A member of a grand jury - which looked into whether to indict JonBenet's parents over her death - has also revealed he has secret evidence about who really killed her.
Detectives plan to conduct new tests on man's DNA found on the six-year-old beauty queen's underwear - the owner of which could never be identified.
Nobody has ever been convicted of killing child beauty queen JonBenet, and speculation over the case has peaked on the 20th anniversary of her murder.
In a preview of an ABC 20/20 special about her death, handwriting expert Cina Wong said it was "highly probable" that JonBenet's mum Patsy had written the ransom note found next to her garotted body.
Wong spent three weeks examining the note and comparing it to 100 examples of Patsy's handwriting from 16 years ago, and found multiple similarities between the two.
For instance, the ransom note had the letter 'A' written in four different variations, and Patsy wrote that same letter in those some four ways.
In total, Wong found over 200 similarities in the writing of the ransom note and the 100 samples written by Patsy - who died of ovarian cancer 10 years ago.
Her revelations come as home video footage of the beauty pageant star showed her talent for performing.
[youtube //www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEBgn0HtK8E&w=560&h=315]
Footage shown by Inside Edition showed the youngster performing Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree before happily pretending to play a toy saxophone.
It also reveals the lavish decor of the Ramsey family home, with dad John worth $6.4million before JonBenet died.
Also appearing on 20/20 is a juror who voted to indict Patsy and husband John for child abuse resulting in JonBenet's death following a year-long grand jury trial.
Charges were never brought, and the district attorney in 2008 claimed new DNA evidence cleared John, Patsy and brother Burke.
But the man claims to know who murdered the child, who had won numerous child beauty pageants across the US.
When asked if he believed John and Patsy should have been tried for murder, the juror said: "Based on the evidence that was presented I believe that is correct."
But when asked if he thought that the district attorney would have been able to get a jury to find the parents guilty, he said: "There is no way that I would have been able to say, 'Beyond a reasonable doubt, this is the person.'
"And if you are the district attorney, if you know that going in, it’s a waste of taxpayer dollars to do it."
The juror revealed details about the basement where JonBenet was found and said it had an "eerie feeling".
"In the basement where she was found, it was actually kind of an obscure layout," he said.
"You come down the stairwell and you had to go into another room to find a door that was closed. It was a very eerie feeling. It was like, 'Somebody had been killed here.'"
Boulder police and prosecutors are now planning a new round of testing on DNA evidence found in the case.
The tests would tap into an FBI database that includes genetic profiles from more than 15.1 million known offenders.
The show is the latest to examine different theories about the youngster's demise on the 20th anniversary of her death, including one that her brother Burke killed her in a row over a midnight snack.
Another theory is that a professional Santa Claus who gave her a note saying she would receive a "special gift" for Christmas could have been responsible.
The little girl was discovered with a homemade garotte around her neck, a blow to her head and DNA in her underwear that still hasn’t been identified.
Burke was in the house when JonBenet was reported missing, but his parents insisted he was sleeping the entire time and did not wake up until after they called police.
He was exonerated by DNA evidence in May of 1999, two years after the murder.
John says he and Patsy tried to "shield" Burke, who was just nine at the time, from learning he was being accused of his sister's murder in the papers.
"Friends would ask us, 'What can we do to help?' We said, 'Next time you go in the supermarket, call the manager over when you see our child’s photo on the front cover, and ask him to remove it.' A lot of them did that."
Burke - now 28 - has never spoken publicly about his sister's death and has kept a low profile for the past decade.
Dad John says he still believes the killer will be found.
"I think we will have two ways that will happen," he said.
"It will either be a DNA match or someone who knows something will become angry or bitter against this person and will tell."
Male DNA was found on the underwear of JonBenet when her body was discovered, but authorities have never been able to match it to a suspect.
There was also a bowl of pineapples found in the kitchen when the young girl was first reported missing, but police on the scene allowed someone to clean the bowl.
This ended up being a crucial error as JonBenet was found with pineapple in her stomach when her body was examined by the coroner.
The house was also not sealed off by police and friends and family were allowed to come and go during the initial investigation, contaminating the crime scene.
John - who was briefly linked to missing girl Natalee Holloway's mother Beth in 2007 and remarried in 2011 to Jan Rousseaux - also revealed how he lost his millions after the death of JonBenet.
The dad decided to move the family out of Boulder and back to Atlanta, not realising the stigma placed on him by the public and how difficult it would be to get a job.
"I was told by a very experienced FBI person that most victims of violent crime end up broke," said John.
"It's very expensive to deal with the justice system. You make bad decisions - you sell your home, you quit your job, you move, you change jobs."
In addition to losing JonBenet, John's eldest daughter Elizabeth from a previous marriage in 1992 died in a car accident when she was 22.
"When something really tragic happens in your life, put your life in park. Give your checkbook to a trusted friend. Avoid making any big decisions," said John.
"Because you're just not capable of making good decisions."
The case will be revisited later this year on CBS, where they are planning an unscripted miniseries which will reunite members of the original investigation team and bring in new experts to re-examine the murder mystery.
JonBenet, who would now be 26, is buried next to her mother Patsy in Georgia.
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