BREAKING THEIR SILENCE

By Richard Woodbury

Suddenly, the country's most infamous unsolved murder case seemed to be on the move last week. John and Patricia Ramsey finally submitted to police interrogation (she for 6 1/2 hours, he for 2). Then, as if they felt the public had to be served, they held a press conference. "I did not kill my daughter JonBenet," said John Ramsey before a select group of seven Colorado journalists. "I'm appalled," said his wife, "that anyone would think that John or I would be involved in such a hideous, heinous crime." But there were no tough questions--ground rules forbade queries about the night of the murder and the police interrogation. "An infomercial," more than one observer said. The only thing ragged about the session was the end. Patsy Ramsey, who had just said the couple had read very little of the case, launched into an attack on "wacky journalists" and the things they "make up." Said she: "I mean, they write whatever they want to write. I don't know why they're so intent on..." Then a voice off-camera ended the interview.

The tabloids, as is their wont, not only detail the crime but also posit the charges that will be brought in the Dec. 26 murder of the six-year-old Boulder, Colo., beauty queen. All a frustrated public has to go on are those tales and the reiterations of District Attorney Alex Hunter, who told TIME last week, "I smell an arrest. The investigation is on track." Three weeks ago, investigators visited Patsy's sister Pam Paugh in Atlanta. She told TIME, "They felt they had done enough outside investigation to sit down and corroborate what they'd found out with Patsy and John." She believes the police have a suspect in mind.

However, given mistakes apparently made in securing the crime scene, investigators now caution that the long-awaited DNA results (some from DNA found under the nails) may not make the case. Things could then drift for months or longer. "I'll be surprised if the Ramseys are ever charged," says Bob Miller, a former U.S. attorney in Denver. A grand jury with subpoena powers might have speeded up the case, but now it may be too late. Meanwhile, the Rocky Mountain News reported excerpts from the ransom note, which began, "Listen carefully, the two gentlemen who have your daughter don't like you," going on to claim authorship by a "small foreign faction." Yet why has Patsy Ramsey not been ruled out as the writer of the note that threatened to behead JonBenet (a fifth handwriting sample was recently requested of her)? And if outsiders killed the girl, why were there no footprints in the fresh snow around the Ramsey home the morning after?

--By Richard Woodbury/Denver. With reporting by Leslie Brice/Atlanta and Diane Freeman/Boulder

With reporting by LESLIE BRICE/ATLANTA AND DIANE FREEMAN/BOULDER