Prosecutors in Colorado on Wednesday apologized for contributing to suspicions over the family of murdered child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey, saying new DNA tests indicated a mysterious third party was involved in the 1996 slaying.
In a letter to the Ramsey family released to the media, Boulder County District Attorney Mary Lacy said prosecutors were "deeply sorry" for placing relatives of six-year-old Ramsey under suspicion.
The Ramsey killing generated worldwide headlines 12 years ago, throwing the spotlight on the surreal world of child beauty pageants and becoming one of the most talked about murders in US criminal history.
JonBenet was found beaten and strangled in the basement of her family's home on December 26 1996. The child's father, John, found the body while her mother Patsy Ramsey discovered a ransom note.
But as the criminal investigation progressed with few results, the Ramsey family, including JonBenet's elder brother, Burke, soon came under suspicion.
However, prosecutor Lacy said Wednesday that analysis of DNA taken from Ramsey's underwear using a new technique pointed to the involvement of an unidentified outsider -- prompting authorities to issue their apology.
"Many members of the public came to believe that one or more of the Ramseys, including her mother or her father or even her brother, were responsible for this brutal homicide," Lacy said in a statement.
"Those suspicions were not based on evidence that had been tested in court; rather, they were based on evidence reported by the media.
"The suspicions about the Ramseys in this case created an ongoing living hell for the Ramsey family and their friends, which added to their suffering from the unexplained and devastating loss of JonBenet.
"To the extent that this office has added to the distress suffered by the Ramsey family at any time or to any degree, I offer my deepest apology.
John Ramsey told local media in Denver he welcomed the prosecutor's findings.
"Certainly we are grateful that they acknowledged we certainly could not have been involved," Ramsey said. Ramsey's mother, Patsy, died of cancer in 2006.
A 43-year-old teacher, John Mark Karr, was arrested in Thailand in 2006 after confessing to Ramsey's murder but was released when DNA evidence showed he could not have been the killer.
