s-neighbors-barbara-kostanick.htm


	A Personal view of the Internet Subculture Surrounding the JonBenet Ramsey Murder case

This web page is part of a series covering found materials regarding individuals, items or events that apparently became part of what is commonly known as the vortex of the JonBenet Ramsey murder case Christmas night 1996. The webmaster of this site claims no inside official Boulder police information as to who has been interviewed, investigated, the outcome or what information is actually considered official evidence. These pages outline found material which can include but not limited to materials found in books, articles, the Internet, transcripts, depositions, legal documents, Internet discussion forums, graphics or photos, media reports, TV/Radio shows about the JonBenet Ramsey murder case. Found materials are here for historical archive purposes. (www.acandyrose.com - acandyrose@aol.com)

This webpage series is for historical archive and educational purposes on found materials


Neighbors - Barbara Kostanick (Santa “Special Visit” Source)

JonBenet Ramsey Murder Case
Neighbors - Barbara Kostanick
(Santa “Special Visit” Source)

Individual

Date

Reference

Key ?

Gave Prints

Gave Blood

Gave Hair

Handwriting

Got DNA

Cleared or Alibi

Barbara Kostanick
(Boulder, Colorado)
Barbara's daughter Megan met JonBenet Valentine's Day of 1996. BPD left message at her daughter Megan's school they wanted to talk to the child. Barbara said JonBenet had TOLD HER that Santa was going to pay her a special visit after Christmas.

Megan said she was in Ramsey basement once

Barbara told "Santa Special Visit" story to Ramsey P.I. investigators after talking to Det. Arndt

Barbara said no to Megan in pageants

Patsy Ramsey
April 30, 97
Interview
John Ramsey
Patsy Ramsey
June 1998
Interviews
PMPT Pg48sb
PMPT Pg70sb
PMPT Pg130sb
DOI pg215
ST Pg212
ST Pg322

05-04-2001
Lou Smit's
Clues In
The Case

---

Investigated by
Linda Arndt
Tape Recorder would work so interview was not recorded
for audio file
PMPT
Pg131sb

RECAP OF INFORMATION ABOUT NEIGHBORS:

00. 1995-00-00: Barbara Kostanick, and 3 others wrote 140 pg proposal to start a school (PMPT Pg48sb)
00. 1995-00-00: Barbara Kostanick met John Ramsey at one of the organizing meetings (PMPT Pg48sb)
00. 1995-00-00: In the fall of 1995, High Peaks Elementary opened in Boulder, Colorado (PMPT Pg48sb)
00. 1995-00-00: Patsy Ramsey enrolled Burke in the third grade at High Peaks Elementary (PMPT Pg48sb)
00. 1995-00-00: High Peaks needed volunteers for survival, Patsy volunteered all the time (PMPT Pg49sb)

00. 1996-02-14: Around Valentine's Day, Barbara's daughter, Megan, met JonBenet first time (PMPT Pg49sb)
00. 1996-02-14: Barbara's daughter Megan and JonBenet were in preschool together (PMPT Pg49sb)
00. 1996-08-00: August, Patsy enrolled JonBenet entered kindergarten High Peaks Elementary (PMPT Pg49sb)
00. 1996-08-00: Megan and JonBenet played together at each others homes (PMPT Pg49sb)
00. 1996-08-00: Megan told her mother she wanted to enter a beauty pageant, Barbara said no (PMPT Pg49sb)
00. 1996-12-24: The day before Christmas, JonBenet was at Megan's house playing (PMPT Pg50sb)
00. 1996-12-24: JBR: "Santa Claus promised that he would make a secret visit after Christmas" (PMPT Pg50sb)
00. 1996-12-24: JonBenet insisted. "He said this would be after Christmas. And it's a secret." (PMPT Pg50sb)

00. 1997-00-00: BPD left a message at school that they wanted to talk to Barbara's daughter (PMPT Pg130sb)
00. 1997-00-00: BPD Linda Arndt went to Barbara Kostanick's home with another detective (PMPT Pg130sb)
00. 1997-00-00: BPD Linda Arndt brought a tape recorder, but it didn't work (PMPT Pg130sb)
00. 1997-00-00: Megan told BPD JonBenet like to play "Pearl Beads" and "Kitty." (PMPT Pg131sb)
00. 1997-00-00: BPD asked Megan if she and JonBenet had any "secrets" (PMPT Pg131sb)
00. 1997-00-00: BPD wanted to know what the girls did in the bedroom, bathroom. (PMPT Pg131sb)
00. 1997-00-00: BPD wanted to know about bath salts and bath oil and shampoo. (PMPT Pg131sb)
00. 1997-00-00: BPD asked if Megan had been in Ramsey's basement, she said once. (PMPT Pg131sb)
00. 1997-00-00: Megan told BPD they didn't play in the basement regularly. (PMPT Pg131sb)
00. 1997-00-00: Barbara told BPD about JonBenet's "Santa's special visit after Christmas" (PMPT Pg131sb)
00. 1997-00-00: Barbara discovered BPD didn't interview other kids close to JonBenet (PMPT Pg132sb)
00. 1997-00-00: Barbara had Ramsey Private Investigators call her, she gave them whole story (PMPT Pg132sb)

00. 1997-04-30: BPD Interview: Patsy knew nothing about JonBenet and any secret santa
00. 1997-04-30: BPD Interview: Patsy said "Burke had a little secret something at school around Christmas time"

00. 1998-06-23: BPD Interview: John said JonBenet never told them about any secret santa (Pg556)
00. 1998-06-23: BPD Interview: John said JonBenet expecting, Santa Claus she would hop out of bed. (Pg556)
00. 1998-06-23: BPD Interview: Patsy said she doesn't remember JonBenet talking about a secret santa (Pg188)
00. 1998-06-23: BPD Interview: Patsy said Burke had a secret santa thing in his classroom that year (Pg188)
00. 1998-06-23: BPD Interview: Trip DeMuth: "So did JonBenet have a Secret Santa that you know of?" (Pg190)
00. 1998-06-23: BPD Interview: Patsy's answer was "No." (Pg190)

00. 1998-06-23: BPD Interview: Trip DeMuth "Did JonBenet have expectations that Bill McReynolds would go by again after Christmas 1996?" Patsy: "No, I don't think so" (Pg192)

00. 1998-11-19: Why_Nut on WS Forum posts about 7 yr old boy (Michael Crisler), and his "secret santa."

00. 2000-00-00: Barbara Kostanick called Susan Stine with the Secret Santa Information (DOI Pg216)
00. 2000-00-00: Susan Stine called Ramsey Investigators with Kostanick's Secret Santa story (DOI Pg216)

00. 2003-03-02: Jameson: "I was in Boulder when Mills and Tracey were speaking to Barb Kostanick about that."

CHAIN OF EVENTS 1997

1997-04-30: Patsy Ramsey Interrogation by Steve Thomas, Tom Trujillo

Patsy Ramsey Interrogation by Steve Thomas, Tom Trujillo
Also present, Pat Burke, Bryan Morgan, Pete Hoffstrom, Jon Foster
April 30, 1997 - Boulder, Colorado
http://www.jonbenetindexguide.com/1997BPD-Patsy-Interview-Complete.htm

(SNIP)

TT: JonBenet got a letter from the secret Santa. Do you know who the secret Santa was?
PR: Ah, secret Santa. Where did she get the letter?
TT: I’m not sure that she got the letter.
PR: In school or, they had a secret, I know a secret sister thing at the pageant in the summer time, but I don’t remember it being any secret Santa.
TT: Any secret Santa that she talked about or anything like that?
PR: No. Burke had a little secret something at school around Christmas time, he had to bring a little gift for her, and kept getting it. But I don’t remember any of this secret Santa.
TT: Did he do anything like that in school?
PR: Not that I remember.
TT: But Burke did have a secret Santa?
PR: Burke had a little secret. He was supposed to bring a little gift, I think, little finger gifts, and he forgot, you know. He had some little girl and he forgot about it until the last day. But I don’t remember JonBenet having that.

(SNIP)

CHAIN OF EVENTS 1998

1998-06-23: John Ramsey Interrogation by Lou Smit and Mike Kane (Screen Capture on left is from "CBS 48 Hours Investigates - Searching for a Killer" 10/04/2002)

John Ramsey Interrogation by Lou Smit and Mike Kane
Present also were Bryan Morgan, PI David Williams
June 23, 24, 25, 1998 - Boulder, Colorado

http://www.jonbenetindexguide.com/1998BPD-John-Interview-Complete.htm

June 1998 John Ramsey Interrogation by Lou Smit and Mike Kane (Discussion Regarding Secret Santa)

0057
15 LOU SMIT: Well the camera, John, is pointing
16 to a picture of Santa Claus kind of in a pensive
17 mood and Mrs. Claus is right behind him.
18 JOHN RAMSEY: Um hmm.
19 LOU SMIT: We're going to go into Santa Claus
20 a little bit later and all kinds of Santa Clauses.
21 Because there was other Santa Clauses involved in
22 these different parties. In fact, there's even
23 indications that JonBenet may have had a secret
24 Santa Claus. Have you heard that in the past?
25 That's come up in our reports. And I'd like to

0058
1 talk a little bit about Santa Clauses and things
2 of that nature.

(SNIP)

0268
1 LOU SMIT: And then again, if we wanted
2 to talk about the heart on JonBenet's hand. People
3 that may have been there that night at the Whites
4 may have seen that heart.
5 Did she say anything about a heart? There as some
6 mention, I think, of a secret Santa Claus. We
7 don't know that. It's just that that's why it's
8 good for us to sit down with you, because you know
9 your daughter better than -- and so does your
10 wife.

(SNIP)

0550
20 LOU SMIT: Yes, they are
21 pretty much the same. What do you see in
22 those photographs, Mr. Ramsey?
23 JOHN RAMSEY: I am not really
24 sure. I guess it looks like Christmas, I am not
25 sure. Message that's kind of written in a fancy

0551
1 -- printed in fancy letter style.
2 LOU SMIT: Have you ever seen
3 a letter like that?
4 JOHN RAMSEY: It doesn't look
5 familiar. I can't tell.
6 LOU SMIT: I can tell you
7 that --
8 JOHN RAMSEY: It says
9 somebody loves you all. Merry Christmas.
10 LOU SMIT: I can tell you
11 that these items were found in the trash
12 can in your daughter's room and it was
13 torn up.
14 JOHN RAMSEY: Do you know
15 what the word before "loves" is? Somebody

June 1998 John Ramsey Interrogation by Lou Smit and Mike Kane (Discussion Regarding Secret Santa)

0551
16 loves you all?
17 LOU SMIT: I am sure that
18 that has been looked at very closely. It
19 appears to be a Santa Claus letter.
20 JOHN RAMSEY: (MULTIPLE
21 SPEAKERS). Friend, enjoy your holidays,
22 Christmas (INAUDIBLE). Well, it doesn't
23 look like anything I have seen before.
24 LOU SMIT: Okay.
25 JOHN RAMSEY: And I don't
0552
1 know what it would be doing, you know,
2 torn up in -- looks like it's torn down
3 here, maybe. On the right side.
4 LOU SMIT: You have no reason or no
5 idea how it may have gotten there?
6 JOHN RAMSEY: No.

(SNIP)

0556
17 JOHN RAMSEY: It's -- if I -- you
18 know, if I recall this little tidbit that her
19 mother said that JonBenet said Santa was going
20 to come visit her the evening of the 26th, she
21 never told us that. And if that's something
22 they would have, you know, secretly prearranged,
23 would have been very possible, because I think
24 JonBenet took Santa through the house, you know,
25 that night of the 23rd or was with him while he

0557
1 was there the year before, I remember that.
2 If I came -- if I in fact -- if
3 in fact that's who said that to her and in fact
4 was said, and somebody she knew, and was
5 expecting, particularly Santa Claus, she would
6 hop right out of bed, you know, gone to the mall
7 if he wanted to.

(SNIP)

0773
1 LOU SMIT: Any of those?
2 JOHN RAMSEY: I don't know what
3 that is. I can't --
4 VOICE: You said that that note
5 that looked like it had been a computer-
6 generated Christmas kind of, was it her waste
7 paper basket, in her bedroom, is that depicted
8 in here? (INAUDIBLE).
9 DAVID WILLIAMS: It wasn't in the
10 bathroom basket.
11 LOU SMIT: I will have to
12 double-check that, I don't want to mislead you.
13 DAVID WILLIAMS: I understand.

1998-06-23: Patsy Ramsey Interrogation by Thomas Haney and Trip DeMuth (Screen Capture on left is from "CBS 48 Hours Investigates - Searching for a Killer" 10/04/2002)

Patsy Ramsey Interrogation by Thomas Haney and Trip DeMuth - Present also were Patrick Burke and Ellis Armistead June 23, 24, 25, 1998 - Boulder, Colorado

http://www.jonbenetindexguide.com/1998BPD-Patsy-Interview-Complete.htm

June 1998 Patsy Ramsey Interrogation by Thomas Haney and Trip DeMuth (Discussion Regarding Secret Santa)

188
11 THOMAS HANEY: You were asked
12 before about the Secret Santa and JonBenet
13 having a Secret Santa or talking about it. I
14 know it's been 18 months, but do you have any
15 clues now, was it something -- who could have
16 been the Secret Santa or had some special
17 meaning for her, something -- some family
18 member, friend, just associated with school,
19 anything?
20 PATSY RAMSEY: I really don't
21 remember her talking about a Secret Santa. I
22 mean Burke had -- I remember Burke had a Secret
23 Santa kind of thing in his classroom that year,
24 because he was supposed to have taken a little
25 small gift every day for a week or something,

0189
1 and he forgot until the last day. I said oh, my
2 gosh, this poor child went to school, didn't get
3 a Secret Santa, you know, and (INAUDIBLE). So
4 he had that.
5 And at this national pageant,
6 because it's a national pageant, they had a
7 Secret Sister kind of thing, and, you know, you
8 would leave a little hint about who you are, you
9 know, I am on the 4th floor, I tap dance or
10 whatever, and leave a little trinket. You know,
11 just kind of get to know you, break the ice kind
12 of.
13 TRIP DeMUTH: When did -- did
14 JonBenet have any Secret Sister?
15 PATSY RAMSEY: Yes.
16 TRIP DeMUTH: And when did she find
17 out who her Secret Sister was?
18 PATSY RAMSEY: At the end of the
19 week, that pageant week.
20 TRIP DeMUTH: Was that before
21 Christmas?
22 PATSY RAMSEY: Oh, yeah, that was
23 in the summer.
24 TRIP DeMUTH: Oh, that was in the
25 summer?

0190
1 PATSY RAMSEY: Yeah
2 TRIP DeMUTH: So did JonBenet have
3 a Secret Santa that you know of?
4 PATSY RAMSEY: No. I mean, she
5 knew Santa Claus always came to visit but --
6 TRIP DeMUTH: Who would you think,
7 if it was somebody who was -- played the role of
8 a Secret Santa for JonBenet, who comes to mind
9 as somebody who might do that with JonBenet?
10 PATSY RAMSEY: I am not sure how to
11 even -- how they would -- what Secret Santa, I
12 don't understand.
13 TRIP DeMUTH: Bring a present to

June 1998 Patsy Ramsey Interrogation by Thomas Haney and Trip DeMuth (Discussion Regarding Secret Santa)

0190
14 her, I am your Secret Santa, I am going to have
15 a special present for you after Christmas type
16 of thing, or some such thing like that. Is
17 there anybody that you can think of that comes
18 to mind who might have that type of relationship
19 with JonBenet?
20 PATSY RAMSEY: Well, I mean Bill
21 McReynolds, who played our Santa Claus, you
22 know, was very fond of JonBenet. He was, you
23 know, from our house, he'd take them by the hand
24 and take them to get something to eat, you know,
25 and he just adored her. I mean, that would be

0191
1 the only one I would think.
2 I mean the year prior he came
3 after -- to our house after Christmas, not in
4 Santa Claus regalia, just in his street clothes,
5 you know, and he had a gingerbread house, and
6 he -- and I looked at him and I am going, "what
7 are you doing here, you're going to spoil the
8 surprise."
9 And he said, he said, oh, aren't
10 Santa Clause is Brett or Bill, he told the kids,
11 and he said my son made this gingerbread house.
12 His son was a baker down at a cake place down in
13 the (INAUDIBLE) Shopping Center, and he made
14 gingerbread houses.
15 And he said, you know, I have this
16 gingerbread house, and I think -- thought since
17 you all were into Christmas, I would bring it to
18 you all. And so he told JonBenet and Burke that
19 he was Santa Claus's brother, and that he looked
20 like Santa Claus, except in his jeans and
21 whatever. He said I am Santa Claus's brother
22 and I herd his reindeer for him during the
23 summers. You know. And --
24 TRIP DeMUTH: That was the
25 Christmas before?

0192
1 PATSY RAMSEY: Before, yes.
2 TRIP DeMUTH: And how long after
3 Christmas did he show up as Santa Claus's
4 brother?
5 PATSY RAMSEY: A couple of days
6 later.
7 TRIP DeMUTH: Okay. Did JonBenet
8 have expectations that Bill McReynolds would go
9 by again after Christmas 1996?
10 PATSY RAMSEY: No, I don't think
11 so.
12 TRIP DeMUTH: Okay.
13 THOMAS HANEY: Was she ever alone
14 with McReynolds?
15 PATSY RAMSEY: I wouldn't say
16 alone, no. I mean we had a Christmas party
17 going on with other people all over the house,
18 kids, you know, and -- alone, no.

1998-11-20: Webbsleuths Community Forum (http://munitrading.com)
on thread titled, "Gregg McCrary"

31. "Maria"
Posted by why_nut on 21:13:53 11/19/98
Include Original Message on Reply

Busted! I came into a few extra dollars from a multimedia project that had to be engineered at the last minute, thus, some nice rush charges, thus, another week of Nexis subscription that I am enjoying.

Did you know that in 1995, the year JonBenet rode on a float in the Colorado Parade of Lights, that parade had, as its grand marshal, a 7-year-old boy? His name was Michael Crisler, and he was named grand marshal to salute him for having raised nearly $35,000 to help the victims of the Oklahoma City bombing. My attention was caught, though, by this portion of the article:

"I am looking forward to it, but I'm not looking forward to it being cold," he said of this year's parade. "I hope I have a good time."

That would include, he said, seeing Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus. "I heard they are going to be riding motorcycles."

Getting to see Santa Claus is among his favorite things about Christmas.

"I get presents. We have a Christmas tree and I get to see Santa all the time," Michael said of his favorite things about Christmas. "Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night - most of the time - and catch Santa. He says, 'What are you doing up?' I had a rope one time and I was going to rope him."

Michael also gives something to Santa.

"Sometimes I catch him and give presents to him and ask him to give them to different kids who don't get presents or don't have toys."

REMOVE | ALERT | EDIT | EMAIL | REPLY | TOP | MAIN | LOBBY

1998-08-04: Globe: (Week of Augutst 4, 1998)
Cops grill Santa Claus over secret message to JonBenet

Transcription compliments of catnip

Globe: Cops grill Santa Claus over secret message to JonBenet

Police have reopened their investigation of the loveable Santa who befriended JonBenet Ramsey - and the pageant princess' mom has tearfully claimed that she's convinced he killed her daughter, say sources.

Although Bill McReynolds, 67, had been dropped from the list of possible suspects, GLOBE has learned that police in Boulder, Colo., have once again grilled the jovial ex-college professor.

"They questioned him about every aspect of his relationship with JonBenet and the Ramseys - and his answers are being studied and checked in minute detail," says an investigation insider.

McReynolds played Santa Claus at Ramsey Christmas parties for three years and was with JonBenet in the family home on December 23, just two days before the murder.

Patsy Ramsey, 41, begged investigators to launch a new probe into the white-bearded grandfather after being questioned for hours by a team from the Boulder DA's office, say sources.

She alleged, say sources, that there was new evidence suggesting that McReynolds knows more about JonBenet's death than he has revealed.

The investigators have been told of how the day before her battered, strangled body was found on Dec. 26, 1996, in the Ramseys' Boulder mansion, 6-year-old JonBenet told a little friend's mom that Santa had given her a "secret message" at the family party.

"On Dec. 24, Patsy allowed her daughter to visit a friend's home while she bought and hid last-minute gifts for JonBenet and her brother Burke," says a source close to the Ramsey.

"During the visit, JonBenet told her friend's mom that Santa had given her a secret message - he intended to pay her a special visit.

"At the time, the woman thought nothing of this. After all, every child believes they'll get a special visit from Santa.

"Then in the days after the murder she began to believe that there might be more significance to it. But police were not interested in her information. Eventually, she let the Ramseys know about her suspicions."

Investigators working for the Ramseys believe that Santa is a possible suspect because of the "secret message" and what they describe as "strange events" involving him.

As GLOBE revealed exclusively, McReynolds' own daughter Jill was abducted as a 9-year-old in 1974 and her friend was molested. It happened on Dec. 26 - the same date that JonBenet's body was discovered.

In 1976, Santa's wife Janet, a newspaper drama and movie critic, wrote the play Hey, Rube. It was based on a true story about a girl who is kidnapped, taken to a basement, sexually attacked, tortured and murdered - a scenario shockingly similar to the Ramsey case.

McReynolds seemed obsessed with JonBenet, say Ramsey insiders. He even credited her with helping him to fight back from the brink of death after a heart operation. And he called her an "angel" before the murder, ironically - the very word that Patsy later used.

He made three visits to the $1.3 million, 15-room Ramsey home. Investigators believe the killer must have had knowledge of the layout.

Santa kept a harp with names carved into it of children he had known who died. According to Ramsey supporters, he has spoken about adding JonBenet's name to the list. Santa's travels after JonBenet's vicious slaying have helped to fuel the Ramseys' suspicions about him, say sources.

Following the murder, McReynolds gave a series of interviews about his feelings for the little girl.

Then on Jan 9, he left for the southern coast of Spain and allegations immediately swirled that he had fled the country.

But at the end of the month, he returned to appear on the Geraldo show. Afterward, he flew straight back to Spain, and didn't return until Feb. 7.

Although he and Janet fully cooperated with investigators as soon as they got back, Ramsey friends called his movements "weird."

Then last fall, distraught over stories coming from the Ramsey camp that he was the killer, McReynolds left for a secret hideaway in New England.

When GLOBE found him last December, he told us that he would never play Santa again.

Recently McReynolds was told that the DA's team wanted to re-interview him and he headed back west. Now, he is again planning to leave Colorado and make his home in the east.

"John and Patsy believe that there are many strange facts pointing the finger of suspicion at Santa," a source close to the Ramseys confides.

But a senior investigation source told GLOBE that the Ramseys remain the main focus of the probe - and Santa will eventually be shown to be absolutely innocent.

"A skilled defense counsel could take the unusual coincidences involving Santa and spin a story that could blind a jury to the truth," says the source.

"So we are investigating Santa completely - no half measures. We want to clear up the suspicion once and for all."

And McReynolds' son told GLOBE: "My dad has fully cooperated with the DA. He's not worried because he knows he's innocent."

Joe Mullins, Craig Lewis and Jeff Shapiro
Globe

CHAIN OF EVENTS 1999

1999-02-18: “Perfect Murder, Perfect Town, JonBenet and the City of Boulder”
Written by Lawrence Schiller, February 18, 1999

PMPT Page 49sb

"Around Valentine's Day of 1996, my daughter, Megan, met JonBenet for the first time. They were both in preschool. I remember the first time I saw them together-they looked so cute playing on the monkey bars.

That August, JonBenet entered kindergarten"

(SNIP)

"Our kids started playing together, and they became close friends. JonBenet would come to our house to play; and I would drive Megan over there. Megan also really liked Burke. He was into computer games. That's how I got to see more of Patsy-twenty minutes here, thirty minutes there."

(SNIP)

PMPT Page 50sb

"The day before Christmas, JonBenet was at our house playing with Megan. The kids were talking about Santa, getting all excited. I asked JonBenet if she had visited Santa Claus yet. She said, "Oh, Santa was at our Christmas party the other night." Megan had seen Santa at the Pearl Street Mall, so we talked about that.

Then JonBenet said, "Santa Claus promised that he would make a secret visit after Christmas." I thought she was confused. "Christmas is tonight," I told her. "And Santa will be coming tonight." "No, no," JonBenet insisted. "He said this would be after Christmas. And it's a secret."

-Barbara Kostanick”

PMPT Page 130sb

“Then the police left a message at school that they wanted to talk to my daughter. No rush, they said.

After school one day Detective Linda Arndt came to our home with her partner. I didn't give Megan a lot of warning, didn't want her worrying about it. I just told her to answer the questions as best she could. We all sat down on the family room floor and introduced ourselves.

They showed her their badges and she held them. That was kind of nice. Then they got out their tape recorder. Which didn't work.

PMPT Page 131sb

Finally they decided to go on without the recorder. They told Megan that they wanted to find out who did this to ]onBenet and that it would help them to learn more about what ]onBenet liked to do, what games she enjoyed playing. Megan started describing different games. They weren't familiar with any of them. Pearl beads-they'd never heard of that until we showed them. Then they asked about make-believe games.

"We were going to play Kitty" Megan said.

"What's that?"

Kids have all sorts of different names for games, but these officers didn't seem to know any of them.

"Did you ever have any secrets?" they asked. "It's OK to have secrets. But now that JonBenet is dead, you don't have to have any secrets."

Then they wanted to know what the girls did in the bedroom, what they did in the bathroom. They even talked about bath salts and bath oil and shampoo.

Had they ever been down in the Ramseys' basement?

Megan said they'd been down there once, but it wasn't a place they played in regularly,

What struck me was that these detectives obviously didn't have kids. They didn't seem to understand that a child's automatic first response to a lot of questions is "I don't know." Who broke the glass? I don't know. As a parent, you learn to ask follow-up questions if you really want to get information.

Then I sent Megan outside to play so I could talk to them privately.

By then, Bill McReynolds-Santa-had been on TV and I remembered what JonBenet had told me about Santa visiting her. He just kept looking weirder and weirder to me on TV. I told them what JonBenet had said-that Santa was going to pay her a special visit after Christmas.

PMPT Page 132sb

They said thanks. They would check into it, they said. Again, no follow-up questions. No probing for details that I might be forgetting.

I'm not a professional, but those officers didn't seem highly competent. I read a lot of mysteries, but I also know life isn't like a mystery novel.

Later I found out that they had never interviewed any of JonBenet's inner circle. Two other kids who were close to her seemed to have fallen between the cracks.

So I called some close friends of the Ramseys, and they had the Ramseys' investigator call me. I told him the whole story. He seemed much more interested. He had a lot more questions about JonBenet's demeanor than the police ever had.

-Barbara Kostanick”

CHAIN OF EVENTS 2000

2000-03-18: “Death of Innocence”
Written by John and Patsy Ramsey, March 18, 2000

DOI Page 215

"At the same time Bill McReynolds, who had been Santa Claus at our family Christmas party, was becoming a suspect. On the day before Christmas, JonBenet had spent a good part of the time playing at her friend Megan Kostanick's house. During this time JonBenet told Barbara, Megan's mother, that Santa was going to make a special visit to her after Christmas.

Barb had challenged her about this, thinking JonBenet had just gotten

DOI Page 216

mixed up. Barb told her, "No, Santa Claus comes on Christmas Eve. Tonight is Christmas Eve, and Santa some this evening."

JonBenet had repeated, "No, Santa told me that he was making a special visit to me after Christmas. And it's a secret."

After the murder occurred, Barbara Kostanick called the police, trying to get them to listen to her story about what JonBenet had said. The police wouldn't pay any attention to Barbara; apparently they were already focused on their theory that "the parents did it." As a trained engineer and highly educated person, Barbara knew that the comment JonBenet had made to her was possibly of critical importance. She finally called Susan Stine, expressing her frustrations with the lack of response from the police. Susan in turn called our investigators, who encouraged the police to take a second, more careful, look.

While we were interested in this type of information, we did not want to do a "Boulder police" and rush to erroneous conclusions.

2000-04-11: “JonBenet, Inside the Ramsey Murder Investigation”
by Steve Thomas and Don Davis, April 11, 2000

ST Page 112

"The Ramseys had put him on their early list of suspects, and a witness had told police that JonBenet said a "Secret Santa" was going to visit her. McReynolds knew nothing about that."

(SNIP)

ST Page 322

"After thinking about it, he said, "It hit me like a ton of bricks." JonBenet "adored" Santa Bill McReynolds, and if he had come into her room, she would have gotten out of bed and gone downstairs with him without a problem. "She may have had a secretly prearranged meeting," he said. "Maybe he fed her pineapple." The detectives stopped the tape and watched that section repeatedly. Only the day before, Ramsey had said such a thing was impossible. Now he laid it on Santa Bill."

CHAIN OF EVENTS 2001

2001-05-04: Clues in the case - May 4, 2001 Former Detective Lou Smit’s Intruder Theory

Clues in the case - May 4, 2001
Former Detective Lou Smit’s Intruder Theory
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_408302,00.html

SUSPICIOUS EVENTS

"Smit's argument: Three unexplained events before the killing point to the possibility of an intruder.

Unknown vehicles: An unknown party parked in a blue van across the street from the Ramsey residence Dec. 24. An unknown Jaguar was seen in the area during a Christmas party at a friend's home Dec. 25.

Strange comment: JonBenet told her friend Megan Kostinak and also Megan's mother that she was going to receive a "special visit from Santa" after Christmas.

Response: Patsy Ramsey has said she never heard JonBenet make the statement about Santa."

CHAIN OF EVENTS 2003

2003-03-02: Google Group Alt True Crime Forum, Subject:
Re: Intruder suspects in Ramsey

From: jameson (jameson245@aol.com)
Subject: Re: Intruder suspects in Ramsey
View: Complete Thread (53 articles)
Original Format
Newsgroups: alt.true-crime
Date: 2003-03-02 14:41:37 PST

"Robert St. James asked -
> That was the whole "Santa said he'd visit me after Xmas..." thing
> that JonBenet was supposed to have told some people. Was that
> a factoid or is that real? I never heard.

I believe that was real - I was in Boulder when Mills and Tracey were speaking to Barb Kostanick about that - - she tells a very convincing story. She was not anxious to talk to a lot of people but when she did, she was very convincing - - and I understand her daughter told the same story.

On Santa's son - - the Santas all said they were in bed - no one was cleared by alibi alone there.

What's Smit think of him? I don't honestly know.

http://groups.google.ca/group/alt.true-crime/browse_thread/thread/d4e94e36dfaa7a24/5904a18b713e2872?lnk=st&q=&rnum=9#5904a18b713e2872

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