JonBenet Ramsey Autopsy Details Clothes, Weapon

JonBenet Ramsey’s body was sprawled on the living room floor, covered with a blanket when the coroner arrived. Around her neck was a cord attached to a stick that was believed to have been used as a garrote.

Wednesday’s court-ordered release of the complete autopsy report on the 6-year-old beauty queen provided grisly new details but didn’t give the time of death, which could help investigators pinpoint who was around her.

JonBenet’s body was discovered in the basement of her family’s house Dec. 26 by her father, John Ramsey, about eight hours after his wife, Patricia, said she found a ransom note demanding $118,000. Police have said Ramsey was unaccompanied by officers during a search when he found the body and carried it upstairs. The Ramseys are a focus of the investigation, but no one has been charged.

The report included details about the cord that had been wrapped around her neck and one wrist. It also described the clothing she was wearing, including a white knit shirt with a sequin-decorated star on its chest and underwear stained with urine and a red color.

A red-ink drawing of a heart was on the palm of her left hand, and a gold cross was around her neck, the report said. She also had a yellow metal ID bracelet with the inscription “JonBenet 12-25-96” and a ring on her right hand.

Attached to the cord around her neck was a brown wooden stick holding several loops of cord. It was irregularly broken at both ends, with several colors of paint and possibly some varnish, the report said. The word “Korea” and another unintelligible word were stamped on the stick.

Her hair, in pigtails, was caught in the knot of the cord and in the loops of the stick, the autopsy report said. JonBenet was wearing white panties with printed rosebuds and the word “Wednesday” on the elastic band beneath long white underwear.

The coroner’s office said omission of the time of death was routine.

John Ramsey released a statement through his attorney.

“The autopsy details released today confirm what we have known for some time--that this vicious murder was well-planned,” the statement said. “The person who prepared the ligature and garrote obviously put a lot of thought into this murder.”

Portions of the report previously released indicated JonBenet had a fractured skull and was strangled with a “ligature.” Evidence of sexual assault was inconclusive.