Perfect Murder, Perfect Town - Lawrence Schiller [247]
We request that Governor Romer immediately intervene and remove the Boulder County District Attorney and its offices from the investigation and appoint a competent and completely independent special prosecutor who is capable of establishing and maintaining the confidence and the trust of the Boulder Police Department, witnesses to the case, and the public, whereby to maximize the likelihood of a successful conclusion to this case.
—Fleet Russell White, Jr.
Priscilla Brown White
D.A. RESPONSE TO MEDIA
RE: FLEET WHITE LETTER
We have known for some time of Mr. and Mrs. White’s concerns. We understand the difficulty of being so closely linked to an investigation of such extreme complexity and duration. Unfortunately, because of Mr. and Mrs. White’s status as witnesses in the case, we are unable to share with them the information and insights that might provide them the reassurance they seek. Of course Mr. and Mrs. White are well within their rights to contact the Governor’s office, the Attorney General’s Office, the Boulder Police Department and the media as often as they wish to share their concerns.
—The Office of the District Attorney
On January 17, Hunter and Wise attended the scheduled meeting of the metro DAs who were consulting with Hunter on the case. Since Eller would soon be out and Koby was leaving, Wise was now back in the loop.
At the meeting, Fleet White’s letter and the effect of The New Yorker article were discussed. Hunter explained that the presumption of innocence for the Ramseys had been foremost in his thinking and that he had wanted to offer a counterweight to the media’s condemnation of the Ramseys, which he considered a result of Commander Eller’s view. The Ramseys’ constitutional rights had to be protected, he repeated. He left the meeting with the impression that the other DAs agreed that the public was better served by the publication of his views on the matter.
Later that afternoon, Tom Koby suggested to Hunter that in the coming weeks some overture should be made to Fleet White—maybe a meeting between them, the police department, and Hunter. The DA agreed.
CITY OF BOULDER
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JANUARY 17, 1998
BOULDER PRESS RELEASE #63
The Boulder Police Department has received written communication through John and Patsy Ramsey’s counsel that John and Patsy will not submit to a second interview with investigators under the reasonable conditions set by investigators. The Boulder Police Department’s position in requesting the second interviews has been clear and straightforward. There are questions the police have that are related to clarifications of previous statements and questions related to information that was not available during the first interviews.
The police are still waiting to receive clothing requested from the Ramseys in Nov., 1997, and for a final decision on whether they will be allowed to interview Burke Ramsey.
In their dealings with the police, the Ramseys’ attorneys had always taken the position that their clients were in fact defendants, not simply suspects, and as such should have the rights of every defendant—full access to discovery.
In the department’s press release, Beckner denied the Ramseys’ request to review the evidence before agreeing to more interviews. The commander said it would hamper the effectiveness of the investigation and compromise the information provided by other witnesses and potential suspects. It was also contrary to accepted investigative procedures and had not been permitted to any other person involved in the case. Chief Koby told one journalist, “The bottom line is these are people whose daughter has been killed, and we’re trying to find the killer. The fact that they keep handcuffing us hinders us from successfully resolving this investigation.”
The Ramseys’ attorneys responded on January 23 with an open letter to Beckner, which was given to the media. They complained that the commander was negotiating through the media and that, like Eller, Beckner was after an “elimination of defenses” rather than an “objective search