Perfect Murder, Perfect Town - Lawrence Schiller [251]
The meeting took place on February 13. Hunter wanted Pete Hofstrom to come along, but the deputy would not give up his customary Friday court responsibilities. He had invested months in determining the just punishment for felons about to be sentenced, and he wanted to be the one to present his findings to the court. The Ramsey case was not yet on his docket. If Hunter was frustrated by Hofstrom’s decision, he didn’t show it. That kind of dedication was what he admired in Pete.
Lee met for almost six hours with Hunter, Smit, DeMuth, Beckner, and Detectives Wickman and Trujillo. Afterward, the group hastily called a press briefing for the small media contingent that had assembled at the airport.
“I need to state that I’m disappointed,” Hunter said, “that we have not had more cooperation from the Ramseys in helping us get to the truth. We need to have that in order to answer questions that remain that are critical to finding out what happened in this case.”
This was the first time Hunter had criticized the Ramseys in public. During the meeting with Lee, the police and the DA realized that the Ramseys’ refusal to grant additional police interviews had brought the investigation to a standstill. The detectives had completed almost all the items on their to-do list. Now they needed answers that only JonBenét’s parents could provide. Hunter’s remark, possibly made in frustration, was a turning point in his relations with the police. The DA had now supported the department in public. It would make a big difference in his dealings with Beckner.
When Dr. Lee took his turn at the microphone, he said that after the meeting, he now gave the case a 50-50 chance of being solved.
After the airport meeting, Hunter met with Tom Koby.
“I need to look at what we have,” Koby said, referring to the evidence. “It may be that I will stand up and say the case needs to be put on the shelf, or I may recommend to you that you take it to a grand jury.” Koby told the DA that he wanted some witness testimony legally preserved as soon as possible. A grand jury was the only solution Koby saw.* Melody Stanton, the neighbor of the Ramseys who had heard the scream, was a case in point. Her interview wasn’t signed or given under oath, and since the Globe had published her story, she’d become more and more frightened and reluctant to testify. Then there were the Ramseys’ close friends—the Fernies, the Stines, and the Walkers. Some of them refused to talk to the police, and more than one detective wanted them charged with obstruction of justice. Koby and Hunter discussed granting them “use immunity” before a grand jury to get them to talk.* Finally, they wanted Burke Ramsey’s testimony preserved. He was now eleven, and his memories of the events surrounding his sister’s death were sure to be fading. Hunter discussed all this with the chief, though in his opinion it was not the proper use of a grand jury. If a grand jury was to be considered, he told Koby firmly, they would have to go all the way and ask for an indictment.** The grand jury could not become simply another investigative body.
TOM KOBY DEFENDS POLICE DEPARTMENT
In an unscheduled public appearance before the City Council, Koby explained that the department has been faced with an unusual number of high-intensity cases—from the non-lethal shooting of a state trooper to December’s Susannah Chase murder and several suspicious transient deaths.
Among other things Koby said:
• There will be a resolution to the Ramsey case in three months.
• The Boulder County Sheriff’s Department will assign officers to help Boulder police with an investigative backlog.
• Officers from the traffic