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By Root 1623 0

present during the CBI’s testing of evidence. Whiteside told Hunter that since the day after the murder, Koby had not returned his calls, and he felt the chief had no interest in what he had to say. Whiteside also thought the Boulder police were using his staff inefficiently. It looked as if the right hand didn’t know what the left hand was doing. Koby’s officers were always dealing with different people at the CBI. By now the DA’s staff had made their own inquiries, which should have been coming through the police department, and often Detectives Wickman and Trujillo, who were handling the evidence, didn’t even know what information the DA’s office had requested. It was a mess. Whiteside wanted someone on the CBI’s staff to act as liaison and to handle all the evidence.

Whiteside also wanted Hunter made aware that the police had requested that none of CBI’s findings be shared with the DA’s staff for fear the information would be leaked or shared with the Ramseys’ attorneys. It was standard procedure for Hunter’s office to receive lab test results when the police did, even in cases where charges had not yet been filed. Whiteside was concerned that the police and Hunter’s office were not on the same page.

Hunter arranged to hold the meeting in his office at the Justice Center, but when Whiteside arrived, Chief Koby excused himself. He said he had to be somewhere else. Whiteside was upset, but he agreed to stay and discuss some of the issues with Hunter and his staff. When Hunter learned that the CBI’s analysis and test reports were being withheld, he was outraged. Whiteside agreed to provide Hunter’s staff with copies of the reports at the same time they were given to the police.

Whiteside also told the DA that he didn’t want the Ramseys’ representatives in his labs—he wouldn’t want to deal with any uncharged person’s delegate.* That was CBI policy, and that was how he read the law. Unless the Ramseys were charged, he saw no reason for defense attorneys to know the test results—or even what type of evidence they were testing. In his opinion, law enforcement’s advantage was seriously diminished if the target of an investigation knew what the police had before formal charges were filed. It gave the defense extra time to plan an effective strategy.

Hunter replied that they were trying to be cooperative with the Ramseys’ attorneys, and often honey worked better than vinegar.

Whiteside didn’t like Hunter’s approach but admitted that the evidence wasn’t his. It was the Boulder PD’s and Hunter’s. They could test it somewhere else, if they wanted. They could go to Cellmark Diagnostics in Maryland. Then he’d be out of it. Hunter said his staff would discuss the matter with the Ramseys’ attorneys.

That same day, Koby met with Eller to discuss the problems he was having with the DA’s office and the media. Now that the search of the Ramsey home was complete, Koby wanted to know if Hunter’s people were still dissatisfied with the job Eller was doing. Yes, Eller replied. In fact, now they were suggesting interview subjects for his detectives.

Koby, who had come close to replacing Eller after he tried to withhold JonBenét’s body from her parents, now told the commander that he would back him against both Hunter and the press. These problems overshadowed whatever early mistakes Eller might have made, and this was their case.

Koby then told Eller, mainly in jest, that with all the meticulous notes he was taking, they should write a book someday and tell their side of the story.

On January 20, Detectives Thomas and Gosage went to McGuckin Hardware to await the expected call from John Ramsey. The detectives planned to use the local phone company’s *57 feature, which was available to the police, to trace the call.

The call came in at 10:45 A.M. “I called last week looking for some receipts,” he said.

“I’ve got one, and I need the number verified,” Hanks replied.

Today Ramsey seemed calm and composed. When he gave the account number, however, Hanks said it wasn’t correct.

“But you were able to pull a purchase on an AmEx on December