Silent Night, Unholy Night

	4 Updated: September 19, 1999
	All times are approximate. As more information becomes known, this page will be updated.

Wednesday Christmas Day 1996

	5:00 pm
	The Ramseys went to the home of family friends, Fleet and Priscilla White, for Christmas dinner. The Whites lived a mile away.

	9:00 pm
	The Ramseys left the Whites' house, delivering Christmas gifts to two families, the Walkers and the Stines, on the way home.

	9:30 pm
	The Ramseys arrived home. They said JonBenét had fallen asleep in the car. Without waking her, John said he carried her upstairs and Patsy prepared her for bed. John said Burke and he worked downstairs on Burke's new model. Earlier rumors had said John read Burke a story.

	10:00 pm
	John and Patsy said they went to bed, as did Burke. This is the time they gave for the last time they saw JonBenét alive, asleep in her bed.

Thursday December 26, 1996

	12:00 am Midnight +
	Melody Stanton, neighbor across the street and diagonal from the Ramseys, said she heard a piercing scream shortly after midnight. Her husband Luther slept through the scream, but said he heard the sound of metal scraping on concrete. Neighbor to the north, Scott Gibbons, said he saw odd lights in the home. John and Patsy reported hearing nothing, but tabloids say Burke heard noises shortly after midnight.

	5:45 am
	Patsy and John said they woke up to catch a 7:00 am plane to Michigan. John took a shower and Patsy went down the spiral stairs; she found the ransom note on the "rung of the stairs."* She screamed to John when she read the line "we have your daughter." Patsy checked JonBenét's room and saw she was missing; the Ramseys said they looked in Burke's room, but didn't wake him up.	* According to Vanity Fair, Patsy told French 2 versions: (1) she went to wake JonBenét up, found her missing, then found the note on the stairs; (2) she found the note when she went downstairs to make coffee and then checked on JonBenét. In the documentary produced by Michael Tracey, she told version (3), that she went down the spiral stairs after getting some clothes together in the laundry cupboard outside JonBenét's room.

	5:51 am
	Patsy called 911 to report the kidnapping of JonBenét, although the note said the child would be killed if the police were notified. Patsy failed to hang the phone up properly; Burke's voice can allegedly be heard in the background of an enhanced version of the taped call, which would contradict the statements of all three Ramseys that Burke was not awake at that time.

	5:52 am
	The first police officers, Richard French and Karl Veitch "responded" to the call, according to the affidavit accompanying the 12/26 search warrant. It is not clear if this is when they were dispatched or when they actually arrived at the home. It seems more likely that they actually arrived some minutes later.* They were shown the ransom note and told by John Ramsey that the doors and windows had been secured the night before. French is the officer who, in Vanity Fair, mentioned John pacing while Patsy watched behind splayed fingers. Police reportedly said Patsy was wearing fresh makeup and the clothes she had worn to dinner the night before.	* According to Lawrence Schiller in "Perfect Murder Perfect Town", the first police arrived at 5:59 am

	5:55 am - 6:00 am
	According to Vanity Fair, Fleet said John Ramsey called friends Fleet and Priscilla White to come over immediately, and likely called John and friends Barbara Fernie at that time as well. According to Schiller, Patsy called the Whites at 6:00am and spoke with Priscilla. By the time the Whites reached the Ramsey home, the police and John Fernie were already there.

	6:00 - 8:00 am
	Officer Paul Reichenbach arrived at the house, joining French and Veitch. He searched the exterior of the house and the yard, and his testimony about footprints in the snow will be important. Officer Barry Weiss also arrived prior to Det. Arndt's arrival at 8:10, and stayed about an hour. It is not yet known precisely what was done, when it was done, and by which officers, but French made a cursory search of the house interior, including the basement, focusing on points of entry and egress, at some point that morning. No evidence of forced entry was found.

	6:20 am
	The Whites arrived at the house, and joined John Fernie. Rev. Rol Hoverstock came shortly after 7:00am. A tabloid story says the private pilot who was to fly the plane to Michigan, Mike Archuleta, drove by to pick them up as planned sometime after the police arrived, and that John handed him a box containing incriminating evidence, but Archuleta has denied the story. At some point that morning, Fleet White performed a cursory search of the house, including the basement, where it has been said he opened the door to the room where the body was found but saw nothing.

	7:00 am +
	John and Fleet White went to Burke's room and woke him up. According to Schiller, Fleet along with John Fernie drove Burke first to the Fernies' to pick up his children and took all the kids to the Whites' where Whites' houseguests (friends and relatives from California) looked after all the kids. Burke never asked why the family was no longer flying to Michigan as planned, where his sister was, or why police were in the house. At 7:45am Fleet and Fernie returned to the Ramsey home.

	8:10 am
	Det. Linda Arndt arrived with Det. Fred Patterson. Arndt was first briefed by Sgt. Reichenbach about the exterior search. Newsweek reported that police called victims advocates to comfort the Ramseys. They brought coffee and bagels and, while tidying up the kitchen, a Ramsey friend was said to have wiped down the counters using spray cleaner.

	8:00 am - 1:00 pm
	Det. Arndt monitored incoming phone calls to the Ramsey residence. The ransom note had stated the kidnapper/s would contact Ramsey by phone between 8:00-10:00 "tomorrow." John Ramsey answered the incoming phone calls. None was from the kidnapper/s. At some point earlier that morning, it has been reported that John Ramsey called a banker friend in Atlanta, said to be Rod Westmoreland, to arrange to get the ransom money in the denominations requested in the note.

	9:30 am
	Sgt. Bob Whitson arrived. He discovered what was thought to be a pry mark on the rear exterior kitchen door, but it was later determined that an old lock had fallen off at one point and only resembled a pry mark, according to Fox News reporter Carol McKinley.

	9:55 am - 10 am
	According to Lawrence Schiller, at about 10am John Ramsey went downstairs to the basement alone. In the 'train room', Ramsey found a broken 'open window.' Ramsey closed the window before going back upstairs. John Ramsey did not report the 'open window' to the police at that time.

	10:30 am
	JonBenét's bedroom was ordered sealed off by Detectives Arndt and Patterson. At some point in the day, Patterson is said to have interviewed Burke at the Whites' home. From about 10:30 until after the body was found, Det. Arndt was reportedly the only official in the house. It has been reported that she called for backup from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm, but no one responded.

	10:30 am - 12:00 pm Noon
	Det. Arndt wrote in her report that "between 10:30 and noon, John Ramsey left the house to pick up the family mail."* This has been interpreted to mean he left the house for an extended period of time, but it has since been reported that he didn't leave the house.	* It is likely that it was actually after 10:30 am, (when Arndt was the only police presence in the house) that John Ramsey went downstairs to the basement alone. Lawrence Schiller wrote that it occured at an earlier time

	1:00 pm
	While Wecht reports that the FBI, called earlier by the BPD, arrived at this time, there is no record of this in any of the affadavits. The 12/26 affidavit states that when the phone call from the kidnapper/s didn't come, Det. Arndt, the only police officer in the house, asked John Ramsey, Fleet White, and John Fernie "to check the interior of the residence for any sign of JonBenét, or anything that may have been left or taken that belonged to JonBenét... John Ramsey immediately went to the basement of the house, followed by Fleet White and John Fernie."

	1:03 - 1:05pm
	Det Arndt said that she "heard and saw" Fleet White in the den crouched at the phone calling for an ambulance. Moment's later, Arndt saw John Ramsey bringing JonBenét's body up the last three stairs from the basement. John Ramsey had found JonBenét's body in a little used basement storage room which had no windows, referred to as a "wine cellar." He said he removed tape from her mouth, picked her up, and gingerly carried her upstairs. Arndt said she appeared noticeably dead. Her wrists were loosely bound, and a crude garotte hung from her neck. She was wearing a knit shirt with a sequined silver star on the front and white longjohns, and Ramsey said her body had been covered by a white blanket.

	1:05 pm +
	John placed JonBenét's body on the floor in the hallway area of the foyer, where he and perhaps others reportedly tried to perform CPR on her, according to profiler John Douglas.* Arndt said that it was during this time, while she and John Ramsey were both leaning over the body, that she heard a 'guttural moan, aching wail, from the back area of the house.' Det. Arndt told John Ramsey to go 'back to the room' (the den) and dial 911. While Ramsey went to make the phone call, Arndt moved the body a second time, placing it under the Christmas tree in the living room. She said that when John Ramsey returned from making the 911 call, he requested that the body be covered at the very same time that he himself was covering it with a coverlet from the back of a nearby chair, possibly further contaminating the body. A Colorado Avalanche sweatshirt was seen covering the body later as well. The others came to the living room from the back area. It was reported that Patsy collapsed on the body, screaming "Jesus, you raised Lazarus from the grave. Raise my baby!" Arndt said she asked Rev. Hoverstock to lead the assembled family and friends, in the Lords Prayer.	* It should be noted that Linda Arndt in her interview with ABC News made no mention of anyone performing CPR, in the portions of the interview that were shown.

	1:10 pm
	Det. Arndt called 911, gave her radio number, and reported that the 'kidnapping'had turned into a murder. Minutes later, she said she saw an ambulance drive by the house without stopping.

	1:15 pm
	Det. Arndt said that she was paged and told that either the police or the ambulance, could not find the house.

	1:25 pm
	Police backup arrived at the house in the form of Arndt's supervisors. Det. Michael Everett walked through the basement to see if anybody was hiding there. He saw two blankets in the "wine cellar" where the body had been found. Sgt. Larry Mason (who oversaw the initial investigation) and Ron Walker arrived as well, along with other police officers, although it is not clear exactly who they were, when they arrived or what they did.

	1:30 pm
	According to Lawrence Schiller, detectives overheard John Ramsey calling Mike Archuleta (private pilot) at his home. "She's gone. They've killed her." Ramsey reportedly also told Archeluta to ready the plane for a flight to Atlanta that evening. Sgt. Mason told Ramsey, "You can't go."

	1:45 pm
	The Ramseys left their home to stay with the Fernies. At the Fernies', they were joined by other friends, including Dr. Beuf, JonBenét's pediatrician, who tranquilized Patsy, and attorney friend Mike Bynum, who advised the Ramseys to retain attorneys. The Ramseys, who had never been questioned in depth or separately, would not be formally questioned until April 30, 1997, over four months later.

	1:50 pm
	The house was cleared and finally declared a crime scene and roped off. At some point after the body was found, Fleet White reportedly took Arndt aside and said he had opened the door to the "wine cellar" earlier and had seen no body. Other reports, never verified, stated that the door to the room had been "stuck" when officers tried to open it during an earlier, cursory search. Schiller stated that it would be 8 hours before anyone went back in the house. Det. Arndt left around 2:35 possibly to see the Ramseys at the Fernie's house.

	4:00 pm
	Officials from the District Attorney's Office began arriving, including Assistant DA's Trip DeMuth, Pete McGuire, Mary Keenan, and Chief Trial Deputy Pete Hofstrom.

	7:00 pm
	Detectives Fred Patterson and Greg Idler arrived at the home of the Ramsey's housekeeper Linda Hoffman-Pugh and spent three hours interviewing her.

	7:55 pm
	John's children by his first marriage, 25 year old Melinda and 20 year old John Andrew, arrived at the Ramsey home, according to Vanity Fair. Stewart Long, Melinda's fiance [now husband], accompanied them. They had flown from Atlanta to Minnesota early that morning, planning to join the Ramseys in their private jet for the flight to the Ramsey vacation home in Charlevoix, Michigan. Some reports say they arrived earlier in the day, but after the body was found, and before the Ramseys had gone to the Fernies.

	8:00 pm
	The first search warrant was finally issued, allowing the search of the house to begin and allowing the coroner to examine the body and remove it. Officer James Byfield procured the warrant, and he served it 20 minutes after it was issued. Dr. John Meyer, the county coroner, was reportedly waiting outside for the warrant to be served so he could examine the body.

	8:20 pm - rest of the night
	Numerous unnamed police officers participated in the search of the 15 room house. Officer Kerry Yamaguchi participated in the search. He noticed the computer equipment and Internet connection in the Ramsey home, inspiring the 12/29 search for possible child porn. The 12/26 search and searches authorized by warrants served 12/27 and 12/29 did not end until late on 1/4/97. There would be subsequent searches in both the Boulder home and the Charlevoix home.

	8:30 pm
	The coroner left after examining the body and crime scene for 10 minutes. JonBenét's body was removed by Pat Dunn of the Boulder County Coroners Office, pursuant to the warrant. The body was transported to Boulder Community Hospital. The following morning a post mortem examination was conducted by Dr. Meyer.

	10:45 pm
	Sgt. Larry Mason stepped outside and made an official statement to the only two local print reporters at the scene.

	11:44 pm
	According to the Schiller book, Detective Linda Arndt was the last person to leave the house.

	Note:
	Boulder Police Department Detective Linda Arndt is suing former BPD Chief Tom Koby for defamation and violation of her First Amendment rights. She claims Koby's statements gave the public the impression that she bungled the Ramsey investigation, and that she has been denied the right to speak out and defend herself. This is important to keep in mind, because Arndt's reported actions and words are the basis for much of the information included on this page. Her civil suit was stayed until at least late December because of possible conflicts with the ongoing Ramsey grand jury investigation.