There’s been a revival of interest in the shocking death of child beauty pageant contestant JonBenet Ramsey in recent months, thanks in no small to television’s current true crime mania.
JonBenet was murdered in 1996 at the age of 6, and the continued fascination with the still-unsolved case has prompted a slew of new investigative television specials.
The past year has seen 5 network TV specials centered around the Ramsey case, including CBS’ two-part The Case of: JonBenet Ramsey.
The special was one of the most in-depth televised investigations into the bizarre case, and much of it centered around the theory that JonBenet was murdered by her eccentric brother, Burke Ramsey.
Experts theorized that Burke, just 9 years old at the time of the murder, bludgeoned his sister to death because he was upset that she’d stolen a bite of his pineapple.
Not surprisingly, Burke was not pleased with the way he was portrayed in the series, and he’s now filed a $ 750 million lawsuit against CBS.
According to documents obtained by Us Weekly, Burke is suing in order to “redress the permanent damage to his reputation resulting from defendants’ false accusation that he killed his sister, JonBenet Ramsey.”
The suit likely didn’t come as a surprise to the powerhouse network, as Burke already sued Werner Spitz, one of the pathologists who pointed the finger at him during the CBS special.
In documents filed in October, Burke accused Spitz of “having a disturbing history of making false statements related to the brutal murder of young girls.”
Investigators initially believed that Burke committed the crime, and his parents aided him in covering it up.
Burke was exonerated by DNA evidence in 1999, but Spitz and others believe he was saved by human error and the limited technology of the time.
Burke broke his silence on his sister’s murder back in August, opening up to Dr. Phil about the allegations against him in a one-hour special.
At the time, Burke made it clear that he would take legal action against any individuals or media outlets who claimed that he had played any role in his sister’s death.
Now it seems apparent that he has every intention of following through on that promise.
