Associated Press Ramseys File Defamation Suit ATLANTA (AP) -- The parents of JonBenet Ramsey have
filed a libel and defamation lawsuit against a former
Boulder, Colo., police detective who accused the couple
of having a role in their daughter's death.
The 51-page complaint filed Thursday in U.S. District
Court in Atlanta alleges Steve Thomas made false
accusations about the couple in a book he co-wrote and
in TV interviews promoting the book, ''JonBenet: Inside
the Ramsey Murder Investigation.''
Thomas did not return messages left Thursday.
John and Patsy Ramsey are seeking $65 million from
Thomas, publisher St. Martin's Press, and several other
defendants, including unidentified Boulder police
officials whom the Ramseys allege supplied Thomas with
material for his work.
The suit accuses Thomas of securing a six-figure book
contract with the promise he would say Patsy Ramsey
killed 6-year-old JonBenet, and John Ramsey covered up
the crime.
JonBenet was found beaten and strangled in her
family's Boulder home Dec. 26, 1996. Police have said
her parents remain under an umbrella of suspicion, but
no one has been charged in her death. The Ramseys now
live in Atlanta.
Meanwhile, the Boulder County district attorney has
asked a federal judge to stop the New York Post from
seeing stacks of documents from the Ramsey
investigation.
The newspaper is seeking all documents associated
with the slaying, including those from the grand jury
which disbanded without indicting anyone in the case.
The district attorney's motion to block the Post's
subpoenas was filed Thursday in federal court in Denver.
It argued the subpoena places an undue burden on the
office since it includes tens of thousands of documents
in 24 categories, some of which are privileged
The subpoena, issued March 15, orders the district
attorney's office to hand the documents over Monday.
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March , 2001
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