John Ramsey Gets Candid About Accusations He Killed Daughter JonBenét

John Ramsey has said he doesn’t worry about those who believe he murdered his daughter JonBenét Ramsey, saying that once a reputation is tarnished, “it never goes back to pure white.”

Speaking to People ahead of the new Netflix docuseries Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey, which premieres today, Monday, November 25, John explained why he doesn’t let the accusations bother him.

“Once your reputation is tarnished, rightly or wrongly, it never goes back to pure white,” he told the outlet. “That’s just life. And it doesn’t bother me. I mean, we were so overwhelmed by kind people and caring people, and that 5% or 10% is irrelevant, and I’m not worried about it.”

Netflix’s three-part docuseries tells the story of JonBenét, who was brutally murdered in the Ramseys’ home in December 1996. She was found in the basement with a fracture to her skull and signs of being strangled. She also showed signs of being sexually assaulted.

At the time, John and his wife Patsy came under suspicion, though neither of them were ever charged. In 1998, a District Attorney said there was insufficient evidence to bring charges against the couple. Then, in 2008, then-District Attorney Mary Lacy publicly apologized to the family, noting that evidence had cleared John and Patsy and JonBenét’s brother Burke (who was 9 at the time of the murder). Patsy died in 2006 from ovarian cancer.

Almost 30 years later, the case remains unsolved. In his interview with People, John explained how he believes an intruder was responsible and has urged the Boulder, Colorado, police to give the go-ahead for new DNA testing.

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“To me, it could easily have been the same person,” John said, referring to a masked intruder who had reportedly broken into a house just two miles from where the Ramseys lived and sexually assaulted a 12-year-old girl in the middle of the night.

“I think the method of operation was exactly the same,” he explained. “I believe the killer was in the house when we came home, waited til we went to sleep. [The parents of the 12-year-old] came home, set the burglar alarm, and the killer was already in the house. A very similar method, and yet the police blew it off. It was the same investigator as our case.”

Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey, Premiere, Monday, November 25, Netflix

If you or someone you know is the victim of sexual assault, contact the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network‘s National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.