The 911 call in the Hollywood hairdresser murder. And investigators explore links between six violent deaths and a group called the Zizians.

Speaker 3 the Creator of Homeland, Claire Danes and Matthew Rees star in the new Netflix series The Beast in Me as ruthless rivals whose shared darkness will set them on a collision course with fatal consequences.

Speaker 3 The Beast in Me is a riveting psychological cat-and-mouse story about guilt and justice and doubt, now playing only on Netflix.

Speaker 4 Grand Canyon University is one of the largest universities in the country.

Speaker 4 Praised for its community and impact, GCU integrates a welcoming Christian worldview and open discourse into over 300 online programs.

Speaker 4 Redefine your online education through GCU's industry-driven, academically rigorous programs. In 2024, online students received over $161 million in institutional scholarships.
Find your purpose.

Speaker 4 Private, Christian, affordable. Discover available scholarships at gcu.edu slash myoffer.

Speaker 5 Hey, good morning.

Speaker 5 Good morning.

Speaker 6 It's another day at Dateline headquarters in 30 Rockefeller Center.

Speaker 5 Okay, so let's jump in so you can get started on your day.

Speaker 6 You're listening in as our producers swap tips about breaking crime news, trial updates, and stories that could become the next Dateline episode.

Speaker 5 Still trying to get to the police chief today, but the actual defendant completely proclaims his innocence.

Speaker 6 I'm Andrea Canning, and this is Dateline True Crime Weekly. It's February 6th, and here's what's on our docket.

Speaker 6 In Vermont, a group of young people called the Zizians is in the spotlight after two of them get in a deadly shootout with border guards.

Speaker 6 Investigators say the deaths aren't the only ones allegedly tied to the group.

Speaker 7 Teresa and the young woman who bought her the guns were in frequent contact with a third person who is a person of interest in another murder, this one in California.

Speaker 6 In Dateline Roundup, prosecutors beef up their indictment against rap mogul Sean Combs, and emotions run high at the sentencing hearing for Natalie Cochran, the West Virginia pharmacist convicted of murdering her husband.

Speaker 8 To this day, this vile being has shown no remorse, none whatsoever.

Speaker 6 Plus, the 1996 murder of six-year-old Jean Bonet Ramsey is making headlines again. We'll get you up to speed on what you might have missed.

Speaker 6 But first, we're heading to a Los Angeles courtroom where the trial of a woman accused of conspiring to murder her celebrity hairstylist husband is finally underway.

Speaker 6 Monica Cementilli's trial began last week with a gripping two-day opening statement by the prosecution.

Speaker 6 She told the jury the case was a story of lust, greed, and betrayal right out of a Hollywood movie with Monica at the center.

Speaker 9 You're going to learn about her lies

Speaker 9 and deception. You're going to hear about her extreme selfishness

Speaker 9 and ultimately

Speaker 9 the murder of Fabio Cementilli, her devoted husband of almost 20 years.

Speaker 6 The prosecution alleged that Monica and her lover, Robert Baker, plotted to kill Fabio so she could collect $1.6 million in life insurance money.

Speaker 6 The defense countered in their opening statement that it was Baker alone who was the mastermind.

Speaker 11 Robert Baker decided that he was going to kill her husband. No reason.

Speaker 11 That Monica would have wanted, no motive, and no interest.

Speaker 11 And that it was Robert Baker who made that choice for her.

Speaker 6 Baker has already pleaded no contest to the killing and is serving a sentence of life without parole.

Speaker 6 And this week, the prosecution started to present its evidence against Monica, playing audio for the jury pulled straight from investigators' case files.

Speaker 6 Dateline producer Chetna Joshi has been in the courtroom and she is with us now to tell us what she saw and what she heard. Chetna, thanks so much for coming back.
Hi.

Speaker 6 So let's start where the prosecution did with the 911 call from the couple's teenage daughter who found her father stabbed to death on the patio.

Speaker 6 It's tough to listen to, Chetna. What was the reaction like in court as it played? Did Monica show any emotion?

Speaker 13 Yeah, I would say

Speaker 13 this is the most emotional we've seen her since trial began. She was crying, dabbing her eyes.

Speaker 6 And this audio has almost deeper meaning to it because the prosecution is alleging that it was actually part of Monica's plan for her daughter Isabella to arrive home first and discover the body.

Speaker 6 Right.

Speaker 13 The state has alleged that Monica,

Speaker 13 who had been shopping at the time when the murder happened, that Monica knew that Fabio was home alone at that time and that she she had passed that information along to her lover, Robert Baker.

Speaker 13 The prosecution also said that during this time, she knew that Isabella was on her way home. And so Monica knew that Isabella would have been the one to find her dad dead.

Speaker 6 Yeah, which the prosecution believes is Monica establishing an alibi. Right.

Speaker 10 Yes.

Speaker 6 In court, prosecutors also played audio from Monica's first interview with police.

Speaker 15 So you came home and then you didn't know anything at that time.

Speaker 2 point, Greg? No, she didn't know.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 6 Chutna, what stood out to you listening to this audio?

Speaker 13 Monica sounds very emotional. She sounds shocked.
She sounds like she's hyperventilating and she sounds like she's sobbing.

Speaker 13 But on the stand, the original detective on the case testified that both him and his partner noticed that while she sounded like she was sobbing, there was sobbing, there was visual accuse of her being upset, but I did notice there were no tears.

Speaker 13 Now, on cross-examination, that detective said it wasn't something that he had documented in his police report at the time.

Speaker 13 And so I think the defense was trying to point out that perhaps Monica was in such shock, so upset. So maybe she didn't cry and, you know, and people grieved differently.

Speaker 6 They also played in court several of the follow-up calls Monica made to investigators. What did those recordings reveal?

Speaker 13 You'll recall that after the murder, the killers drive away in Fabio's Porsche, Christopher Austin, and Robert Baker. Those are the two murderers involved in this case.

Speaker 13 And the Porsche is found a couple days later, and detectives find blood in the Porsche. And the DNA comes back to Robert Baker.

Speaker 13 They have this information probably a couple weeks into their investigation, but they don't tell Monica.

Speaker 13 But meanwhile, they're having these phone calls with monica and she is asking about the dna results any evolved anything that's with any dna anything well again that's a car that's evidence so i can't discuss that we had a victim suspect whatever if you're looking at it through the prosecution lens that could be suspicious that um you know does she seem overly concerned about these results but if you look at it through the defense lens of course monica would want to know because she wanted investigators to catch the killer right but it was a very interesting point that the calls highlighted.

Speaker 6 There were even more recordings, Chetna, where Monica spoke with the detective about Fabia's life insurance claim being held up.

Speaker 6 And this is, of course, significant because it cuts right to the heart of, you know, what the prosecutors say was the motive.

Speaker 13 Yeah, you can hear Monica raising to investigators that there's issues with her being able to get this insurance life insurance payout.

Speaker 13 If there's anything we can do to speed this up, I just don't, because I don't know what's happening over the next week to week here, day to day. So if there's anything we can do, please.

Speaker 13 And as the calls go on, it seems as if she's getting increasingly agitated that she can't get the payout.

Speaker 6 Obviously, the prosecution is painting like a very vivid picture through their eyes that, you know, this is all about this life insurance and it's making her look really suspicious.

Speaker 6 But on the other hand, the defense could say, look, she needed the money for her family.

Speaker 13 Yeah.

Speaker 13 And I think that's a big point for the defense: that Monica had two teenage daughters to support. She didn't work herself.

Speaker 13 Naturally, you would be worried about how you're going to provide for your children.

Speaker 6 When the defense was given the chance to cross-examine the detective, it got pretty tense.

Speaker 6 In part, the defense's questions focused on Robert Baker, who they contend, of course, was the only person responsible for planning the murder.

Speaker 13 Yeah, so the defense was saying that they knew that Robert Baker was the killer as early as February of 2017, yet they didn't arrest him and they let him walk around for another four months before he was arrested in June.

Speaker 13 And why would you do that?

Speaker 17 And during that period of time, Robert Baker, who you had every reason to believe was a cold-blooded killer, was left on the street, correct?

Speaker 1 Yes.

Speaker 17 The focus was on Monica Simon Tilly at that time.

Speaker 1 The focus was on building a case, sir.

Speaker 17 Against Monica Simon Tilly.

Speaker 1 We wanted wanted to find the truth of what happened, and I believe we did.

Speaker 6 Chutna, wow, this is such a fascinating case all around. Thank you so much.
I can't wait to have you back on and hear how this plays out going forward.

Speaker 13 Definitely good being with you.

Speaker 6 Up next, investigators link the murders of an elderly man in California, a husband and wife in Pennsylvania, and the fatal shooting of a Vermont border guard to a group of young people called Zizians.

Speaker 6 Who exactly are they and what do they believe in?

Speaker 2 Most holiday gifts end up in a drawer or the back of your closet or accidentally left at your cousin's house. Not this one.
Mint Mobile is offering unlimited premium wireless for $15 a month.

Speaker 2 That's their best deal of the year, aka a holiday gift you'll actually use every single day. Don't get them socks.
Get them premium wireless for $15 a month.

Speaker 2 Shop Mint Unlimited plans at Mintmobile.com slash dateline. That's mintmobile.com slash dateline.
Limited time offer. Upfront payment of $45 for 3 months, $90 for 6 months, or $180 for 12 months.

Speaker 2 Plan required. $15 per month equivalent.
Taxes and fees extra. Initial plan term only.

Speaker 2 Greater than 35 gigabytes may slow when the network is busy. Capable device required.
Availability, speed, and coverage vary. See Mintmobile.com.

Speaker 19 The Kia Sportage Turbo Hybrid has a full design, a spacious interior with 232 horsepower, and a 12.3-inch panoramic display to keep the adventure going and fit with the way you live.

Speaker 19 And with SiriusXM, every drive comes alive, bringing you closer to the music, sports, talk, and podcasts you love, right in your vehicle or on the SiriusXM app.

Speaker 19 Every Sirius XM-equipped Kia Sportage Turbo Hybrid includes a three-month trial subscription to SiriusXM, so the experience begins the moment you drive.

Speaker 19 Learn more at Kia.com/slash sportage dash hybrid. Kia movement that inspires.

Speaker 19 If you're a custodial supervisor at a local high school, you know that cleanliness is key and that the best place to get cleaning supplies is from Granger.

Speaker 19 Granger helps you stay fully stocked on the products you trust, from paper towels and disinfectants to floor scrubbers.

Speaker 19 Plus, you can rely on Granger for easy reordering so you never run out of what you need. Call 1-800GRanger, clickgrainger.com, or just stop by.
Granger for the ones who get it done.

Speaker 6 Last May, 21-year-old Teresa Youngblood disappeared.

Speaker 6 She'd graduated from the same private high school in Seattle where Bill Gates and Paul Allen went, then started working on a computer science degree. Her parents reported her missing to the police.

Speaker 6 Then, two weeks ago, Teresa suddenly reappeared in a Vermont courtroom.

Speaker 20 Just one week after 44-year-old Border Patrol agent David Maland was shot and killed during a traffic stop in the Northeast Kingdom, one of the women involved in the gunfire that day, 21-year-old Teresa Youngblutt, is facing a judge.

Speaker 6 Because David Maland was a federal agent, the killing made national news. And then reporters all over the country started connecting the shooting with other deaths.

Speaker 6 Pennsylvania State Police just released new information in the double murder cross-country.

Speaker 15 One that was shot dead and the other had three bullets.

Speaker 6 in it. That 22-year-old was arrested and then charged with murder.
Six violent deaths across three different states connected to people Teresa associates with.

Speaker 6 People who, like her, were part of a group some people who know them have called a death cult.

Speaker 6 NBC News investigative reporter Rich Shapiro has been trying to untangle the web of how these crimes are connected. He's here to tell us what he's learned.
Rich, thanks for coming on the podcast.

Speaker 3 Sure thing.

Speaker 6 Let's start with what happened in Vermont in the middle of January.

Speaker 7 Yeah, so what we know from the criminal complaint filed against Teresa Youngblood is that on January 14th, a hotel employee calls law enforcement to say that two people wearing black tactical gear and masks have checked in.

Speaker 7 One of them has a, quote, apparent firearm. in an exposed carry holster.
That's Teresa. Then law enforcement begins to surveil them.

Speaker 7 Days later, investigators are watching Teresa and the person with her, who we now know is Ophelia Bachholt. And they see Ophelia go into a Walmart while Teresa waits in the car.

Speaker 7 Ophelia comes out with aluminum foil and while sitting in the passenger seat wraps objects in the foil. That's something people do to prevent their cell phones from being tracked by law enforcement.

Speaker 7 A couple hours later, three Border Patrol cars with lights on pull over the Prius. Teresa gets out of the car and stands by the driver's side door.

Speaker 7 And then, according to the federal prosecutors in Vermont, Teresa drew her Glock and fired at least twice. Ophelia tried to draw her weapon, but didn't fire.

Speaker 7 And at least one Border Patrol agent fired at least seven bullets. One of those agents was shot and died at the hospital.
Ophelia was shot and pronounced dead at the scene.

Speaker 7 And Teresa was also shot, but not killed.

Speaker 6 Do we know then if Teresa is the one who killed the Border Patrol agent?

Speaker 7 We do not. At this point, Teresa is facing two counts.
One is assault with a deadly weapon while resisting or interfering with federal law enforcement, and the other is a weapons charge.

Speaker 6 What did they find when they searched the car?

Speaker 7 They found quite a large collection of tactical gear that included two full-face respirators, gas masks essentially, 48 rounds of hollow point ammunition. They also found Youngblood's journal.

Speaker 6 Did the journal shed any light on why they had all this stuff?

Speaker 7 Not really.

Speaker 7 In a motion for detention that the federal prosecutor filed last week, the government says that she wrote in a cipher, a code.

Speaker 7 But they are using Teresa's associations to figure out what she and Ophelia may have been up to, more than what was in her journal.

Speaker 7 In the detention document, the prosecutor says that the guns Teresa and Ophelia had on them in the car were purchased by a person of interest in a double homicide that happened in Pennsylvania two years ago, and that Teresa and the woman who bought her the guns were in frequent contact with a third person who is a person of interest in another murder, this one in California.

Speaker 6 And the name of that person of interest in the California case is sort of the key to unlocking how all these people connect, right? A person by the name of Jack Lasota.

Speaker 7 Jack Lasota, who also goes by Ziz. She uses female pronouns.

Speaker 6 Is she the common denominator in all of this?

Speaker 7 Yeah, so it appears through a close read of the court documents that Ziz

Speaker 7 was at the scene or had a connection to people who were involved in all of these crimes.

Speaker 6 So what, Rich, have you learned about Ziz?

Speaker 6 Who is she? What is her background? background?

Speaker 7 Yeah, so Ziz is somewhat of an enigma. She's from Alaska.
She got a degree in computer science. She is very, very serious about veganism.

Speaker 7 She used to operate her own blog where in one post, she asked someone if they were vegan by saying, do you consume the flesh of the innocent?

Speaker 7 She would only hire lawyers who are vegans and she attracted followers, for lack of a better word. They lived communally in Vallejo, California.
They were living on the property of an elderly man.

Speaker 7 And a number of these people, if not all, were trans women.

Speaker 6 Are we talking about a cult here?

Speaker 7 So it kind of depends on who you ask. There are people in this community, folks in the Bay Area, who have come into contact with Ziz, and they describe Ziz as someone who is manipulative

Speaker 7 and preys on a certain type, that being trans women who are socially isolated

Speaker 7 and open to these kind of big ideas.

Speaker 6 And you, of course, tried to reach Ziz to get her response to that, but didn't hear back. So what do her followers believe?

Speaker 7 The Lasota group, who've come to be known as Zizians, they have some unusual beliefs. And the main one is that each human being is essentially made up of

Speaker 18 two people.

Speaker 7 They have two minds. Most people have one good and one bad, and these are in conflict with each other.

Speaker 6 We don't know yet how these beliefs or if these beliefs played any role in what's happened or even why Teresa was driving around Vermont with a car packed full of tactical gear and ammo.

Speaker 6 We don't even know how Teresa met Ziz.

Speaker 6 But there is one more connection between her and Teresa. We haven't talked about, Rich.
You said earlier that Ziz is a person of interest in a California murder. Tell us about that.

Speaker 7 In 2022, Curtis Lind, who owned the property where Ziz was living, survived a brutal attack by some of the Zizians. He was impaled with a samurai sword and lost an eye, but he survived.

Speaker 7 Ziz has not been charged in the attempted murder, but we know that she was at the scene. Curtis Lind, he shot at his attackers and one of them died.

Speaker 7 So the two surviving attackers were charged with attempted murder and aggravated mayhem. Curtis Lind was going to be the star witness at their trial in April.

Speaker 7 Prosecutors say exactly when Teresa and Ophelia were driving around northern Vermont being watched by the police, Maximilian Snyder, Teresa's high school classmate, killed Lind to prevent him from testifying.

Speaker 6 Snyder has yet to enter a plea in that case, and prosecutors have not said why Ziz is a person of interest in Vallejo.

Speaker 19 So where is Ziz?

Speaker 6 What do we know?

Speaker 7 We have no idea. Neither do her attorneys or other people I've spoken to who had previously been in contact with her.

Speaker 6 Feels like it's far from over, Rich.

Speaker 7 There is actually a hearing in the California murder on Thursday and in Teresa's case in Vermont on Friday. So there'll be more to come.
Soon, I think.

Speaker 6 You'll have to come back and tell us what you learn, and our listeners can read your piece about this case and Ophelia in particular on NBCNews.com.

Speaker 7 Yes, thanks for having me on. I appreciate it.

Speaker 6 Coming up, it's Dateline Roundup. We'll have the latest on the sex trafficking case against music legend Sean Combs.

Speaker 6 Plus, 30 years after the murder of six-year-old John Benet Ramsey, the investigation gets new life. We'll take a look back to where it all began.

Speaker 19 The Kia Sportage Turbo Hybrid has a bold design, a spacious interior with 232 horsepower, and a 12.3-inch panoramic display to keep the adventure going and fit with the way you live.

Speaker 19 And with Sirius XM, every drive comes alive, bringing you closer to the music, sports, talk, and podcasts you love, right in your vehicle, or on the Sirius XM app.

Speaker 19 Every Sirius XM-equipped Kia Sportage Turbo Hybrid includes a three-month trial subscription to Sirius XM, so the experience begins the moment you drive.

Speaker 19 Learn more at kia.com/slash sportage dash hybrid, Kia movement that inspires.

Speaker 22 a Mochi moment from Mark, who writes, I just want to thank you for making GOP1s affordable. What would have been over $1,000 a month is just $99 a month with Mochi.

Speaker 22 Money shouldn't be a barrier to healthy weight. Three months in and I have smaller jeans and a bigger wallet.

Speaker 6 You're the best.

Speaker 22 Thanks, Mark. I'm Myra Ameth, founder of Mochi Health.
To find your Mochi moment, visit joinmochi.com.

Speaker 23 Mochi members have access to licensed physicians and nutritionists and are compensated for their stories. Results may vary.

Speaker 10 A BetterHelp ad.

Speaker 24 This November, BetterHelp is encouraging people to reach out, grab lunch with an old friend, call your parents, or even find support in therapy.

Speaker 24 BetterHelp makes it easy with its therapist match commitment and over 12 years of online therapy experience, matching members with qualified professionals.

Speaker 24 And just like that lunch with an old friend, Once you do reach out, you'll wonder, why didn't I do this sooner? Start now at betterhelp.com for 10% off your first month.

Speaker 6 Welcome back. Joining us for this week's Dateline Roundup is Dateline producer Jay Young.
Hey, Jay.

Speaker 18 Hey, Andrea, how are you?

Speaker 10 Good.

Speaker 6 For our first story, we're headed to West Virginia for an update on the trial of Natalie Cochran. She is the West Virginia pharmacist accused of poisoning her husband, Michael Cochran.

Speaker 6 Jay, you've been following this story for years, and you were in the courtroom every day of this trial, which ended last week with a guilty verdict. So, Jay, what is new now?

Speaker 15 Well, there was a sentencing hearing, and it was up to the jury to decide whether Natalie would get a life sentence without the possibility of parole or whether they would give her mercy where she could get parole after 15 years.

Speaker 15 There were some very emotional statements from family members, including Michael's mom, Donna, and his best friend, Chris.

Speaker 3 Michael's one of my best friends. He was a very strong man.

Speaker 7 He's a good man.

Speaker 3 He loved his family. He took care of his family.

Speaker 3 He wasn't sick. He wasn't ready to die.

Speaker 8 To this day, this vile being has shown no remorse, none whatsoever.

Speaker 8 We, along with our family and friends, have sat quietly and graciously and painfully watched and listened as Michael's good name has been murdered time and time again by those who publicly defend this murderer.

Speaker 8 Is Michael Brandon resting in peace? I don't think so. We asked this court that Natalie Cochran be sentenced to life in the state prison for the rest of her natural life.

Speaker 6 So what did the jury recommend?

Speaker 15 They came back and quickly. It took them not much more than an hour, which may be a clue into how strong the jury thought the prosecution's case was.

Speaker 15 And Natalie was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Speaker 6 For our next story, we've got updates in the case of Sean Diddy Combs, the music mogul who was indicted in September on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation to engage in prostitution.

Speaker 6 He has pleaded not guilty. Jay, what's new in this?

Speaker 15 Last week, prosecutors in Manhattan federal court added two more alleged victims to the transportation to engage in prostitution charge.

Speaker 15 The new filing accuses Combs of dangling one of the alleged victims from an apartment balcony.

Speaker 15 The indictment also charges that Combs' racketeering crimes began in 2004, not 2008, so four years earlier than previously thought and lasted until 2022.

Speaker 6 Has Combs responded to these new accusations, Jay?

Speaker 15 Well, he has denied them through his lawyer. He's set to go to trial on May 5th.

Speaker 6 For our last story, we've got an update on the case of Jimmy J. Lee, the 20-year-old Ulmiss student who disappeared on July 8th, 2022.

Speaker 6 Last fall, we covered the trial of Sheldon Timothy Harrington Jr., a fellow Ole Miss student who prosecutors allege killed Lee to hide their romantic relationship.

Speaker 6 Harrington has always denied any involvement in Jay Lee's death. The trial ended with a hung jury, and a retrial date is supposed to be set soon.

Speaker 15 Yeah, one of the challenges for the prosecution in the trial was that this was a no-body case. Jay Lee had been declared dead, but they didn't know where he was.

Speaker 15 Over the weekend, human remains were found in a remote area of Carroll County.

Speaker 15 Mississippi Today reported that the remains were found with a gold necklace that had the nameplate Jay Lee on it, which matches the necklace Jay Lee wore in pictures posted to social media up to two days before his disappearance.

Speaker 6 So sad.

Speaker 6 On Wednesday, local police and the Mississippi State Crime Lab confirmed via DNA analysis that the remains belonged to Jay Lee. Thank you so much, Jay, for these updates.

Speaker 2 Thanks, Andrea.

Speaker 6 There is a murder case that has recently been making headlines on social media, the news, TV morning shows. And here's what's amazing about that.
The case is 30 years old.

Speaker 6 One of America's most notorious unsolved murders. The 1996 case, now the subject of renewed interest on social media.

Speaker 25 You still have hope that this can be solved.

Speaker 6 I believe it can be solved. I'm talking, of course, about the unsolved murder of Jean-Bonet Ramsey.
She was just six years old when she was found strangled to death in her family's Colorado home.

Speaker 6 And for years, her family lived with their grief, at times under suspicion themselves. Their daughter's death was a media sensation.

Speaker 7 Everyone in America is watching.

Speaker 6 But they never got closer to getting any answers until maybe now. My next guest, Dateline producer Jessica DeVera, has been covering the story for more than a decade.

Speaker 6 She's here to bring us up to speed on the latest in the case and remind us of what we might have forgotten. Jessica, thanks for coming on the podcast.

Speaker 16 Thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 6 So to start, as we mentioned, this case is nearly three decades old. Why is it making headlines again now?

Speaker 16 Netflix recently released a docuseries called Cold Case, Who Killed John Benet Ramsey.

Speaker 16 The little girl's father, John Ramsey, is featured in the docuseries, which centers on his push for authorities to utilize advances in DNA technology to solve the case.

Speaker 6 Last week, John met with the new Boulder police chief. He spoke to NBC News correspondent Stephanie Gosk shortly afterwards.

Speaker 26 They were just open to

Speaker 26 sincerely discuss the case. I was just very impressed with the caliber of the leadership now.

Speaker 26 And that gave me great hope.

Speaker 6 So take us back to those early days, Jessica. This case was an absolute media frenzy back in the 90s.
I was working at the TV show Extra at the time. It was my first job.

Speaker 6 They covered the story story every single night. This was something that everybody was talking about.

Speaker 16 That is correct. I think people were, you know, there's this little girl on the pageant stage.

Speaker 18 My name is Jean Benet Ramsay, and I'm five and a half.

Speaker 16 And I think people were just really sort of transfixed with that image. And a year before John Bonet's murder, the O.J.
Simpson trial transfixed the country, right?

Speaker 16 So when John Bonet's murder made headlines, everyone latched on.

Speaker 6 And there were so many bizarre clues, too, like grabbed people's attention. That's right.

Speaker 16 Yes. Several details to this case that have always been very intriguing.
Like this two and a half page ransom note found inside the Ramsey's home.

Speaker 16 The note demanded $118,000, which was very close to John Ramsey's bonus that year. Handwriting experts were brought in to analyze the writing.

Speaker 16 There was also the garot, a loop of cord that was tied to a wooden handle that was used to strangle John Bonet. Some crime scene photographs were sold to tabloid newspapers.

Speaker 16 Reporters were hungry for the next big scoop, and of course, everyone wanted the big get and wanted to interview John Bonet's parents.

Speaker 16 Soon after John Bonet's murder, her parents sat down with CNN to say that an intruder had to have killed their daughter.

Speaker 21 There is a killer on the list.

Speaker 21 If I were a resident of Boulder,

Speaker 21 I will tell my friends

Speaker 18 to keep

Speaker 18 your babies close to you.

Speaker 18 There's someone out there.

Speaker 6 But then the public started to turn on them a little bit because word got out that they were not talking to the police, but they were talking to the media.

Speaker 16 That is correct. According to the police, the parents were no longer speaking directly to them.

Speaker 6 The family was officially cleared in 2008, but John Ramsey told NBC's Stephanie Goss last week that he thinks the only way to restore his family's reputation is to find Jean Bonnet's killer.

Speaker 16 Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, the family has been through a lot, right?

Speaker 16 And even though the district attorneys publicly announced that they were no longer under this cloud of suspicion, I think that they feel like unless DNA points to the killer, then their name will not be completely restored.

Speaker 6 So John Ramsey, as you said, Jessica, wants DNA evidence tested. What specifically is he talking about?

Speaker 16 So unknown DNA was found on several items from the crime scene, but a match has never been made.

Speaker 16 So he wants to have that further tested because there has been so much advancement in DNA technology, specifically genetic genealogy.

Speaker 6 The police chief said a cold case review board met in 2023 to go over the case. What happened with that?

Speaker 16 So the police chief had an independent group of investigators meet and they made several recommendations.

Speaker 16 They don't go into specifics because it is an open investigation still, but they have been telling the media and the public that they are following up on those recommendations.

Speaker 6 We will be keeping an eye on any developments.

Speaker 16 Absolutely.

Speaker 6 Thank you, Jessica.

Speaker 16 Thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 6 One more thing before we go. Monday was National Missing Persons Day.
For more than 10 years now, our digital team has covered more than 500 cases in its Missing in America series.

Speaker 6 You might have heard some of them on our Missing in America podcast. Well, this week, you can read about 88-year-old Myrtle Polk, who vanished from her Dallas home in June 2024.

Speaker 6 To check out the article and see if you have any information that might help bring her home, head to nbcnews.com forward slash missing in America.

Speaker 6 That's it for this episode of Dateline True Crime Weekly. Coming up this Friday on Dateline, Josh has an all-new two-hour episode.

Speaker 6 The murder of a beloved tech mogul stuns a city and sends investigators into a world of glamour, parties, and rage.

Speaker 3 That is the most

Speaker 15 far-out story I think I've ever heard in my life.

Speaker 6 I think that there is something deeply disturbing about this person. Watch Under the Bay Bridge, airing this Friday at 9-8 Central on NBC, or stream it starting Saturday on Peacock.

Speaker 6 Thanks for listening. Dateline True Crime Weekly is produced by Franny Kelly and Katie Ferguson.
Our associate producers are Carson Cummins and Caroline Casey.

Speaker 6 Our senior producer is Liz Brown Kuriloff. Production and fact-checking help by Sarah Kadir.
Veronica Mazeka is our digital producer. Rick Kwan is our sound designer.
Original music by Jesse McGinty.

Speaker 6 Bryson Barnes is head of audio production. Paul Ryan is executive producer.
And Liz Cole is senior executive producer of Dateline.

Speaker 12 All right.

Speaker 6 Thanks, everybody.

Speaker 2 This time of year, many are checking off their holiday gift lists. But identity thieves have lists too, and your personal information might be on them.
Protect your identity with LifeLock.

Speaker 2 LifeLock monitors millions of data points every second and alerts you to threats you could miss. If your identity is stolen, LifeLock will fix it, guaranteed, or your money back.

Speaker 2 Save up to 40% your first year at lifelock.com/slash dateline. Terms apply.