Police Say JonBenet Confession Is Nothing New

Gary Oliva has confessed before, they say
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 11, 2019 3:32 AM CST
Police Say JonBenet Confession Is Nothing New
This image made from an undated family video shows JonBenet Ramsey performing during a beauty pageant.   (AP Photo/Ramsey family video)

A convicted pedophile's alleged confession isn't a major breakthrough in the JonBenet Ramsey case, police in Colorado said in response to a report in the Daily Mail. The British newspaper reported that Gary Oliva, an early suspect in the 1996 killing of the Boulder 6-year-old, confessed in letters to a high school classmate that he had accidentally killed the girl. The Boulder Police Department, however, dismissed the report in a statement Thursday and noted that Oliva, who is currently serving a 10-year sentence for child pornography offenses, had confessed before, ABC 7 reports. Police said there were "no new updates" in the investigation.

The department "is aware of Gary Oliva and has investigated his potential involvement in this case, including several previous confessions," police said in the statement. "The department routinely receives information on this investigation. Information provided to the police department is reviewed along with the many tips and theories we receive." Oliva's name has repeatedly surfaced in connection with the case, including in 2000, when he was arrested while carrying a stun gun, a photo of the girl, and a poem he had written about her, the Boulder Daily Camera reports. After his 2016 arrest, police said they were "not comfortable ruling anybody out as a suspect, or ruling anybody in as a suspect." (A psychiatrist who assisted the investigation was shot dead outside his office last year.)

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