How It All Began

I finally got my backup device installed and loaded OLD documents from my other computer regarding the murder of JBR. Not to regurgitate old matter, but I think it would be interesting to revisit what was going on in 1996 in Boulder, with Access, and the high visibility of the Ramsey family. John Ramsey once said he had a gut feeling not to do the interview on the success of Access Graphics, and he believed the article triggered the crime. It could be a known or unknown perp to the family. John Ramseys phone number and address were publically listed at the time the interview was done.

Access celebrates $1 billion mark
By TOM LOCKE
Camera Business Writer
December 21, 1996

A billion bucks. That's enough to make anybody celebrate.

So when Boulder-based computer distributor Access Graphics Inc. passed the $1 billion mark in 1996 revenues, it tossed a luncheon party at the Hotel Boulderado on Friday.

A dixieland jazz band made the rounds at Access' Boulder offices Friday morning to announce the celebration and later played at the Boulderado.

John Ramsey, president of Access Graphics, thanked about 300 employees at the gathering and told them it couldn't have happened without them. The $1 billion in sales is about a 25 percent increase over the $800 million the company posted last year, and Ramsey foresees continued growth.

The next major milestone party, when the company reaches $2 billion in revenues, will come "before the end of the decade, that's for sure," he predicted.

Reaching the billion-dollar mark has come relatively quickly for Access, which was formed in 1989 from the merger of three companies: CAD Distributors Inc. of Boulder; CAD Sources Inc. of Piscataway, N.J.; and Advanced Products Group of Roswell, Ga.

In 1990, Access posted $59 million in sales and had 120 employees. While revenues have grown about 1,600 percent, employment has grown about 358 percent, to 550 employees. About 380 employees are in Boulder, 100 in Europe, 20 in Mexico City, 12 in Canada and some at warehouses in California and Pennsylvania.

Access Graphics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed Martin Corp., gets about 60 percent of its revenues from selling hard ware and software from Sun Microsystems Inc. of Mountain View, Calif.

Sun, known for its Unix workstations and Java software, is planning an office campus of more than 1 million square feet with more than 3,500 employees at Interlocken business park in Broomfield.

Access is one of two distributors for Sun in the United States that is authorized to sell to resellers, which get customer support from Access in selling to end-users.

Ramsey said an important factor in Access' success has been the mix of products and companies it represents. Among the most important, besides Sun, are Silicon Graphics Inc. of Mountain View, Calif., and Hewlett-Packard Co. of Palo Alto, Calif.

John Ramsey received an award the year before the murder. Online article doesn't include the picture of all the recipients. This is the article that supposedly was found in the house with red marks on it. I don't recall exactly how it was marked up, but the recipients were crossed off, and I believe Yes or something similar was marked on it, targeting JR. The Ramseys had not seen that article marked up. If in fact the perp left the article and marked it up, it was from the movie "Ricochet" with Denzel Washington. A movie about revenge.

People vs profits: Esprit winners' views
By Caron Schwartz Ellis

A lot of very well-known business leaders say there's an entrepreneurial renaissance going on.

Folks like Tom Chappell, founder of Tom's of Maine, and Anita Roddick of The Body Shop think that a spirit of harmony, trust and cooperation is replacing the traditional rigid, competitive business climate.

Maybe it's the dawning of the Age of Aquarius, the long-awaited astrological movement expected to usher in universal harmony and understanding, sympathy and trust.

On a less cosmic note, maybe it's simply that some of the typical ways of doing business haven't been reaping the expected rewards, and that some forward-looking entrepreneurs are trying out different ways of doing things.

What do Boulder's finest entrepreneurs think? We turned to the Esprit Entrepreneur '95 winners to see if they perceive a new paradigm sweeping the business world.

Entrepreneur of Distinction John Ramsey, president and CEO of Access Graphics, sees a movement from a single vision to group dynamics.

"There's a shift from a business person where the results are individually driven and tightly controlled to one that leverages people a lot more," Ramsey says. "For any business to grow today, people are a key aspect of it, and this requires an adaptable culture."

Entrepreneurs of Distinction Mary Ellen Vernon and Thomas Vernon of Fresh Produce Sportswear agree that people are the key and focus strongly on their employees.

"Years ago, the 8-to-5 day and a shirt and tie standardized everything," Thom Vernon says. "If you were female and had kids, I don't think employers were really too concerned about that. We've broken that mold and offer much more flexibility. We realize that people have lives."

The Vernons also value employee empowerment through profit sharing. "The old way of doing things was to hire people and put them in their corner and have them do their job," Thom Vernon says. "With profit sharing everyone is going to benefit and they can see how it directly affects them."

Entrepreneur of Distinction Jeffrey Cohn, chairman of Allegro Coffee, believes the business world reflects society as a whole. For him, business is a "mixed bag."

On the one hand I see an ever-greater materialism. That's the downside," Cohn says. "The positive side is that there's a much greater growth today in trends that reflect values such as cooperation and concern for the health of society and the planet altogether."

Cohn sees both sides of the equation in Boulder County. "I see Boulder as reflecting society as a whole to a large degree, but I also see Boulder having leadership in positive ways far beyond what's proportional to simply its size. Given that quality of a highly educated population and the type of people that are attracted to Boulder for quality of life, there's a strong forward-thinking component to our population."

Entrepreneur of Distinction Phillip Wiland, chairman and chief executive officer of Concepts Direct, doesn't think the paradigm is completely new.

"Some businesses have always considered caring about people and caring about customers important," Wiland says. But he does notice a growing emphasis on their importance.

"People expect more," Wiland says. "We're more and more a service economy, and, if you want to stay in business, you'd better do what your customer wants."

Although he believes that area companies might be leading the way in developing innovative programs, Wiland does not think Boulder is unique. "I don't think you can draw a circle around Boulder County and say that inside the county they are making progress and outside they aren't," he says. "That would be excessive egotism."

Entrepreneur of Distinction Mark Crossen, president and chief executive officer of Amrion, doesn't believe that a cooperative culture exists in the business world, yet.

"Many of the universal principles of the free enterprise system will always be relevant and applicable because they originate from fundamental aspects of human nature," Crossen says. "Many of these traditions are antiquated, but I fear these antiquated practices will die a slow death because of the conservative fear of change."

Crossen does envision a company of the future with "new flexibility and responsiveness of purpose, whereby real human values are fulfilled in the course of building a successful business enterprise," he says. And, he continues, Boulder County will lead the way.

Lifetime Achievement Award winners John Hill and Carl Carman of Hill, Carman Ventures have very different perspectives.

Carman believes that business culture is becoming somewhat more focused on the individual. He ascribes this to a number of trends reducing "homogenization" of the workplace.

One is the downfall of unions. "Many companies would look at employees as a monolith of the union, which they can't do anymore," Carman says.

Another is the increasing mixing of men and women at work. "Everybody has to look at groups as individuals," he says.

But Carman doesn't believe the pendulum will swing completely. "You'll see a spectrum, but public companies will continue to be driven by the quarterly report. We expect things to be increasing quarter by quarter."

But for John Hill, the notion of a cooperative, compassionate business paradigm is "a lot of utopic wishful thinking."

"In our world of high-tech, early-stage companies, the fact of the matter is that competition is so brutally intense, it's survival of the fittest," Hill says.

"I think a lot of this mushy stuff is nice to think about, but the fact is you've got to be tough as nails to survive, and if you think otherwise, you're probably going to have some rough awakenings."

While Boulder's premier entrepreneurs agree that risk-taking is part of the entrepreneurial makeup, they differ on how risk-taking ties in with the so-called new business paradigm.

For Allegro Coffee's Cohn, entrepreneurism is more a matter of creativity than risk-taking. "I believe the entrepreneur often gravitates toward appreciating the qualities of cooperating and sharing the responsibilities and challenges of creating," he says. All of this fits the new mode.

For Wiland of Concepts Direct, the whole point of entrepreneurism is to have fun, and his idea of a good time fits the new paradigm as well. "For me, the fun of business is not so much the money that gets made, but the fun of building something," Wiland says. "I think the new thinking about caring about customers, caring about people and building teams, really all that is an important methodology for building a great organization, and that's what entrepreneurism is all about."

The new business paradigm is said to involve a shift from a regional to a global emphasis, bringing with it an increased sense of social responsibility. Boulder Esprit winners see social responsibility in different ways.

Success has to come first, insist Carman and Hill. "I always think that the best way to be socially responsible is to be successful," Carman says. "If you're in total survival mode, it's very seldom that you're very responsible.

"I think all corporations have that responsibility, but not at the expense of healthy organization," Hill continues. "It can't be at the expense of return on investment, because, if so, the enterprise won't survive."

For Thom and Mary Ellen Vernon of Fresh Produce and John Ramsey of Access Graphics, social responsibility revolves around commitment to their employees.

The Vernons acknowledge it would be easy for them lay off and rehire seasonally. But, says Thom Vernon, "we decided years ago that it's better to bite the bullet in slow times. We realize that our employees have (to pay for)rent and food, and those things aren't seasonal. It's real satisfying to see employees with the ability to buy homes and cars and things like that."

Ramsey feels "an obligation to provide employees with secure employment and the challenge and opportunity to grow not only financially but professionally," he says.

Cohn and Wiland see social responsibility as an obligation to the community.

To Cohn this has meant a strategic business decision to target a niche market -- the natural foods industry -- rather than the mass market supermarket chains. "The decision was partially going against the options to make money because it eliminated us out of the vast majority of retail food outlets," Cohn says, "but we still feel that we chose a very viable economic path. I suspect that some companies that do focus on making money don't have much sense of social responsibility."

"I believe we should care about communities," Wiland says. "Communities are made up of individuals, and I believe the best way to be socially responsible is to be responsible to everyone you have a relationship with --customers, employees, vendors, families of employees -- whoever it may be."

For Crossen, true social responsibility is still in the future. "When our business culture is filled with caring people who understand the value of serving others with our products or service, socially responsible behavior is an integral part of what we do everyday," he says. "And, this group attitude propels the company to great levels of customer/community service, which, in turn, creates greater prosperity."

Whether or not they buy the new paradigm, each Esprit Entrepreneur agrees on one thing -- the importance of business ethics. As Wiland puts it, "business ethics and personal ethics are the same thing. Be honest, tell the truth, care about other people."

Hill concurs. "Don't confuse tough business management with solid fundamental ethics," he says. "You can run a very tight ship with very tough discipline and yet be honest and ethical and fair to employees and investors on a day-to-day basis."

The Boulder Camera held a movie line contest every year. In 1996 they posted the lines and answers in January 1996--after the crime. The Ransom note was full of movie line references. Perhaps the perp had fun coming up with his own movie line contest in the ransom note---he would have had to have knowledge of the annual contest--perhaps even entered it?


DAILY CAMERA
WILL YOU HAVE A PROBLEM IDENTIFYING THESE 35 LINES FROM '95 MOVIES?
Sunday, January 14, 1996
Section: ENTERTAINMENT
Page: 5C
By KATHRYN BERNHEIMER

Camera Film Critic


"I vant to be alone," Greta Garbo said in her sultry, smoky voice in "Grand Hotel" in 1932. The following year, Mae West immortalized the line "Why don't you come up and see me sometime?" in "She Done Him Wrong."

Clark Gable shocked the nation in 1939 when he declared, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn," in "Gone With the Wind."


"We'll always have Paris," Humphrey Bogart bravely told a teary Ingrid Bergman in "Casablanca" in 1942. "Fasten your seat belts. It's going to be a bumpy night," Bette Davis spat out in "All About Eve" in 1950.
They don't write 'em like that anymore, it's true, but screenwriters today still come up with a good line now and then. Just look at the 35 memorable lines below, all of which were spoken in movies that opened in Boulder in 1995.

Just how memorable are they? That's what we'll find out in our annual movie lines contest. The rules are simple. For each quote, tell us the name of the actor (or actors) who said it, and the title of the movie in which it was said. (Two points are awarded for each quote.) The winner will receive 30 free rentals from the Video Station.

Send us your answers by 5 p.m. Friday. The answers will be printed and the winner will be announced in the Sunday Camera's Entertainment section on Jan. 28.

Fax answers to 449-9358, mail them to P.O. Box 591, Boulder 80306, or drop them off at our offices, 1048 Pearl St. Questions? Call 473-1369.


1. "The deal is, the men in Denver are dead. No wonder I'm changing towns again."


2. "Look at me."


3. "Houston, we have a problem."


4. "It's good to be dead."


5. "You're not anybody in America if you're not on TV. What's the point of doing anything worthwhile if no one is watching?"


6. "What's the point of living in L.A. if you're not in the movies?"


7. "When you go home, do you ever sit there and wonder, "Who ARE these people? Where the hell did I come from?'"


8. "This is my first time at the White House. I'm trying to savor the Capra-esque quality of the experience."


9. "Who's the boss between Mommy and me? I'm the boss. Mommy is the decision maker, but I'm the boss."


10. "Sometimes it just takes a fairy."


11. "This kind of certainty comes once in a lifetime."


12. "If this is dying, then I don't think much of it."


13. "We don't have to like each other. We're family."


14. "We're both named after great singers of the past who now do infomercials."


15. "God help me, I love thee."


16. "His best part was when he played the crippled gay guy who climbed Mt. Whitney."


17. "What's that odious smell? Teenagers!"


18. "I don't blend in at a family picnic."


19. "I will maroon you on a rock ... instead of splitting you with my bulkhead as you deserve!"


20. "You couldn't catch crabs from a 20-dollar hooker."


21. "My bark is worse than my bite."


22. "I don't even know you!"

23. "There are worse things than death - and I can do all of them."


24. "Was that over the top? I can never tell."


25. "I write doodads because it's a doodad sort of town."


26. "Sometimes being a ***** is all a woman has to hold onto."


27. "Oh well, now I must die."


28. "Rude and interesting are not the same thing."


29. "I can tell when a woman wants me."


30. "You have a real gratitude problem."


31. "I have translated the hieroglyphics! They say, "We are watching you!'"


32. "I'll be the judge of that."


33. "This is as real as it gets."


34. "I know I'm not normal but I'm trying to change."


35. "It's airborne!"

IMO, the only thing that explains the Ramsey crime is someone addicted to illegal drugs--perhaps methadone. Methadone gives one a sense of grandiosity---and when coming down, an addict can go into a rage. Under the influence of drugs, the whole kidnapping scheme might have made sense in the mind of a drug addict.


DAILY CAMERA
HEROIN USE UP IN CITY
ARRESTS, DEATHS RISE WITH DRUG'S POPULARITY<
Sunday, September 1, 1996
Section: MAIN
Edition: FIRST
Page: 1A
By ALLI KRUPSKI Camera Staff Writer

The silver knife heaping with ivory powder glimmered as it lay on the oak table.

Traci raised the heroin to her nose, snorted and collapsed.


"I fell down the first time that I tried it, because it was such a rush," said the 23-year-old Boulder resident, who wouldn't give her last name. "I cracked my head open, but I didn't care. I just loved the half-awake, dreamlike feeling it gave me. I never thought I'd become addicted to it. Now, I do heroin every day - it is my life."
Local, state and federal officials say Traci's story is part of an alarming trend: Heroin use is on the rise, particularly among young adults in their early 20s. Evidence of the drug's foothold locally: Boulder police report six heroin-related deaths this year, compared to three in 1995.

Estimates on the number of heroin addicts throughout the United States range from 600,000 to 1 million, according to federal officials. About 500 heroin addicts live in Boulder, police say.

The increasing use of the drug stems from a higher purity level, lower prices, expanded Mexican drug-trafficking efforts, and a more pervasive presence of heroin in popular culture, authorities say.

"Heroin has made a tremendous comeback, and that's a major, major concern for us," said Boulder police Sgt. Bob Whitson. "Its use has just skyrocketed among juveniles. A lot of them just don't realize how dangerous it can be."

The drug, a powerfully addictive "downer" derived from the opium poppy, depresses the central nervous system, slowing the heart and respiration rates. In overdose situations, the drug can cause respiratory failure.

Users say heroin resembles the narcotic codeine, a pain medication that doctors and dentists legally prescribe. A quarter gram of heroin may produce feelings of relaxation, intense pleasure and euphoria that persist for four to six hours, addicts say.

To ingest the drug, users employ several methods. New heroin experimenters typically snort heroin, users say. They often advance to the more efficient method of injection. In addition, in Boulder, many addicts frequently heat and smoke the vapors of "black tar" heroin - a thick, gooey substance.

Users can develop an addiction to heroin the first time they ingest it, said Donald Hays, director of the Harmony Foundation, an inpatient alcohol and drug treatment facility in Estes Park. The drug involves dramatic withdrawal symptoms that resemble the flu.

"A lot of times they alternate with being sweaty to being chilled," Hays said. "Sometimes they'll curl up into a fetal position and shake. Their skin crawls, and it feels like they they have bugs under it. There are medications to help, but they just lessen the effects."

Greg, a 21-year-old heroin addict from Boulder, said such symptoms force him to smoke the drug about eight times a day.

"I can't feel normal if I don't do it, and even my fingernails start to hurt," he said. "I used to shoot up, because it gets you high much faster, which is all I cared about. But I really didn't like using needles."

Black tar heroin has provided users with alternatives to injection.

"You can smoke it and you don't have to worry about getting AIDS from using a needle," Greg said. "I mean, heroin has improved its quality, which makes it easier for people to eat it or smoke it. You definitely couldn't do that a few years ago."

In the early 1990s, heroin purity levels ranged between 4 and 10 percent. Today, that number has soared to between 30 and 77 percent, according to the Denver office of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

"Now that people can get the drug into their system without using needles, more and more people will keep using it," said Claire Dobson, who has a 19-year-old son addicted to heroin and volunteers at an addiction recovery center in Denver. "They're not as afraid to try it, and the more they get into it, the less they care that they're destroying their lives, not to mention breaking the law."

During 1995, the DEA made 71 arrests in heroin investigations in Colorado, compared with 33 in 1994. Boulder police this year have arrested seven people in connection with the sale and manufacture of opium, cocaine and heroin, compared with two arrests for the same period last year.

Denver police have noticed a similar trend. The department's second-quarter statistics report that heroin seizures have increased in the city by 945 percent compared with the same period in 1995, police officials said.

"We've been seeing heroin frequently," said Sgt. Kris Kroncke of the Denver Police Department's vice and narcotics division. "They keep the heroin in balloons in their mouths, and as soon as they see us coming they just swallow the balloon. We have many people who sell the drug in balloons, and that's what makes apprehending a lot of the street-level dealers difficult."

Some Boulder addicts travel to Denver to obtain methadone, a synthetic opiate that curtails an addict's cravings if he or she stops taking heroin, Whitson said. While in Denver, they buy heroin as well.

"That's where all the methadone clinics are, and a lot of them go there by bus," Whitson said. "They get their methadone, and then on the way back they buy some heroin, too. Denver is just where a lot of people sell the drug."

Police do not suspect Boulder has any major heroin dealers, Whitson said: "We arrest more users than sellers."

Rick, a 22-year-old heroin addict from Boulder who asked that his last name not be used, shared Whitson's views. The University of Colorado dropout injects the drug about four times a day.

"It's easier to get away with selling a drug like heroin in Denver because it's a bigger city, so that's why everyone goes there to buy it," he said. "But I think since more people are using it around Boulder, some dealers might start to move up here - especially if the younger kids keep trying it like they have been."

Overall drug use among those 12 to 17 years old has risen almost 80 percent since 1992, according to a government report released last week.

"More kids, especially in their late teens and early 20s, are trying heroin because they see their friends extolling its virtues," Hays said. His center has treated about 12 heroin addicts this year, compared with two in 1995.

"We might be getting more heroin addicts because the heroin is cheaper," Hays said.

Prices range from $60 to $80 per gram in Denver and from $80 to $100 per gram in Boulder. In 1995, 28 grams (an ounce) of heroin sold for $2,500 to $3,000, said Tom Ward spokesman for the DEA. Today, users may purchase the drug for as little as $1,500 for 28 grams, he said.

Heroin addicts generally spend between $25 and $100 a day to support their habit, health officials said.

Consequently, authorities fear increasing heroin use may generate a parallel rise in crime. About 80 percent of burglaries involve drugs, said Detective James Byfield of the Boulder Police Department.

"They start to steal and do anything to get the drug," Whitson said. "It's an expensive habit, even though the cost has gone down."

Expanded Mexican drug-trafficking efforts have contributed to the reduced heroin prices. The trade involves transporting the drug through several cities, such as San Diego, Yuma, Ariz., and El Paso, Texas, Ward said.

"The powdered heroin usually comes from (Southeast) Asia and Colombia, but the black tar usually comes in through Mexico," Ward said.

Authorities fear the abundant heroin supply will continue to expand. In the United States, heroin consumption has doubled since the mid-'80s to about 10 to 15 metric tons per year, according to the DEA.

"They used to be mostly 30- to 40-year-old males, but now we're seeing quite a few young females using the drug," Hays said.

Popular culture may have prompted the shift, he noted. For example, Kurt Cobain, lead singer for the alternative rock group Nirvana, struggled with heroin and committed suicide in 1994.

In the past few months, police have arrested actor Robert Downey Jr., Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin and Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland in connection with heroin or cocaine possession. (Chamberlin and Weiland pleaded not guilty; Downey and Weiland entered drug rehabilitation centers.)

"People see their idols using heroin, and they decide they want to use it to escape from reality, too," said 25-year-old recovered heroin addict Phil Remeond, who used the drug for two years before enrolling in a Denver drug treatment center in January 1996. "They learn the whole goal of using it is to go right to the edge. You just push the limit to see how much you can take without dying - that's the whole thrill of it. That's why people will do it anywhere, anytime."

Ken Ryan, an owner of Subway on University Hill, said users visit the store almost every night to ingest the drug in the shop's bathrooms.

"They leave needles in the garbage and bent spoons lying around," he said. "It's not been a pretty sight. We just call the police and keep the bathrooms locked."

Fred Nickolaus, a recovered heroin addict from Estes Park, said police enforcement may not prevent users from ingesting the drug.

"I don't think the cops can really make the heroin users quit," he said, "because addicts only care about getting high, and the amount of heroin available to them just keeps increasing. That's why I think until they can stop the Mexican drug trade, the problem will just continue to get worse."

The Ramseys did not live in a gated community. They lived right in the middle of all sorts of residents....with transcients not far way---and not the fun-loving Rainbow people of the late 60's and 70's.


DAILY CAMERA
TRANSIENTS HEAD TO THE HILL<
Friday, August 2, 1996
Section: MAIN
Edition: FIRST
Page: 1A
By ALLI KRUPSKI Camera Staff Writer
Caption: PHOTO:
By Cliff Grassmick Daily Camera
HANGING OUT: Rainbows, transient members of the Rainbow Family who often are likened to hippies of the late 1960s, relax on the sidewalk outside a deli on 13th Street on University Hill.




Eric Sanderson sat in Beech Park near University Hill on Thursday and slurped down a single long blade of grass like a strand of spaghetti.

"I eat grass when I don't have that much money for food," the 19-year-old Georgia native said, pausing to remove his ripped, black Grateful Dead T-shirt. "And I don't want to work, so that's why I came to Boulder to live on Pearl Street. But I can't hang out on Pearl Street anymore because there's no grass in front of the courthouse. That's why now my friends and I live near the Hill."


Construction at the Boulder County Courthouse, Mall ordinances and inexpensive Hill housing have prompted Sanderson and hundreds of other transients to move from the Downtown Mall to the University Hill area, officials and the youths say.
Several shop owners say the shift has reduced Hill business and increased graffiti and robberies throughout the area.

In response last week, the Boulder Police Department increased police presence throughout the Hill business district, said Boulder police Sgt. Joe Pelle, who supervises the Hill Police Team.

"People are upset, and in the past, we've had two to three officers there from Wednesday to Saturday nights to help," Pelle said. "But there has never been an officer assigned specifically to the Hill during the daytime, and that's been a problem."

Each day, transients on the Hill generate about 20 complaints - some of them drug-related - from residents and business owners, Pelle said. To help respond, the department has assigned two officers during the day and about four to six officers most nights to the Hill.

"I don't know if adding more police will make a difference," said Michal Feuer, 19, who has worked at Josh and John's Naturally Homemade Ice Cream on University Hill for a year. "But it's frustrating to see people your own age asking you for money as you go to work, and you know they are perfectly capable of working themselves."

Carmen Epstein, owner of Mamacitas Restaurant on the Hill, noted that she has discussed job opportunities with several of the youths. About 80 of them gather in front of her restaurant at 1149 13th St. each night, she said.

"I was sympathetic," she said. "I'd let them wash dishes and give them the pots and pans they asked for. But now they slash my cook's tires in the back alley, they urinate on the door and spit on the window. Customers are afraid to come in here because they get harassed for money so much."

Police issue 10 to 20 citations each night, Pelle said. "They're mostly for things like trespassing, urinating in public and brawling," he added.

Chris Heinritz, an owner of The Sink, 1165 13th St., said the transients have violent tendencies.

"These are not peace-loving people like the old Rainbows," who came to Boulder after gatherings of the so-called Rainbow Family, he said. "They're willing to fight at the drop of a hat. They carry knives and tell you that they own the Hill.

"We've been tagged with graffiti three times this summer," he added. "People see the graffiti and the transients, and it just creates a scary atmosphere."

But Rebecca Berzoza, assistant manager at Circle K, 1275 13th St., countered that the youths do provide some benefits. They constitute about 40 percent of her customers, she said.

"They buy food and cigarettes here," she said. "It just gets to be a problem when they form a wall of people around the store as they play with their dogs."

Commander Jim Hughes of the Boulder Police Department said less stringent dog ordinances on the Hill also attract the transient youths.

"The Mall doesn't allow them to have dogs there, so that's why so many of them have moved here," he said. "And they can jam several people in cheap homes around the Hill, so that's contributed to the problem."

The increased police force may reduce the number of transients on the Hill, Hughes said.

"But no matter how many officers we have up on (the Hill), there will always be a segment of the public that will be frustrated by what they perceive as a police failure to control certain behavior," he said. "We just have no legal authority to control loitering."

John Torlekson, an 18-year-old Ohio resident, said he plans to continue "loitering" all summer.

"I don't want to work, and I don't go to school," he said. "It's nice to be in an area where you're with friends and you're not pressured to conform to society. That's why I plan on staying right here."


Crime reports are up in Hill area, police say

Street robberies and reports of fighting have increased lately around the University Hill area, Boulder police say. "A lot of the robberies probably involved drugs and drug money," said Boulder police Sgt. Joe Pelle. "Most of them have been around the Hill. Several transient youths have been victims, and the suspects are other kids."

Of the 10 street robberies around the city reported since June 1, seven have occurred during daylight hours, officials say.

The young robbers usually choose victims in their late teens and request cash, Pelle said.

Sgt. Molly Bernard of the Boulder Police Department offered the following tips to protect yourself:

Don't carry large sums of money.

Travel in groups.

If confronted, give the robber what he asks for.

"Money and property are replaceable," she added.

In addition, several fights occurred on the Hill this week.

At 11:30 p.m. Monday, police responded to a report of 12 to 15 people attacking each other at 12th and Pennsylvania streets, police reports said. One man, Steven Reinhart, 20, suffered several cuts to the head during the fight. He told police the scuffle involved a bad drug deal.

In another fight at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, about 20 transient youths and local teenagers brawled at Central Park at Canyon and Broadway, Pelle said.

Wednesday night, officers arrested one young male swinging a chain on the Hill, Pelle said. During the evening, police also responded to several other fight reports, he said.

"People get into arguments up here every night," said Jenna Freeman, 17, a transient from Oregon. "People just don't always report them."

- ALLI KRUPSKI

The Ramseys were not aware of what was going on in the Hill area. Violent assaults were increasing...and the transcients thought they owned the Hill:


DAILY CAMERA
ASSAULTS INCREASING ON THE HILL
RISE IN INCIDENTS SHAKES RESIDENTS AND WORKERS

Sunday, August 11, 1996
Section: MAIN
Edition: FIRST
Page: 1A
By ALLI KRUPSKI Camera Staff Writer

As Tom Masterson unlocked the front door of his University Hill house Tuesday night, a 24-inch steel chain whipped across his head.

"I wouldn't give some transients on the Hill some money, so they followed me home and beat me with metal things," he said. "I blacked out when they hit me with a lead pipe. When I woke up, I was lying in the street with blood gushing everywhere and my nose and arm were broken. But I was too scared they would retaliate to report it."


The attack on Masterson illustrates what police say is a frightening trend: Serious assaults have dramatically increased on the Hill, and the attacks often involve a wider variety of deadly weapons, including copper pipes, dart guns, baseball bats, rocks, flashlights and machetes.
"We've definitely seen a lot more fighting happening on the Hill over the past several weeks," said Boulder police Sgt. Mike Ready. "And in most of our assaults, people used to use just fists and the occasional bottle. Now people are using different objects, like skateboards, to inflict a greater degree of injury."

Of the 22 assaults reported on the Hill in 1996, nine have occurred since July 1, said Melanie Rhamey, a police crime analyst. In 1995, victims reported about two assaults on the Hill each month, authorities said.

But those figures don't necessarily represent the extent of the violence. Authorities estimate just 10 percent of assault victims report the crime.

"Those numbers are probably low because we respond to a lot of incidents where we may or may not substantiate a report," Ready said. Police receive about seven disturbance calls at the Hill each night, he said.

Moreover, the victims do not always cooperate with police or file charges, said Boulder police Sgt. Joe Pelle, who supervises the Hill team.

The incidents usually entail 17- to 21-year-old transient youths arguing, Pelle said. "We suspect they may start fighting about drugs," he noted. "They can get pretty dangerous."

David Harker, manager of Babaloo Massive Burritos on the Hill, confronted some of the Hill's seasonal residents on the afternoon of June 8. He left his restaurant to put money in a parking meter, and a transient spit in his face.

"I had made this guy and his friends move from my restaurant before because they were harassing customers and throwing food around," he said. "So that day I just lost it, and his friends and I started to fight."

Harker said he shoved the transient, who picked up a skateboard and slammed it into Harker. During the scuffle, Harker's 26-year-old brother and their father happened to drive by; they jumped out of their car and stopped one of the transients from stabbing Harker. But the blows smashed the bones in Harker's right hand and injured his left arm.

"I got married a few days later and I had a cast on," Harker said. "Now I have a metal plate in my hand. That just shows how dangerous these kids can be."

Police arrested Nicholas Hobbs, 21, of Winter Park, Fla., in connection with the crime and charged him with brawling. Officials released Hobbs from Boulder County Jail in lieu of $100 bond.

The incidents have contributed to reducing business around the Hill by about 30 percent since Jan. 1, area shop owners said.

"Customers just avoid us," said Carmen Epstein, owner of Mamacitas Mexican Restaurant, 1149 13th St. Consequently, she said, businesses may move.

"I seriously considered looking for another job," Harker said. "But if I walk away from these kids, then they win the battle - and that's not going to happen."

Masterson had a similar view.

"I'm tired of being afraid to come home at night, but I'm not going anywhere," he said, scratching the stitches on his forehead. "I just think Boulder needs to pass a loitering law, and things'll get better."

Maikai said:

ST chose to focus on a loving family with no history of violence or abuse in the murder of their child.

Click to expand...

Oh, NO?

But there is too many cases out there with no history of violence or abuse but yet a child from these parents ends up dead..This isn't any reason just to believe the R's wasn't no different or deserved special treatment...And really one billion mark but yet 118,000 was asked for ransom...

Hi Makai.

Ty for posting all those old articles .... was palatable infomartion.
I enjoyed reading the background, a glimpse into BC's drug and transient culture, the seedier Boulder. It's all interconnected; transients, drug houses.

"About 80 percent of burglaries involve drugs, said Detective James Byfield of the Boulder Police Department." -

That's not really suprising ... the reality of heroin and cocaine drug use and that transient lifestyle. Reads as if the availabilty of street drugs drew the youths to the area.

Why is it that so many IDI's think it was someone totally unknown? :waitasec:

Thanks for that Maikai: all really interesting stuff. However, children are normally murdered by family or someone the child knew so the police were right to start with the family. Had the Ramseys co-operated from day one, they might have helped identify the murderer - after all, who else was better placed to remember that (eg.) spooky-looking guy who was talking to them in the trip to Denver last month. Even if RDI, the Ramseys have themselves to blame for the fact that the killer was never found. Who did they think could tell them all about JBR and her life, if not her parents?

The lack of prior abuse means nothing. Firstly, most murders aren't carried out by professionals: it's generally not a career crime. Secondly, most murderers have a coterie of staggered friends who just will not accept that they are capable of murder. Thirdly, no one knows everything about the Ramseys: marriages are like monarchies, they work best without too much daylight being shed upon them. Why was JBR in therapy at school? Why did someone leave that message on Beth's Internet gravesite? Is making your little daughter perform singing and dancing exercises to the point of exhaustion in front of her schoolmates as a Christmas treat that far away from abuse?

This is all besides the point, though: as Fleet White put it, the Ramseys basically waived the presumption of innocence by their failure to co-operate and they forced ST to tramp all over 'God's Green Earth' to find out about their lives. They could so easily have prevented this.

Sophie said:

Thanks for that Maikai: all really interesting stuff. However, children are normally murdered by family or someone the child knew so the police were right to start with the family. Had the Ramseys co-operated from day one, they might have helped identify the murderer - after all, who else was better placed to remember that (eg.) spooky-looking guy who was talking to them in the trip to Denver last month. Even if RDI, the Ramseys have themselves to blame for the fact that the killer was never found. Who did they think could tell them all about JBR and her life, if not her parents?

The lack of prior abuse means nothing. Firstly, most murders aren't carried out by professionals: it's generally not a career crime. Secondly, most murderers have a coterie of staggered friends who just will not accept that they are capable of murder. Thirdly, no one knows everything about the Ramseys: marriages are like monarchies, they work best without too much daylight being shed upon them. Why was JBR in therapy at school? Why did someone leave that message on Beth's Internet gravesite? Is making your little daughter perform singing and dancing exercises to the point of exhaustion in front of her schoolmates as a Christmas treat that far away from abuse?

This is all besides the point, though: as Fleet White put it, the Ramseys basically waived the presumption of innocence by their failure to co-operate and they forced ST to tramp all over 'God's Green Earth' to find out about their lives. They could so easily have prevented this.

Click to expand...

I absolutely agree with you that the Ramseys damaged the investigation. I consider that to be unforgiveable given that they had hired top lawyers to protect their rights. I cannot understand why they didn't simply put their egos to one side and go down to the police station with their lawyers and answer all questions.

Having said this, I do believe that JonBenet was killed by an intruder who was not a stranger, someone who has slipped beautifully under the radar.

Jayelles said:

I absolutely agree with you that the Ramseys damaged the investigation. I consider that to be unforgiveable given that they had hired top lawyers to protect their rights. I cannot understand why they didn't simply put their egos to one side and go down to the police station with their lawyers and answer all questions.

Having said this, I do believe that JonBenet was killed by an intruder who was not a stranger, someone who has slipped beautifully under the radar.

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Who on earth has time for ego things in such a situation?
This has nothing to do with guilt or innocence but IMO the R's were and still are very selfish people.JB diserved better!

Hi, Jayelles,

I think I know who you mean and would actually have them as prime suspects in my alternative IDI theory: they certainly would fit in with a lot of the facts and their involvement might explain the Ramsey behaviour. As you say, they have slipped under the radar with astonishing efficiency.

Hello WS

Okay. So as I go into the world of JR business and the idea that JB was murdered because of JR's business...

I wonder, why would they kill JB? Is it just to get "back" at JR? And, I guess this person was also a sadistic killer? The way JB was left was so brutal.

And, this person wrote that note? (I am asking to understand)

Also, you guys are saying that there is a lot of druggie hippies around boulder and you think one of them might have done it...hum.

That's a pretty organized druggie hippie: they managed to pull off quite the crime.

Has there ever been any information re: other LE from other areas of the country or other countries that looked at this case and had anything to say about it?

I admit: I have always thought the R's know/knew much much more about JB's death than they have ever said. I have also felt strongly that they did it: first I thought PR, then I thought JR.

But! No matter who you put in: IDI or RDI: nothing still makes any sense. Even when I believe the RDI nothing about that makes sense. This is the most crazy case I have ever heard of in my life. There may be crazier but I haven't heard of them.

Oh, yeah: I wanted to say that when I play with the idea that a stranger did it: I think a connection to the beauty pageants would be better looked at. The type of person that would stalk a little girl dressed up like a woman would be more apt to leave JB the way she was: idea being that he/she would be a pedo/sexual offender/sadist to have done what he/she did. They could have followed JB home from many pageants and formed a plan. At Christmastime they saw a in because people were coming and going and they slipped in the house: waited and then came out at night went to JB's room and took her to the basement.

I don't stick with this because: why the kidnapping? Why not just do the pervo thing you are going to do(even if it was to kill JB in the end)why not just leave and not leave a note which could give LE evidence?

...jmo...

Why would a /sexual offender/sadist/pedo write this:

Don't try to grow a brain John. You are not the only fat cat around so don't think that killing will be difficult. Don't underestimate us John. Use that good southern common sense of yours. It is up to you now John!

madeleine said:

Why would a /sexual offender/sadist/pedo write this:

Don't try to grow a brain John. You are not the only fat cat around so don't think that killing will be difficult. Don't underestimate us John. Use that good southern common sense of yours. It is up to you now John!

Click to expand...

You're right. I don't believe the primary motive was that of a pedophile. He wouldn't have to go through all the gyrations of the ransom note, and leaving the marked-up entreprenaur article. I think the sexual assault was done out of anger---just like all the overkill. And....if it was someone with a vendetta against JR, it would only add to their anguish.

Chiquita71 said:

Hello WS

Okay. So as I go into the world of JR business and the idea that JB was murdered because of JR's business...

I wonder, why would they kill JB? Is it just to get "back" at JR? And, I guess this person was also a sadistic killer? The way JB was left was so brutal.

And, this person wrote that note? (I am asking to understand)

Also, you guys are saying that there is a lot of druggie hippies around boulder and you think one of them might have done it...hum.

That's a pretty organized druggie hippie: they managed to pull off quite the crime.

Has there ever been any information re: other LE from other areas of the country or other countries that looked at this case and had anything to say about it?

...jmo...

Click to expand...

Good questions. A couple things, IMO:

1) Not a typical druggie/transcient. Someone (and I think there was more then one, because one would support the other giving each other courage) that used illegal drugs, and was into burglary. They had experience with breaking and entering. One I think had a violent past. I posted some of the articles to show Boulder was not this pristine community. There is a whole subculture of drugs and crimes...which were escalating. Partially due no doubt to the University presence.

2) I don't think it had anything to do with JR's business...the note indicates minimal knowledge of what Access did.

3) It could have been someone perusing the newspaper for their next victim. The timing of the Access success article and the crime is more then coincidence, IMO....and the Ramseys address and phone number was publically listed.

4) There was an interest in movies....using movie lines IMO indicates the perp was trying to be clever...knowing at some point the note might be made public.

5) An immature mind, and possibly fuel from something like meth, could have made the kidnapping plausible in an idiot's mind. It would have been easy money if the note sounded scary enough, and JR didn't call the police---in the planning stage they might have figured he'd read the note--go get the money--and give it them. I don't think the murder was part of the plan, but something JBR did made them angry......or they couldn't get her out the basement window, and once they killed her, that might have been the end of the plan. The fact she was murdered and found in the house, doesn't mean this wasn't a real kidnapping plan.

6) It wouldn't surprise me that this was a thrill crime--someone out for kicks.

I'd mention something about "wildcard" explanations, but someone else already has the patent on that.

Maikai said:

Good questions. A couple things, IMO:

1) Not a typical druggie/transcient. Someone (and I think there was more then one, because one would support the other giving each other courage) that used illegal drugs, and was into burglary. They had experience with breaking and entering. One I think had a violent past. I posted some of the articles to show Boulder was not this pristine community. There is a whole subculture of drugs and crimes...which were escalating. Partially due no doubt to the University presence.

2) I don't think it had anything to do with JR's business...the note indicates minimal knowledge of what Access did.

3) It could have been someone perusing the newspaper for their next victim. The timing of the Access success article and the crime is more then coincidence, IMO....and the Ramseys address and phone number was publically listed.

4) There was an interest in movies....using movie lines IMO indicates the perp was trying to be clever...knowing at some point the note might be made public.

5) An immature mind, and possibly fuel from something like meth, could have made the kidnapping plausible in an idiot's mind. It would have been easy money if the note sounded scary enough, and JR didn't call the police---in the planning stage they might have figured he'd read the note--go get the money--and give it them. I don't think the murder was part of the plan, but something JBR did made them angry......or they couldn't get her out the basement window, and once they killed her, that might have been the end of the plan. The fact she was murdered and found in the house, doesn't mean this wasn't a real kidnapping plan.

6) It wouldn't surprise me that this was a thrill crime--someone out for kicks.

Click to expand...

I absolutely love your line of reasoning here. Please keep posting. I really believe that an immature mind did this crime. I actually think it was a younger person as well who was a misfit. I think he was familiar with the Ramsey's and lives very close by. Maybe this person had issues with his family situation and Christmas was not a good time for him, like it was for the Ramsey's.