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Brother of JonBenet Ramsey sues CBS for $750M over TV special

By Andrew V. Pestano
The gravesite of JonBenet Ramsey, 6, is seen at St. James Episcopal Cemetery in Boulder, Colo. Burke Ramsey, JonBenet's brother, has filed a $750 million lawsuit against CBS for defamation related to a documentary special that allegedly portray him as a suspect in JonBenet's death, court documents show. File Photo by John Dickerson/UPI
The gravesite of JonBenet Ramsey, 6, is seen at St. James Episcopal Cemetery in Boulder, Colo. Burke Ramsey, JonBenet's brother, has filed a $750 million lawsuit against CBS for defamation related to a documentary special that allegedly portray him as a suspect in JonBenet's death, court documents show. File Photo by John Dickerson/UPI | License Photo

BOULDER, Colo., Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Burke Ramsey, the brother of 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey who was found dead in her Colorado family home in 1996, has filed a $750 million lawsuit against CBS for defamation, court documents show.

Ramsey's lawsuit seeking compensatory and punitive damages alleges the CBS network special The Case of: JonBenet Ramsey ignored evidence and portrayed him as a possible suspect in her death.

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The lawsuit also names James Kolar, the author of the 2012 book Foreign Faction: Who Really Kidnapped JonBenet?, as a defendant -- alleging Kolar's book, which Ramsey said is biased against him, was the CBS special's primary source.

"CBS perpetrated a fraud upon the public -- instead of being a documentary based on a new investigation by a so-called team of experts, The Case of: JonBenet Ramsey was a fictional crime show based primarily on a preconceived storyline scripted in a self-published and commercially unsuccessful book, Foreign Faction," the lawsuit said.

The body of JonBenet was found strangled and beaten in Boulder on Dec. 26, 1996, after she was initially reported missing by her family.

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The CBS special investigated theories suggesting Burke Ramsey could have killed JonBenet. Burke Ramsey has long denied the accusations. He was 9 years old at the time of JonBenet's death.

Ramsey's lawsuit said former Boulder County District Attorney Mary Lacy cleared the Ramsey family from culpability in 2008 after DNA examination was carried out but Stan Garnett, the current Boulder County District Attorney, said Lacy's letter is not binding, adding that his office would investigate the case.

Earlier this month, investigators said they plan to use improved DNA technology to retest key evidence in the case.

The primary motivation for the new tests, officials said, are advances in forensic DNA examination that fit into the FBI's Combined DNA Index System -- a sophisticated database that contains telltale genetic code for more than 15 million known criminal offenders in the United States.

Doug G. Ware contributed to this report.

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