Acclaimed filmmaker Joe Berlinger is hoping that his new Netflix docuseries Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey will clear the Ramsey family name. Berlinger’s series focuses on the unsolved murder of child beauty pageant queen JonBenét Ramsey. On December 26, 1996, JonBenét was reported missing by her parents, and her body was later found in the family’s basement. The infamous case drew plenty of media and public speculation, with many believing that JonBenét’s parents, John and Patsy, (and possibly her older brother Burke, who was eight at the time of the crime) were complicit in her murder.

Patsy and John were never tried for their daughter’s death and were formally cleared in 2008 by then-Boulder District Attorney Mary Lacy, who issued a letter exonerating them based on new DNA evidence. But that hasn’t stopped public scrutiny. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Berlinger shares that, through the new series, he wants “to give that family a measure of justice.”

“Obviously, the Ramseys are not wrongfully convicted — they were never tried. But they certainly were wrongfully convicted in the court of public opinion. And the bias against them by the police, I think, really screwed up the investigation. So having done a lot of wrongful conviction work — I’m proud to say that my film and TV work has actually helped get six people out of prison who were wrongfully convicted,” Berlinger says.

In the same year as JonBenét’s death, Berlinger’s Paradise Lost was released. The documentary – which went on to launch two follow-up films: 2000’s Paradise Lost 2: Revelations and 2011’s Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory – followed three young men accused of killing three young boys in West Memphis, Arkansas. Known as the West Memphis Three, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley Jr. were convicted and sentenced to prison in 1994. The Paradise Lost series played a pivotal role in bringing attention to their case and, ultimately, contributing to their release.

While the West Memphis Three were never officially exonerated, they were released in 2011 after taking an Alford Plea, which acknowledged the state had enough evidence to convict them while maintaining their innocence. In addition to the Paradise Lost trilogy, Berlinger created the television series Wrong Man for Starz, which examined six alleged wrongful conviction cases.

Joe Berlinger Praises John Ramsey

JonBenét’s death has kept the public interested for nearly three decades, and Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey is the latest piece to examine the unsolved case. For decades, people have pointed at John and Patsy’s guilt for several reasons, including a strange ransom note, the fact that JonBenét’s body was discovered inside the family home, and what some thought to be odd behavior from Patsy and John. Patsy died in 2006 from ovarian cancer, but John, now 80, appears in Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey which Berlinger says is telling of his character and innocence:

“I truly believe this is one of the most brutalized families in American history. Can you imagine losing your child under any circumstances, let alone through this brutal sexual assault and murder, and then to be blamed for it as a sexual abuser? The fact that he’s [John] still standing and pounding the table for the truth to me says a lot about his character.”

Besides wanting to change the public perspective surrounding the Ramseys, Berlinger hopes the case can be solved. For his series, Berlinger had access to retired police detective Lou Smit’s files, who believed the family was innocent and that an intruder had murdered JonBenét. This, he says, might be able to be proven through new DNA testing.

Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey
is streaming on Netflix.