today, in the NYT

Lou Smit, Detective in JonBenet Ramsey Case, Is Dead at 75
By NADIA TAHA

"Lou Smit, a longtime police detective who was called out of retirement to help investigate the 1996 slaying of JonBenet Ramsey, the 6-year-old beauty pageant winner, but resigned after concluding that the police had wrongly focused on her parents, died Wednesday in Colorado Springs. He was 75...

Detective Smit helped solve several cases that gained national attention, including the killing of Karen Grammer, the sister of the actor Kelsey Grammer, in 1975.

He is also credited with identifying the killer of 13-year-old Heather Dawn Church. She was killed in 1991, and her father was among more than 40 suspects, but in 1995 Detective Smit arrested Robert C. Browne, who confessed to the crime and has since admitted to 47 other murders... "[read more]

number one

Counting down high profile Colorado cases, JonBenet's story takes first place in an article at Denver Legal News Examiner. Interestingly enough, Ramsey investigators still dedicated to solving the crime committed against JonBenet were instrumental in solving a few of the cases in this list--

Ten high-profile Colorado cases
by Glorianne Scott
Mar. 27, 2009

"Denver isn’t as hyped as Los Angeles or New York, and our state doesn’t often get the notorious cases common to more populous places. However (and unfortunately), we have had our share of cases that have grabbed the attention of the nation and the world. Here’s my top ten:

10. Ward Churchill v. University of Colorado
9. United States v. Joseph Nacchio
8. Bombing of Flight 629
7. Murder of Kelsey Grammer’s sister Karen
6. People v. Kobe Bryant
5. People v. Alfred “Alferd” Packer
4. People v. Robert Charles Browne
3. Columbine school shooting
2. U.S. v. Timothy McVeigh

1. Murder of JonBenet Ramsey -- This investigation has captivated the nation’s attention since JonBenet's 1996 murder. Recently, attention was refocused on the case when John Mark Karr was arrested as a possible suspect. Karr’s DNA, however, did not match the evidence found at the scene. In 2008, the Boulder District Attorney’s office formally cleared the parents of suspicion of JonBenet’s murder and apologized. The iconic image of this child beauty pageant contestant will continue to haunt many until the murder is solved..."