Chapter 17

Cameron Drops a Bomb

April, 2011

After visiting with Tom Voigt in Oregon, Cameron headed to Boulder, Colorado. The investigation of Edwards had taken him from Montana to Ohio, Pennsylvania, Oregon, California and now Colorado. Cameron had interviewed members of Edwards’ family in 2010 and they had mentioned staying in campgrounds there, hiding out as dad went around doing whatever he was doing. They had to change friends, and sometimes their names, as they moved from state to state.

Edwards had close ties to Colorado as early as 1954 and mentioned it 19 times in his book. He had been staying near Boulder in 1996. His family said he was hiding out in Brighton, Colorado, waiting to collect the insurance money after he killed and beheaded Dannie Law Gloeckner. Edwards planted his body in a cemetery in Troy, Ohio, hoping someone would find it and he would get rich.

It was Christmas 1996, the year of one of the biggest unsolved murders in the USA. JonBenet Ramsey.

Shortly after tying Edwards to the Zodiac killings, Cameron and Neal connected Edwards to the 1996 kidnapping and killing of JonBenet Ramsey in Boulder. In April of 2011 Cameron traveled to Boulder to meet up with the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office. He had contacted Boulder Police in 2010 but they were not interested.

Cameron explained his evidence to Detective Steve Ainsworth of the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, a well-respected cold case detective.

“First off, Steve, you have to remember that Ed did his crimes for the recognition. Perhaps sensationalism would be a better word. He loved to commit murders that would create terror throughout a community and then stir the police to go after innocent people. And he would do it on holidays. In Great Falls and Portland both, he killed young couples in safe communities on New Year’s and Thanksgiving. As the Zodiac he killed teen couples on 4^th of July. JonBenet was killed on Christmas. Edwards geared everything against religion. He created terror by killing her on the holiest day of the year. That’s his motive, he thrives off it. He represents Satan in his crimes and JonBenet was ritualistically laid out, covered in white blanket. Using this as his motive and looking back over the last 50 years of the biggest unsolved crimes, what comes to mind? What crime was so bazaar that it made no sense?”

“JonBenet Ramsey.” Steve said.

“Exactly. The main evidence was the three-part ransom note written on yellow legal pad and it was a puzzle. The first Zodiac puzzle was also in three parts, sent to three different newspapers, written on separate pages. The famous FBI profiler John Douglas claims the ransom note in the Ramsey case is a puzzle and the only piece of evidence that could eventually identify the killer. He also claimed that the Zodiac killer has a close connection to Deer Lodge Prison. Games? Puzzles? Deer Lodge? Sound familiar?

“Initially, I didn’t want to think about the possibility that Edwards killed JonBenet; he was 63 in 1996. It didn’t fit what I thought was a normal serial killer’s M.O., to kill adults and kids. But Edwards is not normal. He is every serial killer wrapped up in one. It seemed too far-fetched that he would also kill children, but in August of 2010, I spoke with two former employees that had worked with Edwards at a trucking company in Ohio. They claimed Edwards tried to stage the kidnap and ransom of their 5-year-old daughter in 1970. I dismissed that information because the Zodiac case seemed enough to deal with. When I went to Ohio and met his family, they said he was in Colorado on Christmas Day, 1996, just 30 miles from Boulder. Five months prior to the JonBenet Ramsey ransom note, Edwards executed Dannie Gloeckner in Ohio, beheading him and denying his remains. That’s almost a quote from the JBR note.”

“Any deviation from my instructions will result in the immediate execution of your daughter. You will also be denied her remains. Speaking to anyone about your situation, such as police, FBI etc… will result in her being beheaded.”

JonBenet Ramsey Ransom Note

“Edwards writes parables to the police, press and victims in many of his crimes and they contain personal information on the victim’s family. This steers the investigation to focus on someone within the family. What police didn’t know is that Edwards made his crimes to look like that, knowing they would focus on the family. He wants to make a point with each killing that he is smarter than the police and this note is full of him telling you how smart he is. The note was never intended to be a ransom—it was a puzzle as to the identity of the killer.”

In his book Edwards said he was going to stick to federal crimes such as kidnapping, insurance fraud, forgery and bank fraud. This type brings in the FBI, and they were his favorite target to taunt. He mentioned the scam a dozen times in his book. Once it’s labeled a kidnapping the FBI is called. The thing is, his kidnappings were always false and the victims already dead. But the killer knew personal facts that he placed in the note to help identify him, just like the Zodiac puzzles.

“The three-part ransom note was printed in block style lettering from Patsy Ramsey’s note pad to make it personal. The handwriting was obviously disguised but in block lettering, like the Zodiac writings. As the Zodiac, Edwards disguised his writing by using felt tip markers. He used felt tip in the ransoms note. I would like to point out some specific items.

“First: The experts determined several quotes from the note are from movies; ‘Now listen. Listen very carefully. If we catch you talking to a stray dog, she dies.’ This quote is from the movie Dirty Harry. The movie was based on the Zodiac killer. The plot was a young girl kidnapped and in the end, she was dead all along. This is what happened to JonBenet. Everyone thought it was a kidnapping but she was dead in the basement for 6 hours before they found her.

“There was another movie quote in the note, ‘Don’t try to grow a brain. You’re not the only fat cat around.’ The movie was Speed and it was about a bus bomb terrorizing a California city. That’s exactly what Ed as the Zodiac threatened to do in his bus bomb letter.

The Zodiac letters had misspellings and problems with double consonants. The ransom note has the same problem with Bussiness spelled wrong.”

Cameron pointed out the terminology, use an Attaché case, in the note. “That is a term used by an older person. Edwards used an attaché as a ruse when he portrayed himself as a Dr. of Psychiatry, and he is carrying one on the front cover of his book.”

1972 Book Cover Depiction of Ed Edwards and Attaché

“He mentions, ‘Now he is a writer.’ He was a writer, Steve, his entire life. The ransom note stated, ‘The two gentleman watching over her.’ Both are mirrored on the cover of Edwards’ book. Edwards was always two people. He was the family man and the killer. There was never two people involved in that crime. If there had been it would be solved.

“The ransom note states, ‘We are a group of individuals that represent a small foreign faction.’ Edwards’ ‘group’ is his secret society of sick Satanists. He impersonated police officers his entire life and claimed to be a criminal investigator for the United States Government, the CIA. He was the foreign faction. He worked for the FBI as an informant in the early 50’s. What most agents didn’t know is that Edwards had badges, guns, false credentials and portrayed himself as an investigator with a degree in psychology. The ransom note says, ‘We are familiar with police tactics and counter measures.’ Edwards was one of them.”

Cameron continued, “John Ramsey owned Access Graphics, was a pilot and owned two planes. Access Graphics was part of Sun Corporation and Lockheed Martin. Edwards’ son works for Lockheed in Alabama. His son was also in the Army and worked in Bosnia just before JonBenet was killed. John Ramsey was in the Navy and Ed was a former Marine. John Ramsey’s company dealt in defense contracts and Ed targeted military people to kill his entire life. He wanted to prove that he was the best killer ever, not criminal ever. This is why he wrote ‘We respect your bussiness but not the country that it serves.’ Edwards’ son was hired by the ‘bussiness’ and Ed was against the USA since he was caught at age 17 enlisting in the Marines and thrown out in 1950.

Edward Wayne Edwards Marine Photo, September 19^th, 1950

“Edwards went AWOL from the Marines just after this photo and started killing people everywhere. He was mad that he couldn’t go to KOREA and kill communists. The war started in June of 1950 and Korea was horrible. Steve, what was the only word on the paint brush handle used to garrote JonBenet?”

“KOREA, John! Patsy’s paint brush handle was made in KOREA, and he broke it into pieces only leaving the word Korea on the portion used to strangle her.”

“Personalization, that’s also why he knew of John Ramsey’s Navy service, and bonus of 118,000 dollars in 1996. Ed was the foreign faction he mentioned in the note, killing military people and their loved ones his entire life.”

“How about the writing, John? Are there any similarities?”

“Oh yes.”

Cameron had confronted Edwards in 2010 as the killer of JonBenet Ramsey after Neal solved the Zodiac ciphers. Cameron felt the ransom note was written by Edwards and was a puzzle. Edwards wrote puzzles against authority his entire life. The letters Cameron got back from Edwards after confronting him had striking syntax consistencies to the ransom note text.

Quote in JonBenet Ransom Note

Letter to John Cameron from Edward Edwards

JonBenet Ransom Note “John”

John Cameron Letter From Edwards “John”

Cameron pointed out to Steve the J’s. “The handwriting was identical. Edwards’ letters were puzzles like the ransom note. He was a writer. He wanted to be challenged and would never just give it away. He gave slight hints in every correspondence with police.

“The signature on the ransom note: It was the most important part of the connection to Edwards.” Cameron explained. “Victory is a Christian phrase and SBTC meant:

Signed By The Cross- SBTC, the Zodiac cross and circle. I used this signature in a letter I sent to Edwards, confronting him as the killer of JonBenet Ramsey. I told him I won the game.”

Letter from John Cameron to Edward Edwards, November, 2010

“Steve, Edwards frantically tried to call me for two months after he got this letter. He was trying to get executed in Ohio and I was making things messy. He was giving me just enough to keep me at bay until he got his execution date. He sent me this letter, pissed off that I wouldn’t answer the phone.”

“’Only Girls! SMILE.’ Edwards writes in parables with half-truths, Steve. The word SMILE after girls is a clue that it’s all a lie. He was only killing GIRLS at that time is what he is saying. Here’s another letter. He makes fun of the police in it for thinking he’s a nut.”

“This man has been playing these word games for 6 decades, Steve. The JonBenet case was staged to look as if someone in the family had done it and the ransom note was a parable of Ed’s life. This was a signature M.O. of Edwards’. He spent his life setting others up for his murders, steering the evidence toward the innocent with false letters and ransom notes. He got John and Patsy indicted but the prosecutor didn’t charge them, thank God.”

“Well he certainly seems to be playing games in these letters to you and Neal. ‘Killing was not on my mind then, only girls!’ He is telling you to reverse what he is saying. Look at the K’s in the word killing. That’s the Zodiac K.”

“The Zodiac’s K’s always stood out because it was a clue to his identity—KAY Edwards, his wife. And one final point. JonBenet was born in Atlanta and buried in Marietta, Georgia right alongside Patsy. Patsy lived alone in Atlanta while John lived in Boulder during the late 80’s and early 90’s. She didn’t move to Boulder until 1991, but they were married. Edwards was released from prison in Pennsylvania in 1986 and had been living in Atlanta and Colorado. He was arrested in 1982 in Marietta, a suburb of Atlanta, and he had a Marietta, Georgia police uniform. Here’s his NCIC record.”

Edwards’ NCIC Record

“He had been using the uniform to kill, Steve. He mentions Atlanta 39 times in his book. In fact, one of the chapter titles is ‘Love in Atlanta.’ I spoke with his relatives who live in Marietta and he was there 1979-1982, during the period of the unsolved Atlanta Child Killings. Remember those? Twenty-four little black kids murdered, some laid out in church and police parking lots in ritualistic killings?”

“Wow, John, if there’s a tie to those killings—that might explain killing JonBenet.”

“Look at this 1982 Zodiac letter Edwards sent just before he was caught in Marietta.”

March 1982 Zodiac Killer Letter Sent During Atlanta Child Murders

“This letter was never released in 1982 for fear of causing terror. The Atlanta police had arrested Wayne Williams and publicly stated he was the Atlanta child killer. Edwards was telling the police that ‘HE, The Zodiac, It’s ME’ was the killer and has been planting evidence, changing up his writing and killing kids since 1980. The Atlanta child murders brought in the largest FBI task force in USA history and Edwards conned his way into it. That’s why I found that picture of him with the Atlanta police captain. He was standing right in front of them.”

“I had no idea of the amount of research you have done, John. These letters do have similarities in the ransom note and clearly Edwards has been everywhere. I will let the Boulder PD know about this. But I have one question. How did he get in the house?”

“It’s nothing like it’s been portrayed. There is no doubt that John Ramsey brought JonBenet in from the car asleep at 9 p.m. She was placed in bed and John, Patsy and Burke went to sleep. They were all leaving at 5 am on the 26th for a plane trip to Michigan.

Sometime after midnight JonBenet awoke and joined someone in the kitchen for a bowl of pineapple. It was discovered on the counter near the fridge the next morning. When John and Patsy were questioned they adamantly denied she was fed anything, yet it was on the counter and in her small intestine during the autopsy.”

“That has always bothered me, John. Someone fed her before she was killed and it was shortly before her death.”

“It occurred on Christmas, Steve. Every kid feeds Santa Claus on Christmas Eve night but JonBenet had told people she was getting a special visit on the 25^th. It was Santa Claus that killed her. Someone she trusted had entered the home and felt comfortable enough to feed her just before killing her. In the days before her death, a neighbor overheard JonBenet telling her daughter ‘I’m getting a special visit from Santa Claus Christmas night.’ The neighbor corrected her by stating that Santa was coming the night before—Christmas Eve. But JonBenet insisted, ‘No, no, my Santa Claus told me yesterday (12/24/96) he would pay me a secret visit after Christmas.’ Edwards had groomed his way into their life and he was the secret Santa, Steve.

“The Ramseys hosted a party three days before JonBenet was killed and there were a lot of people. It included journalism professor Bill McReynolds playing Santa Claus. Police actually questioned him as a suspect because there were questions regarding a suspicious man claiming to be Santa approaching JonBenet just before her death. During the party, someone dialed 911 from inside the house. The caller hung up without saying anything. Officers arrived and everything was okay, yet nobody admitted calling 911.”

“Edwards checking police response times?”

“Exactly. Edwards would have attended the party. He would have been under assumed name and false appearance, most likely bragging about his degree in psychology and former Marine service. He stated in his book how he would plan each crime.”

“I would plan every crime patiently, deliberately and cold bloodedly. The world must be made to realize how smart I was.” (Ed Edwards, 1950, MOAC)

“There was also a police flashlight left on the counter near the pineapple bowl. It was left as a clue as to who the real killer was. Edwards had used flashlights throughout his life and had bragged about it in his Zodiac Debut letter dated August, 1969.

“What I did was tape a small pencil flashlight to the barrel of my gun. If you notice in the center of the beam of light, if you aim it you will see a black dot with a circle, approx. 3 to 6 inches across. The bullet will strike exactly in the center.” (Ed Edwards, August 4^th Zodiac Debut Letter)”

Edwards had used a flashlight in 1956 when he was housed in Deer Lodge Prison to communicate with his wife.

“I made a deal with a guard to sell me his flashlight. I set up a code with Jeanette through the letter, and we were able to communicate. At nights when the lights went out, I’d talked to her by blinking my light, and she’d answer by flipping the outside trailer light on and off.”

“The experts never figured out how entry was made into the Ramseys’ house. What nobody has ever considered is that JonBenet let her killer in by following Ed’s flashlight code. Edwards was highly intelligent and smooth. He got his victims to come to him. He was a master at establishing trust. He targeted the Ramseys because of Patsy being a beauty queen and traipsing JonBenet around at such a young age. John Ramsey owned a computer software company attached to Lockheed Martin and defense contracts. He had just received mass recognition for his billion dollars in sales in 1996. Edwards would have met them at a public gathering. JonBenet was the star of the Christmas parade in Boulder just before her death. She had been to Michigan and Atlanta and so had Edwards. The grandmother claimed that a man had approached the motorcade at the parade that made her feel uncomfortable. The family had no idea who it was. JonBenet had told her friend that she was getting a special visit from Santa Christmas night. Look at him in 1993. He’s wearing a fake beard.”

Edward Wayne Edwards, December 19^th, 1993, West Memphis, Arkansas

“Steve, Edwards had groomed his way into the family and was let in by JonBenet. He fed her pineapple and immediately garroted her with such force it almost beheaded her. He wanted that pineapple in the stomach so the autopsy would show that whoever killed her was a close family member. He would have been right in front of them, only he wasn’t Edward Edwards. He would be portraying himself as a former Marine hero with a degree in psychology and he had the gift of gab. Picture him standing behind JonBenet as she’s eating her pineapple with Santa. She’s happy, quiet because this is a secret that she can’t tell her parents. The alarm system was shut off and there was no chance of getting caught. If John had awoken Edwards would have killed them all.”

“This is making more sense than any other theory. What about the luggage underneath the basement window. Why did he do that?”

“To confuse the police as to the point of entry, and as a clue as to who the real killer was. Edwards plants evidence at the scene that will leave clues to his identity. He mentions luggage and suitcases 17 times in his book, making one reference to stuffing a body in it.”

“One convict was caught at a bus station with the dismembered body of his wife stuffed in the suitcase”

“Steve, I’m almost positive this is your guy. This ransom note is a complete version of Edwards’ life. He targeted that family to destroy. Picture how it went down. Just as she is eating, he suddenly garrotes her with such force that it practically decapitates her. He then carries her to the basement; places strange blood patterns on her body, draws a red heart on her hand and stamps strange looking triangles on her cheeks. He rubs DNA on her inside thigh, scratches her vaginal wall to make it appear as a sexual assault, and plants someone else’s DNA. He says he plants evidence in that letter. He had access to Dannie Boy’s remains, Christmas of 96. He then takes the ‘police’ flashlight that he signaled her with, bashes her head in, covers her with a white blanket, and lays her out as a ritualistic killing. He makes it look like an inside job and leaves the flashlight on the counter next to the pineapple. The parents become the suspects and the press frenzy begins.”

“What about letters?” Steve said. “You said he likes to send letters to steer the investigation to someone else.”

“He did in this case, too. It was sent January 27^th, 1997 from Shreveport, Louisiana during a Miss America Pageant. That date is Burke Ramsey’s 10^th birthday, and the letter was intended to target him as sexually assaulting JonBenet. Remember, Patsy was a beauty queen also and that’s why Edwards sent it from Shreveport during the pageant. Everything this man does is planned years in advance.”

“I remember Boulder Police asking the public for help in locating the author of that letter,” Steve said.

“I haven’t been able to get a copy of it but read news reports,” Cameron said. “Everything I have read suggests Edwards is the author. The letter purported to be from a mother claiming that JonBenet was molested within the family.”

Report on JonBenet letter
‘Speculation,’ Official Says

Associated Press

BOULDER —Reports on the contents of an anonymous letter sent from Shreveport, La., to Boulder police concerning the JonBenet Ramsey case are “pure speculation,” a city spokesman said Saturday. The letter was mailed last week and contained information that might be important to the case, said police officials, who have made a public appeal to the author of the letter to come forward.

“I can’t get you that letter, John. Boulder PD holds this case tight to their chest.”

“I didn’t figure you could, Steve, but thought I would try. This letter is the answer to it all, and if I could just get a copy. They were begging for help in 1997, and now they don’t even want to hear it.”

Steve Ainsworth listened politely and took all of Cameron’s information, stating he would pass it on to Boulder Police. Cameron tried to obtain the Shreveport letter through the Freedom of Information Act. As of September, 2013, the Boulder Police refused to release the letter. Cameron presented his evidence to them in 2011 and moved on to the next Edwards murder. But he would be back.