New Details About Gary Oliva, The Man Who Confessed To Killing JonBenét Ramsey
Police have dismissed his confession.
Boulder County Sheriff's Office / Facebook The murder confession of a convicted pedophile and longtime suspect in the 1996 slaying of 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey was dismissed by police without incident.
Gary Oliva, 54, who is currently serving 10 years in prison for child pornography, admitted to accidentally killing the girl in a letter he wrote to a high school classmate.
"I never loved anyone like I did JonBenét and yet I let her slip and her head bashed in half and I watched her die. It was an accident," Oliva wrote in the letters obtained by DailyMail. "Please believe me. She was not like the other kids."
The letters detail his creepy obsession with the JonBenet and how she allegedly died. He also claimed to be a "serial murderer."
"JonBenét completely changed me and removed all evil from me," read another letter. "Just one look at her beautiful face, her glowing beautiful skin, and her divine God-body, I realized I was wrong to kill other kids. Yet by accident she died and it was my fault."
The letters were addressed to music publicist Michael Vail, one of Oliva's former high school classmates who has suspected Oliva was involved in JonBenet's murder for 22 years. The letters are the proof needed to convict Oliva, Vail told DailyMail.
But authorities tossed the confession aside. Again.
"The Boulder Police Department is aware of Gary Oliva and has investigated his potential involvement in this case, including several previous confessions," Boulder Police said in a statement regarding the murder confession. The department routinely receives information on this investigation. Information provided to the police department is reviewed along with the many tips and theories we receive."
"There are no new updates in this investigation and the department will not comment further," the statement concluded.
Although Oliva's name has appeared in the investigation into JonBenet's death multiple times, he has never been charged in connection the murder.
Oliva has made headlines three times since JonBenet's death for claiming to have killed her but no evidence to support his claims has ever been found. In 2016, InTouch Weekly revealed "exclusive" details about Oliva as told by Vail. Later that same year, Radar Online published information from an "exclusive interview" with Oliva from prison as well as letters he had written to Vail about JonBenet.
"Over the history of this case, there have been a variety of people we have looked at for potential connections. Mr. Oliva is one of those people... But we're currently not comfortable ruling anybody out as a suspect, or ruling anybody in as a suspect in the Ramsey case," a Boulder police spokesperson said at the time.
With the latest confession via letters, it seems Boulder police are tired of Oliva crying wolf and said the admission of guilt was nothing new. The convicted pedophile became a person of interest in JonBenet's case when he was arrested while carrying a photo of the girl, a poem he had written called "Ode to JonBenet," and a stun gun, a weapon some authorities believe was used in JonBenet's murder.
The beauty pageant star was found dead in the basement of her family's Boulder, Colorado, home on Dec. 26, 1996.
Her skull had been fractured and she had died by asphyxiation by garrote. Her mother found a ransom note demanding $118,000 but no attempt was ever made to collect the sum. Her parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, were cleared of involvement in their child's death with DNA testing.
Nobody has ever been charged with JonBenet's murder 22 years ago.
Sarah Gangraw writes about all things news, entertainment and crime. You can follow her on Instagram and Twitter.