"ARNDT GMA TRANSCRIPTS "

MONDAY 9-13-99 ARNDT GMA TRANSCRIPT

Gibson: She was the first detective in the Ramsey house on December 26, 1996, the morning

Patsy Ramsey made that 911 call that someone had kidnaped her daughter, JonBenét. Well,

beginning today and all this week GMA will bring you Elizabeth Vargus's exclusive, in-depth

interview with Linda Arndt, the one police officer who can tell you what the Ramseys said and did and how they acted when the body was found. The murder of six-year-old JonBenét remains unsolved and John and Patsy Ramsey have said they had nothing to do with the crime. Still, they remain under an umbrella of suspicion. Linda Arndt is about to tell you for the first time some of the reasons why. We begin her story with a phone call at home, 6:35am, December 26, 1996.

Arndt: ...been a kidnaping, it involves a six year old girl. The, um, there was a ransom note, a 2

½ page ransom note.

(VOICE OVER) The six year old girl was JonBenét Ramsey, daughter of Patsy and John Ramsey,

founder of a billion dollar Boulder company. According to the ransom note, JonBenét's

kidnappers would call between 8 and 10 am. Detective Arndt was to wait for the call with the

Ramseys. Arndt says she arrived at the police station within ½ hour where she requested

immediate FBI backup and a department-wide alert.

Arndt: And we were told no. And I remember either Det. Paterson or myself, but I know this was

said, is, well, we don't want, we don't want to be hung out if anything happens later.

(VO) It was 8:10am when Arndt and another detective, Fred Paterson, arrived at the Ramsey

house. They were met by two patrol officers who had already searched the house.

Arndt: ...that were fingerprinting all entrances, all exits, and JonBenét's bedroom area. The

balcony door on the outside and the bedroom door from the inside. And then I met with John

Ramsey.

Vargus: How did he strike you?

Arndt: (pause, looks off and replies) Cordial

Vargus: Cordial?

Arndt: Uh, huh

Vargus: Upset?

Arndt: (smiling/smirk) Cordial

Vargus: Distraught?

Arndt: (long pause, looks up to left and right while smiling and replies) Cordial

Vargus: Did it strike you at all that he was, that that was behavior that was unusual for

somebody whose child was just kidnaped?

Arndt: I don't know that there's a usual, or an unusual behavior for any response. I don't put

judgment to it, I'll just, I'll just note it.

(VO) And that's what she said she did all morning; make mental notes of all things curious.

Vargus: Did the two interact? Did John and Patsy comfort each other? Were they in the same

room together?

Arndt: I saw very little interaction between them. And they were in different rooms most of the

time.

(VO) Arndt says Patsy Ramsey remained in this green room, in this sun room for most of the

day. With her were the family pastor and friends Fleet and Priscilla White and John and Barbara

Fernie. Det. Arndt waited with John Ramsey in the den off the kitchen; her tape recorder hooked

up to the phone.

Arndt: And I had gone over, where were you yesterday? When did you come home? When did

JonBenét go to bed? What was she wearing? Who put her to bed? What time did she go to

bed? When did you to go to bed? When did Patsy go to bed? Any suspicious calls?

Vargus: Had there been any suspicious behavior?

Arndt: No, no.

Vargus: Had there been any strange phone calls?

Arndt: No. Towards the latter half of the morning, um, I said anybody in your wildest dreams,

anybody who might be upset with you; personally or work-wise? And he gave the name of an

employee.

(VO) Patsy Ramsey would suggest they look at a housekeeper. The other detective would leave

to follow that trail.

Vargus: What was that like during that two hour period when you're waiting for the phone call?

Arndt: Electric when the phone rang.

(VO) And it did, numerous times. But there would be no call from a kidnapper.

Arndt: Ten o'clock comes and goes and there's no acknowledgment within the house from

anyone that this self-imposed deadline, or the deadline imposed by the author of the ransom

note, has come and gone.

Vargus: Nobody said, 'it's ten o'clock and the kidnappers haven't called?'

Arndt: Nobody said that.

Vargus: Was that something else you took note of?

Arndt: Absolutely

(VO) Arndt also took note that John Ramsey took time out to read his mail.

Vargus: Isn't it possible, maybe, he was opening the mail looking for a clue from the kidnapper?

Arndt: I don't know. And I, and I don't speculate. Um, it's a piece of information that I see...

(VO) Arndt says that by 10:35am every police officer was gone and she was on her own. She

says she looked for ways to manage the escalating tensions. She asked John Ramsey and his

friends to examine the ransom note for clues.

Arndt: I got feedback from most everybody except John Ramsey.

(VO) Arndt says she suggested that John Ramsey and Fleet White search the house; an

instruction for which she would later be strongly criticized. She said she told them to...

Arndt: ...check the house, top to bottom. Look for anything that might belong to JonBenét that

is in a place where you don't, shouldn't, where it shouldn't be. Even if it's a, a box, box of

matches, anything. Leave it and come see me.

Vargus: Don't touch it

Arndt: Right

(VO) It was now 1:01pm

Arndt: I heard a noise, then I heard, I heard (him?) softly run to the phone in the den and he was

crouched and I saw him dial 3 numbers, hang up the phone, yell 'we need an ambulance,' and

then he ran back towards the front of the house. And I see John Ramsey carrying JonBenét up

the last three steps from the basement. And, um, and my mind exploded. I mean it literally, I saw

black with thousands of lights. And everything that I had noted that morning that stuck out,

instantly made sense. (pause, sigh) And JonBenét was clearly dead. And she's been dead for a

while. I knelt next to her and I leaned down to her face. And John leaned down opposite me, and

um, his face was just inches from mine...(pause, breath) and we had, um, a nonverbal exchange

that I will never forget. And he asked if she was dead. And I said yes, she's dead. And I told him

to go back to the room and to dial 911. And as we looked at each other, I remember, and I wore a shoulder holster; tucking my gun right next to me and consciously counting I've got 18 bullets.

Vargus: Why did you do that?

Arndt: 'Cause I didn't know if we'd all be alive if people showed up.

Vargus: What do you mean?

Arndt: I decided that everything made sense in that instance. And, um, I knew what happened. I

mean that's, I knew what happened to her.

Vargus: Do you think your fear was well-founded?

Arndt: You bet I do. There's no doubt in my mind.

Vargus: To this day?

Arndt: Never wavered

Vargus: Do you think he knew what you suspected?

Arndt: I hope he didn't. I'd hoped he didn't.

Vargus: Why?

Arndt: I needed him not to know what I felt.

Vargus: What you suspected?

Arndt: What I believed.

Gibson: Elizabeth Vargus joins us now. Why hasn't she spoken since? It's been

almost three years.

Vargus: Well, first of all, while she was working for the police department she

could not speak, she was forbidden to speak about the case. She has now quit

the police department and testified before the grand jury about everything she

knows. Told her whole story and has then talked with us. And spoke with us

extensively; we have four hours of video taped interview and countless more

hours over the phone with her.

Gibson: Any, any response from the BPD or the Ramseys?

Vargus: The Ramseys did not return repeated phone calls. The BPD cannot

comment right now, or declined to comment, because Linda Arndt does have a

lawsuit pending against the police department and we'll get into that later in the

week.