JonBenet Ramsey: How Her Santa Claus Died A Suspect

JonBenet Ramsey's tragic Christmas murder implicated plenty of pedophile suspects — with a series of bizarre claims haunting her own personal Santa Claus to his grave!

Bill McReynolds had been enjoying life as a retired journalism professor in Boulder, Colo. Then his life suddenly changed after volunteering to play Santa at an annual Christmas party attended by JonBenet. He celebrated the holiday with the doomed 6-year-old beauty queen just two days before her battered body was found at her parents' mansion. Both the parents of JonBenet and police investigators would later insist that a series of bizarre clues made McReynolds a top suspect.

McReynolds' wife Janet had dressed up as Mrs. Claus for the birthday party. Detectives soon discovered she'd written an award-winning play in 1976 about a molested little girl whose corpse was later found in a basement. In a chilling twist, they also discovered that the couple's daughter had been abducted on Dec. 26, 1974 — along with a young friend who was molested before police found the missing children.

According to CNN, an original prosecutor on the Ramsey case had claimed that Bill gave JonBenét a card with the message: "You will receive a special gift after Christmas." McReynolds also spurred gossip with his praise for JonBenet after her murder — telling the Denver Post about her angelic glow and praising the "sweetness of a special child." He also commented on JonBenet's "pensive, almost retiring" demeanor.

McReynolds also told reporters that JonBenét had given him a vial of gold glitter during Christmas parties in both 1995 and 1996. He's quoted as saying: "The stardust was all I took with me for good luck when I had heart surgery ...Her murder was harder on me than my operation. She made a profound change in me. I felt very close to that little girl."

A police source had told The National ENQUIRER that veteran police detective Lou Smit also had a keen interest in McReynolds, saying: "One of Lou's theories targets someone close to Santa as the killer." The couple's son, Jesse McReynolds, was later rumored to have confessed to the crime. "I never said that I killed JonBenet," declared Jesse. "If I had, I'd be locked up. But I wouldn't be surprised if the Ramsey camp put my name out there."

In fact, JonBenet's father John (here with Patsy Ramsey) listed Bill McReynolds among his own chief suspects in his book, "The Death of Innocence." Mary Keenan, the chief prosecutor in Boulder, was also reported in the Rocky Mountain News to consider McReynolds a likely suspect, with journalist Charlie Brennan citing sources saying she was "convinced that McReynolds did it."

"We have alibis," insisted Jesse. "There was a McReynolds family Christmas party the night of the murder, and lots of our friends could vouch for us." In 2004, it was also revealed that a DNA sample taken from blood found on JonBenet's underpants did not match with McReynolds. By then, however, McReynolds had died after fleeing Boulder in 1997 — with Jesse refusing to even say where his parents had gone.

After the publication of John Ramsey's book, McReynolds said:"I never expected to spend my senior years with someone calling me a murderer." The ENQUIRER finally found him living in Cape Cod shortly before his death from a heart attack. The accused man revealed how JonBenet's murder had also torn apart his own life. "My wife and I don't celebrate Christmas anymore," he said. "AFter JonBenet's murder, it just doesn't seem right."