Kriti Mehrotra
With Netflix’s ‘Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey’ revisiting the 1996 homicide of 6-year-old child beauty queen JonBenét Patricia Ramsey, we get a deep insight into this active ordeal. That’s because this three-part Joe Berlinger-directed production incorporates not just archival footage as well as dramatic recreations but also exclusive interviews with those closely involved. Thus, it comes as no surprise several possible suspects were also named here, including the victim’s parents as well as convicted sexual offenders/predators such as Randall “Randy” DeWitt Simons.
Randall “Randy” Simons Was JonBenét Ramsey’s Photographer
Although not much regarding Randy’s background, early years, or upbringing is publicly available as of writing, we do know he was a professional children’s photographer by the early 1990s. In fact, according to local reports, he was one of the primary shutterbugs in the Colorado child pageant circle, meaning he captured images of several young girls, including that of JonBenét. Therefore, of course, when the news of her parents’ alleged association with her murder came to light within months, he was asked to comment on the situation by several news publications.
Randy actually spoke to People Magazine, telling them he believed JonBenét and her mother Patsy Ramsey were the perfect mother-daughter duo from what he witnessed in the day he spent shooting the girl in June 1996. He said, “Patsy was your normal mom who absolutely loved her kid. She had the opportunity to spend a huge amount of time with JonBenet, and they were just really close.” However, what the publication didn’t know at the time was that he was accused by several parents of having a bit of a wandering eye, which allegedly made them and the girls extremely uncomfortable.
In fact, at the age of 46, Randy was allegedly even arrested in October 1998 for roaming the streets utterly naked, only to immediately tell officials he didn’t kill JonBenét when apprehended. He had been living in an undisclosed location roughly 120 miles away from Denver, Colorado, at the time, especially after selling his JonBenét portfolio to an agency for $7,500 in January 1997. As per reports, he was to undergo a psychiatric evaluation before it could even be determined whether he would face court for indecent exposure or not, but it’s unfortunately unclear how it panned out.
Randall “Randy” Simons is Currently Serving Time on Charges of Child Pornography
It was on July 2, 2019, when Randy was taken into custody by officials in Oregon for using a local restaurant’s WiFi to download concerning, explicit, and inappropriate images involving minors. This incident had actually occurred a year prior, but it took the Oakridge as well as the Springfield Police Departments some time to gather concrete evidence so as to have the case prosecuted. Hence, the then 66-year-old was soon indicted on 15 counts of encouraging child sex abuse, to which he pleaded not guilty in exchange for jail detection until his court hearings were scheduled.
Nevertheless, Randy was released in March 2020 after his attorneys filed a motion for it on the grounds of his heart problems and his age, making him highly vulnerable to contracting COVID-19. Then, with several postponements, motions, and failed defense motions to suppress evidence, it wasn’t until the late summer of 2021 that the then 68-year-old ultimately faced court. In the end, on September 1, he was convicted of all 15 first-degree charges, shortly following which he was sentenced to 10 years behind with credit for time served, plus 36 months of post-prison supervision.
According to records, Randy was actually sentenced to 20 months on count 1, 28 months on count 2, 40 months on count 3, 45 months on counts 4-6, and 45 months on counts 7-15, with a total of 58 months from different counts running concurrently. Therefore, today, at the age of 72, Randall “Randy” Simons is incarcerated at the Two Rivers Correctional Institution in Umatilla, Umatilla County, Oregon.
Read More: John Andrew Ramsey: Where is JonBenét Ramsey’s Brother Now?
