Discovery, National Enquirer prep cold case series

Discovery has greenlit a true crime series looking at the infamous cold case of JonBenét Ramsey, the child beauty queen who was killed in her own home in Boulder, Colorado, on Boxing Day, 1996.

JonBenét: An American Murder Mystery (WT), for the Investigation Discovery channel, is billed as an event series and will run on over three consecutive nights on the cable net, starting September 12.

Internationally, Discovery will put the show out on different factual and lifestyle nets.

The project is being produced by Weinstein Television and Jupiter Entertainment alongside American Media, the parent company of RadarOnline and The National Enquirer.

The producers claim they will shed new light on the unsolved case.

Henry Schleiff, group president of Investigation Discovery, American Heroes Channel and Destination America said: “The fact is, we may never definitively know the answer to that question [of Ramsey’s killer] – but ID will re-explore every angle, every shred of evidence, and every ‘whodunit’ theory to allow our viewers to draw their own conclusions on the case.”

Dylan Howard, chief content officer, American Media, added: “JonBenét Ramsey is the most compelling cold case murder of our day, and still haunts millions of people around the world who so desperately want answers.

“This series is the most authoritative and thorough examination of the investigation to date, and will lead viewers on a fascinating exploration of never-before-seen police evidence, and probe key figures in the crime with provocative questions.”

Long-form true crime is popular in the wake of Netflix’s breakout hit Making a Murderer. Cable nets including Discovery have responded with their own in-depth true crime offerings and ID even ran a show refuting some of the claims in Making a Murderer.