The older brother of JonBenet Ramsey is suing CBS and others for US$750 million ($1billion) over a series that concluded he killed his sister.
In the lawsuit filed yesterday, Burke Ramsey claims that the network, its production company and the experts interviewed in the series on the unsolved murder permanently ruined his reputation. The six-part series aired in September ahead of the 20th anniversary of JonBenet's death.
The Case Of: JonBenet Ramsey concluded with investigators revealing that after extensive research into the events that happened on the night of the murder they believed Burke Ramsey was responsible for killing his sister, Daily Mail reports.
The team stated that in their estimation, the two children fought over a midnight snack of pineapples and Burke accidentally killed JonBenet when he hit her with a flashlight, a crime his parents than covered up from police.
The 6-year-old was found dead in the basement of her family's home in Boulder, Colorado, the day after Christmas in 1996.
Burke was 9-years-old at the time.
Both Burke and his parents, John and Patsy, denied having anything to do with JonBenet's death.
CBS spokesman Dustin Smith declined to comment on the lawsuit.
James Kolar, the former chief investigator for the District Attorney in Boulder, presented the theory that Burke was responsible for his sister's death, which the other experts agreed upon as the most likely scenario.
He hypothesised that Patsy had left Burke with a bowl of pineapple and some tea and that when JonBenet had attempted to sneak some of the fruit later, it prompted Burke to lash out and strike her with a flashlight, killing her.
"I think the Ramseys came home at around 9.30, 10 o'clock," said Kolar.
"I think JonBenet was asleep. I think John did carry her upstairs, Patsy remained downstairs with Burke and served him the tea and the pineapple.
"I think that accounts for the physical evidence as well as the latent print. Then she got JonBenet up to make sure she used the toilet, so she didn't wet the bed that night."
He added: "JonBenet was up, she may or may not have brushed her teeth, that stuff was out on the counter, then I think she was up and awake enough that she was maybe still hungry and she went downstairs.
"In the meantime, Patsy continued packing for the Michigan trip. I think if Burke was upset about circumstances or Christmas presents, he probably would have been upset about her trying to snag a piece of pineapple - out of anger he may have struck her with that flashlight."
While the investigators agreed there was no intent to kill, they agree there was clearly an intent to mislead the police investigation.
"The Ramsey family did not want law enforcement to resolve this case and that's why it remains unresolved," said former FBI profiler Jim Clemente.
The special also examined the seconds after Patsy's initial phone call to 911 reporting her daughter missing, with investigators claiming that they could hear three people talking in the background.
The audio allegedly features John's voice saying, "We're not speaking to you!"
That is followed by Patsy allegedly stating: "What did you do? Help me, Jesus".
Last is what investigators believe could be Burke saying: "What did you find?"
The Ramseys have always claimed Burke was asleep when they called 911 and even after investigators arrived on the scene.
No one in the family was ever charged in the death of the 6-year-old, but for years tabloids and many members of the public have believed one of her family members were the culprits of this unspeakable crime.
Most of these stories focused on parents John and Patsy, but others claimed that Burke had been responsible for his sister's death .
"We tried to shield him from that," John said of the tabloid reports about Burke in an interview with Barbara Walters that aired last year on Barbara Walters Presents American Scandals.
"Friends would ask us, 'What can we do to help?' We said, 'Next time you go in the supermarket, call the manager over when you see our child's photo on the front cover, and ask him to remove it.' A lot of them did that."
Stories would point to the fact that Burke was in the house when JonBenet was reported missing, but his parents always stood firm on the fact that he was sleeping the entire time and did not wake up until after they called police.
He was exonerated by DNA evidence in May of 1999, a little over two years after the murder.
Burke, now 29, had never spoken publicly about his sister's death until last week, when he gave a much anticipated interview to Dr Phil.
During that interview, Burke smiled as he recalled the morning his frantic mother burst into his room searching for JonBenet.
"The first thing I remember is my mom bursting in my room, really frantic, saying, 'Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!' running around my room - now I know looking for JonBenet," Burke recalled to Dr Phil.
"The next thing I remember is a police officer coming into my room and shining a flashlight.:
In that interview he again stated that he was not involved in his sister's death.
Ramsey also previously filed a lawsuit against a forensic pathologist, Dr Werner Spitz, who said Burke Ramsey bludgeoned his sister to death. He is also named in the latest lawsuit, which was filed in Michigan, where Burke Ramsey lives.
Dr Werner Spitz was interviewed on CBS's Detroit affiliate and said he believed her brother Burke, who was 9 at the time, had killed her after some sort of confrontation.
"Spitz made this accusation without ever examining JonBenet's body, without viewing the crime scene, and without consulting with the pathologist who performed the autopsy on JonBenet," reads a complaint filed in Wayne County Circuit Court in Detroit by Burke's attorney, Lin Wood.
Burke Ramsey, who is now 29 and lives in Charlevoix in northern Michigan, is seeking $150 million in damages from Dr Spitz, Daily Mail reports.
The lawsuit says Dr Spitz is a publicity seeker "with a history of interjecting himself in high profile cases".
Burke's attorneys said they demanded a retraction the day after the interview, but Dr Spitz refused.
They said Dr Spitz had "a disturbing history of making false statements related to the brutal murder of young girls' and his testimony had been labelled 'not useful or credible'" in at least one case.
- AP, Daily Mail
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