The director of Netflix’s new JonBenét Ramsey documentary has revealed why he believes the family of the murdered six-year-old is innocent – ​​and who could be behind the mystery.

American documentary filmmaker Joe Berlinger opened up about his own thoughts on the 1996 Colorado murder after directing Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey, in which detectives bungle the investigation and the media present the girl’s family as prime suspects.

The six-year-old beauty pageant princess was reported missing after her family found a ransom note demanding $118,000 for the child’s return to their Boulder home on December 26, 1996.

The child’s body was later found by her father in the basement of the family’s luxury home, brutally beaten and strangled.

Speaking to the New York Post, Joe said: “I firmly believe the Ramsey family is innocent. And I also firmly believe that this case can be solved if the Boulder Police Department finally does what it needs to do.”

He added that he believes all suspects should be “put back on the table,” as many “likely suspects” were ruled out at the time due to the flawed DNA analysis.

However, he did acknowledge that even the Ramsey family would have to undergo another DNA test because they would be happy to help.

Grieving father John Ramsey, 80, took part in the Netflix documentary in the hope it could find answers to his daughter’s murder case.

The director of Netflix’s new three-part documentary JonBenét Ramsey, American documentary maker Joe Berlinger, (pictured) believes the family of the murdered six-year-old is innocent

Joe said: “John Ramsey agreed to sit down with us, didn’t ask to be paid, and didn’t get paid – we don’t pay our nationals – and asked for no editorial input.

‘No question was off limits. To me, that’s an 80-year-old man who… wants to get that case solved. It’s just unthinkable that the family had anything to do with this.’

Joe told the publication that he believes an intruder entered the house and killed the little girl, calling it “a much more plausible scenario.”

JonBenét was found brutally beaten and strangled and it was ruled a murder, but no one was ever prosecuted and the case remains cold.

The details of the crime and JonBenét’s video footage of her beauty pageants turned the case into one of the most high-profile mysteries in the US.

She was crowned Little Miss Colorado, Little Miss Charlevoix, Colorado State All-Star Kids Cover Girl and National Tiny Miss Beauty.

The mystery sparked a series of true crime books and television specials.

The prosecutor said at the time of JonBenét’s death that her parents were under “an umbrella of suspicion” from early on.

The six-year-old beauty pageant princess was reported missing after her family found a ransom note demanding $118,000 for the child’s return to their Boulder home on December 26, 1996.

Grieving father John Ramsey, 80, took part in the Netflix documentary in the hope it could find answers in his daughter’s murder case

Theorists also wonder whether their son Burke, who was nine years old at the time of JonBenet’s death, accidentally killed his sister in a moment of anger, and whether his parents covered it up.

But 2008 tests on newly discovered DNA on her clothing indicated the involvement of an “unexplained third party” in her murder, and not her parents or Burke.

That prompted former prosecutor Mary Lacy to clear the Ramseys of any involvement two years after mother Patsy died of ovarian cancer in 2006, calling the couple “victims of this crime.”

Investigators had identified other suspects and developed a theory about an intruder, or multiple intruders, entering the house and killing the pageant princess.

Among the suspects was convicted pedophile Gary Oliva, who allegedly confessed to the murder.

Others included Ramsey’s housekeeper, as well as the man who portrayed Santa Claus at a holiday party the youngster attended.

Officials announced in 2006 that another suspect, John Mark Karr, had been arrested in Bangkok, Thailand.

He allegedly told an American investigator that he drugged JonBenét and sexually assaulted her before accidentally killing her.

JonBenet was crowned Little Miss Colorado, Little Miss Charlevoix, Colorado State All-Star Kids Cover Girl and National Tiny Miss Beauty

The three-part docuseries attempts to expose one of the most tragic cold cases in American criminal history

The pageant star’s cause of death was “asphyxia due to strangulation associated with craniocerebral trauma,” meaning she had been strangled and beaten

But prosecutors dropped that investigation after DNA tests failed to link him to the crime scene.

Investigations are underway. Police and officials in Boulder said in December 2021 that they had processed 1,500 pieces of evidence and analyzed nearly 1,000 DNA samples in their hunt for the killer.

Detectives have digitized all samples of handwriting, fingerprints and shoe prints collected over the years and regularly check for DNA matches in hopes of solving the case.

But dad John wonders if they are doing their job properly. In May 2022, he called on an outside agency to take responsibility for DNA testing in the case.

The new series combines archive footage of JonBenét happily walking through the family home and the panicked recording of mother Patsy’s 911 call declaring that her “daughter is gone.”

The show, which airs from November 25, focuses on police mistakes, including the failure to secure the house and the possible disposal of evidence.

It includes an interview with Burke, who describes the Ramseys as “just an ordinary family” before the fateful Christmas.

The trailer shows dad John, 80, recalling how the ‘incredible’ tragedy unfolded.

The crime scene at Ramsey’s luxury home in Colorado, after the murder of their six-year-old child

The Ramsey family is pictured in a December 1993 holiday photo. (L-R) JonBenét, John, Patsy and Burke Ramsey

It also includes a soundbite from a person involved in the case saying: “We excluded people for the wrong reasons.”

‘Everyone needs to get back to the table. You have to go deeper,” the person says.

The show also explores whether Patsy, a former beauty queen herself, made JonBenet a target for predators by encouraging her to dress up for her beauty pageants.

She was buried in Marietta, Georgia, next to her mother and her half-sister Elizabeth Ramsey, who died in a car accident in 1992.

Director Joe Berlinger says the series focuses on those who “played armchair detectives for three decades, often callously pointing the finger at the very people who suffered such unthinkable loss.”

He added: ‘Through unprecedented access and a comprehensive multi-year investigation, we reveal the deep flaws in the way the case was originally handled, resulting in a sea of ​​conspiracy theories that nearly destroyed the Ramsey family for a second time.’

Dionne Waugh, a spokeswoman for Boulder police, declined to comment on an “open and ongoing investigation.” Anyone with information about the killing should call the tip line at 303-441-1974, she said.

Shannon Carbone, a spokeswoman for Boulder’s district attorney’s office, said a recent review of the case had been “helpful” and that investigators “continued to make progress in this tragic case.”

“The overarching goal is to look at the facts and evidence with fresh eyes and an open mind, armed with the latest developments in forensic science,” Carbone told DailyMail.com.