Colorado sheriff John Wesley Anderson was celebrating his March 1997 wedding in Las Vegas when his best man, investigator Lou Smit, brought up the killing of JonBenét Ramsey – which had stunned the world 10 weeks earlier. Smit, not only the El Paso County sheriff’s best friend but also his recently-retired captain of detectives, was considering a special investigator position with the Boulder district attorney to assist in the probe of the six-year-old beauty queen’s death — a job he ultimately accepted.
Mr Anderson and his new bride flew from Vegas to their honeymoon; Smit returned to Colorado to join investigators in Boulder. Little did both men know that the case would become a driving force in Smit’s life. He resigned in disgust within two years, claiming Boulder authorities were ignoring key evidence, then sought to prove the Ramsey family’s innocence for the rest of his life. A seasoned detective with more than 200 murder cases under his belt, Smit was outspoken and convinced JonBenét’s slaying would be solved through DNA.
