48 hours on CBS tonight will reveal new DNA evidence pointing to an intruder in the unsolved murder of JonBenet Ramsey.

An investigator at Denver’s police crime lab for forensics says DNA found at the Ramsey murder scene came from a male who was not associated with the case, thus ruling out family members as well as a convicted sex offender in Boulder who had been mentioned as a suspect.

Would you believe that a similar incident happened to another young girl in Boulder less than a year after JonBenet’s murder and the police never connected the dots between the two incidents, even though the two attended the same dance school?

The other victim, investigators say, was a little girl identified as “Amy,” who took dance lessons at the same school as JonBenet, and was attacked and sexually assaulted at night in her bedroom on Sept. 14, 1997.

John and Patsy Ramsey were treated like criminals for six years. The public and the media lynch mob criticized everything about them, from the way they behaved to their “lawyering up.” Even Governor Owens criticized them for “hiding behind their lawyers.” Put yourselves in the Ramseys’ shoes. Your cherished daughter has just been murdered. Instead of being able to grieve, every move you make is met with criticism. The police label you as being “under the umbrella of suspicion” and stop searching elsewhere for the killer of your daughter. You are fodder for the cable TV talk shows night after night. Watching talk show hosts like Dan Abrams and Geraldo Rivera now admit the Ramseys did not kill their daughter brings some measure of satisfaction to those of us, myself included, who defended the Ramseys on their shows night after night. An apology from the Boulder police, the media, and the public would be even better. People sometimes fail to realize that when the wrong person is accused, the real killer remains at large and likely will strike again. Shortly after JonBenet’s murder, Boulder’s then-Mayor Leslie Durgin told the public:

“People in Boulder have no need to fear there is someone wandering the streets of Boulder looking for someone to attack. Boulder is safe,” she said.

She was wrong. If you live in Boulder, you better lock your doors at night. Unless he’s moved, a killer is among you.