ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times

DATE: Sunday, January 12, 1997               TAG: 9701130132
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL   PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: BOULDER, COLO.
SOURCE: Associated Press

PAPER USES PHOTOS FROM GIRL'S DEATH INVESTIGATION NOT AT RISK, EXPERT SAYS

A tabloid decided to publish autopsy and crime scene photos of JonBenet Ramsey after being assured by an outside expert that it wouldn't harm the investigation, the editor said Saturday.

The Boulder County coroner has demanded an investigation into how the six photos about the slain 6-year-old were obtained by the Globe.

The photographs, to appear on the front page of the edition hitting newsstands Monday, show the garrote used to strangle the young beauty queen as well as a rope mark on one wrist.

Tony Frost, editor of the Boca Raton, Fla.-based Globe, said the 1.3million-circulation weekly showed the photos to a top Pennsylvania coroner, who assured him that publishing the photos wouldn't harm the murder case.

It has been widely reported that JonBenet was strangled with a garrote and that her wrists were bound, and pictures of that are the essence of the case, Frost told The Associated Press.

``The photo does not actually show the body,'' he said. ``I think we handled it very professionally and very sensitively.

``I am the father of three children. I have a daughter only two years older than this little girl. So we're not tabloid journalists who have three heads and no heart.''

However, Boulder County Coroner John Meyer has said the unauthorized release of the photos could jeopardize prosecution of JonBenet's killer or killers, and is a violation of the standards and procedures of his office.

Once the pictures become public, facts known only by the killer and police might become public ``and anybody can pick up on them,'' Meyer said.

The Ramsey family called Globe editors ``jackals, not journalists'' and urged other media to not publish or televise the photos. The family said their attorneys will ``pursue all available avenues of legal recourse.''

Spokesmen for two supermarket chains in the Denver area, Safeway and King Soopers, said they would not sell the new issue of the Globe.

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