Diane Dimond Covered JonBenét Ramsey's Case

The JonBenét Ramsey documentary onslaught has begun, and with Investigation Discovery's JonBenét: An American Murder Mystery , there's another headed to TV on Sept. 12. This documentary will, like most of the others, once again attempt to uncover the truth underneath the 1996 investigation, which ultimately resulted in no one being charged with the 6-year-old's murder. However, An American Murder Mystery stands out from the other documentaries because it will feature new interviews with some of the investigators who saw the evidence firsthand. Also interviewed will be journalist Diane Dimond, who reported heavily on the case at the time and has her own thoughts about the case. Dimond told Bustle about the JonBenét case in a statement:

"[I]t's one of those stories a journalist covers that they never forget. Hey beautiful tiny child murdered in her own home. As a parent this story grabbed me by the throat and never let me go. Why is the country still so interested on this, the 20th anniversary of her death? Probably for the same reason I have been interested all these years - - it's a parent's worst nightmare."

According to Cosmopolitan, ID is the only network that will have an interview with Dimond, and hearing from her on what it was like to investigate and report on the Ramsey case back in the mid-90s could provide an interesting, alternative perspective to the case. Remember those interviews with prosecutor/TV personality Jeanine Pirro in The Jinx? Hearing from a tough woman with a strong hunch about the truth of the case was an informative (and entertaining) part of HBO's take on the Robert Durst story, and Dimond's interviews should do the same here. She has a strong history as a journalist, and so her on-camera presence, which you can see in the clip from The View below, should still be sharp.

Though Dimond is reentering the spotlight because of her reporting on Ramsey's murder, she also reported on the accusations of child molestation against Michael Jackson in 1993 and 2003. (Jackson, who maintained his innocence and denied both sets of allegations, settled a civil suit from the 1993 accuser out of court and was acquitted of all charges stemming from the 2003 accusations during a 2005 trial, as reported by the New York Times.) According to a Washington Post article about Dimond's book, Be Careful Who You Love: Inside the Michael Jackson Case , Dimond broke the story of both accusations. As in the Ramsey case, Dimond's reporting helped form some of the public opinion about the story. It also garnered some negative attention for Dimond, who told the Post:

"Now, to your question about why I stir so much animosity.

I'm not sure. I suppose it's because I covered the case for so long. However,as I write in the book - almost immediately after I first broke the story of alleged molestation in Aug. 93 I began to be harassed by MJ fans.

Look, people don't like to hear negative things about people they adore. I really think it's as simple as that...a sort of "shoot the messenger" mentality."

Though her most publicized work was in the '90s and early 2000s, Dimond is still an active reporter, having written articles for the Huffington Post, The Daily Beast, and most recently, the Stillwater News Press. She also writes a weekly crime and justice column that is syndicated through Creators. With her experience as an investigative journalist, JonBenét: An American Murder Mystery should prove to be an informative docuseries.

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