Florida tabloid in the cross hairs

By: Jim Moscou A Colorado grand jury is investigating whether a popular supermarket tabloid and one its top editors violated any state laws in an effort to buy the ransom note found at the JonBenet Ramsey murder scene in Boulder in 1996, according to sources close to the investigation and published media reports.
The inquiry by a Jefferson County grand jury is targeting the Boca Raton, Fla.-based tabloid Globe and its news editor, Craig Lewis, and may result in an indictment within two weeks, according to the Boulder Daily Camera. Sources close to the investigation add that in April 1997 Lewis attempted to purchase the Ramsey ransom note for $30,000 from a forensic document expert hired by JonBenet Ramsey's parents, John and Patsy, to help search for clues in the 21/2-page letter ("The Tabloid Turncoat," E&P, July 24, p. 18).
The revelation of the grand-jury investigation into the Globe and Lewis comes days after the same jury indicted a Boulder, Colo., lawyer, Tom Miller, who allegedly set up the meeting between Lewis and the Ramsey's document expert, J. Donald Vacca.
On Aug. 20, Miller was indicted on commercial bribery charges, a felony, and could face up to three years in prison. Sources say after the April 1997 meeting, Lewis, who was introduced to Vacca only as a "representative of a large corporation," was tracked down after Vacca took note of the tabloid editor's license plate and reported the incident to authorities.
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