1999 indictment accused parents of child abuse resulting in death of JonBenet Ramesy

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DEVELOPING: Court documents released Friday reveal that a grand jury indictment in 1999 accused John and Patsy Ramsey of child abuse resulting in death and being an accessory to a crime, including murder, in connection to their 6-year-old daughter JonBenét.

The indictments, released on Friday, did not indicate who killed the young beauty queen. The charges didn't directly accuse the Ramseys of killing their daughter, but alleged they permitted JonBenét to be placed in a dangerous situation that led to her death and it accused them of helping the killer, who has never been brought to justice.

The Ramseys were not officially indicted, however, because former District Attorney Alex Hunter refused to sign the documents to prosecute them. In 2008, then-Boulder District Attorney Mary Lacy exonerated the girl's parents and immediate family after DNA evidence pointed to an unknown male as JonBenét's killer.

JonBenét's body was found Dec. 26, 1996. She had been strangled and her skull was fractured.

The Ramseys were never charged, and Mrs. Ramsey died of cancer seven years ago. Mr. Ramsey asked the court earlier this week to release all the grand jury record, if it was going to consider releasing the indictment, but a judge ruled that information was confidential, and to release it would harm other grand jury investigations.

Grand juries can consider evidence for the basis of an indictment that would not be admissible at trial, due to the grounds for an indictment having a less strenuous level of proof than evidence that can be admitted in trial.