Burke Ramsey tells Dr. Phil that he didn't leave his room the morning sister JonBenét went missing because he wanted to "avoid conflict"

JonBenét's Brother, Burke, Explains Why He Didn't Leave His Room After Her Killing

Burke Ramsey, the older brother of slain child beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey, is finally publicly explaining his behavior the morning his sister’s body was discovered on Dec. 26, 1996.

In an exclusive preview from his upcoming interview on Dr. Phil – Burke’s first public sit-down since JonBenét’s death 20 years ago – the 29-year-old reveals why he didn’t leave his room on that fateful December day.

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“Somebody comes in your room and flashlight looks around,” Dr. Phil questions in the clip. “Your mother’s been in there yelling, ‘Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Where’s my baby?’ And you never get up and say, ‘What is going on here?’ ”

Burke remained in his room before and after JonBenét’s body was found in the family’s Boulder, Colorado, basement, with a cord around her neck and duct tape over her mouth.

In the clip, Burke says, “I guess I kind of like to avoid conflict or, I don’t know, I guess I just felt safer there.”

“I’m not the worried type,” he continues, chuckling. “I guess part of me doesn’t want to know what’s going on.”

Dr. Phil responds, referencing the suspicion the Ramsey family long faced, “You, of course, know that critics would say you weren’t curious because you already knew.

“You didn’t have to get up and check because you knew exactly what had happened.”

Burke was 9 years old at the time of his 6-year-old sister’s killing. He and his parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, have never been charged in the case and have always maintained their innocence.

Patsy died in 2006 of ovarian cancer, making Burke and John the family’s sole surviving members.

Interest in the case has increased as its 20th anniversary approaches. Despite years of investigation, no one has ever been charged in JonBenét’s death.

Dr. Phil’s three-part interview was preceded by a new A&E documentary, which featured never-before-seen police footage of a detective’s sit-down with Burke in 1998.

Young Burke, then 11, told the detective in the interview clip that he didn’t leave his room while police and neighbors came in and out of the house because he was “so scared.”

Related Video: 5 Clues That Could Reveal What Really Happened To JonBenét Ramsey

“I just lay in bed with my eyes closed and like sort of thinking of what might have happened to them,” Burke said of his actions.

“I just heard my mom going psycho,” he said.

An earlier preview of the Dr. Phil interview showed Burke explaining, “I know people think I did it, that my parents did it.”