ATLANTA -- For the first time under oath, the mother of Jonbenet Ramsey was directly asked Tuesday about the ransom note she said she found after her daughter was killed.

To find Jonbenet Ramsey's killer, investigators have tried to identify the writer of the ransom note found by the victim's mother, Patsy Ramsey.

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RANSOM NOTE Compare Handwriting Samples VIDEO: Watch Patsy Ramsey Answer Questions

Darnay Hoffman, who is representing former Boulder reporter Chris Wolf in a civil libel lawsuit, questioned Ramsey for about three hours Tuesday in the offices of her Atlanta lawyer, L. Lin Wood.

Law enforcement handwriting experts have said that it looks like Patsy wrote the ransom note. Experts for the Ramseys said that it's obvious she did not write the note.

Hoffman, while questioning Patsy under oath, told her that his experts say it's clear that she wrote the note.

"It's not a close call as far as they're concerned. One of them identified you without a doubt as the author of the ransom note," Hoffman told Ramsey.

Hoffman asked her to compare individual letters, apparently some from the ransom note and some from handwriting samples she had identified as her own.

"I don't think they look a thing alike," Ramsey responded.

Then, Hoffman asked Ramsey if she wrote the note.

"Mrs. Ramsey, did you write the ransom note that was discovered by yourself on December 26, 1996, at your home?" Hoffman said.

"No sir, I did not," Ramsey said.

Lawyer Ends Questioning Early

Hoffman had up to seven hours to question Ramsey under oath, but accomplished little while taking the deposition, according to Wood.

The 6-year-old beauty queen's father, John Ramsey, was to give a sworn statement Wednesday.

JonBenet Ramsey was found beaten and strangled in the basement of her family's Boulder home on Dec. 26, 1996. No one has been charged in the crime.

Wolf is suing the Ramseys for naming him as a murder suspect in their book, "Death of Innocence."

Wood said Hoffman spent most of his time questioning Ramsey about handwriting samples and comparing them with a handwriting report from 1997.

Hoffman did not return a phone message left at his New York office Wednesday.

Hoffman could have asked any relevant question, which is interpreted broadly in such cases. Instead, he let Ramsey get up and leave early.

"I said, 'You've got four to five hours left under the federal rules,"' Wood said. "'We're ready, willing and able. Ask any question you want, about any fact.' But he said, 'I think I've asked all my questions."'

Former housekeeper Linda Hoffmann-Pugh, who was also named as a suspect in the book, filed a separate $50 million libel suit against the couple. Her lawsuit named Patsy Ramsey as JonBenet's killer.

Hoffman last week spoke of the deposition as the first time Ramsey would be placed under oath and said he would ask the tough questions.

"All the other (interviews) were voluntary, and they set the ground rules, they can get up and leave at any time," Hoffman said. "Whoever was questioning them had to be very careful."

Boulder police chief Mark Beckner said he was not aware of any other statements Ramsey has made under oath. Such statements could become part of the investigation into JonBenet's death.

John Ramsey gave a deposition in a 1998 case that was later dismissed.

A Boulder County grand jury investigating the case adjourned in the fall of 1999 with no indictments issued.

Authorities say John and Patsy Ramsey, who moved to Atlanta, remain under suspicion in their daughter's death. They have denied any involvement, saying JonBenet was likely killed by an intruder who got in through a basement window.

Police last questioned the Ramseys in August of last year.