Man arrested in death of JonBenet Ramsey

[voivod]

A man suspected in the slaying of 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey was arrested Wednesday in Thailand in a surprise breakthrough in one of the nation's most lurid murder cases — a decade-old crime some feared would never be solved.

District Attorney Mary Lacy said the arrest followed several months of work. She would not disclose any details about the suspect, but the Ramsey family's attorney in Atlanta said the man was a schoolteacher who once lived in nearby Conyers, Ga.

Federal officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, identified the suspect as John Mark Karr, a 42-year-old American, and said he was already being held in Bangkok on unrelated sex charges. CBS reported he will be brought back to the United States this weekend.

The Ramsey family attorney, Lin Wood, refused to say if the Ramseys knew the suspect and said he knew nothing else about the man. JonBenet was born in Atlanta in 1990, and the Ramseys lived in the Atlanta suburb of Dunwoody for several years before moving to Colorado in 1991. The couple moved back to Atlanta after their daughter's slaying.

Wood said the arrest was vindication for JonBenet's parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, who had come under suspicion in the slaying. The attorney said the Ramseys learned about the suspect a least a month before Patsy Ramsey's death on June 24 after a long battle with ovarian cancer.

"It's been a very long 10 years, and I'm just sorry Patsy isn't here for me to hug her neck," Wood said.

JonBenet was found beaten and strangled in the basement of the family's home in Boulder on Dec. 26, 1996. Patsy Ramsey reported finding a ransom note demanding $118,000 for her daughter.

The image of blonde-haired little JonBenet in a cowgirl costume and other beauty pageant outfits has haunted TV talk shows ever since, helping feed myriad theories about her killer.

Investigators said at one point that JonBenet's parents were under an "umbrella of suspicion" in the slaying. But the Ramseys insisted an intruder killed their daughter, and no one was ever charged.

In the months after the slaying, Patsy Ramsey went before the cameras, vigorously defending herself and her husband, chastising the media and blasting local law enforcement as incompetent.

Over the years, some experts suggested that investigators had botched the case so thoroughly that it might never be solved.

In a statement Wednesday, John Ramsey said: "Patsy was aware that authorities were close to making an arrest in the case and had she lived to see this day, would no doubt have been as pleased as I am with today's development almost 10 years after our daughter's murder."

Lib Waters of Marietta, Ga., visited the gravesites of Patsy and JonBenet Ramsey in the Atlanta suburb immediately after hearing news reports about the arrest.

Waters, who described herself as a longtime friend of the Ramsey family, taped a piece of notebook paper to JonBenet Ramsey's headstone that read: "Dearest Patsy, Justice has come for you and Jon. Rest in peace."

In 2003, a federal judge in Atlanta concluded that the evidence she reviewed suggested an intruder killed JonBenet. That opinion came with the judge's decision to dismiss a libel and slander lawsuit against the Ramseys by a freelance journalist, whom the Ramseys had named as a suspect in their daughter's murder. The Boulder district attorney at the time said she agreed with the judge's declaration.

Wood said Wednesday's arrest further vindicated his clients.

"I am sure there were still doubts in the minds of individuals whose thinking had been poisoned against this family because of the years of false accusations," Wood said.

"Today is additional vindication of the family, but I think that knowledgeable individuals familiar with the evidence in the case have known for many years that this family was falsely accused, that they were innocent and that what they lived through in the last 10 years was an American tragedy."

Wood said he and the Ramseys "have been totally amazed and impressed with the professionalism of law enforcement" under Lacy's direction. Lacy became district attorney in 2001.

KUSA-TV of Denver, citing no sources, reported that the suspect has confessed to certain elements of the crime.

Bob Grant, a former Adams County district attorney who worked on the case, said there was never enough evidence to convince him that any potential suspect could be successfully prosecuted.

"I wasn't convinced it was an inside job, nor was I convinced it was an outside job," he said. "All the outside suspects were cleared after exhaustive investigation, and there were a whole lot of outside suspects."

___

[Viking]

I just read this myself. I didn't think they would ever catch the person that did it. It's also hard to believe that it's been almost 10 years ago that she was murdered (December 26, 1996).

[wham bam will rock]

Mmmmm hmmmm.....

Now if only O.J. can find 'the real killers'.......

[HuBBs5150]

well damn...

I take back every nasty thing I said about the mother....

if they can prove that this guy did it.

[smithjc]

I thought I read a thread about this one earlier.

[LLFHS]

well damn...

I take back every nasty thing I said about the mother....

if they can prove that this guy did it.

I'm not convinced quite yet. Some things about this case didn't add up where the parents were concerned.


Investigators determined that the lengthy ransom note was written on a pad of paper that belonged to the Ramsey family. A Sharpie felt-tip pen similar to the one used to write the note was found in a container on the Ramseys' kitchen counter, along with other pens of the same type. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, on the same pad of paper, a practice sheet of the ransom note was found. No fingerprints could be detected on the note. The text of the note had many odd features, including the fact that $118,000 was demanded. Perhaps coincidentally, or not, John Ramsey earned a bonus that year of $118,117.50. Also during investigation of the home, police reported that John Ramsey's Bible was found on his desk in his office open to Psalm 118. The police regarded the ransom price a suspiciously low amount of money in proportion to John Ramsey's income. The parents have invariably held that the crime was committed by an intruder, and a group of investigators favor that theory.

Several handwriting samples were taken from a number of suspects who might have written the ransom note. Forensic analysis cleared everyone except for Patsy Ramsey, whose writing style bore some resemblance to the ransom note.

[billy007]

This is the part that makes me think "so?":

She would not disclose any details about the suspect, but the Ramsey family's attorney in Atlanta said the man was a schoolteacher who once lived in nearby Conyers, Ga.

JonBenet was killed in Boulder, Colorado. Sooo...did this guy know the Ramsey's when they lived in Dunwoody, then followed them to Boulder to commit the crime? What other signifigance could there be that he lived in "nearby Conyers, Ga."?

[nitefly5150]

This is the part that makes me think "so?":



JonBenet was killed in Boulder, Colorado. Sooo...did this guy know the Ramsey's when they lived in Dunwoody, then followed them to Boulder to commit the crime? What other signifigance could there be that he lived in "nearby Conyers, Ga."?

I was wondering if he was a friend who visited for the holidays, but it doesn't seem like it'd take 10 yrs to figure that out. I guess we'll find out more in the coming days.

Also, one report I heard sounded like this may have come as the result of an independant investigation funded by the Ramsey family.

[crazyjbn]

BANGKOK, Thailand - The American suspect in the JonBenet Ramsey murder case said publicly Thursday he was with the 6-year-old when she died and called her death “an accident,” a stunning admission that will help answer 10 years of questions in the unsolved murder case.

“I was with JonBenet when she died,” John Mark Karr told reporters in Bangkok, visibly nervous and stuttering as he spoke. “Her death was an accident.”

Police said Karr, 41, admitted to the killing after he was arrested Wednesday at his downtown Bangkok apartment by Thai and American authorities.

Karr will be transported to Colorado in the next week where he will face charges of murder, kidnapping and child sexual assault, said Ann Hurst, a U.S. official with the Department of Homeland Security.

One law enforcement official told The Associated Press that Boulder police had tracked Karr down online.

The head of Thailand immigration police said Thursday that Karr admitted to the killing after he was arrested at his downtown Bangkok apartment Wednesday night. Karr arrived in Bangkok on June 6 from Malaysia to look for a teaching job, Lt. Gen. Suwat Tumrongsiskul told The Associated Press.

“They fell in love with each other. She was very beautiful. So he kidnapped her and killed her by accident,” Suwat said.

Attorney: Parents vindicated
Ramsey family attorney Lin Wood said the arrest vindicated JonBenet’s parents, John and Patsy Ramsey. Patsy Ramsey died of ovarian cancer on June 24.

“John and Patsy lived their lives knowing they were innocent, trying to raise a son despite the furor around them,” Wood said. “The story of this family is a story of courage, and story of an American injustice and tragedy that ultimately people will have to look back on and hopefully learn from.”

The attorney said the Ramseys learned about the suspect at least a month before Patsy Ramsey’s death. “It’s been a very long 10 years, and I’m just sorry Patsy isn’t here for me to hug her neck,” Wood said.

[crazyjbn]

“I was with JonBenet when she died,” John Mark Karr told reporters in Bangkok, visibly nervous and stuttering as he spoke. “Her death was an accident.”

Police said Karr, 41, admitted to the killing after he was arrested Wednesday at his downtown Bangkok apartment by Thai and American authorities.

“They fell in love with each other. She was very beautiful. So he kidnapped her and killed her by accident,” Suwat said.

.

he fell in love with her....sick guy

[DaleT]

After seeing this guy on the news, he definitely looks like the type that would do this kind of crime. But one has to wonder, after spending some time in the Thai prison system, what a person would be willing to do (or admit to) to get out of there. Even if it means going straight to a U.S. jailhouse.

[loveevhsince79]

More evidence against the guy is that he was convicted and served time for having child porn on his computer. And unfortunately, many pedophiles travel to Thailand because children are heavily trafficked there for sex.

It's unreal how badly the Boulder police bungled this case. Just reading these few posts, people are still suspect of the parents. How horrible it would be to live under that suspension and watch as the police turn all their attention to you knowing all the while, someone else did it. It's also a shame that the biggest mistake the Ramsey's made was having the means to protect themselves by hiring a lawyer and pr person to handle the media circus that ensued. If these people had been poor, they probably would have been doing time.

It will also be interesting to see if the Ramsey's were the ones funding the ongoing investigation.

[smithjc]

Yeah he definitely looks creepy. Can't believe he was a teacher tho. And how do you "accidentally kill" somebody by strangling them?

He's already admitted to the crime, now he's gotta go do the time. And as I read and agreed in similar thread, I still believe that Patsy and her daughter had something to do with this from the other side.

RIP.

[EJC]

There is some strange stuff going on with this though... About an hour ago, there was a story that his ex-wife told police that he was in Alabama with her when the murders occured, "Karr's ex-wife, Lara Karr, told KGO-TV in California that she does not believe her former husband killed JonBenet because he was with her in Alabama at the time, The Associated Press reported."

and also a story where his brother said Kerr became obesessed with the case after she was murdered... And he was writing letters to the mother about it?... I don't know.... It will be interesting to see how things progress, but I don't think the whole story is out there... The whole thing is freakin' weird.

[Bugs Meanie]

I'm not buying the confession yet. Too much weird stuff going on with it (the wife's alibi, the brother's story etc). It'll be interesting to see how it plays out and see what his relationship was with the family.

Right now he's guilty of being creepy and looking just like Gary Numan.