Arrest made in JonBenet Ramsey case

[foggy]

Surprised to see this headline on my google homepage today. Wonderful news after all this time, but how sad that her Mother just recently died and never got to see it happen.

link to article (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/16/us/16cnd-jonbenet.html?hp&ex=1155787200&en=4516007831e72470&ei=5094&partner=homepage)

[Sydneyfan]

Wow, that's big news after all this time. I always thought it was someone in the family - the idea of a stranger breaking into the house in the middle of the night, killing the girl, leaving that bizarre note etc,,, just never seemed to ring true to me. But I guess that must have been what happened.



Surprised to see this headline on my google homepage today. Wonderful news after all this time, but how sad that her Mother just recently died and never got to see it happen.

link to article (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/16/us/16cnd-jonbenet.html?hp&ex=1155787200&en=4516007831e72470&ei=5094&partner=homepage)

[foggy]

I thought it was someone in the family initially too, but then I saw an excellent in-depth special a couple years ago on the A&E channel which really made me doubt the family was involved. Very happy to see that headline today.

[Sydneyfan]

I think part of the problem was that the family came across as so defensive when dealing with the police. It gave the impression they had something to hide. They were probably badly advised by their legal team.



I thought it was someone in the family initially too, but then I saw an excellent in-depth special a couple years ago on the A&E channel which really made me doubt the family was involved. Very happy to see that headline today.

[foggy]

I think the problem was they knew they were the only people being focused on, and I imagine even when you have nothing to hide, it can be really frightening when you feel they want to pin it on you. Although, they did cooperate completely in the beginning, but that wasn't talked about much.

The media also really puts a slant on these things. They never reported on facts that would have pointed towards their innocence. Fairly typical media tactic, but they really took in to an extreme. Plus the Colorado police force weren't all that savvy, having never had a major crime in the area. But the major downfall of the case was they focused on the parents to the point of having tunnel vision.

[Sydneyfan]

I think that "beauty pageant" angle worked against them too. I know over here - where we don't really have a lot of pageants, especially featuring little kids - they kept showing those pix of the JonBenet with big hair and makeup over and over again.

The unspoken inference was that the parents had in some way sexualised the child - and that made it easier for people to believe they had something to do with her death.

[foggy]

This is true. From what I understand those child beauty pageants are pretty common in the South and Patsy was from the South and also in pageants herself. I know it made people raise an eyebrow though. I myself cringed every time I saw that footage, it was pretty horrible.

[Sydneyfan]

There is definately something creepy about beauty pageants for children. Mind you, they make padded bras for prepubescent girls now, so what do I know?

I wonder if this guy - he's a teacher - knew the family and JonBenet. It seems hard to think it was just completely random.



This is true. From what I understand those child beauty pageants are pretty common in the South and Patsy was from the South and also in pageants herself. I know it made people raise an eyebrow though. I myself cringed every time I saw that footage, it was pretty horrible.

[foggy]

I was just watching a story on the news about it and he did know the family, yes. Also, Patsy was aware they were closing in on an arrest before she passed away, so that was good to know.

[Sydneyfan]

I was just watching a story on the news about it and he did know the family, yes. Also, Patsy was aware they were closing in on an arrest before she passed away, so that was good to know.


Yes, she was certainly treated very unfairly in very tragic circumstances. At least she might have got a little bit of peace knowing what was going on at the end.

[sicottem]

WOW...this has been so long. I'm really glad they finally caught the person. I kinda figured that it was never going to happen. Justice! well, kinda

[Sydneyfan]

The latest updates we're getting here.



Mary Lacy, the District Attorney in Boulder, Colorado, has posted a media release on her site stating a man was arrested in Bangkok, Thailand, on Wednesday in relation to the unsolved decade-old murder investigation.

News reports have identified the man as 41-year-old John Mark Karr, a one-time second-grade schoolteacher, who was reportedly being held in Bangkok on unrelated sex charges when he was arrested.

"The suspect was arrested on August 16, 2006, following several months of a focused and complex investigation," Ms Lacy's statement read.

Ramsey family lawyer Lin Wood said Karr once lived in the town of Conyers, Georgia, 40 kilometres south-east of Atlanta.

The attorney also said the Ramseys gave police information about Karr before he was identified as a suspect in their daughter's slaying.

Mr Wood would not say how the Ramseys knew Karr. But 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.

Mr Wood said the Ramseys learned about the suspect at least a month before JonBenet's mother, Patsy Ramsey, died in June from 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," he said.

A law enforcement source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Associated Press that Karr had been communicating periodically with somebody in Boulder who had been following the case and co-operating with law enforcement officials.

He also said Karr had been tracked down online.

He would not comment on whether the Ramseys knew him, and he said he knew nothing else about the man.

Patsy Ramsey's sister, Pam Paugh, of Roswell, Georgia, said the family was celebrating the news of the arrest.

"We are elated. If this is, in fact, the killer, then we have a very heinous killer off the streets to never harm another child," she said.

[sicottem]

He would not comment on whether the Ramseys knew him, and he said he knew nothing else about the man.

I'm sure that they did know him because they had lived in the same area...but that would be very random to do that after 5 years. I dont think they will ever know EXACTLY what happened and why

[foggy]

Thanks for that update, C! I'm watching a news special about it right now..

[Sydneyfan]

Some still have their doubts apparently.....



KDKA) PITTSBURGH Former Allegheny County Coroner Dr. Cyril Wecht has studied the JonBenet Ramsey murder case in depth.

He even co-authored a book about the case a few years ago.

But Wecht has a wait and see attitude about the arrest of John Karr.

And as KDKA's David Highfield reports, the arrest hasn't changed some of Wecht's previous conclusions.

The title of his book is "Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey?"

So Highfield asked Dr. Wecht for his answer.

"I believe that somebody inside the house… let's leave it at that," said Wecht.

First off, Wecht says there's the question of evidence.

"I find no physical evidence," said Wecht. "And there isn't any -- hair, fiber, footprints, fingerprints of an outside intruder to come into the house and leave no point of entry, no point of exit."

Second, Wecht questions how someone unfamiliar with the house would know where JonBenet's room was and then there's the ransom note asking for a specific amount of money.

"The $118,000 which was the amount of money that John Ramsey had gotten as a bonus payment the year before," said Wecht. "Something known to less than a handful of people."

So did Karr know the Ramsey family?

The answer remains unclear for now.

And as for Doctor Wecht's reaction to the arrest.

"The arrest of somebody in Thailand has not, for me thus far, dispelled those reasonable doubts," he said.

Wecht does believe the killer, whomever it was, did not intend to kill JonBenet.

"I believe that her death was the result of a game that was being played," said Wecht.

Not everyone agrees with Dr. Wecht.

Back in 1993, a federal judge concluded that an intruder did kill JonBenet.

A District Attorney in Boulder agreed.

Wecht was never actually hired by anyone in this case.

He became involved after he was contacted by national news outlets.




I should be working :boohoo

[foggy]

I'm pretty familiar with Cyril Wecht from seeing him yapping away all over the place when the case was in the spotlight. Quite an arrogant man, imo. There was DNA evidence found that didn't match anyone in the family, a point that doesn't get reported often. That said, I do agree that we have to wait and see. We already had one rush to judgement.

[sicottem]

wasnt she killed in 1996? anyway...that really sucks, that case needs to be solved

[sicottem]

I'm pretty familiar with Cyril Wecht from seeing him yapping away all over the place when the case was in the spotlight. Quite an arrogant man, imo. There was DNA evidence found that didn't match anyone in the family, a point that doesn't get reported often. That said, I do agree that we have to wait and see. We already had one rush to judgement.

Wecht's findings are pretty misleading then if he is failing to mention some very important evidence

[foggy]

Yes, agreed. His findings are often controversial, like in the OJ Simpson case and not to mention the Warren Commission.

[Sydneyfan]

Yuck. Thailand is kiddie porn central, so no prizes for guessing how this guy has been fillling in his time these past few years.




Accused JonBenet Ramsey killer says death was an 'accident'


(Filed: 17/08/2006)

The primary school teacher accused of killing six-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey has said today that he was with her in her family's basement when she died and that her death was an "accident".


The American primary school teacher is also wanted in connection with other crimes
John Mark Karr, 41, said"I loved JonBenet," in his first public comment since he was arrested in Bangkok yesterday.

Police said Karr admitted to killing JonBenet after he was arrested yesterday by Thai and American officials in his Bangkok home.

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

Karr, speaking to reporters after the news conference, declined to say what his connection to the Ramsey family was or how long he had known JonBenet.

JonBenet was found beaten and strangled in the basement of the family's home in Boulder, Colorado, on Dec 26, 1996.

The murder of the young beauty pageant queen has gone unsolved for a decade and it has frequently cast a shadow of suspicion over her parents.

The Ramsey family's attorney, Lin Wood, said Karr's arrest vindicated JonBenet's parents, John and Patsy Ramsey.

Patsy Ramsey died of ovarian cancer on June 24.



Pic here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/08/17/ujonbenet.xml

[Gibba]

holy shit

[foggy]

I just hope this guy doesn't turn out to be some kook who is confessing because he wants his 20 minutes of fame. They showed a bit of him talking to the press today, very weird stuff.

[Sydneyfan]

I just hope this guy doesn't turn out to be some kook who is confessing because he wants his 20 minutes of fame. They showed a bit of him talking to the press today, very weird stuff.


I haven't caught up with the news this morning, so I haven't heard him speak. He looks like the Serial Killer from central casting though.

[Sydneyfan]

This guy's story is starting to look shakey.




BOULDER, Colo. — Only weeks before she died, police asked JonBenet Ramsey's mother if she would meet with the man now suspected in her daughter's slaying _ a schoolteacher whose worshipful notes described an obsession with 6-year-old beauty queen he called "my love, my life."

Patsy Ramsey was willing but she died from ovarian cancer in June before investigators went any further, family attorney Lin Wood said Friday. And she never saw the words Karr believed she was reading because his messages were secretly being intercepted by authorities.

"He thought that he was corresponding with Patsy, but he wasn't," Wood told The Associated Press. Police in Roswell, Ga., where Ramsey spent the last days of her life, declined to say if they conducted the correspondence ruse.

Karr, 41, is in a Thailand jail awaiting deportation to face charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping and child sexual assault. He told reporters he was with JonBenet when she died in the basement of her Boulder home on Dec. 26, but that her death was an accident.

He told The Associated Press this week that he thought Patsy Ramsey had read his letters in which he "conveyed to her many things, among them that I am so very sorry for what happened to JonBenet."

Friday, a Thai official backed off other details he gave of Karr's story _ details that raised suspicions about whether Karr was really involved or just a wannabe trying to insert himself into a high-profile case.

Lt. Gen. Suwat Tumrongsiskul of the Thai immigration police initially quoted Karr as saying he had sexually assaulted the girl and given her drugs, even though the autopsy showed no drugs in the girl's body. He also told reporters before a news conference that Karr had claimed to have picked up JonBenet at her school, though her death came during the holiday break.

On Friday, Suwat confirmed to the AP his account of the sexual assault. But asked if Karr gave the girl drugs, Suwat said the suspect described the encounter with JonBenet Ramsey as "a blur."

"It may have been drugs, or it may have been something else because (Karr said) it was a blur, blur," Suwat said.

Suwat also said his statement about the girl being picked from school was based on a documentary he had seen and not the interrogation.

The newspaper also published excerpts of e-mails that Karr sent to University of Colorado journalism professor Michael Tracey, who had produced several documentaries on the Ramsey case.

"JonBenet, my love, my life. I love you and shall forever love you," according to an e-mail Karr sent on Dec. 23, 2005, just before the anniversary of her death. "I pray that you can hear my voice calling out to you from my darkness _ this darkness that now separates us."

The e-mail asked Tracey to visit Ramsey's former home in Boulder and read aloud the ode he called "JonBenet, My Love."

"Sometimes little girls are closer to me than with their parents or any other person in their lives. When I refer to myself as JonBenet's Closest, maybe now you understand," he wrote in an another message.

Karr, a divorced father of three who was once detained on charges of possessing child pornography, had also once lived in the Atlanta suburbs where the Ramsey family lived before moving to Boulder.

There is no known piece of evidence tying Karr to Colorado.

[hgrunwell]

Yuck. Thailand is kiddie porn central, so no prizes for guessing how this guy has been fillling in his time these past few years.




Accused JonBenet Ramsey killer says death was an 'accident'


(Filed: 17/08/2006)

The primary school teacher accused of killing six-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey has said today that he was with her in her family's basement when she died and that her death was an "accident".


The American primary school teacher is also wanted in connection with other crimes
John Mark Karr, 41, said"I loved JonBenet," in his first public comment since he was arrested in Bangkok yesterday.

Police said Karr admitted to killing JonBenet after he was arrested yesterday by Thai and American officials in his Bangkok home.

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

Karr, speaking to reporters after the news conference, declined to say what his connection to the Ramsey family was or how long he had known JonBenet.

JonBenet was found beaten and strangled in the basement of the family's home in Boulder, Colorado, on Dec 26, 1996.

The murder of the young beauty pageant queen has gone unsolved for a decade and it has frequently cast a shadow of suspicion over her parents.

The Ramsey family's attorney, Lin Wood, said Karr's arrest vindicated JonBenet's parents, John and Patsy Ramsey.

Patsy Ramsey died of ovarian cancer on June 24.



Pic here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/08/17/ujonbenet.xml
That dood is a freeeeeeeeak.

[foggy]

Well, as some of you may have heard, Karr's DNA didn't match so no charges are being filed. This case just gets crazier as time goes on.

[Sydneyfan]

I wonder why it was even necessary to create all the drama to take him from Thailand to the US. Couldn't they have checked the DNA in Bangkok?

What a nut job though. Didn't he marry a 13 year old girl or something at one stage.? How is that even legal..

[foggy]

Today I heard today they actually did check his DNA in Thailand, but they were concerned the sample wasn't of good enough quality and wanted to bring him in to get an actual swab. And, yeah, he did marry a 13 year old girl. I'm baffled how it even occurred as well, it's certainly not legal.

[Sydneyfan]

Today I heard today they actually did check his DNA in Thailand, but they were concerned the sample wasn't of good enough quality and wanted to bring him in to get an actual swab. And, yeah, he did marry a 13 year old girl. I'm baffled how it even occurred as well, it's certainly not legal.

Ah, okay that makes sense about the DNA. Looks like he got his 15 seconds of fame then.