Posted on 08/17/2006 7:51:23 AM PDT by Arec Barrwin
Ex-wife gives alibi for JonBenet suspect
By ALISA TANG, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 1 minute ago
A former American school teacher said publicly Thursday that he was with JonBenet Ramsey when she died in what he called "an accident," a stunning admission after a decade without answers in the 6-year-old girl's murder. But the suspect's ex-wife said she was with him in Alabama at the time of JonBenet's 1996 death.
John Mark Karr, 41, will be taken within the week to Colorado, where he will face charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping and child sexual assault, Ann Hurst of the Department of Homeland Security told a news conference in Bangkok.
"I was with JonBenet when she died," Karr told reporters afterward, visibly nervous and stuttering. "Her death was an accident."
Asked if he was innocent of the crime, Karr said: "No."
As he was escorted to his guesthouse to pick up his belongings, Karr told The Associated Press: "I am so very sorry for what happened to JonBenet. It's very important for me that everyone knows that I love her very much, that her death was unintentional, that it was an accident."
Asked what happened when JonBenet died, he said: "It would take several hours to describe that. It's a very involved series of events that would involve a lot of time. It's very painful for me to talk about it."
He told the AP he made "several efforts to communicate with Patricia before she passed away," referring to JonBenet's mother, who died in June, "and it is my understanding that she did read my letters."
No evidence against Karr has been made public beyond his own admission. U.S. and Thai officials did not directly answer a question at the news conference Thursday about whether there was DNA evidence connecting him to the crime.
Karr's ex-wife, Lara Karr, told KGO-TV in California that she was with her former husband in Alabama at the time of JonBenet's killing and she does not believe her former husband was involved in the homicide.
She said her ex-husband spent a lot of time studying the cases of Ramsey and Polly Klaas, who was abducted from her Petaluma, Calif., home and slain in 1993.
Karr on Thursday refused to say what his connection was to the Ramsey family. An attorney for the Ramsey family said Wednesday that Karr once lived near the family in Conyers, Ga.
Lt. Gen. Suwat Tumrongsiskul, head of Thailand's immigration police, said Karr confessed to the killing after his arrest by Thai and U.S. authorities Wednesday at his downtown Bangkok guesthouse.
Suwat said Karr insisted that JonBenet died during a kidnapping attempt that went awry.
"He said it was second-degree murder. He said it was unintentional," Suwat said. "He said he loved this child, that he was in love with her. He said she was very pretty, a pageant queen. She was the school star, she was very cute and sweet."
Suwat quoted Karr as saying he tried to kidnap JonBenet for a $118,000 ransom but that his plan went awry and he strangled her.
JonBenet was found beaten and strangled in the basement of the family's home in Boulder, Colo., on Dec. 26, 1996.
Patsy Ramsey reported finding a ransom note in the house demanding $118,000 for her daughter.
Images of the blonde girl competing in child beauty pageants helped propel the case into one of the highest-profile mysteries in the United States.
DNA was found beneath JonBenet's fingernails and inside her underwear, but Lin Wood, the family's longtime attorney, said two years ago that detectives were unable to match it to anyone in an FBI database.
A law-enforcement source told the AP on condition of anonymity that Karr had been communicating periodically with somebody in Boulder who had been following the case and cooperating with law-enforcement officials.
A University of Colorado spokesman, Barrie Hartman, said journalism professor Michael Tracey communicated with Karr over several months and contacted police. The university spokesman said he didn't know what prompted Tracey to become suspicious of Karr.
Tracey produced a documentary in 2004 called "Who Killed JonBenet?" A woman who answered the phone at a number under his name said he didn't live there anymore; his office phone mailbox was full.
Investigators said at one point that JonBenet's parents were under an "umbrella of suspicion" in the slaying, and some news accounts cast suspicion on JonBenet's older brother, Burke. But the Ramseys insisted an intruder killed their daughter, and no one was ever charged.
Over the years, some experts suggested that investigators had botched the case so thoroughly that it might never be solved. The Ramseys moved back to Atlanta after their daughter's slaying.
"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.
"John and Patsy lived their lives knowing they were innocent, trying to raise a son despite the furor around them," he told MSNBC.
The Ramseys learned that police were investigating Karr at least a month before Patsy Ramsey's death from ovarian cancer, the family said.
In a statement Wednesday, John Ramsey said that if his wife had lived to see Karr's arrest, she "would no doubt have been as pleased as I am with today's development almost 10 years after our daughter's murder."
Bob Raines, principal at Wilson Elementary School outside Petaluma, said he twice hired Karr as a substitute in second- and fourth-grade classes in 2001. After observing him, Raines said he concluded Karr hadn't been trained, had poor skills keeping classes focused and was ineffective.
A couple months later, Sonoma County sheriff's officials sent a letter to school officials saying Karr had been arrested, said Carl Wong, the Sonoma County superintendent of schools.
Sonoma County Chief Deputy District Attorney Joan Risse confirmed the child pornography charges and arrest warrant against a John Mark Karr, though she cautioned that she didn't know if he was the same person held Bangkok. State records show Karr lost his teaching credential in 2002.
Police said Karr had been living in a dormitory-style guesthouse called The Blooms in a neighborhood of massage parlors and travel agents that cater to expatriate residents and sex tourists.
Suwat said U.S. authorities informed Thai police on Aug. 11 that an arrest warrant had been issued for Karr on charges of premeditated murder. The warrant was sent to Thai police on Wednesday.
"Through investigation we were able to determine where his residence was and the Thais arrested him," Hurst said. "He did not resist. He did express surprise."
Hurst said Karr has been "very cooperative" with authorities and that he's shown a "variety of emotions."
Suwat said Karr arrived in Bangkok on June 6 from Malaysia to look for a teaching job. It was not clear whether he had gotten a job, the police officer said.
Karr's visa has been revoked for being an "undesirable person" after the accusations against him, and U.S. authorities were expected to take him to the United States in the next few days, Suwat said.
Hurst, with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Bangkok, said that Karr had left the United States several years ago and had not returned.
Yes. It's in some of the articles posted on FR too.
Looks like we are on the same page here! The police were determined to ignore anything that would have exonerated the Ramsey's.
Karr was on his way back to the States according to CNN when the perp talked to media at the airport. This guy is freaky when you hear him talk.
The brother barely knows him, doesn't even know the basics of his work history or that he was even in Asia now or that he was divorced. Sounds to me like this brother is trying to be the loyal family member and defend the guy, but really has no basis for knowing one way or another.
Put another way: I have four siblings and we have all lived separately in quite a variety of different states all of our adult lives. I could answer in a heartbeat, with certainty, whether any of them had ever worked or lived in a particular state. This guy's "to the best of my knowledge...." suggests to me that he and his brother are often a long time between contact.....
quote
He declined to disclose the nature of his supposed relationship to the Ramsey family, or how he may have known JonBenet.
Asked for details of how she died, Karr replied: "It would take several hours to describe — to describe that."
"There's no way I could be brief about it. It's a very involved series of events," said Karr, who speaks with a thick Southern accent. "It's very painful for me to talk about."
---
(snip) Karr said that JonBenet's death was "not what it seems to be," though he declined to elaborate.
"In every way," he added, as authorities bundled him into a waiting vehicle. "It's not at all what it seems to be."
end quote
Also, he says he drugged here and had sex with her here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060817/ap_on_re_as/jonbenet_ramsey_61
Wouldn't the autopsy detect drugs?
The article says he was emailing the professor. It has come out in interviews with other investigators that he was also emailing Patsy Rasmey.
www.websleuths.com
www.acandyrose.com
www.forumsforjustice.com
These three sites have much, much more information about the case, for begining to now.
Just out 7 minutes ago. He claims to have drugged her and raped her. What about drugs at the autopsy? Anyone remember?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060817/ap_on_re_as/jonbenet_ramsey_61
Tell me about it, I have 3 boys, had one of my best friends HS aged son offer to watch the boys, of course my guys were thrilled. Played football outside till they couldn't see the ball anymore, then moved inside, took mattresses off the bed and made one big wrestling mat in my family room. Needless to say my kids had a blast! LOL BTW, that young man, who I adore like my own child, is graduating from Parris Island tomorrow, he will be a Marine, I am so proud of him!!!!!
Anyone: Thread or live link to the DA's news conference?
For what it's worth, some local residents of Aspen were convinced the Ramseys did it because "you know, with all that money these people do these things." Oh...really? There's a lot of money in Aspen...do they know something we in rural communities don't? I found that very troubling.
Would think the autopsy would show that and could be one of the missing items that the police did not disclose.
Wouldn't the autopsy detect drugs?
YES...they just discussed this on Fox...no drugs were found in the autopsy, and they were looked for......I don't think this is the guy, unless he is being misquoted...
Why is it odd? It was Christmas and a big news story that she had been murdered. The family said they discussed it at the time.
I'd probably remember if my brother was with me at Christmas and we'd talked about a high profile crime.
sw
Very good!!! Hopefully he is the one!
Agree, which is why I'm asking. Is this the one?
TV here. I'll TRY to update if I can.
That is troubling! Actually it is pretty creepy!
Yes, Greta said that a lot of the police report was blacked out.
Well, if they're looking for deep pockets, it could have been Soros.
;)
Excellent. Cubicle bound here. Was getting used to that Fox live feed 'til they pulled the plug last week.
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