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.
he also claims that he picked her up from school and took her home and accidentally killed her.
Good Lord, I hope it would detect drugs. Just for the sake of the murder investigation, the police would want to know how the victim was subdued. But this is the Boulder police, so anything's possible.
It's all a question of the DNA, isn't it?
Yes....and linking him to Boulder....
The guy's a nut case, for sure. But if they have DNA, it will be a toss up between jail, the needle or a mental hospital.
LOL. That's about how it goes. My son loves boy babysitters. Mom and Dad prefer the girls. You get home, the family room has been straightened up. The dishes are in the dishwasher. The sitter is quietly reading. It doesn't quite work that way with the boys.
sw
Has the presser started? I'm staying here in hopes someone will report details.
He is creepy. Reminds me of the program: "Criminal Minds". His mannerisms betray innocence.....and there is a lot more "hidden" in this guys head....Like, I can tell you about "others". Scarey!!
no tv here...hoping someone will post the goings-on
They were married at the time, 10 years ago, in 1996. She is *now* his ex-wife. No, they're not friendly. Yikes, press conference now.
You would think. On a side note. Why isn;t Karr in handcuffs. All the video shows him sitting around with no restraints. This wacko could do anything at anytime.
Miz, I am not certain now. I thought that I saw a report that he was facing an unrelated criminal charge over there. But the report probably was about his prior arrest in Sonoma County and not Bangkok.
"Karr was arrested in April 2001 in Sonoma County and charged with five counts of possession of child pornography, but he fled the county before he could be prosecuted, said Sgt. Robert Giordano of the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department."
However, I believe that he was well aware of how sex offenders are treated over there:
News
Child sexual exploitation thrives in Thailand, region
August 17, 2006
BY GRANT PECK
BANGKOK, Thailand -- It's a photo that has become a staple in the tabloids of Southeast Asia: the foreigner taken in by police after being caught in bed with a local boy or girl.
For many area countries that net huge sums from the tourism trade, it's a vivid illustration of its seamiest side -- child sexual exploitation.
The spotlight was on Thailand on Wednesday after a man suspected in the slaying of 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey was arrested here.
In countries such as Thailand, child sexual exploitation builds on a long-standing and vast prostitution industry and thrives where law enforcement is weak or corrupt. That sex with young teens is not a strong taboo in some Asian cultures makes fighting the problem even more difficult.
Poverty-stricken Cambodia in recent years has become new frontier for pedophiles for this very reason. The arrests of aging British rock star Gary Glitter -- first in Cambodia and then in neighboring Vietnam -- put a rare international spotlight on the matter, though new cases come to court virtually every month.
In June, Glitter's child molestation conviction and three-year sentence were upheld by an appeals court in Vietnam. He committed obscene acts with girls ages 10 and 11 at his rented seaside villa.
''This case sends a strong message to child sex offenders around the world that society will not tolerate any form of sexual violence and exploitation of children,'' said Carmen Madrinan of the Bangkok-based child protection group ECPAT International.
AP
DA is speaking now, and saying he is innocent until a trial.
Mary Lacy is about to speak if the Fox news would shut up.
John Mark Karr, 41 years old, was arrested for the murder of Jon Benet Ramsey. Giving background of Karr in Thailand. Traveled extensively since leaving the States several years ago. Spent the last few months, locating, identifying, and arresting Mr. Carr yesterday morning.
Much more work to be done with the suspect in custody. Would have preferred to work out of the public eye. Karr is presumed innocent and rightfully restrained from answering the questions you want answered this morning.
In a generic sense, we work hard with law enforcement not to make an arrest until the investigation is substantially complete. Circumstances can mandate an arrest before the investigation due to circumstances and can drive the timing of an arrest and not commenting on this arrest.
Great deal of speculation and should heed the advice of John Ramsey not to speculate and let the justice system take its course.
And hense.......
Not only "and hense", but also the similarity of the handwriting. Wish I could find the comparison......I remember seeing somewhere, years ago, Patsy's writing and the note, side by side. I believe the "y"s were almost identical.
Different than Nifong who tried the case in the press.
"There are cicumstances that can exist in any case that can mandate an arrest BEFORE the investigation is complete"...
Sounds like they arrested him before he could flee elsewhere. Anyone else?
sw
Wow! The Boulder DA is covering her butt big time. I think she knows this guy is full of crap.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.