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.
Keep reading. The handwriting theory has been debunked.
No problem!! We put a nice white sheet down first!! Mom gave up and we outgrew our "tumbling".
I've passed our "technique down to my grandchildren. :-)
Doesn't sound like she will be answering questions...this is more of a *pat on the back* presser...
Some of has are w/o the benefit of television...could you share what the DA said?
That's what I'm thinking. He'd been followed for several weeks and perhaps he knew he needed to get out of Dodge.
There will be no news in this case. She is tight-lipped and wants this case to be tried in court. This will be the case of the century. MSM will have field day but she is really trying to be professional and I admire her attitude.
(by the way, is she a dim or a conservative?) she is thanking all involved in investigation... naming them all, like President Bush does. My guess is she is one of us.
.but I think they arrested him for what he knows....not what he did.
She is just thanking all LEOs..and saying Karr is presumed innocent....no news
Since they have him on CA child porn charges, they can keep him in the can until they finish the investigation. But it sounds as if they (CO DA) are not ready to charge him yet on the Ramsey case. Has he been formally charged, or just arrested?
No, no, I don't think it's odd his wife recalls that he was in Alabama; I think that his wife's recalling this throws his confession into doubt.
Follow up on all legimate leads -- John and Patsy Ramsey have cooperated fully on everything. Lead investigator and two other people being introduced. Heartfelt gratitude to the many agencies that have assisted them. Thai officials, Rosell GA police department and Atlanta FBI, Atlanta PD, Cobb County PD, Immigration people and FBI coordinated. At every level in Thailand law enforcement joined forces to provide 24 hour assistance seven days a week.
Total cooperation by various agencies. Very little that can be said about an ongoing investigation.
Except he wasn't in a Thai prison, ever and is not charged with any crimes in Thailand.
A poorly worded article led to this impression, but the facts are that he was arrested by Thai police at his appartment at the request of US officials on unrelated (to the Ramsey case) sex charges stemming from the CA child porn conviction in 2001.
He didn't confess to avoid or get out of a Thai prison. See my tagline.
Doe anyone know what political party this DA is????
As I mentioned above, she attended Patsy's funeral in Florida on her own time. She wouldn't have done that if she thought Patsy was in some way responsible for the crime.
Mostly thanking all who helped with the investigation, and saying she wouldn't be providing the answers everyone wants. She wants a fair trial, etc.
I'm thinking I need to stay off these threads until the trial, if there is one. People who believe the Ramseys did it will not change their minds, and neither will those on the innocent side. Hopefully there will be a trial and it will all come out.
Meanwhile, a federal judge has ruled the NSA surveillance unconsitutional--far more serious to me at this time. (Wonder if it's a Clinton appointment?)
I like her... for what it is worth.
That's how I took it since he was under 24/7 surveillance in Thailand.
Think going to work as a 2nd grade teacher also may have tipped things.
No charges filed at this time -- she is completely professional. A total ethical DA -- am impressed.
BTW, in the Lindberg baby kidnapping, over 200 crazy people gave false confessions..
sw
If there is "no news" coming out, all we're going to hear is speculation. For months.
Well..sinceit'sunavoidable on tv..I'm watching this press conf. I see/hear nothing here that makes me understand the evidence behind the arrest. The guy is nuts- from all appearances.
But..........there's nothing else?
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