Posted on 08/16/2006 2:44:23 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
article Update...
BOULDER, Colo. - A man suspected in the slaying of 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey nearly a decade ago was arrested Wednesday in Thailand, the district attorney said.
District Attorney Mary Lacey said the arrest followed several months of work. She disclosed no details about the suspect before a news conference scheduled for Thursday.
Federal officials familiar with the case, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the man was already being held in Bangkok on unrelated sex charges. CBS reported that he is 41-year-old second-grade teacher and will be brought back to the United States this weekend.
Ramsey family attorney Lin Wood said in Atlanta that he has been told that the suspect once lived in Conyers, Ga., outside of Atlanta. He would not comment on whether the Ramseys knew him, and he said he knew nothing else about the man.
Lin said the Ramseys learned about the suspect a least a month before JonBenet's mother, Patsy Ramsey, died 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.
Investigators said at one point that Patsy Ramsey and her husband, John Ramsey, were under an "umbrella of suspicion" in the slaying, but they were never charged. The Ramseys said an intruder killed their daughter. A grand jury investigation in Boulder ended with no charges.
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."
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. Over the Ramseys accused Boulder police of botching the case.
Law enforcement officials from Boulder were flying to Bangkok to present Thai authorities with documents in the slaying, officials in Washington said. They asked to remain anonymous pending an announcement in Colorado.
KUSA-TV of Denver, citing no sources, reported that the suspect has confessed to certain elements of the crime.
In 2003, U.S. District Judge Julie Carnes 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 Carnes' declaration.
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Associated Press Writer Suzanne Gamboa in Washington contributed to this report.
If this person is proven to be the killer of Jon Benet, what will the police and the press have to say to the Ramsey's? If ever parents were crucified by Denver police investigators and by the press, it was the Ramseys! Now what? Will all those who went to the media to proclaim the parents guilty step forward to admit their mistakes and to apologize to all of us for their stupidity? Somehow, I doubt it.
and another article Update..
Please keep it civil on the thread, Thanks!
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BOULDER, Colo. - A man suspected in the slaying of 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey nearly a decade ago was arrested Wednesday in Thailand, the district attorney said in the long-awaited breakthrough in one of the nation's most lurid unsolved murder cases.
District Attorney Mary Lacey said the arrest followed several months of work. She disclosed no details about the suspect before a news conference scheduled for Thursday.
CBS reported that he is a 41-year-old second-grade teacher and will be brought back to the United States this weekend. Federal officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the man was already being held in Bangkok on unrelated sex charges.
Ramsey family attorney Lin Wood said in Atlanta that the arrest was vindication for JonBenet's parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, who came under suspicion in the slaying.
Wood said the Ramseys learned about the suspect a least a month before Patsy Ramsey's death 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," the attorney said.
Wood said that he had been told that the suspect once lived in Conyers, Ga., outside of Atlanta. He would not comment on whether the Ramseys knew him, and he said he knew nothing else about the man. The Ramseys lived in Georgia up until 1991; they moved back to Atlanta after their daughter's death.
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 child beauty contests has haunted TV talk shows for years afterward, 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.
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."
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 Lacey's direction. Lacey became district attorney in 2001.
Law enforcement officials from Boulder were flying to Bangkok to present Thai authorities with documents in the slaying, officials in Washington said. They asked to remain anonymous pending an announcement in Colorado.
KUSA-TV of Denver, citing no sources, reported that the suspect has confessed to certain elements of the crime.
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Associated Press Writer Suzanne Gamboa in Washington contributed to this report.
I'll go on record that this guy if he is the killer probably had a history of some sort and should have been in jail long ago....just guessing of course, but it does seem these guys are free for much too long...
I am very happy that they caught him. Now, they need to give him the death penalty for his crime.
Just think of it, Thailand.
there was never really any evidence against Patsy.....the handwriting was similar, not conclusive, and she wore the same clothes ...big deal....
the only evidence that I know of that was peculiar was her hair under the tape that bound Jon Benet....and that could easily been explained since Patsy's hair belonged in the house.....
the number of times a mother tortured and killed and bound and possed their own dtr have to be practically nil in the whole of world history.....
This is what interests me most. Also, earlier in the article it said the perp had moved to Georgia. Was he following them?
"Wood said he and the Ramseys "have been totally amazed and impressed with the professionalism of law enforcement" under Lacey's direction. Lacey became district attorney in 2001."
I wonder how many more people he might have killed in the meantime.
Geraldo and others in the "media" practically wanted to have the parents lynched shortly after the murder happened. Glad we can count on them for fairness and objectivity!
There are all sorts of individuals who have obsessive tendencies, they know no bounds when certain things strike their fancy. I hesitate to offer any theories as I know many are want and even driven to do.. however, knowing he was a teacher..
Was he rejected by the mother at some point perhaps and killed the daughter to get back at her? If he followed the family to Georgia as mentioned or a Georgia connection somehow existed, it may show just how sick on an individual the suspect might have been.
We shall have to wait and see how this plays out. I won't go any further than that one and I would hope folks would restrain themselves from going to over the top as well.
They found DNA on the child's body that didn't match hers or anyone's in the family, no? Should be simple enough to rule this man out or match him up.
She would have been arrested had there been conclusive evidence. Lord knows they tried long enough to nail her for it.
Which could explain the confession.
For years I personally thought the Ramseys to be guilty of the murder of Jonbenet. If this should be proven to be true, many owe the Ramseys an apology.
Lets wait and see what kind of evidence the DA has and if it convinces beyond a reasonable doubt.
Bangkok, Oriental setting
And the city don't know what the city is getting
The creme de la creme of the chess world in a
Show with everything but Yul Brynner
...
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