Posted on 08/16/2006 8:45:44 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
BANGKOK, Thailand - An American suspect arrested in connection with the death of 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey denied any connection to her murder when he was detained at his downtown Bangkok apartment Wednesday, police said.
The suspect was identified as John Mark Karr, according to Lt. Gen. Suwat Tumrongsiskul, who heads the country's immigration police. Karr denied involvement in the slayings, another police official said.
Karr's visa has been revoked because he was regarded as an "undesirable person" since he is accused of a crime in the United States, Suwat said.
Federal officials in the United States, speaking on condition of anonymity, also identified the suspect as Karr, a 42-year-old American, and said he was being held in Bangkok on unrelated sex charges.
But Thai police said he had not committed any crime in Thailand.
Suwat said he expected American officials to take the suspect back to the United States in the next few days.
The arrest was a surprise breakthrough in one of America's most lurid murder cases — a decade-old crime some feared would never be solved.
JonBenet was found beaten and strangled in the basement of her family's home in Boulder, Colo., on Dec. 26, 1996.
"When we informed him that he has been accused of committing a crime at home he denied all accusations. It is normal for a suspect to deny the charges," said a senior police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The suspect, who has been in Thailand four times over the past two years, was being detained by immigration police pending arrival of U.S. officials, the police said.
Suwat said Thai police investigated the suspect and made the arrest at the request of U.S. officials.
The district attorney in Boulder, Mary Lacy, said the arrest followed several months of work. She would not disclose any details about the suspect, but the Ramsey family's attorney in Atlanta said the man was a schoolteacher who once lived in nearby Conyers, Ga.
I agree. And I assume, hopefully accurately, that there is some evidence that we don't know about.
i hesitate only because we have had some massive snafus.
The suspects wife say they were in Alabama that Christmas. She says there is no way he did it.
(Waits for you to read the responses that point out that his brother says he was in Georgia...)
I think we've all been mis-interpreting this sentence to mean he was held for offenses committed in Thailand, when it really refers to the fact that he was held by Thai officials at the request of US officials on unrelated (to the JonBenet case) sex charges from California.
I think you're right.
Dated April 11, 2002
AUTOMATIC SUSPENSIONS
All certification documents held by the following individuals were automatically suspendedbecause a complaint, information or indictment was filed in court alleging each individualcommitted an enumerated offense specified in Education Code section 44940. Their certificationdocuments will remain automatically suspended until the Commission receives notice of entry ofjudgment pursuant to Education Code section 44940(d) and (e).
21. KARR, John M. Petaluma, CA
I blew up a picture isolating his face from the resume picture and printed it up along with the drawing of the perp they'd been looking for. The face in the drawing is fatter but the eyes and chin in both of them sure look the same and I'm not the only one here that thinks so.
Wouldn't make any difference what pictures they offer because the brother said there might be pictures but had NO EXACT RECOLLECTION OF THE TIMES HE WAS WITH THEM AT XMAS.
Further, he did not know the brother was in Thailand and was so clueless that he couldn't tell you if the brother was still married or not.
Dittoes. That is my plan.
BS Their Santa was Bill McReynolds, who was literally hounded to death over this case.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1685065/posts
Police: Suspect denies link to Ramsey
AP on Yahoo ^ | 8/16/06 | Sutin Wannabovorn - ap
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1685022/posts
Teacher held over murder of US child beauty queen
The Times ^ | August
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1685013/posts
Suspect arrested in JonBenet Ramsey case (Ramsey Tip Led To Arrest!)
Yahoo ^ | 8/16/06
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1685007/posts
Jon Benet Ramsey Suspect a Sonoma County Fugitive (California)
KRON ^ | August 16, 2006
......
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1684960/posts
Suspect's DNA is a match in JonBenet Ramsey case
KUSA-TV | 8/16/06 | KUSA-TV
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1684918/posts
John Ramsey on Today's Arrest in Connection With the Murder of His Daughter, JonBenet Ramsey
Yahoo, PR Newswire ^ | August 16, 2006
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1684907/posts
Man arrested in death of JonBenet Ramsey ***UPDATE*** Name of suspect - John Mark Karr
AP on Yahoo ^ | 8/16/06 | Catherine Tsai - ap
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1684897/posts
Suspect arrested in JonBenet death
Rocky Mountain News ^ | 8-16-06 | Charlie Brennan
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1684888/posts
Arrest Made In JonBenet Ramsey Case (CBS Story)
WFRV ^ | 8/16/06
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1684872/posts
Arrest in JonBenet Ramsey Case Expected "Shortly"
8.16.06 | Michael King
Just received a Foxnews Breaking News Alert in my email that says according to law Enforcement Officials, he has admitted to killing her.
If it is true, I pray they return every single pice of him back soon and in as a small a box as they can find.
Could be BS, but I think I hear in the news that this guy was a friend of a family they knew and he played Santa.
Maybe he came to their house at Xmas or another time but only was Santa to their frieds elsewhere.
Maybe he was a guest to the house through the friends of the family.
Whoops! TWO SANTAS?????
Ramsey case Santa Claus figure dead at 72
"By Christine Reid
Camera Staff Writer
The Santa Claus figure in the JonBenét Ramsey murder case died over the weekend from a heart attack.
Bill McReynolds was found dead in his Mashpee, Mass., home Monday by his wife, Janet, when she returned from a weekend trip. He was 72.
McReynolds, a former University of Colorado journalism professor, portrayed Santa Claus at the Ramseys' home for the third consecutive year in 1996 — two nights before the 6-year-old was found slain.
JonBenét's death, in some respects, paralleled the plot of a play McReynolds' wife had written before the killing.
Authorities collected hair and handwriting samples from the couple in the first few months following the killing, but police sources said they did not consider the McReynolds serious suspects.
The Ramseys, however, called McReynolds a suspect in their book "Death of Innocence: The Untold Story of JonBenét's Murder and How its Exploitation Compromised the Pursuit of Truth."
Janet McReynolds said Wednesday that her husband's involvement in the infamous case was "the greatest trial of his life."
"He was scarred. He was just so devastated by the mere idea anyone would suspect him of a crime," she said.
McReynolds' death was sudden, his wife said, although he had undergone a bypass operation and replacement of aorta valve in 1996.
He was born in Donna, Texas, in 1930, and received his degree in journalism from the University of Texas. After a stint in the Army, McReynolds returned to his alma mater and taught for five years before moving to Minneapolis to attend the University of Minnesota. He earned his doctorate in American Studies and was hired by CU's journalism department in 1968.
The couple spent the next 30 years in Boulder, raising three children.
After his retirement from CU in 1992, the couple moved to Rollinsville. That is when McReynolds' fascination with Santa Claus began, said his wife.
"He really took the role as his life goal," Janet McReynolds said. "He loved being Santa, he loved little children, and then the Ramsey case destroyed that career and just devastated him. He loved that little girl. It was a very sad thing in his life because he genuinely loved children, and it was the happiest part of his life."
McReynolds' big heart made him a popular instructor, said Doug Cosper, who taught with him at CU.
"Some of his students kept relationships with him their entire lives," Cosper said.
"When the Ramsey story happened, he was hurt very badly, and that's why they had to leave Colorado," he said. "They felt they couldn't live here anymore."
When the couple moved to the small town on Cape Cod in 1998, McReynolds left his role of Santa Claus, his wife said. Instead, the grandfather of six filled his time helping the elderly at the local senior center.
"He made a new start. He was beloved by many people here," said Janet McReynolds. "Of course, he would never get over what happened to him. He would never fully recover from that kind of suspicion."
A memorial service is scheduled for Friday in Massachusetts. A service in Boulder will take place later this month, and his ashes will be scattered in one of his favorite Colorado mountain getaways, his wife said.
The couple's 40th wedding anniversary was Sunday.
Contact reporter Christine Reid at (303) 473-1355 or reidc@thedailycamera.com.
September 9, 2002
There was a lot of talk about the DNA methods getting better over the last 10 years on TV today. Maybe some progress has been made in completing the DNA profile that led to this guy??
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