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Suspect in JonBenet Ramsey case calls her death 'an accident'
WTNH ^ | 8/17/06 | AP

Posted on 08/17/2006 5:29:08 AM PDT by varyouga

(Bangkok, Thailand-AP, Aug. 17, 2006 Updated 8:08 AM) _ A former American school teacher said publicly Thursday he was with JonBenet Ramsey when she was killed and called the 6-year-old's death "an accident," a stunning admission that should help answer 10 years of questions in the unsolved murder case. "I am so very sorry for what happened to JonBenet," he told The Associated Press.

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 as he spoke. "Her death was an accident."

Asked if he was innocent of the crime, Karr said: "No."

Later, as he was escorted to his guesthouse to pick up his belongings, he told the AP: "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."

Karr also told the AP he contacted JonBenet's mother, Patsy Ramsey, before her death in June and that he wrote her letters about "many things." He said he hoped that she received the letters.

Karr confessed to the killing after his arrest Wednesday at his downtown Bangkok guesthouse by Thai and American authorities, said Lt. Gen. Suwat Tumrongsiskul, head of Thailand's immigration police.

He said Karr insisted his crime was not first-degree murder but 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 her. He said she was very pretty, a pageant queen. She was the school star, she was very cute and sweet," Suwat said.

Karr declined to say what his connection was to the Ramsey family. Dressed in a turquoise polo shirt and khaki trousers, he appeared ashen with an expressionless look on his face.

An attorney for the Ramsey family said Wednesday that Karr once lived near the family in Conyers, Ga.

JonBenet was found beaten and strangled in the basement of the family's home in Boulder, Colo., on Dec. 26, 1996.

Wednesday's arrest was a surprise development in one of America's most lurid murder cases, which had left a cloud of suspicion over her family after years went by with no arrests. Some feared the case would never be solved.

Striking video images of the blonde-haired girl in child beauty pageants helped propel the case into one of the highest-profile mysteries in the United States.

A law enforcement source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the AP 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.

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. It was not known whether investigators had any DNA evidence against Karr.

The Ramseys learned that police were investigating Karr at least a month before Patsy Ramsey's death in June of ovarian cancer, the family said.

In a statement Wednesday, father 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."

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. Patsy Ramsey reported finding a ransom note in the house demanding $118,000 for her daughter.

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," said Wood, the family attorney.

"John and Patsy lived their lives knowing they were innocent, trying to raise a son despite the furor around them," Wood told MSNBC.

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 as an "undesirable person" given 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 the department's U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Bangkok, said that Karr had left the United States several years ago and had not returned.

The immigration and customs office had assisted the Boulder County District Attorney's Office and the Royal Thai Police in the investigation.

The suspect, who has been in Thailand five times over the past two years, was being detained by immigration police pending arrival of U.S. officials, Suwat said.

When asked how he could travel for so many years in Asia, and whether he was independently wealthy, Hurst responded, "We're asking the same questions."

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. The nine-story hotel offers rooms for as short as three-hour rentals.

The district attorney in Boulder, Mary Lacy, said the arrest followed several months of work.

She said Karr, who had traveled extensively across the world, may also be connected to a prior case in Santa Rosa County, Calif. She did not provide further details.

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.


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: johnmarkkarr; jonbenet; ramsey; thailand
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Comment #61 Removed by Moderator

To: All
re: accident

Was he just practicing his golf swing when he hit her in the head and fractured her skull??

62 posted on 08/17/2006 6:25:51 AM PDT by moondoggie
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To: Anachronism

i thought about that, since there was no forced entry visible and he didnt live in colorado. but hell, who knows.

BY THE WAY, THIS GUY LOOKS LIKE A LIBERAL ACLU LAWYER, DOES HE NOT?


63 posted on 08/17/2006 6:26:10 AM PDT by GodfearingTexan
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To: Halls

There was a documentary on HBO about some whack job doctor that was in love with a woman and kept her corpse for years mummified and had sex with it. YUCK. This sicko may be of the same ilk.


64 posted on 08/17/2006 6:26:25 AM PDT by lone star annie
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To: allen08gop

They need to check on those 8 and 10 year old girls (and the others) in Germany, Netherlands and Korea and find out if he molested them (well duh).

Oh yeah, my cousin's name is John Karr. God I have to call him and ask how his day is going, hehe.


65 posted on 08/17/2006 6:27:04 AM PDT by sandbar
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To: commish
I guess this will come down to DNA.

Suspect's DNA is a match in JonBenet Ramsey case

66 posted on 08/17/2006 6:27:06 AM PDT by steve-b ("Creation Science" is to the religous right what "Global Warming" is to the socialist left.)
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To: steve-b

I know, but these folks refuse to believe it.


67 posted on 08/17/2006 6:28:09 AM PDT by MizSterious (Anonymous sources often means "the voices in my head told me.")
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To: IndyTiger
Viewing his photo, he looks unnaturally thin. AIDS?

that's the first thing that came to my mind when I saw him. I thought to myself,"this guy has AIDS".

68 posted on 08/17/2006 6:28:39 AM PDT by shiva
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To: Anachronism

Caller on WABC radio on Curtis & Kuby just now made a comment that Patsy Ramsey made a death-bed statement and the police were not going to be releasing this statement to the press...????


69 posted on 08/17/2006 6:28:49 AM PDT by auto power
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Comment #70 Removed by Moderator

Comment #71 Removed by Moderator

To: sandbar

Yeah, your cousin is having a bad day or two right now.


72 posted on 08/17/2006 6:31:57 AM PDT by allen08gop ("Woman is the most powerful magnet in the universe... and all men are cheap metal!")
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To: MizSterious
That's exactly the kind of thinking that convicts (literally, or figuratively in the media) the wrong person. For some reason, LE can get tunnel vision on a case, and flat out refuse to investigate other leads

I'm going to wait for more info on this.IMO the pivotal thing is going to be DNA.Right now,I think it's just as possible that this sicko is confessing to something he didn't do (it happens often) than it is that he's really guilty.

73 posted on 08/17/2006 6:32:22 AM PDT by Gay State Conservative
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To: Brilliant

could be a case like Ted Bundy, who was intensely interested in hearing about his own crimes..


74 posted on 08/17/2006 6:32:33 AM PDT by dimeadozen
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To: Gay State Conservative

He must have mentioned things that only the killer(s) would know and therefore they (authorities) feel confident that he is worth the effort in bringing him back to Colorado.


75 posted on 08/17/2006 6:36:54 AM PDT by allen08gop ("Woman is the most powerful magnet in the universe... and all men are cheap metal!")
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To: AppyPappy
"I get the feeling this guy is a nutcase looking for 15 minutes of hard-earned fame."

Me, too. But, he might also be the nutcase who did it. I hope it goes to trial under a very good judge and a competent jury.

It's going to get worse before it gets better, though. Think of the 24 hour a day constant news coverage! Osama Bin Laden could personally drop a nuclear device on the white house from a highjacked B-2 and not one news network would look up from their JonBenet trial coverage.

76 posted on 08/17/2006 6:39:15 AM PDT by GBA
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To: oceanview; onyx

FYI......still no connection to Boulder....how did he even know about JonBenet......beauty pageants?.....


77 posted on 08/17/2006 6:39:21 AM PDT by mystery-ak (My Son, My Soldier, My Hero..............)
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To: Obadiah

yep - he creeps me out - those eyes!


78 posted on 08/17/2006 6:40:17 AM PDT by LadyBuzz
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To: allen08gop

According to his hyper brother last night...John was fascinated with the JonBenet and Polly Klass murders for years...that could explain him knowing some of the details of her murder....like I said last night...only the DNA will solve this case....


79 posted on 08/17/2006 6:43:39 AM PDT by mystery-ak (My Son, My Soldier, My Hero..............)
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To: allen08gop
He must have mentioned things that only the killer(s) would know and therefore they (authorities) feel confident that he is worth the effort in bringing him back to Colorado.

Yes,I've heard this suggested.But when you think of it how much info about this case has *not* been published somewhere at some time? If this guy is a sicko molester (which seems likely) it's easy to imagine that being connected to a case like this would be the dream of such a sicko.

It's also easy to imagine such a sicko following this case obsessively and getting his jollies as he did so.Add to that the concept of "15 minutes of fame" and you have the potential for a false confession,IMO.

80 posted on 08/17/2006 6:43:59 AM PDT by Gay State Conservative
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