Posted on 08/17/2006 1:51:06 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
BOULDER, Colo. (Reuters) - An American schoolteacher said he was with 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey when she died, but questions surfaced over his story a day after his arrest in Thailand.
A Colorado prosecutor cautioned that more work remained in the case.
John Mark Karr, 41, who was arrested in a dramatic breakthrough in the sensational 1996 murder, spoke to reporters on Thursday while being escorted by authorities in Bangkok. Asked if he was innocent, Karr shook his head and said, "No."
JonBenet was found beaten and strangled in the basement of her Boulder, Colorado, home on December 26, 1996 -- hours after her mother found a bizarre, three-page letter claiming the girl had been kidnapped -- and the unsolved case has since fueled countless theories.
Karr was detained in Bangkok on a U.S. warrant seeking his arrest for murder, kidnapping and sexual assault.
"I was with JonBenet when she died," Karr said. "The death was an accident."
Boulder County District Attorney Mary Lacy said Karr had started teaching second grade in a Bangkok school on Tuesday. She said investigators would have preferred more time to develop evidence but public safety worries and the possibility of flight sometimes prompts an arrest in criminal cases.
"There is much more work to be done now that the suspect is in custody," she said. "John Karr is presumed innocent."
Lacy would not say what evidence her office had against Karr, who came to the attention of authorities by writing a series of e-mails to a Colorado journalism professor who made three documentaries about the murder.
It was not yet clear if Karr's DNA had been tested to compare with fluids found in Ramsey's underwear, or whether other evidence tied him to the crime scene. An unidentified footprint and a handprint were found near the girl's body, which was discovered by her father, her mouth duct-taped and neck tightly garroted.
'I LOVED JONBENET'
Lacy would not comment when asked whether Karr, who once lived near JonBenet's hometown of Atlanta, could have made a false confession. Karr fled Northern California after being charged with possession of child pornography.
Questions arose about Karr's story when his ex-wife, Lara, told KGO-TV in San Francisco that he was with her in Alabama the entire Christmas season when JonBenet was killed.
His father, Wexford Karr, told the Denver Post that his son had been deeply interested in the JonBenet Ramsey case and had researched a book on the subject. KGO said Lara Karr told it her ex-husband had also been fascinated by the case of another murdered girl, Polly Klaas, which had attracted wide publicity.
Educators in Alabama, where Karr had studied education and served a teaching internship, said his interaction with children had raised concerns and he told many contradictory stories about himself.
"I did not think he could interact with children or adults .... You never knew what was true and what wasn't," Janice Myhan, a professor of education at the University of North Alabama, told Reuters.
Lacy's chief investigator, Tom Bennett, said talks were under way with Thai authorities to have Karr returned to the United States. Officials in Washington said Karr would not require extradition from Bangkok and could simply be deported.
Slender, sandy haired and dressed in a blue polo shirt and beige trousers, Karr looked pale and dazed as he appeared briefly at a Bangkok news conference, surrounded by police.
"I loved JonBenet," Karr said in a quiet voice. Asked if he had killed the girl, he appeared to shake his head, but said again: "She died accidentally.
University of Colorado journalism professor Michael Tracey, whose correspondence with Karr attracted the interest of authorities, told Reuters that he began getting the e-mails after the broadcast of his documentary "Who Killed the Pageant Queen."
He said he turned the e-mails, which did not use Karr's real name, over to authorities, who used them to track the suspect to Thailand.
"I am convinced an intruder killed JonBenet," Tracey said. "This guy has the right to be presumed not guilty. Let him have his day in court. The Ramseys were never given the right to be presumed innocent.
(Additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles, Rosalind Russell and Tanny Chia in Bangkok and Deborah Charles in Washington)
"JonBenet Suspect's Polly Klaas Obsession: Karr had girl's death certificate, letter from her killer in home"
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0817062karr1.html?link=rssfeed
This guy may be a sicko of monumental proportions, but not the murderer. I hope for the sake of the family, and for the sake of justice, this guy is guilty.
If his story is true, why a rambling ransom note? To cover his tracks? Did he really have enough time to write a 2 1/2 page note? If it was an accident, why not just leave the house? This case has taken so many bizarre twists and turns I am having a hard time believing anything about this case any more.
even as I sit here listening to experts on with John Gibson and his "Allstar panel', I see and hear both here and in other media mixed reporting, there was DNA, there isn't, there were footprints, there aren't.. there is a mention of a Christmas photo of him with his wife in Georgia, well, let's see it already. etc..
We're only a day in to this , we'll see, it's already been 10 years,, maybe this guy has a 'TaxiDriver' state of mind, delusional may be an understatement to describe his mental state.
Very early this morning I believe he did it, but the whole Karr story is really falling apart now as more info gets out.
its looking like he wasnt even in colorado for this He just researched the case to make a plausible confession , just my initial observations. lets let this play out!
I really don't think this guy had anything to do with this murder - he is just one very sick man and wants his 15 minutes of fame. A couple of things he said apparently don't correspond with the evidence.
I do hope he is the one so the family can finally have some peace but I have a gut feeling he is not.
in feminine handwriting too....
He could be the fall guy so others can have closure and clear names. This would be one way to make up for the totally botched investigation and all will be happy.
The only sure thing right from the start in this case is that an adorable, innocent little child had her life brutally stolen from her by SOMEONE. Just who, I don't really know if the truth will ever come to light. Only three people know the truth, God, Jonbenet and, assuming they are still alive, the killer.
Pornography's link to rape
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1674672/posts
Libertarians will not like this...
Maybe he just wanted a free plane ticket back to the states. ?
Last night the Wife of Doomonyou ran into the MSM barking dogs tracking down this dirtbags trail when he lived in Petaluma. He evidently lived near some friends of ours across town. She was not impressed.
God! This story is news? A tragedy to be sure but barely worthy of news time. Well okay. My own opinion is that given a choice between being in a Thai prison and a US one he decided to make up the story. Time will tell and I am reserving judgement for now and probably a good while to come.
Wait. I'll tell you who this guy is. He is an Iranian agent. His job is to monopolize media attention on this 10 year old murder so that the Iranians can go ahead without scrutiny with their August 22 plot to blow up Israel forever (and maybe more).
Much like the media spent the entire summer of 2001 endlessly on Gary Condit and the poor Capitol Hill girl he had an affair with, this story will absolutely dominate the media.
We all know what happened as summer faded to autumn in September 2001. The only winner in that was Condit. Ever heard a peep about him since?
I remember reading something where this guy says: "I carried JonBenet home"...somtehing liket that. I got the impression he killed her somewhere else and brought her home. Perhaps someone else did kill her and he brought her home.
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