JonBenet Ramsey case returns: suspect arrested

Post by **|darc|** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 7:10 pm

(CNN) -- A suspect was arrested Wednesday "for the December 26, 1996, murder of JonBenet Ramsey," the district attorney in Boulder, Colorado, said Wednesday.

A law enforcement source identified the suspect as 41-year-old John Mark Karr, a one-time school teacher and American citizen who has lived in Conyers, Georgia.

Karr has confessed to some elements of the crime, law enforcement sources told CNN.

The sources added that Karr had been communicating with someone in Boulder and that online investigation played a key role in leading authorities to the suspect.

It is the first arrest in the decade-long investigation of the 6-year-old beauty pageant contestant's slaying. The breakthrough came as a surprise to many who feared the case might never be solved.

Karr was arrested in Bangkok, Thailand, following "several months of focused and complex investigation," District Attorney Mary Lacy said.

JonBenet's parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, were consulted during the investigation, Lacy said, and the Ramsey family was notified of the arrest. Patsy Ramsey died in June of ovarian cancer at age 49.

Two law enforcement sources told CNN that Karr also is under investigation for an unrelated sex crime.

An investigator with the Boulder County District Attorney's office is bringing Karr to Colorado from Thailand. Prosecutors plan to hold a news conference in Boulder on Thursday.

JonBenet's beaten and strangled body was found in the basement of the family home in Boulder, the day after Christmas in 1996.

An autopsy determined she had received a massive blow to the head and was strangled with a garrote made from a paintbrush.

The Ramseys said an intruder committed the crime, but they remained the subject of suspicion and speculation. A grand jury investigation ended with no indictments.

Law enforcement officials said Karr was not known to investigators at the time. A warrant for his arrest was issued Tuesday night.

With no known suspect, the Ramseys remained the subject of suspicion and speculation and the case provided years of fodder for the news networks and the tabloids. At one point the Boulder police said the Ramseys were under "an umbrella of suspicion."

"It is our hope that this arrest will bring some closure to the Ramsey family after a 10-year ordeal," said the family's attorney, Hal Haddon.

John Ramsey released a statement Wednesday. He said that his wife knew when she died that an arrest might be coming.

"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," Ramsey said. (Read the full statement)

Another attorney, Lin Wood, said that although the family knew and hoped this day was coming, relatives were still not emotionally prepared for it and were working through those emotions.

"We may be, and I say may be, one step closer to the final resolution of the case. But again, I would urge that Mr. Karr be given the presumption of innocence," Wood said.

In 2003 a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against the Ramseys, blaming the police and the FBI for bungling the investigation. The Boulder County District Attorney's Office concurred with the judge's opinion the following month, saying there was little evidence against the couple

The Ramseys left Colorado and had a house in Charlevoix, Michigan, where John Ramsey unsuccessfully ran for office in 2004.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/08/16/ramse ... index.html

SuperMegatron · Post by **SuperMegatron** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 6:49 am

think the guy admitted he was guilty now.

bizzle · Post by **bizzle** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 10:24 am

In the video where he says it was an accident, he sounds like he's reading back in his mind from a script that he's half forgotten.

Wagh · Post by **Wagh** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 3:33 pm

I still think it was the mom.

Post by **Dr. Zoidberg** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 4:10 pm

Anyone who wears their pants that high up has to be guilty of something.

that_guy · Post by **that_guy** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 4:18 pm

Generally its asians that have their pants high up like that. And I still think the parents did it.

Ex-Cyber · Post by **Ex-Cyber** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 4:38 pm

I was sick of this news-drama when it broke, and I'm still sick of it. The family needs closure on this, but I fail to see why the nation does. And frankly I think any parents who would put their six-year-old daughter in beauty pageants have some issues.

AuroEdge · Post by **AuroEdge** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 6:20 pm

Karr said he drugged the girl and had sex with her but no drugs were found in her system at the autopsy. Not only that, how do you accidently kill somebody when they end up being tied up to a chair in her own basement beat to death?

AgentGreen · Post by **AgentGreen** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 7:24 pm

This whole thing is incredibly suspicious to me and when I saw this on CNN yesterday I hated how they were so quick to exonerate the parents.

Post by **Roofus** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 7:51 pm

It may not be this guy.

Post by **|darc|** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 7:55 pm

Jesus, this is ridiculous. This case doesn't really need to be resurrected in the media for nothing.

toastman · Post by **toastman** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 8:28 pm

He doesn't even look Puerto Rican.

bizzle · Post by **bizzle** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 3:15 pm

toastman wrote:He doesn't even look Puerto Rican.

Orange_Ribbon · Post by **Orange_Ribbon** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 3:52 pm

Nice plan to get out of a thiland prison.

Skynet · Post by **Skynet** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 8:27 pm

AuroEdge wrote:Karr said he drugged the girl and had sex with her but no drugs were found in her system at the autopsy. Not only that, how do you accidently kill somebody when they end up being tied up to a chair in her own basement beat to death?

Read that in the paper the other day. How do you accidently beat and strangle (is what the paper said) a young girl? They made no mention of the sex thing, but did the autopsy ever reveal if she was raped?

Regardless this is an annoying case and I'm sick of hearing about it. As someone said before, anyone who puts their child that young in a beauty pageant has some problems. The paper said the parents said she "loved" the pageants. I find that hard to believe if it wasn't forced upon her to start with.

The whole thing is fishy, always has been.

ace · Post by **ace** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 9:20 pm

Skynet wrote:did the autopsy ever reveal if she was raped?

There was evidence that she had been sexually mistreated, but there was no evidence of semen on or in the body. Also, someone other than her own or a family members blood was found in her panties, but at the time they had no one to match the blood to.

Post by **|darc|** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 10:10 pm

Orange_Ribbon wrote:Nice plan to get out of a thiland prison.

That's what I'm starting to think.

Skynet · Post by **Skynet** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 10:34 pm

ace wrote:
Skynet wrote:did the autopsy ever reveal if she was raped?
There was evidence that she had been sexually mistreated, but there was no evidence of semen on or in the body. Also, someone other than her own or a family members blood was found in her panties, but at the time they had no one to match the blood to.

Oh ok.

MystiK · Post by **MystiK** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 1:15 am

i'm interested to see how far this nonsense will go. He didn't kill her. He told authorities he ''picked her up from school and brought her home'' and then it followed from there. Then he told a friend he slipped through a window in the basement and hid under her bed and waited for her to fall asleep and then it followed from there. What nonsense.