Sources: Arrest made in JonBenet Ramsey case

[gldstwmn]

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

Authorities have made an arrest in the JonBenet Ramsey case, law enforcement sources told CNN on Wedesday.

An investigator with the Boulder County, Colorado, District Attorney's office traveled to Bangkok, Thailand, and is bringing a suspect back to the United States, CNN's Denver affiliate KUSA reported.

The suspect was arrested Wednesday morning and has confessed to certain elements of the crime that are unknown to the general public, KUSA reported.

Prosecutors have not confirmed the identity of the suspect, but expect to hold a press conference later today.

JonBenet's beaten and strangled body was found in the basement of the family home in Boulder, Colorado, the day after Christmas in 1996. She was 6.

A grand jury investigation into the death of the child beauty pageant winner ended without charges in 1999.

The investigation focused a spotlight on the child's parents, John and Patsy Ramsey. Patsy Ramsey died in June.

The Ramseys said an intruder committed the crime, but they remained the subject of suspicion and speculation.

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

[KarmaContestant]

Isn't this amazing? I always was so convinced that Patsy had done it....guess I may have been wrong. Poor woman, to have died being accused of the crime, and to never know that the real criminal would be cought.

Though, I imagine she knows now.

[skcin]

After all these years, to arrest someone so soon after Patsy's death? The whole thing's just weird & so tragic.

[DrummerDeanna]

Originally Posted by skcin

After all these years, to arrest someone so soon after Patsy's death? The whole thing's just weird & so tragic.

I was thinking the same thing. But this guy was apparently being held on unrelated sex charges in Bangkok - and according to authorities he has confessed to certain elements of the crime that are unkown to the general public. Should be interesting.

[jannieC]

Originally Posted by skcin

After all these years, to arrest someone so soon after Patsy's death? The whole thing's just weird & so tragic.

My thoughts exactly.

I was so obssessed with this case for many years and I truly believed that if Patsy didn't committ the murder, that she knew what had happened. I was completely convinced of her guilt. Crazy.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by KarmaContestant

Isn't this amazing? I always was so convinced that Patsy had done it....guess I may have been wrong. Poor woman, to have died being accused of the crime, and to never know that the real criminal would be cought.

Though, I imagine she knows now.

Did you live here around the time of the murder? My god, every parent I knew was flipped out by this. And it was Christmas and that's all there was on the television. The cops I knew at the time swore that someone in the house committed the crime. I was never so sure. If this holds up, then I am glad they caught this monster. I feel such a sense of sadness for the family and everything they have been through.

[SortaSavageLike]

If I ever get murdered I hope they spend just as long going after my killers. Unfortunately, I'm a guy, 20 years old, and not particuarly cute.

[Livia]

Wild! It will be interesting to see how this unfolds. Who IS this guy? And who was he to the Ramsey family? Just some random intruder/pedophile stalker or someone they knew?

[KarmaContestant]

Originally Posted by Livia

Wild! It will be interesting to see how this unfolds. Who IS this guy? And who was he to the Ramsey family? Just some random intruder/pedophile stalker or someone they knew?

And to be arrested in Thailand, of all places. Hopefully there are more details tonight.

[Mad4stevie]

Originally Posted by Livia

Wild! It will be interesting to see how this unfolds. Who IS this guy? And who was he to the Ramsey family? Just some random intruder/pedophile stalker or someone they knew?

They are saying he is from Conyers, Georgia, and that he is a 41 year old 2nd grade school teacher, who is a convicted sex offender.

This should be an example of how out of control things can get when the media and local police have a narrow view of things from the starting gate. This poor family has been through hell. I cannot imagine being accused of something so terrible and having the public totally think you are guilty no matter what you do or say. For gosh sakes, Patsy Ramsey took three separate polygraph tests by an independent examiner and they all came back that she was unequivocally not being deceptive.

There was NOTHING, except the fact that they could not exclude Patsy as the writer of the note, that connected them to the crime.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by Livia

Wild! It will be interesting to see how this unfolds. Who IS this guy? And who was he to the Ramsey family? Just some random intruder/pedophile stalker or someone they knew?

I don't know yet how he was connected to the family but the news is reporting that his DNA matches the DNA found in...I think it was her underwear? They are reporting him to be a second grade teacher from Conyers, GA byt the name of Jon (John?) Karr. Lord have mercy.

[mikeschmike]

Originally Posted by SortaSavageLike

If I ever get murdered I hope they spend just as long going after my killers. Unfortunately, I'm a guy, 20 years old, and not particuarly cute.

Your legacy of posting fabulous Stevie pictures will last forever. Far better then a pageant win and a zirconia clad tiara IMO.

[KarmaContestant]

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

Did you live here around the time of the murder? My god, every parent I knew was flipped out by this. And it was Christmas and that's all there was on the television. The cops I knew at the time swore that someone in the house committed the crime. I was never so sure. If this holds up, then I am glad they caught this monster. I feel such a sense of sadness for the family and everything they have been through.

I sure did. It was craziness!

I'll never forget seeing Patsy Ramsey at the Bluebird Theatre for a Nina Storey concert either. She was intriguing.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by KarmaContestant

I sure did. It was craziness!

I'll never forget seeing Patsy Ramsey at the Bluebird Theatre for a Nina Storey concert either. She was intriguing.

I feel like calling up that bastard detective, although I can't remember his name, that wrote that book about John and Patsy and went on national television and basically called them murderers. He should apologize to them in front of the whole world. If he had his way, they'd be in prison right now.
Nina Storey at the Bluebird? Haha...good times. The closest brush I ever had with the Ramsey case was Pasta Jay. Remember that dude? Turns out, he was right. This whole thing is kind of mindblowing.

[Gypsy-Rhiannon]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/08/17/ra...est/index.html

(CNN) -- In a shocking twist to an already bizarre and riveting mystery, Thai police on Thursday said the man arrested in connection with the 1996 slaying of little JonBenet Ramsey has confessed to the crime.

Nearly a decade after the body of the child beauty queen was found in the basement of her family's sprawling Colorado home -- setting off a media sensation and years of speculation regarding her killer -- authorities on Wednesday had announced they had arrested a suspect halfway around the world.

A law enforcement official identified the suspect as John Mark Karr, 41, a former schoolteacher and an American citizen. A U.S. government source in Bangkok, Thailand, said Karr was arrested there Wednesday and was in Thai police custody.

Karr was arrested at his apartment in Bangkok, said Thai Immigration police Maj. Akkrapong Sunthornvipak. He spent Wednesday night at Bangkok's Immigration Detention Center.

Lt. Gen. Suwat Thamrongrisakul, chief of Thai immigration, said Thai police have a three-count U.S. arrest warrant charging Karr with first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping and sexual child abuse. While not directly tying Karr's arrest to the Ramsey case, he said all of the alleged crimes took place in the United States in 1996 -- the same year JonBenet was killed.

Suwat said Thursday that Karr had confessed to killing JonBenet Ramsey.

According to Suwat, Karr's visa has been revoked and he is being interrogated by Thai and U.S. authorities. (Watch how DNA evidence could be key in the case -- 4:50)

The arrest was made after a tip from a U.S. agency working closely with Thai officials, Akkrapong said. Karr was undergoing questioning Thursday by Thai police "to find the ground for extraditing him," he said. There was no evidence Karr had committed a crime in Thailand, he said.

Mary Lacy, the district attorney in Boulder, Colorado, said in a written statement the suspect was arrested "following several months of a focused and complex investigation." Lacy's statement did not identify the suspect. (Watch how the investigation was a "complex" one -- 1:51)

Law enforcement officials said the suspect will be brought back to the United States. The investigation was being led by the Boulder County District Attorney's Office, along with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the officials said.

Two law enforcement sources told CNN the man was under investigation for an unrelated sex crime when information led to his arrest in the Ramsey case.

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

The arrest will likely dispel the cloud of suspicion that has hung over JonBenet's parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, ever since the girl's death on Dec. 26, 1996 in their Boulder home. (Watch John Ramsey react to news of the arrest -- 2:17)

It was John Ramsey who found his 6-year-old daughter's body. Earlier that morning, the girl had been reported missing, and Patsy Ramsey reported finding a three-page ransom letter demanding $118,000 on a staircase in the home.

Autopsy results showed JonBenet had received a massive blow to the head and was strangled with a rope that the killer tightened by twisting an attached paint brush handle.

The Ramseys maintained an intruder killed their daughter, but they remained the subject of suspicion and speculation in the case, which provided years of fodder for news networks and tabloids. Though no one was ever named as a suspect, at one point the Boulder police said the Ramseys were under "an umbrella of suspicion."
Officials: Online communications were key to probe

Karr confessed to some elements of the crime, law enforcement officials earlier told CNN, and had been communicating off and on with someone in Boulder who was working with law enforcement on the case. Earlier, CNN affiliate KUSA had reported that the elements the suspect had confessed to were unknown to the public.

Karr's online communications were a key part of the probe, the officials said.

The arrest came too late for Patsy Ramsey, who died in June of ovarian cancer at age 49. However, John Ramsey said he and his wife knew investigators were pursuing a suspect prior to her death.

"The investigation of the individual arrested today in connection with JonBenet's death was discussed with Patsy and me by the Boulder district attorney's office prior to Patsy's death in June," he said in a written statement. "So 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." (Read the full statement)

John Ramsey told KUSA on Wednesday, "I was notified this morning that an arrest had been made. I'm just absolutely impressed with the effort that went into accomplishing this by the Boulder DA's office and the other agencies that were involved. ... It's just beyond impressive what they accomplished."

But Ramsey also added a note of caution.

"Based on what happened to us, I don't think it's proper that we speculate or discuss the case," John Ramsey told KUSA. "It's important that justice be allowed to run its course and do its job."

"We have, in a sense, turned the justice process over to the media," he said. "I think it's gotten out of control."

Pam Paugh, Patsy Ramsey's sister, said, "I don't feel that I need to stand here and say to the world, 'I told you so.' We are a family that has lived on the truth, and the truth as we knew it was that neither John nor Patsy, Burke (JonBenet's older brother) nor any other family member had ever laid a hand on JonBenet." (Watch JonBenet's aunt react to the arrest -- 4:36)

Lacy's office has scheduled a news conference on Thursday.
Suspect's brother: 'Whole thing is ridiculous'

Ramsey attorney Lin Wood of Atlanta said Karr "has some background" in Conyers, Georgia, an Atlanta suburb, and at one point was a schoolteacher.

Karr's father and brother still live in metro Atlanta, in the suburb of Sandy Springs, but were not home Wednesday night. However, Karr's brother, Nate, told CNN: "This whole thing is ridiculous."

Asked by KUSA whether he knew the suspect, John Ramsey said, "I really can't comment on that. To my knowledge, no, I didn't, but I don't know enough yet (to say for sure)."

The Ramseys also lived in the Atlanta area before they moved to Boulder. The day after JonBenet was buried in the Atlanta suburb of Marietta, the Ramseys gave CNN an exclusive interview. "There is a killer on the loose," a tearful Patsy Ramsey said in that interview. "I don't know who it is. I don't know if it is a he or a she, but if I were a resident of Boulder, I would tell my friends to keep your babies close to you. There's someone out there."

Patsy Ramsey was laid to rest beside her daughter in Marietta. On Wednesday, a family friend taped a note to her grave. It read, "Dear Patsy, justice has come for you and John. Rest in peace."

Wood said he regretted "that Patsy's not here to be able to speak to you herself and express her feelings to you. I am confident she would urge the media to refrain from speculating about this individual, despite his arrest."

Speaking of John Ramsey, Wood said: "I know that he feels some sense of relief.

"I know that he feels that this is a major step, potentially, in the final resolution to the case. 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."

A statement issued by another Ramsey attorney, Hal Haddon, said: "It is our hope that this arrest will bring some closure to the Ramsey family after a 10-year ordeal."

In 2003, a federal judge dismissed a libel-slander lawsuit against the Ramseys and said evidence suggested an intruder had killed JonBenet. The lawsuit had been filed by a freelance journalist whom the Ramseys had described as a suspect in a book they had written.

The Boulder County District Attorney's Office concurred with the judge's opinion the following month, saying there was little evidence against the couple.

Asked about the worst part of the whole ordeal, John Ramsey said, "The hardest part was losing a child, by far."