Suspect arrested in Jon Benet Ramsey case

[Nbadan]

According to accounts today in The Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post, Boulder law enforcement officials began to focus on Mr. Karr in recent months because of e-mail exchanges Mr. Karr had over the course of four years with Michael Tracey, a journalism professor at the University of Colorado.

Mr. Tracey had made several do entaries about the case that challenged the work of the police and the public’s rush to blame the Ramseys for their daughter’s death; The News reported that Mr. Karr got in touch with Mr. Tracey after seeing one of the do entaries.

According to the newspaper, Mr. Tracey alerted private detectives hired by the Ramsey family about the correspondence with Mr. Karr, including Lou Smit, a former investigator for the Boulder district attorney’s office who resigned in 1998 in protest at the investigation’s focus on the parents.

The investigators encouraged Mr. Tracey to remain in contact with Mr. Karr, The News reported.

NY Times

[Nbadan]

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - 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.

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," John Mark Karr told reporters afterward, visibly nervous and stuttering as he spoke. "Her death was an accident."

AP News

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

[Nbadan]

Dead Psychic image revisited...

DENVER -- Psychic Dorothy Allison believed she knew what JonBenet's killer looked like and provided a sketch to the Ramsey family, based on her visions.

The Ramsey family Web site published the sketch, asking the public, "Have you seen this man? This man may have been in the Boulder area in December 1996."

The sketch was also given to Boulder police, who continued to insist that nobody outside the family was likely involved in the crime.

Comparing the sketch side-by-side with that of a picture of suspect John Karr appears to show remarkable resemblance.

The Denver Channel

[01Snake]

I still say this guy is full of .

[boutons_]

The cable news channels have latched onto this story just as if JonBenet (faux French bull stage name) was murdered yesterday.

I think the creepy, pushy way her parents were training her as peforming monkey was sick. I wonder how JB is viewing America's culture at its peak?

[Nbadan]

What Karr has said - and what he has declined to say - cast some doubt on his involvement in the decade-old crime. Karr reportedly said that he'd picked up JonBenét at school - even though the crime was committed on the day after Christmas, when school wasn't in session. Karr said he drugged and sexually assaulted JonBenét before realizing he had killed her. But an autopsy found no trace of drugs in JonBenét's system, and evidence of sexual assault was inconclusive. "There's a huge inconsistency there," said Laurence "Trip" DeMuth, who was once one of the lead prosecutors in the case. Karr described the killing as an accident, even though JonBenét had been beaten and strangled with a garrotte. Asked how he gained entry to the Ramseys' home in Boulder, he wouldn't comment. Asked what happened to JonBenét, he sidestepped the question...

Knutson told San Francisco television station KGO-TV on Wednesday that Karr was with her in Alabama during the 1996 holiday season. Records also show that Karr was enrolled in an Alabama community college at the time. "There's reason to take this confession not just with a grain of salt, but with the whole container," said criminal justice professor James Alan Fox of Northeastern University in Boston. Former Georgia Bureau of Investigation special agent John Lang, who often assisted Boulder police in their investigation, said he never heard Karr's name mentioned and also urged caution when assessing his confession. "Everything in this case was leaked from the get-go," he said, adding that investigators should be wary of a Ramsey fanatic fabricating a rather detailed confession. "So many people are infatuated with this case."

Denver Post

[Yonivore]

I think it's his "get-out-of-Thailand-free" card and, in the process, get 15 minutes of fame.

Parents still on the hook.

[101A]

I think it's his "get-out-of-Thailand-free" card and, in the process, get 15 minutes of fame.

Parents still on the hook.

There is only "Parent" now. Patricia Ramsey died earlier this year of ovarian cancer.

[Yonivore]

There is only "Parent" now. Patricia Ramsey died earlier this year of ovarian cancer.

Okay, she's off the hook. But, that doesn't mean she wasn't involved in the crime.

[Crookshanks]

I saw this case profiled on one of the true crime shows, and there were just too many facts that didn't fit with the parents killing her. The original investigators insisted the parents were involved and they had tunnel vision when it came to investigating any other leads.

I now think this Karr dude may be lying. He seems like a nutcase who was obsessed with the case and wants to be a part of it. I hope I'm wrong - because that would be so sad for Mr. Ramsey.

[Ocotillo]

I think it's his "get-out-of-Thailand-free" card and, in the process, get 15 minutes of fame.

I seem to recall hearing a report somewhere that this guy was in legal problems in thailand relating to child porn. Could well be a preference for an American prison to a Thai one.....

[Yonivore]

I seem to recall hearing a report somewhere that this guy was in legal problems in thailand relating to child porn. Could well be a preference for an American prison to a Thai one.....

Here's hoping Denver investigator will be able to verify (or disprove) his confession before they haul him back to the States. If he's lying, let him rot in Thailand. If he's not, bring him home and execute him.

[Nbadan]

John Mark Karr, 41, was arrested Wednesday, a day after he began teaching second grade in Bangkok, District Attorney Mary Lacy told reporters in Colorado. JonBenet was found beaten and strangled in the basement of her family's home in Boulder, Colo., on Dec. 26, 1996.

Karr told investigators he drugged and had sex with the child beauty queen before accidentally killing her, said a senior Thai police officer, who was briefed about the interview.

AP Host

[Jelly]

My first instinct upon seeing this guy is he's lying. I mean he makes a confession and then when asked simple questions like "how'd you get in the basement", there's a long pause, he thinks about it and finally says "no comment". Every other answer was the same...long pause, then "no comment". He's making no comment because he wasn't there. I just think this is some sicko peodiphile (sp?) whose twisted ego is desperate to be connected to something big and famous.

[Jelly]

Here's hoping Denver investigator will be able to verify (or disprove) his confession before they haul him back to the States. If he's lying, let him rot in Thailand. If he's not, bring him home and execute him.

Thailand wants him out asap. He was already in some trouble for unrelated sex charges over there.

[jochhejaam]

More insight into the whacked out world of John Karr.

JonBenet Slaying Suspect Was Treated at Sex Change Clinic
Sunday, August 20, 2006



BANGKOK, Thailand — The suspect in the murder of American child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey was treated at a Bangkok clinic specializing in sex-change operations and cosmetic surgery, clinic officials said Sunday.

A doctor at the Pratunam Polyclinic confirmed that he had treated the suspect, 41-year-old former schoolteacher John Mark Karr.

"He was one of my patients," said Dr. Thep Vechwijit, who declined to provide details of the treatment.

A staffer at the clinic, who demanded anonymity since she was not authorized to make statements to the media, said Karr had consulted the doctor about a sex-change operation.

This could not be confirmed by other sources.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,209480,00.html

[jochhejaam]

Karr's being wined and dined with champagne and Fried King Prawns on the flight into the U.S.



JonBenet Murder Suspect En Route to U.S.
Sunday, August 20, 2006

PHOTOS VIDEO PHOTO ESSAYS
ABOARD THAI AIRWAYS TO LOS ANGELES — John Mark Karr, the suspect in the death of 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey, sipped champagne and ate fried king prawns in business class Sunday after being put aboard a flight to Los Angeles to face charges in the United States.

As Karr wined and dined in style and chatted with the three U.S. officials escorting him, another bombs emerged: Reports that Karr sought treatment at a Thai sex-change clinic.

His Thai Airways International flight took off about 8 p.m. (9 a.m. EDT) for the 15-hour flight to Los Angeles. Karr's journey will eventually end in Boulder, Colo., where he is expected to face charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping and child sexual assault in connection with the young beauty queen's 1996 killing.

Karr was not handcuffed while being whisked through Don Muang International Airport in Bangkok. At the departure gate, he talked amiably with fellow passengers.

The 41-year-old teacher sat in a business class window seat next to Mark Spray, an investigator with the Boulder County District Attorney's office. A U.S. Embassy official and an agent with "Homeland Security" on his T-shirt were also part of the escort party.

Before takeoff, Karr took a glass of champagne from a flight attendant and clinked glasses with Spray, who sipped orange juice.

Dinner on board, served on a starched white tablecloth with silverware, was one many passengers would envy. Karr started with a pate, then had a green salad with walnut dressing. The main course was fried king prawn with steamed rice and broccoli. Karr drank a beer, crushing the can with his hands when it was empty, then moved on to a glass of French chardonnay with his main course.

"It seems odd to me. If there is an arrest warrant issued, he ought to be under arrest," said former Adams County District Attorney Bob Grant, who was involved in the Ramsey investigation. "It is very strange. Whoever is in control of him ought to make sure he isn't doing things like drinking champagne."

Other experts suspected officials were trying to loosen up Karr so he would talk.

"It could be that if he got a little inebriated he would make further statements that could include or exclude him from this case," said Craig Silverman, a former Denver prosecutor.

When Karr lands in Los Angeles late Sunday, he will be processed by immigration officials and is expected to be arrested by local authorities on an arrest warrant out of Colorado, said Carolyn French, spokeswoman for the Boulder County district attorney's office.

Karr will then have an extradition hearing in Los Angeles within the next few days, French said. If he agrees to waive extradition, Karr will then be taken to Boulder County.

"If he fights extradition that is a much more lengthy process," French said.

Karr was being brought back to the United States on a temporary passport. French did not have information on who paid for the flight.

The suspect was relaxed, smiling and chatting nonstop with the U.S. officials next to him — until the television news crews on the flight turned their cameras on. Then he stopped smiling, clutched the armrests of his seat and stared at his lap.

Karr did not speak to reporters, but at one point summoned an AP reporter over to his seat. He mentioned an interview she had given, recalling that someone asked her what he was like.

"You said I looked you straight in the eye when I talked to you and I want to tell you I appreciate that, I thought it was nice," Karr told the AP reporter.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,209481,00.html

[Jelly]

we should do a poll ( I don't know how...too tired to learn). Is this the killer or no? DNA evidence will be back in a few days.

[T-Pain]

i think hes lying

[sa_butta]

'Sexually, I am like a wolf,' Karr bragged to landlord

Alabama officials say Karr was licensed for home daycare


SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) -- John Mark Karr bragged to his landlord's family that "sexually, I am like a wolf," and said he preferred girls to women when he worked in Costa Rica as an English teacher, his former housemates told The Associated Press.

Karr, now jailed in Los Angeles after his arrest in Thailand, is named in a Colorado warrant as a suspect in the 1996 murder of 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey.

Karr traveled around the world in recent years, including brief stays in Honduras and Costa Rica, where he rented a room in 2004 from Canadian John Hall, who teaches at a private university in the capital of San Jose.

Hall, 42, told AP in an exclusive interview that he rented a room to Karr through an Internet posting, but asked him to leave after about five weeks because Karr was saying "rude and inappropriate things" to his Costa Rican wife and stepdaughters, then 16 and 20.

"I threw him out because he was causing problems for them," Hall said.

One stepdaughter, now 22, told AP that Karr said several times that he liked girls.

Odd conversation

"My mother asked him whether he was looking for a girlfriend in Costa Rica and he answered that he didn't like adult women, only small ones," she said, speaking on condition her name not be published. "I thought he meant young women, and never imagined he meant girls."

During his stay with the family, Karr would often either talk incessantly, or sit in his room and listen to dark rock music, like that of Marilyn Manson, something that also bothered the Halls, who are Pentecostal Christians.

After kicking Karr out, Hall remained su ious enough to do a computer search to see if he was a sex predator.

"I suspected he was a pedophile. I looked on the Internet to see if there was something on him, but I didn't find anything," he said.

The following year, Karr taught for eight months at a small primary school in La Esperanza, Honduras, 60 miles from the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa, a former co-worker said.

Renan Marquez said Karr taught second grade, but left because he had a contract with a school in another country; he didn't know which. Marquez told the AP by telephone that Karr was always "reserved, shy, responsible, organized and punctual."

Karr "required a lot of discipline" of his second-grade English students, Marquez said. "I never saw anything strange in his treatment of the children."

Alabama daycare license

Meanwhile, Alabama welfare agency officials said Thursday that Karr kept children at a home day-care center he operated in northwest Alabama.

The Marion County Department of Human Resources issued a license for Karr to begin operating a day-care out of his rural home in June 1997, said John Bradford, a spokesman with the Alabama Department of Human Resources.

He said the sheriff's department conducted a background check before the license was issued and no problems were found.

Karr didn't receive any complaints before the two-year license expired in 1999, Bradford told The Associated Press.

"We do know he kept children, but it is really hard to get a handle on the number," he said.

Karr, 41, has said he was with JonBenet when she was killed in the basement of her home in Boulder, Colorado, in December 1996, but he called her death an accident. (Full story)

Karr was living with his ex-wife in Hamilton at the time of the slaying.

Karr, who was working as a teacher, was arrested last week in Bangkok, Thailand, and flown Sunday to the United States. He is being held in Los Angeles, California.

He has agreed not to fight his transfer to Colorado to face charges of murder, kidnapping and sexual assault of a child in connection with the December 26, 1996 slaying of the child beauty pageant compe or.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/08/24/ka....ap/index.html

[Nbadan]

If the DNA don't fit you must acquit! (in my best Johnny C.)

KUSA - 9NEWS has confirmed from two sources that the DNA taken from John Mark Karr does not match the DNA samples taken from the crime scene in the JonBenet Ramsey murder case.

Samples of Karr's saliva and hair were taken in Boulder after his arrival on Thursday. Those samples were tested over the weekend inside the Denver Police Department's Crime lab.

9NEWS has confirmed that Karr's DNA is ruled out as the foreign DNA left on JonBenet Ramsey's body when she was murdered in December 1996.

KUSA

and

BOULDER, Colo. - Prosecutors abruptly dropped their case Monday against John Mark Karr in the unsolved slaying of JonBenet Ramsey, saying DNA tests failed to put him at the crime scene despite his "repeated insistence" that he killed the 6-year-old girl.

“The warrant on Mr. Karr has been dropped by the district attorney,” public defender Seth Temin said outside the jail. “They are not proceeding with the case.”

MSNBC

Duh!

[Yonivore]

I say ship him back to wherever they found him.

[jochhejaam]

I say ship him back to wherever they found him.

Except Bangkok doesn't want him back. I would guess that a mental evalution is in order for Mr. Karr.

[Crookshanks]

To quote a line from "Speed" - "this puts him in the crazy, but not stupid, column."

This guy is a certifiable nut, but he was smart enough to realize that sitting in an American jail was definately preferable to sitting in a Bangkok one!