Man Confesses in JonBenet Ramsey Case
By RAYMOND BONNER
Published: August 17, 2006
An American schoolteacher arrested in Bangkok on Wednesday has confessed to killing 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey in 1996. But he told authorities and reporters there today that her death was “an accident” and that he loved the girl.
John Mark Karr was escorted from a news conference in Bangkok on Thursday by Thai and American authorities.
The admission was a stark new turn in an investigation that had stumped police for nearly a decade, marked by intense news-media attention and by suspicions that her parents may have been involved in the crime.
The teacher — John Mark Karr, a divorced 41-year-old father of three — told Thai police that he had not meant to kill JonBenet and that his intention was to kidnap her and demand a ransom of $118,000, according to Lt. Gen. Suwat Tumrongsiskul, the head of the Thai immigration police. General Suwat spoke at a news conference in Bangkok this afternoon along with other Thai and American officials.
“He said he was in love with the child,” General Suwat said of Mr. Karr.
Wearing a light blue golf shirt buttoned to the neck and pleated khaki trousers, Mr. Karr appeared briefly at the news conference but did not speak. Afterwards, he told a crowd of reporters, “I was with JonBenet when she died,” and added that her death was “an accident.”
Ann Hurst, an official with the United States Department of Homeland Security who spoke at the Bangkok press conference, said Mr. Karr has been “very cooperative” with the authorities.
American officials said that Mr. Karr’s arrest was mainly the work of American immigration and customs officers based at the United States Embassy in Bangkok, with support from the Thai immigration police.
Mr. Karr has been charged in Boulder, Colo., with murder, kidnapping and sexual assault in the case.
One American official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of a continuing criminal investigation, cautioned against jumping too swiftly to the conclusion that someone who has confessed to a crime did in fact commit it. The official pointed out that it is not unusual in notorious cases, as the Ramsey case has surely become, for people to falsely claim that they committed the crime, basing their confessions on what they have read in the newspaper.
Even so, the official said, Mr. Karr “certainly knows a lot about it.” The official declined to provide any more details.
Mr. Karr’s former wife, Lara Karr, told KGO-TV in San Francisco on Wednesday that while the couple was still married, her husband spent considerable time researching the Ramsey case and another notorious child murder case, that of Polly Klaas, who was abducted and killed in Petaluma, Calif., in 1993.
Ms. Karr said that she and Mr. Karr were in Alabama together on Dec. 25, 1996, the day JonBenet Ramsey was murdered in Colorado.
In 2001, the Karrs and their three sons were living in Petaluma, and Mr. Karr was working as a substitute teacher, when he was arrested and charged with five counts of possessing child pornography, according to KGO-TV and The Associated Press. He failed to appear in court to answer the charges, and has apparently been a fugitive since then.
Ms. Karr divorced him the same year.
A Sonoma County deputy district attorney confirmed to the A.P. that an arrest warrant for John M. Karr was outstanding in the child pornography case, though she could not say for certain that it was for the same man who was taken into custody in Bangkok.
The Associated Press reported that there were indications that Mr. Karr, after fleeing Petaluma in 2001, may have spent time in Europe and Central America as a teacher or child-care worker. The agency quoted Mr. Karr’s father as saying he had not heard from Mr. Karr in several years.
Before he was linked to the Ramsey case, Mr. Karr had already come to the attention of American law enforcement officials in Thailand as part of a broader investigation into Americans who travel to Southeast Asian countries and engage in pedophilia-related activities, an American official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Mr. Karr entered Thailand most recently on June 6, traveling from Malaysia. No information was immediately available on what he was doing in Malaysia or how long he had been there. He had previously visited Thailand at least three times.
American and Thai officials went to Mr. Karr’s apartment today and carted away bags of evidence, including his computer, American officials said.
The JonBenet Ramsey case began when her parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, telephoned police to report her missing and apparently kidnapped. The police found a 370-word ransom note, written with a pen and paper from the Ramseys’ house, that contained details that police concluded only someone close to the Ramseys would know. But they found no evidence of forced entry at the family house.
Hours later, when a detective arrived at the house, Mr. Ramsey went into the basement and came out carrying his daughter’s body, and the case became one of murder.
Suspicion quickly fell on the parents, prompting them to appear on national television and deny any involvement in the crime.
The Ramseys later moved back to the Atlanta area, where they had lived when JonBenet was born; JonBenet and her mother are buried there.
Mr. Karr also once lived in the Atlanta suburbs, but it was not clear whether he had ever come into contact with the Ramseys there. JonBenet was an infant when the Ramseys left Georgia for Colorado.
Over the years, as the investigation dragged on without resolution and the news media followed every development, the Boulder police came under severe criticism. Eventually, the police chief and one detective were forced to resign over the handling of the case.
According to accounts today in the Rocky Mountain News and Denver Post, Boulder law enforcement officials began to focus on Mr. Karr in recent months because of e-mail exchanges Mr. Karr had with Michael Tracey, a journalism professor at the University of Colorado. Mr. Tracey had made several documentaries about the case that challenged the work of the police and the public’s rush to blame the Ramseys for their daughter’s death.
Mr. Tracey alerted private detectives hired by the Ramsey family about the correspondence with Mr. Karr, and they encouraged him to remain in contact with Mr. Karr, the newspaper reported. A spokesman for the university confirmed to the A.P. that Mr. Tracey had corresponded with Mr. Karr over several months, and said Mr. Tracey alerted the police about the matter.
After Boulder officials spoke to Mr. Tracey in June, the 10-year-old investigation began to move rapidly.
As they closed in on Mr. Karr, Boulder authorities notified Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey about the developments. Mrs. Ramsey died in June of ovarian cancer.
“Had she lived to see this day,” Mr. Ramsey said in a statement on Wednesday, she “would no doubt have been as pleased as I am.”
Boulder County prosecutors scheduled a news conference on the case for 10 a.m. Mountain time (noon Eastern time) today. Mr. Karr is likely to be returned to the United States within a few days, American officials said; Thai authorities are expected simply to expel him from the country, rather than conduct a formal extradition process, which could take months.
General Suwat of the Thai immigration police said Mr. Karr’s visa has been revoked on the grounds that he is an “undesirable person.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/17/world/18ramsey.ready.html?ref=asia
now maybe if the cops hadn't gotten tunnel vision and focused all their attention on the parents, this case could have been solved years ago. and for anyone who is unfamiliar with the murder and is interested, here's a good history of the whole case and investigation
http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/famous/ramsey/index_1.html
By RAYMOND BONNER
Published: August 17, 2006
An American schoolteacher arrested in Bangkok on Wednesday has confessed to killing 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey in 1996. But he told authorities and reporters there today that her death was “an accident” and that he loved the girl.
John Mark Karr was escorted from a news conference in Bangkok on Thursday by Thai and American authorities.
The admission was a stark new turn in an investigation that had stumped police for nearly a decade, marked by intense news-media attention and by suspicions that her parents may have been involved in the crime.
The teacher — John Mark Karr, a divorced 41-year-old father of three — told Thai police that he had not meant to kill JonBenet and that his intention was to kidnap her and demand a ransom of $118,000, according to Lt. Gen. Suwat Tumrongsiskul, the head of the Thai immigration police. General Suwat spoke at a news conference in Bangkok this afternoon along with other Thai and American officials.
“He said he was in love with the child,” General Suwat said of Mr. Karr.
Wearing a light blue golf shirt buttoned to the neck and pleated khaki trousers, Mr. Karr appeared briefly at the news conference but did not speak. Afterwards, he told a crowd of reporters, “I was with JonBenet when she died,” and added that her death was “an accident.”
Ann Hurst, an official with the United States Department of Homeland Security who spoke at the Bangkok press conference, said Mr. Karr has been “very cooperative” with the authorities.
American officials said that Mr. Karr’s arrest was mainly the work of American immigration and customs officers based at the United States Embassy in Bangkok, with support from the Thai immigration police.
Mr. Karr has been charged in Boulder, Colo., with murder, kidnapping and sexual assault in the case.
One American official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of a continuing criminal investigation, cautioned against jumping too swiftly to the conclusion that someone who has confessed to a crime did in fact commit it. The official pointed out that it is not unusual in notorious cases, as the Ramsey case has surely become, for people to falsely claim that they committed the crime, basing their confessions on what they have read in the newspaper.
Even so, the official said, Mr. Karr “certainly knows a lot about it.” The official declined to provide any more details.
Mr. Karr’s former wife, Lara Karr, told KGO-TV in San Francisco on Wednesday that while the couple was still married, her husband spent considerable time researching the Ramsey case and another notorious child murder case, that of Polly Klaas, who was abducted and killed in Petaluma, Calif., in 1993.
Ms. Karr said that she and Mr. Karr were in Alabama together on Dec. 25, 1996, the day JonBenet Ramsey was murdered in Colorado.
In 2001, the Karrs and their three sons were living in Petaluma, and Mr. Karr was working as a substitute teacher, when he was arrested and charged with five counts of possessing child pornography, according to KGO-TV and The Associated Press. He failed to appear in court to answer the charges, and has apparently been a fugitive since then.
Ms. Karr divorced him the same year.
A Sonoma County deputy district attorney confirmed to the A.P. that an arrest warrant for John M. Karr was outstanding in the child pornography case, though she could not say for certain that it was for the same man who was taken into custody in Bangkok.
The Associated Press reported that there were indications that Mr. Karr, after fleeing Petaluma in 2001, may have spent time in Europe and Central America as a teacher or child-care worker. The agency quoted Mr. Karr’s father as saying he had not heard from Mr. Karr in several years.
Before he was linked to the Ramsey case, Mr. Karr had already come to the attention of American law enforcement officials in Thailand as part of a broader investigation into Americans who travel to Southeast Asian countries and engage in pedophilia-related activities, an American official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Mr. Karr entered Thailand most recently on June 6, traveling from Malaysia. No information was immediately available on what he was doing in Malaysia or how long he had been there. He had previously visited Thailand at least three times.
American and Thai officials went to Mr. Karr’s apartment today and carted away bags of evidence, including his computer, American officials said.
The JonBenet Ramsey case began when her parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, telephoned police to report her missing and apparently kidnapped. The police found a 370-word ransom note, written with a pen and paper from the Ramseys’ house, that contained details that police concluded only someone close to the Ramseys would know. But they found no evidence of forced entry at the family house.
Hours later, when a detective arrived at the house, Mr. Ramsey went into the basement and came out carrying his daughter’s body, and the case became one of murder.
Suspicion quickly fell on the parents, prompting them to appear on national television and deny any involvement in the crime.
The Ramseys later moved back to the Atlanta area, where they had lived when JonBenet was born; JonBenet and her mother are buried there.
Mr. Karr also once lived in the Atlanta suburbs, but it was not clear whether he had ever come into contact with the Ramseys there. JonBenet was an infant when the Ramseys left Georgia for Colorado.
Over the years, as the investigation dragged on without resolution and the news media followed every development, the Boulder police came under severe criticism. Eventually, the police chief and one detective were forced to resign over the handling of the case.
According to accounts today in the Rocky Mountain News and Denver Post, Boulder law enforcement officials began to focus on Mr. Karr in recent months because of e-mail exchanges Mr. Karr had with Michael Tracey, a journalism professor at the University of Colorado. Mr. Tracey had made several documentaries about the case that challenged the work of the police and the public’s rush to blame the Ramseys for their daughter’s death.
Mr. Tracey alerted private detectives hired by the Ramsey family about the correspondence with Mr. Karr, and they encouraged him to remain in contact with Mr. Karr, the newspaper reported. A spokesman for the university confirmed to the A.P. that Mr. Tracey had corresponded with Mr. Karr over several months, and said Mr. Tracey alerted the police about the matter.
After Boulder officials spoke to Mr. Tracey in June, the 10-year-old investigation began to move rapidly.
As they closed in on Mr. Karr, Boulder authorities notified Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey about the developments. Mrs. Ramsey died in June of ovarian cancer.
“Had she lived to see this day,” Mr. Ramsey said in a statement on Wednesday, she “would no doubt have been as pleased as I am.”
Boulder County prosecutors scheduled a news conference on the case for 10 a.m. Mountain time (noon Eastern time) today. Mr. Karr is likely to be returned to the United States within a few days, American officials said; Thai authorities are expected simply to expel him from the country, rather than conduct a formal extradition process, which could take months.
General Suwat of the Thai immigration police said Mr. Karr’s visa has been revoked on the grounds that he is an “undesirable person.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/17/world/18ramsey.ready.html?ref=asia
now maybe if the cops hadn't gotten tunnel vision and focused all their attention on the parents, this case could have been solved years ago. and for anyone who is unfamiliar with the murder and is interested, here's a good history of the whole case and investigation
http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/famous/ramsey/index_1.html
