Arrest in JonBenet Ramsey case

[B5150]

Sources: Arrest in JonBenet Ramsey case

Wednesday, August 16, 2006; Posted: 4:43 p.m. EDT (20:43 GMT)

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.

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.

 

[Mulletsoldier]

Re: Arrest in JonBenet Ramsey

Wow..That is crazy

 

[B5150]

NBC: Arrest in JonBenet case - Crime & Punishment - MSNBC.com

Arrest reported in JonBenet Ramsey case
Suspect detained in Thailand in connection with ’96 murder, DA source says

BREAKING NEWS
NBC News and news services
Updated: 2 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - A man arrested in Thailand is being held in connection with the slaying of JonBenet Ramsey, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

Federal officials familiar with the case, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the man was being held in Bangkok on unrelated sex charges.

The suspect was detained in Bangkok on Wednesday morning, Denver NBC affiliate KUSA said, and was going to be brought to the U.S. within the next two days by a Boulder County district attorney investigator.

The girl was found beaten and strangled in the basement of the family’s home in Boulder, Colo., on Dec. 26, 1996.

Law enforcement officials from Boulder were flying to Bangkok to present Thai authorities with documents in the slaying of the 6-year-old beauty pageant contestant, officials in Washington said. They asked to remain anonymous pending an announcement in Colorado.

According to KUSA, the suspect in custody knew details about the murder that had not been made available to the general public.

The girl’s parents, Patsy and John Ramsey, had been under an “umbrella of suspicion” in JonBenet’s death. The Ramseys said an intruder killed their daughter. A grand jury investigation in Boulder ended with no indictments, and no arrests had been made in the case.

Patsy Ramsey died of ovarian cancer in June.

In 2003, U.S. District Judge Julie Carnes in Atlanta concluded that the evidence she reviewed suggested an intruder killed JonBenet. That opinion came with the judge’s decision to dismiss a libel and slander lawsuit against the Ramseys by a freelance journalist, whom the Ramseys had named as a suspect in their daughter’s murder. The Boulder district attorney at the time said she agreed with Carnes’ declaration.

This breaking news story will be updated.
NBC News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

[CDB]

If it is her killer it's a shame her mom didn't live to see them nail the prick.

 

[mp5man1]

I always thought that maybe they did it. I have to admit that I feel a little bad about that.

I read what John Ramsey said about this. I don't know that I would have been so nice about it.

 

[yeahright]

I too feel bad as I always assumed that the family was responsible or at the very least covering something up.

 

[Mulletsoldier]

I too feel bad as I always assumed that the family was responsible or at the very least covering something up.

I did as well. As the others said it is very unfortunate her mother was not alive to see both her daughter's killer brought to justice an her name finally cleared.

 

[mp5man1]

I read on Drudge Report that she was told that they were close to a arrest and before she passed away knew this was coming.

 

[BLANE]

I read on Drudge Report that she was told that they were close to a arrest and before she passed away knew this was coming.

you are correct, i am glad she atleast knew something before she passed.

i hope that piece of sh*t gets what he deserves, one sick f*ck. what would you guys like to do to this freak, i would prolly drag him behind a boat off of easter island and watch a great white make a meal of him, i have NO pitty on this physco ****.

 

[Skye]

my sympathy is a little limited due to bueaty contest and such, I always thought that was disturbing and it tended to make me suspect the parrents. To have a little girl live that kind of life style just seams wrong. I am glad they caught the bastard and I do have sympathy for the father but I am not sure that I consider them totally blameless

 

[RenegadeRows]

Yes. My thoughts are with her family. They've been through 10 years of hell, with everybody thinking they did it (myself included.) You think it's so obvious and then boom...something like this happens. Makes me think twice before I jump to conclusions.

 

[RenegadeRows]

my sympathy is a little limited due to bueaty contest and such, I always thought that was disturbing and it tended to make me suspect the parrents. To have a little girl live that kind of life style just seams wrong. I am glad they caught the bastard and I do have sympathy for the father but I am not sure that I consider them totally blameless

While I do agree that the parents take beauty contests to extremes sometimes I don't think they're at fault here. It's just tragic all in all, and the only one I blame is that creepy looking pedophile who will hopefully get a broom-stick colonoscopy in prison.

 

[BUCKNUTS]

I too believed the parents were responsible it was difficult to come to any other conclusion based on what I heard about the case,this is amazing that they are arresting someone so long after the fact.

 

[tsc]

who is to say the parents weren't involved anyway? There is already discrepencies in what the suspect has said and the autopsy reports. Not to say he isn't guilty, but I would say its way too soon to say everything is out in the open and solved/resolved. I get the feeling there will be more twists and turns to come.

TSC

 

[B5150]

Once I became more informed of the details surrounding this guy I very quickly suspected he was a fraud.

CNN.com - Attorney: Karr won't be charged with JonBenet's murder - Aug 28, 2006

BOULDER, Colorado (CNN) -- Schoolteacher John Mark Karr will not be charged with the murder of 6-year-old beauty pageant competitor JonBenet Ramsey, Karr's attorney said Monday.

"The warrant against Mr. Karr has been dropped by the District Attorney's office," attorney Seth Temin told reporters. He said a hearing scheduled later Monday afternoon has been canceled.

Temin also said he was "deeply disturbed" that authorities in Boulder brought Karr from Thailand with was appears to have been scant evidence.

Colorado authorities have not commented on their decision not to pursue charges against the man named in a warrant alleging murder, kidnapping and sexual assault on a child.

But CNN's Denver affiliate, KUSA, reported that the DNA sample taken from Karr does not match DNA found on JonBenet's body. KUSA quoted two sources in a bulletin on its Web site.

KUSA reported that samples of Karr's saliva and hair were taken in Boulder after his arrival Thursday evening. Those samples were tested over the weekend by the Denver Police Department's crime lab.

Those tests ruled out Karr's DNA as the foreign DNA left on JonBenet's body when she was slain in December 1996, the station reported on its Web site.

CNN is working to independently confirm the report.

Karr still could face child pornography charges in California.

Earlier Monday, Karr's defense team requested that prosecutors hand over DNA evidence in the Ramsey case.

The 41-year-old suspect was being held in Boulder County Jail on suspicion of first-degree murder, first- and second-degree kidnapping, and sexual assault.

It was not immediately known whether he would be freed or transferred to California.

Karr was brought back last week to the United States from Bangkok, Thailand. He arrived in Colorado Thursday evening from California, where he skipped bail in 2001 after being charged in Sonoma County with five misdemeanor counts of possessing child pornography.

Karr appeared at a brief hearing in Los Angeles and waived extradition to Colorado. (Watch Patsy Ramsey's sister reveal what the family will do if Karr isn't guilty -- 4:11)

He told reporters in Thailand he was with JonBenet the night she died, and that her death was an accident. The child's beaten and strangled body was found December 26, 1996, in the basement of her family's Boulder home.

Autopsy results showed she had suffered a blow to the head and been strangled with a garrote tightened with a paintbrush handle.

After Karr's statements in Thailand, questions have surfaced as to whether the slight, soft-spoken man could have been involved in the grisly killing.

Earlier this year, Michael Tracey, a journalism professor at the University of Colorado, alerted authorities to e-mails he had been receiving from a person now believed to be Karr.

Tracey, who has produced a documentary about the Ramsey case, said there was something in the e-mails "that made me decide I had to try and do something." But he would not say just what prompted him to contact prosecutors.

A law enforcement official told CNN that Karr's e-mails to Tracey were initially innocuous but that the professor contacted authorities when they became "weird." The communications were eventually tracked to Thailand.

 

[RenegadeRows]

Once I became more informed of the details surrounding this guy I very quickly suspected he was a fraud.

CNN.com - Attorney: Karr won't be charged with JonBenet's murder - Aug 28, 2006

Yup! Unbeleiveable. I guess this happened with the Lindberg baby trial, they had a slew of people confessing just to try and be famous.

Whether or not this Jon Karr guy just wanted to have his face shown on TV, or whether is actually dillusional and believes he did it...it's sad this case isn't solved.