Man Detained In Thailand Over Jonbenet Death

[corkscrew]

-- A suspect in the JonBenet Ramsey murder has been arrested in Thailand, Denver TV station KUSA reports. CNN working to confirm.

[corkscrew]

-- A suspect in the JonBenet Ramsey murder has been arrested in Thailand, Denver TV station KUSA reports. CNN working to confirm.

-- Authorities arrest a suspect in Bangkok, Thailand, in the JonBenet Ramsey murder case, two law enforcement officials confirm to CNN.

[corkscrew]

-- A suspect in the JonBenet Ramsey murder has been arrested in Thailand, Denver TV station KUSA reports. CNN working to confirm.

-- Authorities arrest a suspect in Bangkok, Thailand, in the JonBenet Ramsey murder case, two law enforcement officials confirm to CNN.

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.

[Charma]

Story here:

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

[jdinasia]

Wow! So Sad Patsy could not have lived to have seen this! There was a huge cloud of suspicion over the family that has not yet completely lifted! Plus a blight on Boulder's reputation due to the police never solving this case! Good News! I sure hope this pans out to be true!

[udon]

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

The man already was already held in Bangkok on unrelated sex charges, sources told The Associated Press.

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

Good news!

[Inspector 2211]

(CNN) -- Authorities have arrested a "possible suspect" in the decade-old JonBenet Ramsey murder investigation, law enforcement sources told CNN on Wednesday.

An investigator with the Boulder County, Colorado, District Attorney's office is bringing the man from Bangkok, Thailand, CNN Denver affiliate KUSA reported.

Sources tell CBS News that he is a 41-year-old American and second-grade schoolteacher and that he will be brought back to the United States this weekend.

The man was being held in Bangkok on sex charges, sources told The Associated Press.

Prosecutors in Boulder have not confirmed the person's identity but are expected to hold a news conference later today.

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

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 of ovarian cancer. She was 49.

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

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, and in Atlanta, Georgia.

CNN's Kelli Arena contributed to this report.

[udon]

A law enforcement source identified the suspect as 41-year-old John Mark Carr, a one-time school teacher.

[Hunter]

The American press have reported that a man named James karr, who is currently under arrest in BKK for "an unrelated sex charge" is now wanted by the police in Colorado, USA. The story as reported is sketchy and incomplete, but apparently this man is suspected of being involved in the

Jon Bennette Ramsey murder case. For those of you who are unaware that case was a big story over here in the states some years back and it comes as a great shock that after so much bungling the police finally have a suspect.

Have any of you expats residing the LOS heard anything about this? Apparently the American authorities are flying to BKK to request extradtion back to Colorado.

Cordially,

Hunter

[udon]

Maybe a mod could merge this tiopic under the appropriate headline ?

[udon]

A law enforcement source identified the suspect as 41-year-old John Mark Carr, a one-time school teacher.

[Porky]

What they just reported on the news here was JonBenet had DNA under her fingers nails and this is where the DNA match came from with the person they arrested.

[tartempion]

and who was JonBenet Ramsey?

A few billion people don't know.

[peterjackson]

Hey

ABC reported tonight that the Thai Authorities would do everything in their power to facilitate extradition to the USA this weekend. US Marshalls left for Thailand today.

Kind regards

Peter

[udon]

Try Google.

[udon]

Smit has proved to be correct.

[sriracha john]

At the time and for a long time afterwards, this was the biggest crime story in America. This is a huge story with amazing developments 10 years later. Might suggest a bump over to the news section:

The gravesite of JonBenet Patricia Ramsey is photographed Thursday, Aug. 16, 2006, at the St. James Episcopal Church Cemetery in Marietta, Ga. A man arrested in Thailand is being held in connection with the slaying of JonBenet Ramsey, U.S. officials said Wednesday, Aug. 16. Federal officials familiar with the case, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the man was already being held in Bangkok on unrelated sex charges. The girl was found beaten and strangled in the basement of the family's home in Boulder, Colo., on Dec. 26, 1996. (AP Photo)

Suspect arrested in Thailand for murder of JonBenet Ramsey

John and Patsy Ramsey, shown in 1997, had been under an "umbrella of suspicion" in JonBenet's death. The Ramseys always maintained that an intruder killed their daughter.

WASHINGTON — A suspect was arrested Wednesday in Bangkok, Thailand for the murder of JonBenet Ramsey, the 6-year-old girl whose gruesome death nearly a decade ago garnered nationwide attention and cast a cloud of suspicion over her own parents.

Federal officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, identified the suspect as John Mark Karr, a 42-year-old American, and one law enforcement official told the Associated Press that Boulder police had tracked him down online.

ON DEADLINE: How the story developed

The Ramsey family's attorney in Atlanta pronounced the arrest vindication for JonBenet's parents, John and Patsy Ramsey. Patsy Ramsey died of ovarian cancer on June 24.

"John and Patsy lived their lives knowing they were innocent, trying to raise a son despite the furor around them," Lin Wood said. "The story of this family is a story of courage, and story of an American injustice and tragedy that ultimately people will have to look back on and hopefully learn from."

The attorney said the Ramseys learned about the suspect a least a month before Patsy Ramsey's death. "It's been a very long 10 years, and I'm just sorry Patsy isn't here for me to hug her neck," Wood said.

Karr was a teacher who once lived in Conyers, Ga., according to Wood. The attorney said the Ramseys gave police information about Karr before he was identified as a suspect.

Wood would not say how the Ramseys knew Karr. But JonBenet was born in Atlanta in 1990, and the Ramseys lived in the Atlanta suburb of Dunwoody for several years before moving to Colorado in 1991.

A source close to the investigation told the AP that Karr confessed to elements of the crime. Also, a law enforcement source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the AP that Karr had been communicating periodically with somebody in Boulder who had been following the case and cooperating with law enforcement officials.

In a statement posted on her office's website, Boulder County, Colo. District Attorney Mary Lacy confirmed "there has been an arrest in Bangkok, Thailand for the December 26, 1996 murder of JonBenet Ramsey." The statement said the suspect was arrested Wednesday "following several months of a focused and complex investigation."

Denver television station KUSA reported a Boulder County investigator has been sent to Bangkok and is expected to return with the suspect to the United States "possibly within the next two days."

JonBenet was found beaten and strangled in the basement of the family's home in Boulder on Dec. 26, 1996. Patsy Ramsey reported finding a ransom note demanding $118,000 for her daughter.

The image of blonde-haired little JonBenet in a cowgirl costume and other beauty pageant outfits has haunted TV talk shows ever since, helping feed myriad theories about her killer.

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.

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.

In a statement Wednesday, John Ramsey said: "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."

KUSA also contacted John Ramsey, who told the station, "The justice system needs to run its course and I don't want to speculate and discuss what I know or don't know."When asked if he knew the suspect, Ramsey responded, "I can't comment on that now...to the best of my knowledge, no."

Patsy Ramsey's sister, Pam Paugh, of Roswell, Ga., said the family was celebrating the news of the arrest. "We are elated. We are elated. If this is, in fact, the killer, then we have a very heinous killer off the streets to never harm another child,'" Paugh said.

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, who 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.

Author Lawrence Schiller, who wrote the 1999 book "Perfect Murder, Perfect Town" about the case, said Wednesday he understood the man had been on a list of sexual offenders who were suspects for a long time.

"There are a lot of facts about her actual death that the public does not know." Schiller said. "If he did confess to some facts of the murder, to reveal those facts of the case, that would finish the puzzle."

Among the facts he said were not generally known was the murder weapon and what the killer did with it.

Bob Grant, a former Adams County district attorney who worked on the case, said there was never enough evidence to convince him that any potential suspect could be successfully prosecuted.

"I wasn't convinced it was an inside job, nor was I convinced it was an outside job," he said. "All the outside suspects were cleared after exhaustive investigation, and there were a whole lot of outside suspects."

The Associated Press

JonBenet Ramsey

rest in peace, little girl...

[Scott]

This is very good news. This case dominated the news for quite some time. This poor family went through pure h*ll, being accused of murdering their daughter. They weren't the most loveable people, but that had to be truly painful.

It's similar to the situation with Lindy Chamberlain(?) in Australia, the one whose child was eaten by a dingo.

I am not pretending to know the guilt or innocence of either group, but it's got to be horrible to have such an accusation and not be guilty.

[GoodHeart]

and who was JonBenet Ramsey?

Here are two good stories that go into her identity and the background surrounding the case. Times Online and CNN

I was living in Colorado at that time. The murder became secondary to the the trial by media the parents were put through over the mothers obsession with grooming the daughter to become a belle of the kiddy beauty pagent circuit.

[taxexile]

Man detained over JonBenet death

JonBenet Ramsey was found strangled in 1996

A US man arrested in Thailand is being held in connection with the murder of American child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey, US officials say.

The man was first arrested on unrelated sex charges, officials said.

A Denver TV station says he confessed to details of the killing of JonBenet that were never made known to the public and will now return to the US.

The six-year-old was found strangled in the basement of her family home in 1996 in a case that sparked a media furore.

CBS has reported that the suspect is a 41-year-old second-grade schoolteacher.

It is not know whether the man has any connection to the Ramsey family.

US District Attorney Mary Lacey said the arrest followed several months of work.

The Ramsey's family attorney Lin Wood said the Ramseys learned about the suspect at least a month before JonBenet's mother, Patsy Ramsey, died of cancer in June.

"It's been a very long 10 years, and I'm just sorry Patsy isn't here for me to hug her neck," Mr Wood said.

from todays bbc news web site.

Edited August 17, 2006 by george

[jdinasia]

Yes the press was rough on the Ramsey family ... (as were the police) Put the father and the mother and the brother in the spotlite over the years

[sriracha john]

A law enforcement source identified the suspect as 41-year-old John Mark Carr, a one-time school teacher.

by many accounts, he was a 'current' teacher here in Thailand.

Edited August 17, 2006 by sriracha john

[Ulysses G.]

Wow! So Sad Patsy could not have lived to have seen this! There was a huge cloud of suspicion over the family that has not yet completely lifted!

Her husband that she was aware that a suspect was already in custody in Bangkok when she died.

Maybe it brought her some comfort.

[sriracha john]

From The New York Times:

An American security official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the man arrested is a United States citizen, and that the arrest resulted from "several months of fairly complex investigation."

Federal officials familiar with the case said the man was already being held in Bangkok on unrelated sex charges, The Associated Press reported. CBS News reported that the suspect is a 41-year-old elementary-school teacher.

CBS said the suspect would be brought to the United States this weekend.

There were several unanswered questions this afternoon as news of the arrest began to spread, including exactly what charges will be lodged against the suspect and what led investigators to him after all this time.

Mr. Ramsey said he would have only limited comment "because I feel it is extremely important to not only let the justice system operate to its conclusion in an orderly manner, but also to avoid feeding the type of media speculation that my wife and I were subjected to for so many years."

"I do want to say, however, that 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. 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.

In the initial investigation in 1996, the police said that someone had sexually assaulted JonBenet, age 6, fractured her skull, silenced her screams by placing duct tape over her mouth, and strangled her with a nylon cord tightened by a wooden handle.

Edited August 17, 2006 by sriracha john

[chownah]

JonBenet was a little girl whose parents took her to competitions where the little girls dressed and acted like pubescent women. They wore makeup (to the max) and attractive dresses and sang songs and danced and did eveything to look and act like they were much much older....alluring even. There is an entire circuit of competitions for this kind of thing....and the competition is fierce.

Then one day someone raped and killed her.

Do you think that there was any connection between the make believe world that JonBenet was immersed in (by her parents) and the fact that she was raped and murdered?

[Ulysses G.]

JonBenet was a little girl whose parents took her to competitions where the little girls dressed and acted like pubescent women. They wore makeup (to the max) and attractive dresses and sang songs and danced and did eveything to look and act like they were much much older....alluring even. There is an entire circuit of competitions for this kind of thing....and the competition is fierce.

Then one day someone raped and killed her.

Do you think that there was any connection between the make believe world that JonBenet was immersed in (by her parents) and the fact that she was raped and murdered?

Maybe, but the murderer is still completely at fault.

Even when a full grown woman dresses like a complete slut, it doesn't justify some dirtbag using force against her.

[sriracha john]

Suspect denies connection to JonBenet Ramsey murder

BANGKOK, Thailand - A former school teacher suspected in the murder of JonBenet Ramsey, is said to have denied involvement.

That's according to authorities in Bangkok, Thailand, where John Mark Karr is in custody.

Thai authorities regard Karr as an "undesirable person" because he has been accused of the murder. Immigration police say his visa has been revoked, but he has not been charged with any crimes in Thailand. Earlier, U-S officials speaking on the condition of anonymity, had said Thai authorities were holding Karr on unrelated sex charges.

A Thai official says Karr is expected to be returned by U-S authorities in a few days.

The Associated Press

[fruittbatt]

Yes, the two threads should probably be merged.

I am, however, wondering why so many fugitives end up in Thailand. Is it because fugitives just navigate in this direction or is it because Thailand does such a good job of catching them?

many of these fugitives are paedophiles or other sex-criminals...and yes, it is good to see that lately there have been several significant arrests. Thailand and Sri Lanka are both targeting paedophiles with good results. I suspect, however, that the number of arrests represents only the tip of a particularly ugly iceberg.

[peterjackson]

Hey

The late night ABC News has just said that the suspect is being held by FBI Agents in Thailand awaiting the arrival of US Marshalls who will facilitate his extradition.

Apparently he gave details nor previously released by the authorities to a person he was communicating with back in Boulder CO.

There is a Special Report on Nightline on ABC tonight with Barbara Walters, who had previously interviewed both John & Patsy Ramsey.

Kind regards

Peter

[Beavis and Butthead]

Thhis news is not huge, this news is ENORMOUS. I am fairly certain that most non Americans that read this forum have no idea how big this is. This is almost as big as catching Bin Laden. It's amazing how many shady farangs I have seen in 5 years in BKK. I'm talking some really criminal looking folks: tattoos on hands, face, neck and head. It's almost like a cess pool where some of these people migrate to. I want to say that I am ecstatic over this development. I have followed this case closely for 9 1/2 years and was always appalled at how it remained unsolved. This guy's pic will be splattered on every newspaper front page very soon. How much you wanna bet there will be loads of people in this very forun who know or have seen him. We're talking about vile filth here