Suspect Says Ramsey Death 'An Accident' (AP update)

[Omaha Steve]

Full story: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20060817/D8JI45RG0.html

Suspect Says Ramsey Death 'An Accident'
Email this Story

Aug 17, 6:20 AM (ET)

By SUTIN WANNABOVORN

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."


American John Mark Karr is surrounded by plainclothes police officers as he is taken to a police news conference at Immigration office in Bangkok, Thailand Thursday, Aug. 17, 2006. Thai police said that Karr, a 41-year-old American schoolteacher, admitted to the killing a decade ago of 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey in the United States _ a sensational crime some feared would never be solved. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)


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

[wakeme2008]

1. There may be another child in Santa Rosa (sp) Ca.

There is a 10+ minute video of the Boulder DA and a Thai police http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/08/17/ramsey.arrest/index.html and in that video there was a statement about a child in Santa Rosa (sp). But no more info..

[ERF]

2. He is going to have a fun time in Prison.

[QuettaKid]

4. how do they reconcile the confession with this.

Lara Karr, the suspect's ex- wife, told San Francisco TV station KGO-TV that during the Christmas holidays of 1996, when the crime was committed, the couple were together in Alabama.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_4190797

[ERF]

5. Beats me. I was just having fun imagining how this creep

is going to be treated when he ends up in Jail. He might be wishing for a quick death considering what is probably awaiting him.

[alcibiades_mystery]

37. That sort of imagining is "fun" for you?

Pretty sicko yourself, there.

[gorekerrydreamticket]

22. My thoughts, exactly...

This guy looks like a deviant lunatic, for sure, but he could just be a sick attention-seeker.

[Lerkfish]

3. interesting statements and perplexing.

"accident", yet her body was bruised and tied up, IIRC.
He was "with" Jon Benet, which almost sounds like there were more people there.

He doesn't say " I killed her accidentally" but he was "with" her when she died.

methinks there is more to this story. For one thing, why leave the note? For another thing, how did the note writer know the exact amount of money to ask for? Why, if he was an intruder, and the girl had died accidentally, did he take the time to write a multipage note, instead of fleeing immediately?

[nashville_brook]

13. long time ago i read a piece about sexual abuse

connected to this story. it was an interview with an adult victim of sexual abuse who recognized some patterns in the crime scene (might have been in Rolling Stone?) it suggested that jonbenet was being abused with the knowlege of her parents. it seemed very farfetched at the time -- but -- what if that's the case?

what if the parents themselves didn't commit the murder, but had knowlege of the abuse? i think that would explain the bizarre behavior of the parents after the death.

lots of folks have called this case a "distraction" from larger things going on in the world right now. i don't think that's so. i think it's a microcosm of the inhumanity being played out worldwide.

[mare]

32. I don't see anything perplexing

He says her murder was an "accident" probably because that's actually what it was: He didn't plan to kill her. I believe he wrote the ransom note because he actually planned to abduct her and tried to point the police into a wrong direction. But then his plan didn't work and she ended up dead. It's just not how he wanted this to play out, so that's why he says he was "with her" when she died: Because he won't admit that he was the one who murdered her. It's denial, pure and simple and I don't see anything fishy or strange about his statements at all.

[...of J.Temperance]

6. I think the media owe John and Patsy Ramsey an apology

I know that Patsy Ramsey is dead, but they still need to issue an apology to both her and John Ramsey.

The media, from the beginning helped to spread innuendo, rumors and downright lies about John and Patsy Ramsey, that they molested and murdered their child....and the media wouldn't let up, an apology is in order.


On Edit: Dammit spelling error

[nashville_brook]

15. not so quick... this revelation might prove embarrassing

to the family. sounds like there's a lot of info we aren't getting. and... interesting that he turns up after the mother died. as if to protect her in her last days of illness.

we'll see tho. this is certainly an interesting turn!

[...of J.Temperance]

43. I now think there's huge holes in Karr's story

Somethings rotten in Denmark.

Karr said that he drugged and raped JonBenet Ramsey, yet there were no traces of drugs in her body. He said that she died accidentilly, yet wasn't she strangled?

I don't know....I think that there's evidence that Karr is a pedophile, however, I'm not sure that he had anything to do with the death of JonBenet Ramsey. I think possibly he could be an attention seeker who wants to be famous.

[no_hypocrisy]

7. Yeah. Right. He seriously thinks he'll get one person in a jury to

believe it was an "accident". Oops. I didn't mean to. Sorry. I'll know better next time.

Nope. He better stick to insanity to get his sorry ass out of this mess.

[bleedingheart]

8. What if he is making all this up to escape a Thai prison?

Let us say...that he was arrested in Thailand because he was screwing kids, perhaps even a combo of that and drugs.

He knows he is going to go to a Thai prison and that is a lot of steps below an American prison.

So....he says..."I killed Jon Benet Ramsey.."

The world media goes nuts..

He gets an extradition to the USA....and voila...escapes imprisonment in Thailand.

He sits in a US jail until it is figured out that he was no where near where the the Ramsey girl was...


There is also the chance he is the girl's killer...

[OzarkDem]

16. I was wondering about that

There are still so many inconsistencies in what we know.

[goclark]

27. He said he was " with her" that could mean that

someone else was "with them."

It still sounds fishy to me.

That darling little girl, it's so sad.

[Mike Daniels]

21. If it was found out he was lying wouldn't he just be sent back.....

To serve his time for whatever he was sentenced for overseas?

If so, why bother in the first place?

[bleedingheart]

24. actually I don't know that the US would do that....

it just seems so odd that 10 years later this guy pops up out of nowhere...he may very well be the girl's killer but what a bizarre turn of events.

[atreides1]

25. No

Remember, he's also wanted in California on a Child Pornography charge! And the US government, while happy to extradite people from other countries to stand trial here, does not have a history of reciprocity when it comes to turning over US citizens to foreign governments.

[L A Woman]

39. and he would be taking a huge chance...

what if they put him on trial here and a jury finds him guilty just based on the confession?

seems like a stretch, but he seems like a nut.

[laundry_queen]

29. Yesterday

they said he was arrested because he knew details that only police knew. How would he know those details if he was 'just trying to get out of Thai prison'?

[frylock]

34. yes!

That's my take as well. Make a false confession in order to be extradited to the US and avoid a prison sentence in Thailand.

[cigsandcoffee]

9. He looks like a strange cross between David Bowie & Mr. Rogers

Not to judge a book by its cover, but I get the creeps just looking at him.

[slackmaster]

28. I generally avoid commenting on or judging peoples' appearance too

But this guy is a pencil-necked geek.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

10. Notice, if you will...

That he depersonalizes and distances himself from the act. Intimating that someone else did it and he was but a bystander. That said, he was caught, in part, by DNA evidence.

At the same time, he is in jail in Thailand, a country well known as a stop for people of certain sexual proclivities.

Fascinating. The psychiatric evidence in this case promises to be a great read. I just hope they can keep that serial grandstander, Park Dietz, the hell out of this case.

[QuettaKid]

11. here is his resume.

http://www.job4teacher.com/Candidates/JohnKarr.html

[nashville_brook]

14. his "mission statement":

Mission: To provide excellence in education that develops academic and technological skills, instills strong values of superior character, develops interpersonal skills and nurtures leadership qualities amongst students to prepare them for a successful future with the expectation that such an education will result in a student of superior poise.

[tanyev]

17. So how many more victims are out there?

He chose a profession that gave him lots of access to children.

[OzarkDem]

18. Probably a lot

if not victims of murder, victims of sex abuse. Very sad to think of how many of these creeps are out there.

[arewenotdemo]

41. on one resume he states that he made sure the children

"got their evening baths".

:scared: :scared: :scared:

[woodsprite]

19. Sounds like someone needs to check out some kids in Germany

and the Netherlands. Weird stuff to put on a teaching resume - helped the kids get up in the morning.....gave them a bath..... etc.

Something in his looks reminds me of Lee Harvey Oswald.

[Synnical]

31. Cripes, that's scary!

He's worked with children all these years!

[mountainvue]

35. It's vanished now. No surprise.

Did anyone get a screen shot of it?

[intaglio]

12. Just a thought ...

What if he says the parents were there? :dilemma:

I'm not saying he will but if he does it would cause hellish repercussions

[QuettaKid]

20. I think he might.

."Psst...Dude, go to Thailand. My wife just died, and that means BIG BUCKS IN THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY if WE FIND A KILLER! I'll give you $2.5 million! I'll even forgive you during sentencing so you only get 25 years! That's $100,000 per year! Thanks, John."

[FlaGranny]

23. Amazing that some people

just ABSOLUTELY WANT the parents to be guilty of SOMETHING, even if not the murder. I'm not quite sure why, except they think the parents are guilty of "abusing" the child with beauty pageants and not acting "right" after the murder. I wonder if anyone can tell me what acting "right" after the death of your child consists of.

My own mother thought that my daughter was so beautiful that she dressed her up and took her to baby parades and pageants starting at the age of 2 until about age 5 or 6. Never once was this abusive. It was great fun for both of them.

[Catrina]

26. I was thinking that also. But when the media does a job

on someone, no matter how much evidence is produced to prove them wrong, people are somehow invested in the media story, right or wrong. As one media victim of said after being legally exhonerated 'But how do I get my reputation back'.

Plus, according to the article above, this guy confessed ten years ago.

Thai police said that Karr, a 41-year-old American schoolteacher, admitted to the killing a decade ago of 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey in the United States

Personally I believe nothing the media says, and usually seek information elsewhere. How many innocent people have been tarred and feathered by this, the same media who got us into the quagmire in Iraq, by spreading lies about mushroom clouds and WMDs, without one iota of real, journalist analysis as to who might be telling the truth?

The Oklahoma bombing case was another example.

Gary Condit, another person who was tried and found guilty of murder in the media.

But then, that's why I don't have cable anymore. If I want tabloid reporting, it's cheaper to just buy it in the Supermarket.

The bottom line always with this case as with so many others was that we know nothing at all. All the media coverage was not but speculation, and yet that speculation fueled by the hysteria of media so-called legal experts, became fact over the years.

No matter what the truth is in the end, there will always be those who will cling to 'the parents did it'. Just as so many Americans still believe that Iraq had something to do with 9/11.

The bigger issue here though, is what passes for news coverage in this country. We will not get this country back until major changes are made in the media. While this case is an example of the harm that can be done, it pales compared to the real harm a complicit media has done to this country over the past number of years.

Back OT. Just heard on the radio that the suspect says Jonbenet's death was an accident and that 'he loved Jonbenet'. Her aunt says there are many ways a stranger could have gotten close to her.

[FlaGranny]

30. Can't argue

with any of that. :-)

[calimary]

36. Not exactly. Just the way it was written.

"..admitted to the killing a decade ago of 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey in the United States..."

That phrase is typical of print-journalism. "The killing a decade ago of six-year-old beauty queen..." refers to the killing that was a decade ago, not that he admitted it a decade ago. THAT would have been weird - that they'd only be apprehending him now. This is strictly writing style, and a tad-bit sloppy, IMHO, because it's misleading - it mislead you when you read it.

Should be something like "admitted to the 1996 killing of..." or "admitted, this week, to the 1996 killing..." You REALLY have to write carefully and meticulously when you're doing newswriting - so it DOESN'T mislead people.

[Catrina]

42. You're right ~ I read it quickly and wondered why

no one was talking about it. Thanks for pointing it out, it makes more sense now.

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

33. Just Wait Til He Gets A Defense Attorney....

Suddenly he'll be 100% innocent. NOTHING will have been his fault. It will all be a coincidence that she died.

I guarantee you that within 48 hours of him getting back here, he'll convince himself that he did NOTHING wrong, and there was someone else to blame.

I've yet to see a guilty person admit to their crimes willingly. We'll see how he holds up, but I bet he folds and ends up pleading Not Guilty.

[Kailassa]

38. This brings back too many memories of a murder in Australia.

Another very beautiful 6 year old, and another man
who insisted the death was accidental.
He then said the death was the girl's own fault.
I just hope little JonBenet didn't die the same way.

[focusfan]

40. i don't think he did it

his wife said he was in Alabama when the murder took place