In this Discussion
- jedi_grrlie August 2006
- kissteam1 September 2006
- mexico39taiwan August 2006
- RejectedSponge September 2006
- sherib August 2006
- sweetness August 2006
- thephantommilk August 2006
- tune1shade August 2006
- women60banana August 2006
- woodmaid8 August 2006
Arrest made of JonBenet Ramsey murder
Arrest made over JonBenet Ramsey murder
An unidentified man has been arrested in Thailand in connection with the 1996 murder of JonBenet Ramsey, a child beauty queen whose grisly death triggered a US media frenzy.
Boulder County District Attorney Mary Lacy says the suspect, who has not been identified by authorities, "was arrested following several months of a focused and complex investigation".
Ms Lacy says both the girl's father, John, and late mother, Patsy, have been consulted during the course of the investigation.
Mrs Ramsey died of ovarian cancer in June.
Prosecutors have declined to release further details about the case or the suspect.
However, CNN has identified him as a 41-year-old American school teacher who was visiting Thailand.
The suspect is expected to be returned in the coming days to Boulder, Colorado, where JonBenet, six, lived with her family at the time of her murder on December 26, 1996.
The United States has an extradition treaty with Thailand.
The girl's body was found in the basement of the family home and on a staircase a note was left saying that she had been kidnapped by a "small foreign faction" and demanding $US118,000 in ransom.
Local KUSA-TV in Denver reports the suspect has confessed to elements of the crime that are unknown to the general public.
Parents consulted
Mr Ramsey has confirmed in a written statement that both he and his late wife have been consulted in the arrest.
"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 with today's development almost 10 years after our daughter's murder," he said.
Mr Ramsey told KUSA that to the best of his knowledge he is not acquainted with the suspect.
No charges have been filed in the 10 years since JonBenet was found beaten and strangled.
Her parents came under the Boulder police "umbrella of suspicion" but a grand jury issued no indictments.
The killing drew intense media coverage focusing on JonBenet's success in youth beauty pageants, the family's affluence and mysterious elements of the case, including the note that first led police to believe the girl had been kidnapped.
Holy shit, this is going to be a really interesting case to follow.
An unidentified man has been arrested in Thailand in connection with the 1996 murder of JonBenet Ramsey, a child beauty queen whose grisly death triggered a US media frenzy.
Boulder County District Attorney Mary Lacy says the suspect, who has not been identified by authorities, "was arrested following several months of a focused and complex investigation".
Ms Lacy says both the girl's father, John, and late mother, Patsy, have been consulted during the course of the investigation.
Mrs Ramsey died of ovarian cancer in June.
Prosecutors have declined to release further details about the case or the suspect.
However, CNN has identified him as a 41-year-old American school teacher who was visiting Thailand.
The suspect is expected to be returned in the coming days to Boulder, Colorado, where JonBenet, six, lived with her family at the time of her murder on December 26, 1996.
The United States has an extradition treaty with Thailand.
The girl's body was found in the basement of the family home and on a staircase a note was left saying that she had been kidnapped by a "small foreign faction" and demanding $US118,000 in ransom.
Local KUSA-TV in Denver reports the suspect has confessed to elements of the crime that are unknown to the general public.
Parents consulted
Mr Ramsey has confirmed in a written statement that both he and his late wife have been consulted in the arrest.
"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 with today's development almost 10 years after our daughter's murder," he said.
Mr Ramsey told KUSA that to the best of his knowledge he is not acquainted with the suspect.
No charges have been filed in the 10 years since JonBenet was found beaten and strangled.
Her parents came under the Boulder police "umbrella of suspicion" but a grand jury issued no indictments.
The killing drew intense media coverage focusing on JonBenet's success in youth beauty pageants, the family's affluence and mysterious elements of the case, including the note that first led police to believe the girl had been kidnapped.
Holy shit, this is going to be a really interesting case to follow.
Comments
im hoping i didnt hear that.
I don't really remember when it happened, as I suspect my parents were trying desperately to keep it away from me, but when I saw a picture of the girl I recognized it.
I'm rather glad I didn't really know about this case until now. I mean, I was six when it happened, and the girl was six, and that would be a rather bad thing to see until I was old enough to understand it. I mean, I can see myself being scared for my life because another six-year-old had been murdered. It still scares me, as a matter of fact.
would the parents have had a big enough motive for the murder? I don't knwo enough about the case, but I think that the dad's "statement" didn't sound very convincing to me. I mean, maybe it was in real life, I don't know. just speculation.
?!
But I haven't read up on it since hearing that, so I know no further details.
Maybe I don't know enough about the case, maybe there's something I'm missing, but that fact that she got so much more attention made me a bit angry.
You must understand, I don't mean that the attention her death recieved was too much, I just wish that EVERY child who was abducted/hurt/killed recieved as much attention as her death has.
If there is a hell, I think the lowest level is reserved for people who hurt children.
Maybe I don't know enough about the case, maybe there's something I'm missing, but that fact that she got so much more attention made me a bit angry.
You must understand, I don't mean that the attention her death recieved was too much, I just wish that EVERY child who was abducted/hurt/killed recieved as much attention as her death has.
If there is a hell, I think the lowest level is reserved for people who hurt children.
I believe the reason her case was so well known was because it was so puzzling and no one had any answers. Had it been solved in a fairly reasonable or short amount of time, I don't think anyone would have cared like they do now. The fact it's remained such a mystery and has given rise to so many conspiracy theories is why her case has gotten so much attention.
?!
But I haven't read up on it since hearing that, so I know no further details.
I fail to understand how tying a child up and beating her could possibly be "accidental". Maybe he "accidentally" went too far and only meant to really hurt her. Either way, what he did was wrong.
Oh, absolutely. My "I don't know" was referring to the comments above about the parents being involved.
Ohs, I see. IDK, I still feel sus. about her family. The whole thing was just so strange I find it hard to accept that they had absolutely no involvement. If not in her death, at least in covering it up. I've always thought that if the parents weren't responsible for it, they at least knew who was and were protecting them.
My mom watches too much Larry King.
Unfortunately, I tend to agree
I know it sounds naive, but really, if I had one wish, I'd wish for World Peace, because then people wouldn't fight with others and murderers wouldn't exist. **sigh**
KUSA, based in Denver, Colorado, quoted two sources in a bulletin on its Web site:
"9NEWS has confirmed from two sources that the DNA sample taken from John Mark Karr is not a match with the foreign DNA found on JonBenet Ramsey's body when she was murdered in 1996. 9NEWS has also learned the Boulder County District Attorney's office will not file charges against Karr in connection with the Ramsey case."
KUSA says other sources also confirm that no charges will be filed against Karr in connection with the Ramsey case by the Boulder County District Attorney's office.
CNN is working to independently confirm the report as Karr awaits his first court appearance in Colorado later Monday afternoon. Karr will appear before Judge Roxanne Bailin at 4:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. ET).
The Denver station 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.
The Colorado television station says those tests ruled out Karr's DNA is as the foreign DNA left on JonBenet's body when she was slain in December 1996.
JonBenet was covered in a blanket when her body was found. Foreign hair fibers were found on that blanket and they did not match any of the Ramsey family or approximately 100 people that were tested.
Karr still faces charges of child pornography in California.
Earlier Monday, Karr's defense team requested that prosecutors hand over DNA evidence in the Ramsey case.
Public disclosure of any DNA evidence was specifically barred by a gag order issued Friday. The order applies to all attorneys and law enforcement officials involved in the case.
The 41-year-old suspect is being held in Boulder County Jail on suspicion of first-degree murder, first- and second-degree kidnapping, and sexual assault. No formal charges have been filed yet by Boulder prosecutors.
Documents list Karr's birthplace as Conyers, Georgia, and his occupation as "teacher."
Karr was brought back 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.
Tracey told CNN Thursday he also learned Karr's name five days before the arrest.
i dunno. but it doesn't match up at all.
i think he helped with what ever happend to her, but didnt do anything sexual to her.
i still think he helped kill her.
like he said.
it was an accident.
so he helped.
Like, what could possibly be the purpose of making that statement when it obviously isn't true? Plus he's a wanted sexual offender.