Man arrested in death of JonBenet Ramsey

Necro

BOULDER, Colo. - A man suspected in the slaying of 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey nearly a decade ago was arrested Wednesday in Thailand, the district attorney said.
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District Attorney Mary Lacey said the arrest followed several months of work. She disclosed no details about the suspect before a news conference scheduled for Thursday.

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. CBS reported that he is 41-year-old second-grade teacher and will be brought back to the United States this weekend.

Ramsey family attorney Lin Wood said in Atlanta that he has been told that the suspect once lived in Conyers, Ga., outside of Atlanta. He would not comment on whether the Ramseys knew him, and he said he knew nothing else about the man.

Lin said the Ramseys learned about the suspect a least a month before JonBenet's mother, Patsy Ramsey, died on June 24 after a long battle with ovarian cancer.

"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.

JonBenet was found beaten and strangled in the basement of the family's home in Boulder on Dec. 26, 1996.

Investigators said at one point that Patsy Ramsey and her husband, John Ramsey, were under an "umbrella of suspicion" in the slaying, but they were never charged. The Ramseys said an intruder killed their daughter. A grand jury investigation in Boulder ended with no charges.

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."

Wood said he and the Ramseys "have been totally amazed and impressed with the professionalism of law enforcement" under Lacy's direction. Lacy became district attorney in 2001. Over the Ramseys accused Boulder police of botching the case.

Law enforcement officials from Boulder were flying to Bangkok to present Thai authorities with documents in the slaying, officials in Washington said. They asked to remain anonymous pending an announcement in Colorado.

KUSA-TV of Denver, citing no sources, reported that the suspect has confessed to certain elements of the crime.

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.

Blitzkrieg

That's crazy, I always thought it was the Dad.. Now there's a lot of questions to be answered.

Randy Orton

WC's Resident Alchoholic

Took long enough but at least they might have the right guy. I always thought the parents had something to do with it also.

Beaker

They hired someone to do it, and helped out the whole time, I think they had a cop in their back pocket too. No emotion on any of the parents faces

U MAD

Joseph T. Cool

Administrator

In an interview with The Associated Press, he said that he contacted JonBenet’s mother, Patsy, before she died of cancer in June to express his remorse for the killing.

“I conveyed to her many things, among them that I am so very sorry for what happened to JonBenet,� Karr said as U.S. and Thai authorities escorted him from his Bangkok hotel, where he spent over an hour packing his belongings.

Karr said it was his understanding that Patsy Ramsey read letters that he sent to her. He said JonBenet’s death was “an accident.�

A Thai police general said Karr admitted to drugging and having sex with victim before "accidentally" killing her.

“It’s very important for me that everyone knows that I love her very much and that her death was unintentional,� said Karr, who sweated and stuttered occasionally as he spoke in a quiet voice.
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Sick bastard. :down:

I hope they give him the death penalty. He deserves it.

Randy Orton

WC's Resident Alchoholic

oh i know it dont matter though. all they got to do is put him in with the general population in a prison and he is a dead man walking.

Joseph T. Cool

Administrator

More than likely JonBenet's dad will offer money for the first one who gets their hands on him.

For all the family has been through in the past ten years and this guy acts like it was just a normal accident.

I repeat...sick bastard.

Beaker

Are you kidding me? They hired him, those parents are dispicable. That whole family was sick and twisted. The brother from what I remember molested her before as well.

U MAD