John Mark Karr, Suspect in the JonBenet Ramsey murder arrested in Thailand

Arrest Made in the JonBenet Ramsey case, a suspect has been detained in Thailand in  the 1996 murder of 6 year old JonBenet

Jon Ramsey, JonBenet’s father, was told by Colorado authorities that an arrest was made overseas in connection with his daughter’s death in 1996, MSNBC-TV reported.

According to Denver NBC affiliate 9NEWS, sources close to the investigation said an arrest was made in Thailand on Wednesday morning. The information was still pending confirmation.

According to reports, the unidentified suspect has confessed to certain elements of the crime. However, the parts that have been confessed to would have been unknown to the general public. The Boulder County DA stated that the suspect will be brought back to the United States in the next couple of days.

According to the Rocky Mountain News, the suspect in question was being held in Bangkok, Thailand on unrelated sex charges. Law enforcement officials from Denver, CO are on their way to Thailand “to present Thai authorities with documents in the slaying of the 6-year-old beauty pageant contestant, officials in Washington said.”

For years the family of JonBenet Ramsey had been under a cloud of suspicion in the death of their 6 year old daughter. Patsy Ramsey, the mother of JonBenet, went to her grave in many respects still under that cloud. Patsy Ramsey recently died of ovarian cancer.

Man held in death of JonBenet Ramsey

UPDATE: According to reports from CNN  the suspect is a 42 year old man who was 2nd grade  school teacher. Also from the Rocky Mountain News, the 41 year old school teacher was a one time resident of Conyers, GA.

(Much more below and updates)

  

According to published reports from Denver’s Rocky Mountain News, the suspect is a 41-year-old school teacher who is a one-time resident of Conyers, Ga. The suspect has confessed to certain elements of the crime that are unknown to the general public, authorities said.

(11 Alive)

JonBenà ©t Patricia Ramsey Wiki   (August 6, 1990 — December 25, 1996)

Michelle Malkin is also hearing that the school teacher’s name may be John Mark Karr. (unsure of the spelling)

UPDATE: (KUSA 9 News) John Ramsey was asked by reporters whether he new the suspect that has been arrested in the murder of his daughter.

Interview with John Ramsey with KUSA

Ramsey refused to speculate about the case saying, “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 told 9NEWS, “I can’t comment on that now. to the best of my knowledge no.”

Comments from John Ramsey, father of JonBenet Ramsey.

“I want to have only very limited comment on today’s arrest 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 with today’s development almost 10 years after our daughter’s murder. Words cannot adequately express my gratitude for the efforts of Boulder District Attorney Mary Lacy and the members of her investigative team.”

Update: Confirmed by 9 News and MSNBC, the suspect’s name is John Mark Karr.

Sources close to the investigation confirmed to 9NEWS the suspects name is John Mark Karr. The Associated Press and MSNBC reports he is a 42-year-old schoolteacher who once lived in Conyers, Ga.

Time line and key dates in JonBenet Ramsey case

Suspect arrested in JonBenet Ramsey case

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.

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.

  

As previously stated, John Mark Karr had confessed to certain elements of the murder that would not been known to the public. Lawrence Schiller, author of “Perfect Murder, Perfect Town” revealed some of the unkowns.

Lawrence Schiller, author of 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.

DNA was found beneath JonBenet’s fingernails and inside her underwear, but Wood said two years ago that detectives were unable to match it to anyone in an FBI database. It was not immediately known Wednesday whether investigators had any DNA evidence against Karr.

(Yahoo News)