JonBenet Confession Under Scrutiny
Suspect's Statements Compared To Other Claims, Facts In 1996 Murder
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Play CBS Video Video JonBenet Slay Suspect Speaks A 41-year-old second-grade teacher under arrest in Thailand said he was there when JonBenet Ramsey died, but claimed it was an accident. Kelly Cobiella reports.
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Video Questions On Karr Arrest Investigators may have arrested John Karr not because they had definitive evidence linking him to the Ramsey murder, but because they feared he might hurt a child in Thailand. Erin Moriarty reports.
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Video Legal Analysis On Big News Day Professor Jim Cohen from Fordham University Law School analyzes the decision to put a stop to President Bush's wiretapping program and why John Mark Karr's confession has holes in it.
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Sources tell CBS News that John Mark Karr, seen here in police custody in Bangkok, has already been given a DNA test to compare to evidence from the JonBenet Ramsey crime scene. (Getty Images/Saeed Khan)
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This image made from an undated family video shows JonBenet Ramsey performing during a beauty pageant. (AP)
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"If this is, in fact, the killer," says Pam Paugh, Patsy Ramsey's sister, shedding tears of relief at news of the arrest, "then we have a very heinous killer off the streets to never harm another child." (AP)
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The arrest of suspect John Mark Karr comes too late for Patsy Ramsey, who died of cancer in June. Above: her unmarked grave, in front of that of her daughter, JonBenet Ramsey. in Marietta, Ga., Aug. 16, 2006. (AP Photo/Ric Feld)
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Interactive Stunning Hoax Photos, timeline and more on John Mark Karr, the man who falsely claimed he was with JonBenet when she "accidentally" died.
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Interactive The JonBenet Case Review the murder and investigation, see those involved, and take a peek inside the Ramsey house where the crime occurred.
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Photo Essay Patsy Ramsey Funeral Mother, who died of ovarian cancer, is buried next to daughter JonBenet
A source described the e-mails to CBS News as "hair-raising — to see what he'd done, or contemplated doing, to children." And an FBI source tells Moriarty that Karr once wrote an e-mail to Patsy Ramsey saying he was sorry and that her daughter did not suffer.
Karr 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. Karr was given a mouth-swab DNA test in Bangkok, according to a law enforcement official, and will be given another DNA test when he returns to the United States, the official said.
"I was with JonBenet when she died," Karr told reporters Thursday, visibly nervous and stuttering as he spoke. "Her death was an accident."
Asked if he was innocent of the crime, Karr said: "No."
As Karr was escorted to his guesthouse by U.S. and Thai authorities to pick up his belongings, he told the AP: "I am so very sorry for what happened to JonBenet. It's very important for me that everyone knows that I love her very much, that her death was unintentional, that it was an accident."Read a statement from John Ramsey,
JonBenet Ramsey's father.
Asked what happened when JonBenet died, he said: "It would take several hours to describe that. It's a very involved series of events that would involve a lot of time. It's very painful for me to talk about it."
Dressed in a baggy turquoise polo shirt and khaki pants, Karr said that JonBenet's death was "not what it seems to be," though he declined to elaborate. "In every way," he added, as authorities bundled him into a waiting vehicle, "it's not at all what it seems to be."
Some feared the case would never be solved — and as investigators failed to produce suspects, some suspicion fell on the girl's parents, John Ramsey and his wife, Patsy, who died of ovarian cancer in June.
Karr had been in Thailand five times over the past two years, arriving most recently in Bangkok on June 6 from Penang, Malaysia, Suwat said. He was looking for a teaching job in Thailand, Thai police official Lt. Gen. Suwat Tumrongsiskul Suwat said.
Suwat told reporters that Karr insisted his crime was not first-degree murder.
"He said it was second-degree murder. He said it was unintentional," Suwat said. He said Karr told Thai interrogators that he picked up JonBenet at her school and brought her to the basement. "He said he loved this child, that he was in love her. He said she was very pretty, a pageant queen. She was the school star, she was very cute and sweet."
The Thai officer quoted the suspect as saying he tried to kidnap JonBenet for a $118,000 ransom but that his plan went awry and he strangled her to death.
Karr's ex-wife said he often spent time reading up on the cases of Ramsey and Petaluma, Calif., resident Polly Klaas, who was abducted and slain in 1993. She also said she does not believe that her husband committed the crime.
His father told The Denver Post that while Karr was in college as an adult, a professor encouraged him to write a book about the Ramsey case after being impressed with a school paper.
"He researched everything he could about her," Wexford Karr said.
Hurst said Karr, who had traveled extensively across the world, may also be connected to a prior case in California's Santa Rosa County. She did not provide further details.
Asked how long he had been a suspect, she said, "A long time. I can't say specifically."
©MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Read a statement from John Ramsey,
Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."





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See all 34 Commentslori2c
Also there are no charges in Taiwan. He was arrested 'before he could do anything'.
Yes, he's sick - but I think it's a different sort of sick than being presented.
LDiane3
I feel that the parents have more clues about the murder everytime I saw them on tv they did not appear to be sad and upset after their daughter was murdered they were always trying to deny their involvement rather than to comply with the investigation. I hope that this man mr karr is given some help and if he is a true pedifile Then he needs never to be allowed to be with children.
He is just like a dreamer.
But he did not say that he drugged the girl neither kidnapped her from her shcool.
There must be some missunderstanding if someone told the media that he said so.
DNA will tell everything.
If teh DNA taken from John doesn't match with the DNA taken from JonBonet's body...why they will try to take him back to the US ???
This guy is an over-the-top obsessive-compulsive looking to enjoy his 15 brief moments of fame. End of story.
May Patsy Ramsey burn in hell
Connie Morgan
Dallas, Texas
I am glad he is in custody. If DNA doesn't match Karr in the Ramsey case, I believe that the police are carrying out a grave injustice by using a cold and popular case as a ruse to utilize a new law that is in place which allows the US to prosecute child abuse crimes across international borders.
It is my belief that, though Karr is a pedophile and likely has left many victims thru his travels (both in child brothels and students). I have grave doubts as to the validity of his confession. From an armchair detectives POV, Karr's body language does not sync up with the story he tells. Look at his eyes. You can tell that when answering questions (no matter from what direction) Karr looks down, then up to the top right as he formulates his answer. This is an involuntary reflex indicating the person is accessing the creative aspect of his brain. Excessive blinking (even when many flash bulbs go off, he doesn't blink but casts his eyes downward) upon answering the questions along with focused and subdued demeanor are other tell tale signs of lies.
When specific questions concerning unreleased crime details are asked, Karr reacts with slightly widen eyes and quick rigidity following with a "no comment." IMO, this as nervousness. You can also see that he even doesn't look to the left and up to access data recall of his brain before deciding if said data should be conveyed. Another involuntary reflex.
he could be the biological father.. both lived in same general area.... similar physical features, same coloring.
Maybe is wanted to see his child at Christmas?
Maybe he wanted to hurt the family that took his child?
I know it's a twisted thought, but... would make for one heck of a twist. I bet Movie deals are in the talks.
he could be the biological father.. both lived in same general area.... similar physical features, same coloring.
Maybe is wanted to see his child at Christmas?
Maybe he wanted to hurt the family that took his child?
I know it's a twisted thought, but... would make for one heck of a twist. I bet Movie deals are in the talks.
he could be the biological father.. both lived in same general area.... similar physical features, same coloring.
Maybe is wanted to see his child at Christmas?
Maybe he wanted to hurt the family that took his child?
I know it's a twisted thought, but... would make for one heck of a twist. I bet Movie deals are in the talks.
John Mark Karr is not Sorry! Yes, he is the murderer, based on the details gathered from the detectives' comments, and his statements.
Why had he been rounded up only now? Did Paty know, before she died that he was the suspect the police was tracking down? If his identity was known at that time, with what he did before, weren't some way to arrest him for questioning?
Since his arrest, he is saying it was an accident, he loved her, and was sorry. This guy is not stupid:
1) He had been able to elude police for 10 years despite the clues he left for them; why did he use the word "neck" when he sent his message to Paty?
2) As soon as he had been apprehended, his defense was to say immediately, "it was an accident; I loved her." Clearly, he had been watching TV and following closely on the Taylor Behl case where the murderer used the same argument, and got away with it. Karr is now using a similar strategy to get away with as much as he can. I hope the investigators will make sure he does not succeed, at least on that.
3) Sorry? Noooo, he is not; he is enjoying the spotlight and think he won and is plotting a second volume of "Meine Kampf". Look at the body language with the chin high and the tight lips! Unlike Taylor Behl's murdered who would like to hide under the earth and was unsure on how he screwed it up and how it will work out, this one is convinced he can pull it out. I hope not, dude!
May he stay in a cell alone until he meets his last day!
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