Social Issues - Law Enforcement - Arrest in JonBenet Ramsey Slaying

It was Boxing Day, 1996, when in the posh suburbs of Pueblo Colorado, JonBenet Ramsey, a 6 year old child beauty queen was found slain in her own home. More weird and unexpected twists and turns than any Agatha Christie mystery I’ve read, the suspects ranged from a dubious kidnapper to first one then the other then both of the child’s parents. The kidnap note asked for the odd amount of $118,000 in ransom, but no further contact was every had. While it is easy to cast blame on the police, it was the first murder in this affluent upscale community and the early crime scene was not well preserved, in large part because the child’s body was not immediately found and it was not known what crime, if any had been committed.

The parents were questioned several times and may have been discussed by the last grand jury to hear the case, but no indictments were returned. JonBenet’s mother, Mrs. June Ramsey died in June.

A curt announcement was made today by the Pueblo County District Attorney that a 41 year old American “schoolteacher” had been arrested in Thailand on charges related to the murder. The man has not been identified. Although the US has an extradition treaty with Thailand, it may be the possibility of death penalty issues will delay the early return of the suspect to the US.

It is more than gossip that many European and American men have traveled to southeast Asia including Thailand to have sexual relations with very young children including young girls. I wonder if this kind of illicit attraction could have been part of the schoolteachers trip to Thailand?

In any case, after seeing so much of this case on tv over the past 10 years, it is hard to imagine how any accused person can get a fair trial in Colorado. This is an issue that needs to be dealt with in my opinion. Some people have suggested professional jurors.

Others say our criminal justice system needs to adopt the Napoleonic Code system called the inquisitorial system where the judges not only decide the case, but actually ask many of the questions in the trial. Our theory of getting an impartial jury in this day of instant commendations and the desire of both the print and electronic media for a sensational news item to begin each day’s lead story, makes it very difficult to provide the accused a fair trial, especially in a high profile case.


Post Script. A man named John Carr has been identified as the suspect arrested in Thailand. Carr was said to have lived in a half hour’s drive from the Ramsey’s in Colorado at the time of JonBenet’s death.



[edit on 8/16/2006 by donwhite]

The sordid story is coming out now. Mr. John Mark Karr, 41, of Conyers, GA, a upscale Atlanta community, was about 30 miles from Dunwoody, GA, another upscale community where the Ramsey’s lived as late as 1991. The Ramsey’s moved to Colorado that year, when JonBenet was but 1 year old.

Mr. Karr is said to have admitted to his crime to the Thailand immigration police who have him in custody, after arresting him in Bangkok. He had just returned from Malaysia where he was seeking a job. He was under investigation for child pornography.

He was wiring a book about men who killed young children and had been in touch with Michael Tracey of the University of Colorado who had made a documentary about the case looking towards identifying the killer. He and Karr began to communicate and Tracey ultimately reported this to the police.

Karr’s brother said he had been married and was the father of three children but he did not have contact with them or his brother John for several years. . My first suspicion of him - a pedophile in Thailand - looks to have been a straight shot for me. American men do not go to Thailand to look at elephants.



[edit on 8/17/2006 by donwhite]

I am honestly stunned by this. I never thought this would be solved. The family was tried and hung by the media and court of public opinion years ago and now this. Who ever the person in Colorado that was helping the police is I applaud you.

I admit, one of my first thoughts was "fall guy", but that doesn't make sense. The case was ice cold (at least to the general public) and the Ramsey's had moved on.

posted by Katolu
I am honestly stunned by this. I never thought this would be solved. The family was tried and hung by the media and court of public opinion years ago and now this. Who ever the person in Colorado that was helping the police is I applaud you. I admit, one of my first thoughts was "fall guy", but that doesn't make sense. The case was ice cold (at least to the general public) and the Ramsey's had moved on.

Me, Too, Mr K. I am guilty of blaming the two parents. I don’t want to repeat what I thought had happened. It’s too disgusting. I am very happy that the guilty party has been found and now here is a link to a good story.

news.yahoo.com...



[edit on 8/17/2006 by donwhite]

While I find that the the public opinion targeted the family I was also aware that the police did a very unprofessional job in the initial investigation because they though that the killer was within the family members.

That was very shameful when they could not get anybody to be arrested.

Now this man comes to light, but I am skeptical . . . the way he looks and the way he talk to the cameras make me feel that either he is sick, crazy or just in a desperate mood to get away from the country is stuck in.

What else he has to lose . . .

Until more details comes out from his ties to the Ramsey family and the events that led to the killing I will stay skeptical.

[edit on 17-8-2006 by marg6043]

Its quite possible this case has gone unsolved for so long due to the police who arrived on scene. Allowing people to come in and out all day was a big no no. Permitting the Ramseys to clean the house from top to bottom after the murder was an even bigger no no. Mr Ramsey destroyed the crime scene itself, not to say it was intentional but it was destroyed.

Afterwards they had a very narrow minded approach to any suspects, which may have led to some possible suspects falling through the cracks.

About 2 years ago I read this book, alittle slow moving but full of detail.

Perfect Murder, Perfect Town : The Uncensored Story of the JonBenet Murder and the Grand Jury's Search for the Final Truth

[edit on 17-8-2006 by chissler]