Questions mount over JonBenet murder confession
Thai authorities today barred access to murder suspect John Mark Karr as varying accounts of what he said about the death of six-year-old JonBenet Ramsey raised questions as to whether his confession could help solve the decade-old case.
Karr, 41, was taken into custody at the request of US officials on Wednesday pending his extradition to Colorado in the United States, where he will face charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping and child sexual assault.
With reporters clamouring to talk with the suspect, a sign was put up today at the gate of the immigration detention centre saying Karr would not be allowed visitors, and those seeking to interview him should contact the US Embassy directly.
The ban came a day after journalists were briefly given access to Karr, who offered a stunning confession that he had killed the child beauty queen – though unintentionally – and had been in love with her.
“I am so very sorry for what happened to JonBenet,” Karr told reporters on Thursday as police brought him to his guesthouse to collect belongings following his arrest. “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.”
US officials, the only ones to have actually interrogated Karr, have been silent about what he told them, citing his right to privacy and legal procedures.
But Thai officials have been characteristically casual about giving out information on the case, rarely qualifying its reliability.
Police statements have raised questions about whether Karr is the killer or merely someone obsessed with the murder, one of the most notorious unsolved killings of the past decade.
Immigration police chief Lt. Gen. Suwat Tumrongsiskul changed some details today of the account he had given of what Karr told investigators.
In a telephone interview yesterday, Suwat – who acknowledged that he was not present at the interrogation – quoted Karr as saying he had drugged, then sexually assaulted the girl. He also told reporters before a news conference yesterday that Karr had claimed to have picked up JonBenet at her school.
The drugging and school aspects are at odds with what US investigators had previously established about the case.
Today, Suwat confirmed his account of the sexual assault. But when asked if Karr gave the girl drugs, Suwat said the suspect described the encounter with JonBenet Ramsey as “a blur.”
“It may have been drugs, or it may have been something else because (Karr said) it was a blur,” Suwat said.
Suwat also admitted his statement about the girl being picked up from school was based on a documentary he had seen and not the interrogation.
Denver attorney Larry Pozner, past president of the National Association of Criminal Defence Lawyers, said there were “serious questions” about the case.
“I hope we have found the murderer of JonBenet, but I have not heard the evidence that compels that a conclusion,” he said.
Experts said the questions surrounding Karr’s story put more pressure on corroborating evidence such as DNA.
“They either have a miss or a match on the DNA,” former Denver prosecutor Craig Silverman said. “If it’s a miss, the prosecution has serious problems. If it’s a match, then it’s game, set and match for this case. Couple the DNA with the kooky confession and it’s enough for most people to convict.”
Immigration chief Suwat said US authorities were preparing documents and plane tickets to send Karr back to the United States, and his departure could take place at any time.
A divorced father of three children, once detained on charges of possessing child pornography, Karr in recent years apparently travelled to Europe, Central America and Asia to search for teaching job.
Karr was arrested a day after he began teaching second grade in Bangkok, Boulder Conty District Attorney Lacy, who is prosecuting his case, told reporters in Colorado.
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