He says he's JonBenet's killer ... is it possible?
BOULDER, Colo. — If John Mark Karr is telling the truth, he picked up JonBenet Ramsey, 6, at school, took her home to drug and rape her, and then accidentally killed her nearly 10 years ago.
But schools were closed for the Christmas break when JonBenet died, and an autopsy found no evidence of drugs in the girl's body and was inconclusive about sexual assault. And few experts believe that a girl who was slowly strangled with a garrote was killed by accident. There are also questions whether Karr was in Colorado at the time of the slaying.
The doubts have led some to wonder whether Karr, 41, is the answer to the long-unsolved slaying or a disturbed wannabe trying to insert himself into a high-profile case.
Patsy Ramsey agreed to authorities' request that she meet with the man who claims he killed her 6-year-old daughter, but she died from cancer a month later having never heard more about the proposal, the family lawyer said today.
The attorney, Lin Wood, also said correspondence from John Mark Karr, the suspect in the death of JonBenet Ramsey, never reached Patsy Ramsey. He said police or someone else set up an address for the correspondence to be sent to make it look like he was writing to Ramsey. It was turned over to the police instead.
"He thought that he was corresponding with Patsy, but he wasn't," Wood told The Associated Press.
A spokesman for the Roswell, Ga., Police Department, which helped to identify and locate Karr, declined to say today whether his agency conducted the correspondence ruse.
"We're not commenting on any part of the investigation," Sgt. James McGee said.
Karr, 41, was arrested in Bangkok, Thailand, this week in a surprise twist in one of the nation's most lurid unsolved slayings. The former teacher told the AP he "was with JonBenet when she died. Her death was an accident."
Legal experts had questioned some of Karr's claims — including whether he sexually assaulted the girl or was even in Colorado at the time of the slaying.
"It's clear to me that he's somewhat interested or maybe even obsessed by the case and the real question is whether he's inserting himself into it for some obscure psychological reason," said author Carlton Smith, who wrote 1997's "Death of a Little Princess: The Tragic Story of the Murder of JonBenet Ramsey."
District Attorney Mary Lacy refused to say whether authorities have evidence linking Karr to JonBenet's death at her Boulder home on Dec. 26, 1996.
"We should all heed the poignant advice of John Ramsey," said Lacy, quoting the girl's father. "Do not jump to conclusions, do not rush to judgment, do not speculate. Let the justice system take its course."
Experts said the questions surrounding Karr's story put more pressure on corroborating evidence such as DNA. DNA was found beneath JonBenet's fingernails and inside her underwear, and authorities have never said whether it matches anyone in an FBI database.
"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."
That confession came Thursday when Karr was paraded before a crush of reporters in Bangkok, Thailand. Karr said that he loved JonBenet and was with her when she died, but that her death was an accident. And while vague on the details, he replied when asked if he was innocent: "No."
"The bottom line is that they now have a confession, and until and unless they can corroborate that confession with either physical evidence or strong circumstantial evidence, that's all they have," said Scott Robinson, a Denver attorney who has followed the case from the beginning.
Karr told investigators he drugged and sexually assaulted JonBenet before accidentally killing her in her Boulder home, according to a senior Thai police officer who was briefed about the interview with U.S. authorities.
Yet JonBenet's autopsy report found no evidence of drugs and said her death was caused by strangulation after a beating that included a fractured skull. And while it describes vaginal injuries, it makes no conclusions about whether she was raped. Investigators later concluded there was no semen on JonBenet's body.
According to Thai police, Karr also said he picked JonBenet up at school and took her back to her home. But the slaying came during the holiday vacation.
Karr's ex-wife told TV reporters she could not defend him and then insisted he was with her in Alabama during Christmas 1996, when JonBenet's body was found in the basement of her home. Authorities have not said whether Karr could have written the detailed ransom note found in the Ramsey home, with its demand for $118,000 (the bonus that had recently been awarded to the girl's father, John Ramsey).
Even the Colorado professor who swapped four years' worth of e-mail messages with Karr and brought him to the attention of prosecutors in May refused to characterize the suspect either as killer or kook.
"I don't know that he's guilty," said Michael Tracey, who teaches journalism at the University of Colorado. "Obviously, I went to the district attorney for a reason, but let him have his day in court and let JonBenet have her day in court and let's see how it plays out."
Also unclear is whether Karr — whose record includes a 2001 arrest on misdemeanor counts of possession of child pornography — had any previous relationship with the Ramsey family, though both have ties to suburban Atlanta.
District Attorney Lacy declined to discuss the case during a brief news conference and suggested Karr's arrest may have been forced by concern over public safety and fears the suspect might flee.
"There are circumstances that exist in any case that mandate an arrest before an investigation is complete," Lacy said.
Karr was arrested at a Bangkok apartment Wednesday, a day after he began teaching second grade at an international school, Lacy said.
Hours later, Thai authorities sat him before a crowded room of news crews. Karr stunned reporters by admitting: "I was with JonBenet when she died. Her death was an accident."
He also told The Associated Press: "I am so very sorry for what happened to JonBenet."
Karr was given a mouth-swab DNA test in Bangkok, according to a law-enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The results of that test were not immediately known. Karr will be given another DNA test when he returns to the United States in the next several days, the official said.
Karr will be taken within the week to Colorado, where he will face charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping and child sexual assault, said Ann Hurst of the Department of Homeland Security.
