BANGKOK, Thailand - The American suspect in the killing of JonBenet Ramsey told investigators that he drugged and had sex with the 6-year-old beauty queen before accidentally killing her, a senior Thai police officer said Thursday.
An autopsy on Ramsey said a blood screening showed no drugs or alcohol in her body but said she had vaginal abrasions.
Lt. Gen. Suwat Tumrongsiskul, head of Thailand's immigration police, said by telephone that he was not present for the questioning, which was conducted by U.S. law enforcement officials.
But, according to what the general said he was told of the questioning, the suspect, John Mark Karr, "said he drugged the child." Suwat did not say who briefed him on the questioning.
Karr claimed he had sex with Ramsey, who was still alive, Suwat said. Karr said he then realized he had "accidentally" killed her, according to the general.
A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy said it had no information about Karr's alleged actions or what he said to questioners. U.S. and Colorado law enforcement officials were unavailable for comment.
Don't trust AP on any reporting. Here's the story from The Nation, BKK's version of the WashTimes:
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2006/08/18/headlines/headlines_30011373.php US teacher admits he killed child beauty
Published on August 18, 2006
Suspect says death unintentional; US court issues arrest warrant for murder, kidnap, child-sex
Police have arrested an American teacher wanted in the United States in a high-profile murder case of a six-year-old child beauty queen 10 years ago.
John Mark Karr, 41, is suspected of murdering JonBenet Ramsey, whose body was found beaten and strangled to death with traces of sexual assault in the basement of her home in Boulder, Colorado, the day after Christmas in 1996.
"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 and that her death was unintentional, and that it was an accident," Karr told the Associated Press.
Karr was arrested on Wednes-day night at The Blooms budget hotel in Bangkok's Sathorn district, just two days after getting a teaching job at an international school in the same area, police said.
Karr fell into the hands of the law after he himself reportedly gave a clue to his whereabouts. He also claimed that he had made several efforts to communicate with JonBenet's mother, Patsy Ramsey, who died of cancer in June.
Signing himself "Daxis", Karr sent an email to a professor at Colorado University saying that it was he who strangled and then raped JonBenet because he fell in love with the girl.
The professor received the
email after producing a TV documentary titled "Who Killed the Pageant Queen?", which tentatively pointed the finger at JonBenet's father, John Ramsey.
JonBenet was so well known that there was no need to mention her last name.
"Following long correspondence, an envelope reached the professor," Immigration Police Commissioner Lt-General Suwat Thamrongsrisakul said at a press conference yesterday.
He said the envelope bore the address "Rama IV Road, Bangkok" and contained photos of JonBenet and her parents.
Suwat said the address on the envelope provided US authorities investigating the case with a fresh clue.
"The hunt focused on Thailand and the suspect was arrested," Suwat said.
A US court has issued a warrant for Karr's arrest on charges of murder, kidnapping and sexual assault on a child.
Karr has declined to publicly state the nature of his relationship to the Ramsey family or how he knew JonBenet.
Asked by the Associated Press for details of what happened to JonBenet, Karr replied: "It would take several hours to describe - to describe that."
"There's no way I could be brief about it. It's a very involved series of events," said Karr, a short, thin blond with a Southern accent. "It's very painful for me to talk about."
Earlier in the day, Karr spoke briefly to reporters after a news conference by American and Thai authorities. "I was with JonBenet when she died," he told reporters. Asked if he was innocent, he said: "No."
According to Suwat, Karr had been travelling in and out of Thailand since 2005. His most recent arrival was on June 6, after which he applied for a teaching job at an international school in Bangkok.
"We have revoked his visa. He will be extradited within the next few days," Suwat said, adding that Karr was not known to have committed any crime in Thailand.
Suwat said Karr admitted assuming the name of "Daxis" when contacting the university professor. The suspect was also quoted as saying that he did not want to return to the US because he feared lynching.
"He also said he planned to sell his story as a film script," Suwat said.
Ann Hurst, an attache for the US Department of Homeland Security, said Karr might be linked to another crime in California.
Karr's arrest was a surprise development in one of America's most lurid murder cases, which had left a cloud of suspicion over JonBenet's parents after years went by with no suspect arrested. Some feared the case would never be solved.
JonBenet's murder gripped the United States and put the spotlight on the phenomenon of child beauty pageants, where the young blonde was videotaped wearing lipstick, jewellery and gowns, pouting seductively for the cameras.
For months, newscasts showed footage of the cherubic blonde prancing about in a revealing Las Vegas showgirl outfit or pouting at the camera mimicking a seductive adult.
At the time of the killing, suspicion fell on her wealthy parents, who resisted police attempts to interview them for months and hired an army of publicists and private detectives to defend themselves against the media.
Jon Benet's mother Patsy maintained throughout that an intruder, not a family member, killed her daughter.
The Ramsey family's attorney in Atlanta yesterday said Karr was a schoolteacher who once lived near the Ramseys in Conyers, Georgia, before they moved to Colorado.
In a statement issued after Karr's arrest, John Ramsey recalled the family's ordeal.
"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," the statement said.
The Nation, Agencies
Needle of suspicion lifts from parents
The arrest of John Karr looks likely to dispel the cloud of suspicion that has hung over JonBenet's parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, ever since the girl's death 10 years ago in their Boulder, Colorado home.
John Ramsey discovered his six-year-old daughter's body after the girl had been reported missing earlier that morning and Patsy Ramsey said she found a ransom letter demanding US$118,000 (Bt4.4 million) on a staircase in the home.
Autopsy results showed JonBenet received a massive blow to the head and was strangled with a rope that the killer tightened by twisting an attached paintbrush handle.
The Ramseys maintained an intruder killed their daughter, but they remained the subjects of suspicion in the case, which provided years of fodder for TV news networks and tabloids.
No one was ever named as a suspect, but at one point Boulder police said the Ramseys were under "an umbrella of suspicion".
A grand jury investigation into the slaying ended with no indictments.
Patsy Ramsey had called police on December 26, 1996 to say JonBenet was missing and that there was a ransom note demanding $118,000.
Patsy Ramsey - who died in June - and her husband John knew an arrest was expected.
After an initial police search of the home, officers asked John Ramsey to look again and he found JonBenet's body in the basement.
The case captivated US media, which focused on the ransom note, the role of child beauty pageants in society and attempts by the parents to resist police interviews.
In 1999, the governor of Colorado, Bill Owens, told the parents to "quit hiding behind their attorneys, quit hiding behind their PR firm".
The Ramseys showed they had passed lie detector tests in 2000 proving they were not attempting deception.
In 2002 they agreed to an out-of-court cash settlement with an ex-detective whose book said they had murdered JonBenet.
The Ramseys, who later moved to Atlanta, Georgia, have fought for years to clear their names of persistent accusations of involvement in the death of their daughter. Their lawyer, Lin Wood, said the Ramseys had learned about the suspect at least a month before Patsy died of cancer.
"It's been a very long 10 years and I'm just sorry Patsy isn't here for me to hug her neck," Wood said.
John Ramsey said in a statement: "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."
He later told US media that to the best of his knowledge he did not know Karr.
The Ramsey family lawyer said Karr once lived near the family in Georgia before they moved to Colorado.
