Suspect: JonBenet Ramsey's Death 'An Accident'

DENVER -- The American suspect in the JonBenet Ramsey murder case said publicly Thursday he was with the 6-year-old when she died and called her death "an accident," a stunning admission that will help answer 10 years of questions in the unsolved murder case.

"I was with JonBenet when she died," John Mark Karr told reporters in Bangkok, visibly nervous and stuttering as he spoke. "Her death was an accident."

Police said Karr, 41, admitted to the killing after he was arrested Wednesday at his downtown Bangkok apartment by Thai and American authorities.

Karr will be transported to Colorado in the next week where he will face charges of murder, kidnapping and child sexual assault, said Ann Hurst, a U.S. official with the Department of Homeland Security.

Earlier Thursday, Lt. Gen. Suwat Tumrongsiskul told The Associated Press that Karr arrived in Bangkok on June 6 from Malaysia to look for a teaching job. The police officer said it was not clear whether he got a teaching position.

Suwat said Karr's visa had been revoked as an "undesirable person" given the accusations against him, and U.S. authorities are expected to take him to the United States in the next few days.

According to law enforcement officials, Karr was tracked online by Boulder police.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, federal officials told The Associated Press that Karr had been communicating with somebody in Boulder, who was cooperating with police.

An attorney for Ramsey's family said the family had given authorities information about the man, but would not say how they knew him.

The 6-year-old beauty queen was found dead in the family's home nearly 10 years ago. Her parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, had long been under suspicion, and now their attorney said they've been vindicated.

In a statement, John Ramsey said his wife, who died in June, had known police were close to making an arrest.

Officials told the AP that Karr was arrested Wednesday morning at 8 a.m. (EDT) in Bangkok, Thailand, where he's being held on unrelated sex charges. Boulder, Colo., District Attorney Mary Lacy confirmed the arrest, which she called the result of a "focused and complex investigation," but did not confirm details about the suspect.

Patsy Ramsey Knew Arrest Was Near

Patsy Ramsey, JonBenet's mother, died in June of ovarian cancer. John Ramsey said in a public statement Wednesday that his wife knew authorities "were close to making an arrest" before she died.

Patsy Ramsey always maintained that she found a ransom note on a back staircase demanding $118,000 for her daughter's return. John Ramsey said he discovered the body in the basement eight hours later.

A grand jury investigated the case but returned with no indictments. In December 2003, after investigators obtained a new DNA sample, a federal judge in Atlanta concluded that the evidence suggested an intruder killed JonBenet.

JonBenet and Patsy are both buried in Cobb County, Ga.

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