Man Held in Slaying of JonBenet Ramsay
 

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The weirder thing is just this weekend on Lifetime was the made for tv movie regarding the case. Since I was a lasy arse all weekend, I really got into it. It was so interesting since some time had past and there was more perspective (for me) and I came away thinking the Ramsey's didn't do it. Though their behavior was odd.

And then a few days later an arrest.

Weird coincidence.

An he was a 2nd grade teacher. Fabulous.

Fascinating and wonderful. I honestly thought this was destined to be unsolved.

I guess Mr. Ramsey may speak out once this is solved but Patsy died in June.

I think though that this will be the example law enforcement officials talk about for years to come in that sometimes when some evidence says it's the parents, sometimes when the parents behavior is off, it's sometimes not them.

I think many people will be able to learn a lot from this case.

Would it be too early to point out that the case isn't really "solved" yet. A suspect has been arrested and allegedly confessed.

As was pointed out by legal experts here, the prosecution still has an uphill battle to prove the case.

The present Boulder DA (not the one from the time of the crime) has called a news conference for tomorrow morning. Perhaps we will know more then.

I do hope this case in the end will be 'solved' so there is closure.

Is anyone else wondering if this suspect is telling the truth, or if he's gotten caught up in the story secondary to a psychiatric disorder?

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see the case solved, but I have a funny feeling about this guy. Of course, maybe his potential psychiatric disorder caused him to do it...

PsychTau

Actually, I was thinking the same thing as I drove to work listening to radio reports.

His comment allegedly was that he was "with" Jon Bennet when she died -- and that he was "not innocent." He said that the death was part of a kidnap plot gone bad, I think.

That leaves me with two thoughts -- one of which PsychTau expressed above, and the other that, if he is a party to it, there may be others involved in the original kidnap plot.

Why confess now, 10 years later, though?? They hype's died down. You would have thought he would have been "more psychotic" at the time.

I've also heard that he may have talked (real or false confession) to avoid prison in Bangkok. Which would be much much much worse than prison in the US. (He was picked up in Thailand)

So, this case could be interesting. He's maintaining that the death was an accident and that he cared for JonBenet very much...

YES.

There has also been rumblings that he is also responsible for the abduction and murder of Polly Klaas.

I think this story has much more things to tell.

It sounds like he is definitely involved and most likely guilty (imo) because he knew things about the JonBenet case that were never released to the media. That to me speaks volumes.

Regardless, I'm reading everything I can about this and am glad the parents are cleared.

Unless one (or both) of them were somehow involved in the kidnapping plot.

But, like you, I hope the parents are cleared. Shame Mrs. Ramsey isn't around for all this. :(

The psychotic ramblings bit had occurred to me, too.

Can someone clarify this for me? Weren't the Ramsey's in Boulder when JonBenet was murdered? And didn't this suspect make their acquaintance when they lived in ATL prior to moving to Boulder? Did he also move to Boulder/visiting Boulder for Christmas.

I can't imagine viewing the December holidays the same way after such a horrible thing happens to your daughter/sister/niece/granddaughter on Christmas morning.

Parents may be cleared but wasn't there no sign of forced entry or anything? Perhaps he was hired to kidnap her.

As I recall, there was an open window to the basement where the body was discovered -- on the second search of the house.

The Boulder DA is really doing a dance about making an arrest before an investigation is completed and going out of her way to point out that the case isn't closed yet.

In addition, the suspects ex-wife claims to have been with him in Alabama or somewhere when the crime was committed.

Methinks we've not heard the last of this.

Or, to put it another way -- something smells.

ETA -- I just have to say it. The Ramseys acted very strangely in the months after the crime. They at first wouldn't cooperate with the police by not taking a lie dectector test (which they later did, and passed to be fair), and refused to be interviewed by police separately (which they finally did, again, to be fair).

While I'm sure this will open a hornet's nest, anyone who dressed their little girl up to look like a woman -- and all of the other outfits -- and were seemingly obscessed with these kiddy pageant things worry me to begin with.

In my mind, the parents aren't off the hook yet.

Yes, the whole family was at home in Boulder when the body was discovered.

John Ramsey is saying today that he doesn't recall ever meeting the suspect. I have not heard that he ever lived in Boulder.

As a mom, if someone killed my daughter on Christmas, I would probably act strange too.

Of course. I was thinking (talking) of things a little more down the road.

If one of my children were killed anytime, though, I think I would want to do everything in my power to help the authorities.

I'm not sure exactly how to explain it, but something was just strange about the way they acted.

Living this close to Boulder, we got bombarded (even more than nationally, believe it or not) by this story and all of its little intricacies.

Then again, there are a lot of strange things and people in The Peoples Republic of Boulder -- sometimes known as "23 square miles surrounded by reality."

FOR REAL. Boulder is all kinds of jacked.

Especially considering that his wife is insisting that he was with her in Alabama on vacation when the murder happened.

Actually, from what I've read and heard, she says they were living in Alabama.

Okay. They were living in Alabama, not vacationing. I don't know where I heard that, but CNN also says living.

And this from a former almost resident.

Well, a few miles up the Canyon.

Does that include helping them convict you? If you were the prime suspect in a crime that you didn't commit would you help the authorities?

The way this guy acts and carries himself definitely makes me believe a psychiatric disorder is just waiting to be diagnosed! He's just weird!

Thanks Max. That's my point. They wouldn't cooperate, and it makes some folks think they were protecting themselves from something by not taking the tests or talking to the authorities. Guilty or not, their behavior doesn't look too good.

ETA that to the best of my memory, the Boulder Police and/or District Attorney's office have never called the Ramseys a suspect -- prime or otherwise.

I believe the term they used was that the family was under "an umbrella of suspicion."

There have been reports that the Boulder police botched the case and there were a lot of cover ups in the department. Also, there's theories that the FBI leaked to the media that the Ramseys were suspected of murder so that they might be able to force a confession out of them. The whole case is just weird. If Patsy Ramsey is innocent for sure, I feel bad that she never got to see the day where she was vindicated.

At the very least, they sexualized their daughter since she was a toddler! That's pretty sick in and of itself. I wouldn't be surprised if she hadn't been victimized several times by more than one person in her life. I mean, her parents more or less set her up for it.

This guy has had a history of pedophilia-based crimes, and he was arrested in Thailand of all places--a haven for pedophiles.

No proof, but I don't think this guy did it.

It's smelling halfway around the world!

Did anyone else catch the one news conference where the DA (I assume of Boulder, but I'm not sure) said that, "at this time, neither John Karr or John Ramsey has been indicted." I found that phrasing very interesting - obviously, the thought of the Ramseys being involved hasn't gone out the window.

Dr. Cyril Wecht had some interesting things to say, too. While he (and most of us, I presume) hopes that the parents were not involved, it does seem strange that a man would travel so far to see the child he "loved" on Christmas, instead of being with his own children, as his ex-wife says. Also, Karr claims to have had some sort of sexual contact with JonBenet, yet no semen was found. Karr would have had to break into this house (which had an alarm system), find her bedroom, wait while everyone came home, knew the amount of the bonus (the $118,000 "ransom"), purportedly had some sexual contact with JonBenet, and left her in a room so hard to find that a maid who had worked there for three years didn't know it existed. Karr then would have written the infamous ransom note, practicing it first and using or excellently faking Patsy Ramsey's handwriting on a notepad when he knew he was leaving a body, and not part of a kidnapping. It just doesn't add up.

And on another note, isn't it a pity that this child's death gets SO much publicity, while so many other children die in anonymity? Granted, the whole childhood beauty pagent thing made this a "sexy" news story (no pun intended), but the parents of those other children must feel terrible about the lack of concern on behalf of their kids.

I saw footage earlier of him be escorted from Thailand and he was answering reporters questions. He admitted he was "playing" with JonBenet and her death was an "accident". :confused: If the footage was real and in context, he is totally guilty.

I am sure they did help the authorities as much as possible . .. but I am sure that on the advice of counsel they declined to put themselves in a situation where the authorities could build a case against them . . . which the police may have done regardless of whether the parents killed the little girl.

Generally if there is know obvious suspect the people closest to the victim are usually thought to have done it.

How would a lie detector test have helped the police catch the killer when the parents weren't the killers?

Would anyone have appreciated the police asking them to take a lie detector test because they thought you killed your daughter?

I would have been absolutely enraged that the police asked me and told them to take a flying leap, if I didn't deck the person making the suggestion.

Or crazy.

What if John Ramsey and John Karr were in cahoots to commit this crime, and Patsy truely didn't know anything about it? She could have had some tiny suspicion of her husband, but not enough to get her to talk to anyone about it. That could explain some of her odd behavior.


(I should write for Lifetime!)
PsychTau

Your points certainly have merit -- especially the part about the lawyers advice.

How taking the test would have helped, it seems to me, would be to take some of the suspicion off of the Ramseys.

On the other hand, while not being an expert, I've heard that Lie Detectors can be "beaten" and aren't always conclusive.

All I can say is that with all of the media coverage -- local and national -- there is just something about the way the Ramseys acted that made (makes) me uneasy.

As I said about Mr. Karr, I have no proof. Just a bad feeling.

That's an understatement. That's one reason why the results of lie detector tests are rarely admissible as evidence in court.

I think I'm going to make "STFU Cyril Wecht" t-shirts and sell them in the middle of Downtown Pittsburgh. I could make enough money to quit my job.

Of course I'd be freaking out if I was a parent and asked to take a ld test, but you have to realize it's police procedure when there aren't any suspects - the closest people to the victim are the ones they look at.

Very true. And with good reason -- more often than not, the killer turns out to be someone close to the victim.