THAILAND/USA: Thai authorities say they hope to deport to USA within a few days the U.S. citizen John Mark Karr accused of the 1996 murder of six-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey

The authorities in Thailand said on Friday (August 18, 2006) that they hope to deport to the United States within a few days the U.S. citizen accused of the 1996 murder of six-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey. As they did so, questions arose over schoolteacher John Mark Karr's story. The 41-year-old was arrested in Bangkok and told reporters he was with JonBenet when she died on Christmas Day, but that her death was an accident. Casting doubt on his story, his ex-wife Lara told KGO-TV in San Francisco that he was with her in Alabama the entire Christmas season that year and she did not believe that he could have been involved in JonBenet's murder. U.S. media reported Karr saying that he drugged JonBenet after picking her up from school, but no evidence of drugs was found in her body, the school was closed for the Christmas holiday -- and Thai police say Karr did not make the statements. Thai Immigration Police chief Lieutenant-General Suwat Tumroungsiskul told Reuters on Friday that Karr would probably be sent back by Sunday (August 20) or Monday (August 21), but there were problems getting a seat on a plane. He also said: "Karr did not tell interrogators he drugged the girl...He said he had sex with her and her death was accidental." Watching cable television reports from his Bangkok cell, Karr expressed displeasure at the media coverage of the case and is reported to want to hold another news conference. It was not clear whether his request would be granted. Thai officials said they were more interested in getting Karr out of the country. Karr was paraded before reporters on Thursday (August 17), looking pale and dazed and surrounded by police. Asked if he was innocent, Karr shook his head and said, "No". "I was with JonBenet when she died," Karr said. "The death was an accident." JonBenet was found in the basement of her Boulder, Colorado, home, strangled with a complicated garrote made from a stick and cord; her skull was fractured. The girl's body was found by her father hours after her mother stumbled on a bizarre, three-page letter claiming JonBenet had been kidnapped for ransom. The parents had been implicated by some people and the mother has since died of cancer. Karr told reporters he loved JonBenet. He is due to to be taken into custody in Boulder to await trial and is under constant watch in his cell at Bangkok's immigration bureau. His request for a shaving razor was turned down, a police officer said. Karr came to the attention of the authorities by contacting a Colorado journalism professor who has made documentaries about the murder.

ITN Source | August 19, 2006

Tags:. .within. .trial. .due. .probably. .documentaries