Is John Mark Karr a killer? Or is it all a hoax?
Nearly a decade after JonBenet Ramsey?s death, Karr claimed he was in the basement the night the 6-year-old died.
The elementary school teacher, father of three sons and reportedly,convicted sex offender, was arrested in Thailand, and the news media came outin full force in Colorado.
A nearly 10-year investigationlead authorities to the 41-year-old Karr, whose face has been splashed across TV screens worldwide.
It was chaos Thursday morning as Karr was lead to a press conference in Thailand. The suspected killer will be extradited within the week and brought back to Boulder, Colo. to face trial.
Meanwhile, scores of satellite trucks and news crews lined the streets outside the Ramsey?s old home where JonBenet was murdered, while the local newspaper headlines scream the news ? ?Arrest!?
The press has been waiting outside the county courthouse ? some in trees ? since 5:15 a.m. Thursday.
They were searching for Colorado journalism professor Michael Tracey ? who?s credited with helping solve the case!
?I did what I thought was right was responsible,? Tracey told the media. ?I did what I thought I had to do.?
Access Hollywood tracked down Tracey’s ex-wife, Elizabeth, who lives at Tracey’s Boulder home.
?Did he break the case?? Access asked Elizabeth.
?He did,? Elizabeth told us. ?He is a hero.?
Karr contacted Tracey via e-mail after viewing his A&E documentary, ?The Case of JonBenet: The Media Versus The Ramseys? on the case.
In the documentary, John Ramsey said: ?I would have given my life for JonBenet, and I regret, and I will regret for the rest of my life that I wasn’t able to that night.?
But it was the e-mails from Karr to Tracey that helped lead to his arrest and confession.
And MSNBC was the first to break the story! MSNBC?s Dan Abrams has been on the story for nearly a decade.
?When you got a case the is examined and scrutinized and reexamined, those of us who are a little bit cynical say, after 10 years, this case is never going to be solved, and it seems sometimes that the cynics aren?t always right,? Dan told us.
And neither, it seems, were those who thought JonBenet?s parents were responsible for their daughter?s death.
?I did not kill JonBenet,? Patsy Ramsey said at the time. ?I did not have anything to do with it.?
John Ramsey says the investigation into Karr?s involvement in the murder of his daughter was discussed with he and wife Patsy shortly before her death in June from ovarian cancer at the age of 49.
Ramsey spoke out Wednesday night on ?Nightline,? saying: ?I hope this is a first major step in really drawing this to a conclusion, but it also opens up old wounds, and that’s painful.?
The JonBenet news dominated the morning news shows, with the ?Today Show? dedicating just over 23 minutes, while ?Good Morning America? gave over 22 minutes to the story.
For ?Today?s? Al Roker, the news may mean peace for JonBenet?s late mother.
?Hopefully, in a sense that it?s true, that finally the suspicion on her family and her is lifted and her soul can be at peace,? Al told us.
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