JonBenet murder suspect leaves for US

A suspect in the murder of six-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey left Thailand on a flight to the US today to face charges in connection with her death.

John Mark Karr, with three US officials as escorts, was on Thai Airways International flight TG794 bound for Los Angeles. It took off from Don Muang International Airport just after 8pm (2pm Irish time).

Karr is to end his journey in Boulder, Colorado, where he faces charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping and child sexual assault in connection with the 1996 killing.

The 41-year-old school teacher sat in a business class window seat next to Mark Stray, an investigator with the Boulder District Attorney’s office. A US Embassy official and a security officer with “Homeland Security” emblazoned on his T-shirt were also part of the escort party.

Before take-off, Karr, who was not handcuffed, took a glass of champagne from a cabin attendant and clinked classes with Stray, who had selected an orange juice.

Just hours before his departure a doctor at Pratunam Polyclinic, which specialises in sex-change operations admitted Karr was one of his patients.

But Dr Thep Vechavisit refused to provide details of the treatment.

However a member of staff at the clinic said Karr had consulted the doctor about a sex-change operation.

Escorted by Thai police officers but not handcuffed, Karr was whisked into the immigration and customs zone at Don Muang International Airport after arriving in a white van from an immigration jail in downtown Bangkok.

At the departure gate, he chatted amiably with fellow passengers.

Karr, who is not charged with any crime in Thailand, is being expelled from the country because he is regarded as an undesirable person. He is not being extradited.

Bangkok, where Karr lived on and off for two years, is regarded as a major global centre for sex change operations, which cost a fraction of the price charged in Western countries.

Excerpts of e-mails published in the US newspaper, the Rocky Mountain News, that Karr wrote to US journalism professor Michael Tracey, touched on gender issues.

Karr said his father was a “strong influence but rarely around,” and responded to Tracey’s question about whether his “fascination with little girls - which clearly has a strong erotic component – is a way of going back.”

“Maybe I am not going back but have simply stayed consistent,” Karr responded. “My peer group has not changed since I was a little boy, and girls were the people I was with always. Referring to them as a peer group is somewhat incorrect, but might also be the very definition of what they continue to be in my life.”

The case has sparked concern in Thailand over whether foreign teachers hired by Thai schools are adequately checked to weed out criminals and deviants.

Karr, once detained on charges of possessing child pornography, in recent years apparently travelled to Europe, Central America and Asia to search for teaching jobs. He was arrested a day after he began teaching second grade in Bangkok, US prosecutors said.

Thai Education Minister Chaturon Chaisang has ordered his ministry to look into the problem.

Chaturon said it has been too easy for unqualified foreigners to get teaching jobs, in part because those with proper qualifications are too expensive for many institutions, the state Thai News Agency reported.

US officials, the only ones to have actually interrogated Karr, have been silent about what he told them, citing his right to privacy and legal procedures, while secondhand accounts by Thai officials have been vague and contradictory.

When Karr spoke to reporters on Thursday, he said he was alone with JonBenet when she died in the basement of her home on December 26, 1996, but that her death was an accident.

“I am so very sorry for what happened to JonBenet,” Karr said. “It’s very important for me that everyone knows that I love her very much, that her death was unintentional, that it was an accident.”

Although Karr took responsibility for the girl’s death, his statements have been sketchy, and with little public evidence linking him to the crime, some experts have speculated that he is either lying or delusional.