JonBenet suspect unknown to family

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BOULDER, Colo., Aug. 16 (UPI) -- John Ramsey told KUSA-TV, Denver, Wednesday he did not believe his family was acquainted with the man arrested for killing his daughter 10 years ago.

The arrest of John Mark Karr in Bangkok culminated several months of a "focused investigation," Boulder, Colo., District Attorney Mary Lacy said in a statement.

Karr, who was jailed in Thailand for sex crimes, reportedly confessed to killing 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey at the family's home on Dec. 26, 1996 and was being brought back to Colorado to face charges.

Ramsey said he was impressed with the international effort to solve his daughter's slaying but refused to speculate about the case, saying, "The justice system needs to run its course."

When asked by KUSA if he knew Karr, Ramsey said, "To the best of my knowledge, no."

Ramsey said his late wife Patsy knew authorities were closing in on a suspect before she died of ovarian cancer in June.

The Ramseys were named by local police as the prime suspects in their daughter's death but were never indicted and always insisted they were innocent.

They wrote a book, "The Death of Innocence," in 2000 and were eventually exonerated by DNA evidence.