Bangkok, Thailand - A former schoolteacher has admitted to killing 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey, the head of Thailand immigration police said Thursday, a surprise breakthrough in a sensational crime that some feared would never be solved.

John Mark Karr, an American primary school teacher and a suspect in the murder of JonBenet Ramsey, appears in an undated Thai police handout photo released August 17, 2006. Karr was arrested while travelling in Thailand following a lengthy investigation into the child beauty queen's death at her parent's Colorado home in 1996. [Reuters]

John Mark Karr, 41, admitted to the killing after he was arrested at his downtown Bangkok apartment Wednesday night, Lt. Gen. Suwat Tumrongsiskul told The Associated Press.

"He told police while under arrest that he did kill the girl but so far he has not pleaded guilty in writing. This is needed as official evidence," Suwat said.

Suwat said US authorities informed Thai police on Aug. 11 that an arrest warrant had been issued for Karr on charges of premeditated murder. The warrant was sent to Thai police on Wednesday, the day he was picked up in Bangkok.

Federal officials in the US, speaking on condition of anonymity, had confirmed Karr's identity on Wednesday as a suspect in the Ramsey case.

A source close to the investigation in the US said Karr had previously confessed to certain elements of the crime. Also, a law enforcement source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the AP that Karr had been communicating periodically with somebody in Boulder who had been following the case and cooperating with law enforcement officials.

Suwat said Karr's visa has been revoked because he was regarded as an "undesirable person" since he is accused of a crime in the United States. He said he expected American officials to take Karr back to the United States in the next few days.

Suwat said Karr arrived in Bangkok on June 6 from Malaysia to look for a teaching job. It was not clear whether he had gotten a job, the police officer said.

Karr has been in Thailand four times over the past two years, police said.

File photo of JonBenet Ramsey

JonBenet was found beaten and strangled in the basement of the family's home in Boulder, Colo., on Dec. 26, 1996. Ramsey family attorney Lin Wood said the arrest vindicated JonBenet's parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, who had initially been suspected of being involved in the crime. Patsy Ramsey died of ovarian cancer June 24.

Karr was a teacher who once lived in Conyers, Ga., according to Wood. The attorney said the Ramseys gave police information about Karr before he was identified as a suspect.

Wood would not say how the Ramseys knew Karr. But JonBenet was born in Atlanta in 1990, and the Ramseys lived in the Atlanta suburb of Dunwoody, about 30 miles northeast of Conyers, for several years before moving to Colorado in 1991.

Thai officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media said a staffer from the Boulder district attorney's office was already in Bangkok.

The US Embassy declined to comment on the case except to say that an American citizen had been arrested. It referred all inquiries to officials in Washington and Colorado.

A Thai Immigration Police Bureau official handed out a black-and-white photocopied image of Karr earlier Thursday, saying it was taken inside the Immigration Detention Center, where he is being held. The official did not say when or where the photo was taken. In the photo, Karr is clean shaven, with short hair, and is wearing glasses.

Statement from father of JonBenet Ramsey

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