Four possibilities: 1) the high profile nature of the Ramsey case—along with the seriousness of the charge—allowed the Boulder DA and the State Department to get extradition, even though they must have know that Karr had an alibi; now, Karr will be tried on molestation charges in California, where the punishment is potentially harsher than in Thailand (where the maximum sentence is 7 1/2 years).
2) The Boulder DA bungled yet again and failed to do even a preliminary check into Karr’s story—relying instead on some small similarities in handwriting and Karr’s own obsession with the case and veiled confessions to a CU professor.
3) Karr is simply a glory hound who, knowing he was going to be arrested anyway for charges in Thailand, figured he may as well grab the spotlight and the international media attention that would come with such a confession.
4) Karr’s obsession with the case ultimately convinced him he’d actually been involved in JonBenet Ramsey’s death. Because, well, he’s a crazy-ass pedophile.
I don’t know where I come down yet. But I have a hard time believing that after 10 years the Boulder DA would risk being derided again without there being some payoff in the end—even though it is Boulder we’re talking about. Which means we’ll have to wait to see what happens from here, I guess.
Story here.
Ah, I forgot that he’s still wanted in Cali. Thank God for small favors. Small point of correction: he waived extradition.
I guess this makes the King Prawns not seem so bad.
Not really. Doesn’t make jumbo shrimp sound any less oxymoronic, either.
I’m still convinced that Patsy did it, and any evidence to the contrary is either a: part of a deliberate cover-up; or b: a red herring.
I don’t really have an opinion as to who did it, and the 24-hour coverage (we have been damned by the news channel genre) of the Karr stuff was uberannoying. But, I had wished (for the family’s sake) that there was going to be closure.
I can’t possibly imagine how horrible Mr. Ramsey must feel at this news. His hopes for justice for the killer of his daugher raised, after all of these years, then crushed. I trust there will be a special place in hell for Karr – and before that, a very unhappy existence in a crowded prison.
I know nothing of the DA in Boulder, but maybe there’s a fifth possibility. A creep whose obsession with the case and a history of sex crimes confesses to being with Jon Benet when she died. The DA, looking back on its lack of success in investigating the case, wonders what it might have missed. The confessor is in Thailand, and could disappear. They decide to nab him, and bring him in – prefering to err on the side of caution on the chance that Karr is the guy. They reason, “if we’re wrong, and Karr’s not the guy, the worst we’ve done is inconvenience an absolute freak.” But if we ignore the confession and don’t nab him, a notorious murder and present danger gets away.
However, given the fact that Karr’s being release WITHOUT ANY CHARGES AT ALL tends to make me believe in possibility #2. If he claimed to have been with Jon Benet when she died, and we know know that is false, he has interfered with a police investigation, obstructed justice, made false statements to law enforcement officers, and caused the unnecessary expenditure of a whole lot of government money. He shouldn’t be allowed to simply walk – even if he’s on the way to face charges in California.
Sorry for the shitty spelling. “Released” … “now.”
5) All of the above.
He’s a pedophile wanting not to spend the rest of his life in a Thai prison. Two out of three ain’t bad.
I sincerly doubt that he had anything to do with the case.
Has he been released? What about the California charges?
All of the above, PLUS:
Boulder DA just could NOT ignore two confessions to two separate parties. They HAD to bring him in for a chat and some DNA, especially as he was being deported from Pedophailand.
Think of the outcry if they didn’t act, and the MSM leaked all over itself.
Their hand was forced, and they would have done it quietly, except for the rabid MSM.
Deb did it. Given her current issues, she called Karr back to take the fall.
Sooo true.
Which is why I plan to admit to kidnapping Natalee Halloway next year when I’m ready to fly back to the US. I want government-paid business class, dammit!
Having been around Boulder off and on for nigh on to 40 years now, I’ve got to say the possibility that Mary is just dumber than a box of bricks can’t be discounted.
(TW: thirty. No, dammit, it’s well over thirty years.)
Why don’t you just ask that redneck guy in the park? Patriots don’t use DNA testing.
My theory:Colorado is home to the stupidest lawyers and D.A.’s in America.
California prison; cable TV, good food, tennis, weight lifting, handball, Playboy, access to ACLU. Thai prison, nurishment to sustain life, equal opporunity beatings by both prisoners and guards for recreation. Nothing else. Seven and a half years in a California prison beats one week in a Thai prison any day. Send him back to Thailand.
No, he shouldn’t be allowed to just walk away at all.
And I too suspected he would rather be in jail here than in Thailand.
But I don’t think Boulder should be let off easy at all. By several accounts, they were in Thailand and involved before the MSM started with the usual circus. So, of course they had to do something.
But Thai authorities were already holding him and he voluntarily gave a DNA sample. Couldn’t they test it before bringing him back in Business class? And giving him all of this attention that he seems to be craving?
Feel free to ban this, I don’t know the whole story, but . . . there is someone who used to live in AZ and now is in Oregon who referenced the Ramsey case. That person is also a fan of Ward Churchill. The emails that lead the DA to this Karr person were from another Colorado nutty professor. Hmm . . . cooincidence? Maybe. A big one. I question the timing of all of this. I think the AZ “person” was far more serious than we may want to imagine.
The Boulder DA’s office makes the Keystone Kops look like absolute genius. I could have figured this one out with a tongue depressor and a Q-Tip.
Tonight’s story is (a) even in the motion to the judge seeking his extradition the D.A. noted his confession included a number of assertions which were false; (b) they couldn’t get his DNA in Thailand because they forgot the DNA kit.
Q.E.D.
As for those who say he was a dangerous predator who needed to be taken off the streets, there is not a single charge of him ever doing anything to a kid. The sole charge against him is a misdemeanor possession of child pornagraphy charge.
They FORGOT the DNA kit? Aww Jesus. And it couldn’t be sent over?
I agree there doesn’t seem to be any evidence of him being a predator, but there is plenty of evidence he’s rather obsessed with children. That and possession of kiddie porn means he shouldn’t be around children.
And since Thailand seems to have a rep for child sex tourism, Karr does not deserve the benefit of any doubt.
Barney Fife would have done better.
Hey, new DA, new dose of derision. It’s the Boulder Law Enforcement Lifestyle.
DNA doesn’t match and the DA – responsibly – won’t file charges….
Meanwhile, back at the Duke Lacrosse case …
I want an apology from Big Media for being such a bunch of willful liars.
But I must say that some who comment here (myself included) do owe some sort of apology to a commenter here last week whose name I cannot recall whose main point was that there is no way Karr was guilty and received immense amounts of shit for it. No doubt we were hoping for closure for the Ramsey family a little too hard.
Well, shit. I know I raped and strangled some little girl and left her in the wine cellar. I really did think it was her. Go figure.
California, where the punishment is potentially harsher than in Thailand (where the maximum sentence is 7 1/2 years)
7.5 years in a Thai prison doesn’t sound too promising on first blush. However, if Thai prison doesn’t feature getting shanked in the yard for being a pedophile, then yeah, that’s less harsh than the US system for sure.
When a known and wanted pedophile confesses to murder you arrest him. Anything other than that is either stupid or a cynical neglect of duty to save face in the media. The DA did exactly what should be done. The guy was cleared on the murder charges but will face charges elsewhere and we’ve got a pedophile behind bars. Job well done.
Does a higher standard of law enforcement apply to tabloid murders? No. Just a higher standard of posturing. I’m glad to see a DA treating this case like he would any other. But its more than disappointing that the media have driven us to a point where we wish DAs would be more secretive and conniving.
He’s not a known and wanted pedophile.(The only charge against him is a misdemeanor possession of child pornagraphy charge.) He’s a guy whose mom molested him and tried to kill him and who reportedly thinks mothers are perfect. He thinks JBR’s mother killed him and in some fantasy has taken the blame on himself to clear her and keep her memory perfect.
In other words, anyone who knew anything at all about psychology and pedophiles knows he’s not a particular danger to anyone but himself.
Now–what about the wharton Professor caught returning from Brazil with videos of himself having sex with kids? See what I mean, Vern, I am attacking the demonization of a sicko while a real pedophile virtually slips under the radar.
Personally, I blame white people. But that’s my thing.
I’ll go out on a limb here and say that he started his sex-change treatments already, got in trouble, new that he could have it finished here, while in a better prison than there, and get it done free, at which point he can insist on transfer to a woman’s prison.
Probably wrong, but, hey.
Clarice, what Wharton prof? Could you supply a link?
I don’t feel sorry for any Ramsey male. Not with the repeated Dr. visits that poor little girl had for “vaginitis.” In a 6 year old?
TW: cars. As in, the pediatrician and others around them didn’t report these parents because they drove fancy cars.
Waaiitt a minute. Karr’s mother molested him and tried to kill him. But he thinks mothers are perfect?
Is that what you really meant to type?
FC.. I can’t find it now. The arrest was within the past 2 days. He was arrested upon debarking a plane from Brazil when they found videos of him having sex with children.
The notion of Karr as a vicious pedophile is I think part of the general hysteria on the topic. He is a sick man with an unfortunate background, but I doubt anyone who knew what he was talking about would so characterize him. He is a fantasist dreaming of being a perfect mother who loves her children .
Clarice: link for Wharton prof. Got it at Ace’s
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/08/caught_on_tape_.html
funky, yes. Despite my repeated misspellings of pornography and misgendered pronoun..He is reliving things in an odd way and trying to get things to turn out this time. Hence his desire for a sex change operation, his tender affection for children, etc. etc. He is probably schizophrenic and is playing momma–a momma who doesn’t abuse her children and try tokill them.He thinks Mrs Ramsey killed her daughter as his mother tried to kill him, so he took the blame to protect her name.
And don’t raise Lector with me. Though I share Starling’s first name, Hannibal and I have never met.
I thought the only thing he was arrested for in Thailand was an immigration violation, itself related to the U.S. revoking his passport because of the Ramsey case?
I.e., correct me if I’m wrong, but there’s no independent charge the Thais had against him. So the “get out of Thai jail” gambit doesn’t seem likely, unless he was worried about some hypothetical charge the Thais hadn’t yet actually made.
Re: the free ride home:
See “The Mother of Invention,” by Rex Stout. It’s an etext, a short story, out of copyright.
TW: Because it prefigures this scenario by oh about a hundred years.
Is it possible Karr was there but the DNA belongs to someone else? As in perhaps he and another person may have been involved in abducting Ramsey?