Michael Tracey Thread

[aspidistra]

after the break:
Lin Wood, Ramsey attorney

John Ramsey wants what Lacy wants, the person who murdered daughter brought to justice. He doesn't know if Karr is guilty; doesn't know what evidence DA has.

Ramsey has hoped since Lacy took over in 2002 that she could solve crime.

Wants public to be patient and not engage in hearsay and gossip about Karr.

Is Ramsey entitled to info from prosecutor: Yes, he is periodically given status of case.

Mary Lacy called John Ramsey and told him an arrest had been made last Wed.

Since then John has been a prisoner in his home because of cameras, trucks, and they stalked him taking son to college, which upset him. He wants his privacy respected; they are still grieving Patsy's death.

Was Patsy told something before she died?
The Boulder authorities told Patsy they had a promising lead. They asked J and P if they would cooperate and they said yes.

What does Ramsey family think about the flight with the wine, beer, business class, silk shirt etc.?
Lin: I think John would not care. It's not important. what we want to know is where Karr was in Dec 1996 and what evidence links him to the crime.
He doesn't want it tried in a court of public opinion. He is entitled to a presumption of innocence.

In Thailand it was wrong to parade Karr in front of cameras. We don't do that in the US. It shoudl not have been done to him.

Will dna make it obvious?
Lin: don't know if 100% conclusive, but it is largely a dna case.
Henry Lee said the dna was not good quality, but he was not there when a second spot was extracted, consistent with others, and was good quality and certified in late 2003. Lee is unaware of this evidence. It is not Ramsey dna. I believe it is the dna of the killer.

up next interview with Michael Tracey who traded emails for 4 years with Karr. Commercial break.

 

[dragonfly707]

Lin Wood lots of singing a swan song for JR.:boohoo:

 

[aspidistra]

after the break:
Michael Tracey, professor who traded emails with John Mark Karr.

Univ. of Colorado professor, producer of 3 documentaries. Has been on LKL before.

How did email thing start:
MT: I won't talk directly about it. It began 4 yrs ago. A friend of mine met Karr in Paris. I don't want to say anything for a reason. He really has a right to be presumed innocent. Even John Ramsey says that. He has a right to say it since he's been presumed guilty from day one. It is wrong to do same thing to Karr.

LK: this program has never presumed guilt.
MT: I know.
LK: why wait so long to turn info to authorities
MT: I wont' discuss specifics. Only what has been made public. Something occurred in May that led to the investigation.
I know you believe in presumption of innocence, but Wendy Murphy on Paula Zahn was saying outrageous things about kiddie *advertiser censored*, etc... this show was exactly how it shouldn't be. I was appalled. I am not surprised though.
Hundreds of emails exist. But I won't take part in doing something to Karr that was done to John and Patsy.

LK: how do you characterize him:
MT: that's not my role anymore, or my problem. I will say that it will emerge at some point. We have to back off now. The proper thing to do is for the media to back off and give Karr his day in court. The system has to be allowed to work. The media is fixated on it. The press conference was outrageous, he shouldn't have been allowed to talk, someone should have said shut up. I am going to say: whatever the result of the full story, it will be clear that Mary Lacy was courageous. whether guilt or innocence. But for me, Karr is off the table.

LK: do you like him?
MT: no view on that. Not my role.

LK: fair trial?
MT: I hope so, but the media coverage is wrong. Why does society fixate on these cases and to sell papers, we feel we can trash peoples' rights and characters, like a game, a blood spot. It's wrong.

Commercial break

 

[Patticake]

This guy Tracey is an A-! First Class jerk!

He condemns the "entertainment value" of the case ... but he has no qualms about doing a one hour prime time show about John Karr!

Also, he looks like a irritating chipmunk!


:loser:

 

[aspidistra]

back with Michael Tracey:

LK: email that tracked him down was ------@----. Is that right?
MT: no response

LK: how did you lure him to correspond?
Mt: I won't say.
LK: why didn't you report to police earlier?
MT: I can't talk about his emails. Here is the problem. These people are well meaning, and fascinated, it's an iconic crime, and they want me to talk about the email exchanges, it's a death penalty case, and they want me to talk with you about details in relation to someone facing possibly death penalty. That is wrong. You should adopt more British law. It's more restricted. I think that is proper. In human, legal, constitutional terms, it's wrong.

LK: then why can't you say something nice like what you thought of him ?
MT: I saw what happened to the Ramseys and I refuse. I don't want to use info i have to do anything to harm the process or harm Mr. Karr, or I'd be doing what Wendy Murphy did on Paula Zahn.
LK: but you went to the authorities.
MT: yes I did

commercial break

 

[dragonfly707]

Wow how disappointing Tracey basically came on Larry King to say that he would not say anything. Would not talk about how he got JMK to keep emailing him for so long, would not say why he waited so long to go to authorities, and would not say what prompted his decision to alert authoriites in May.

 

[aspidistra]

I saw Tracey the other day being interviewed and he said it was the last interview he would do. So in a way he kept his word. He is not going to answer any questions; even if he appears on TV. He will just say why he will not answer.


Back after commercial:

with Lin Wood

LW: I saw the Paula Zahn show and agree Wendy Murphy said disgusting, obscene things and she has no humanity for John or Burke Ramsey; she has no sense of the evidence. Grand jury did not indict family. To Murphy I would say don't make these accusations against my client. It's not open season to make false accusations against them

LK: you might sue ?
LW: I will not tolerate false accusations of murder against this family

LK: did Karr contact the family?
LW: there was an indication that Karr wanted to contact Patsy. She was asked, and she said yes. You have to know one thing, J and P Ramsey and I have confidence in Mary Lacy and her staff. Ask Charlie Brennan about Mary's reputation. Everyone in Colo. knows she is a consummate professional. That is why she will not discuss the case publicly. I don't know what info is in the arrest affidavit but I believe in integrity of DA office. Whatever they moved on, it will be done for a legitimate law enforcement purpose. They are after a child killer, not after publicity or a headline.

LK: Patsy died in June (talks aboaut Patsy Ramsey foundation website with her art work).

LW: she was a painter, a beginning painter, creative, talented. We all miss her.

LK: what do you make of the professor saying we should not discuss this at all?
LW: we should let the court of law make the decisions, but it is inevitable that it will be discussed. I have watched accusations against my clients. It won't change. After ten years, the media coverage is more sensational and bottom feeding that it was ten years ago. No lesson has been learned.
commercial break

 

[ketel0ne]

This guy Tracey is an A-! First Class jerk!

He condemns the "entertainment value" of the case ... but he has no qualms about doing a one hour prime time show about John Karr!

Also, he looks like a irritating chipmunk!


:loser:

It's interesting he brought up the potential that the emails he provided to police are part of a death penalty case. Thus, one could suppose that if he talks about what's in them, he could have been told that he'd slapped with an obstruction of justice charge.

More intriguing is the direct challenge by Lin Wood towards former prosecutor Wendy Murphy, who apparently said some inflammatory things to say about John Ramsey on Paula Zahn's program.

No, no matter what I do or don't believe about this case, I don't think I'd want to be Wendy Murphy at the end of Lin Wood's legal wrath.

 

[aspidistra]

after the break:

Anderson Cooper says he will go in depth abaout the Ramsey case, what the house looked like, whether the evidence points to John karr; and dna reporting.

LK: forensic psychiatrist (didn't catch the name, something like Atlow) is a guest, along with Charlie Brennan.

LK: do you have an assessment of Karr on sketchy info we have?
Dr. Atlow: the man tells us about his mindset by saying he is stunted at an adolescent level; by the way he identifies with M. Jackson. He lost his mother at age 12 and was sent to live with grandparents. He cavorted with young girls.

LK: it does not make him a killer
Dr.: right. he married 16 year old - we don't know if this is outside the constraints of affection...is he delusionally tied to JBR, when did he last speak to her? before or after her death?

CB: Karr has tried many ways to inject himself into the case.
The Rocky Mntn news broke the story of how Karr knew who professor Tracey was, as he had seen his documentaries. Sandrock, the friend in Paris, introduced them by email. Karr was excited when Sandrock said he knew the professor.

Dr.: I've treated patients, where someone seems to be one thing, and really after the testing, we see they are lost in a delusional construct. We have to see if he is saying he was with her spiritually rather than physically at the crime scene.

CB: always so much we don't know. We don't know what is in the sealed affidavit. Mary Lacy persuaded a judge to sign this affidavit. These are very cautious, serious people with her on the podium that day. They would not be standing there on a shaky confession.
LK: will we know more tomorrow?
CB:no, not till charges are filed; it is several days away.

Dr.: He is interesting because he is someone attracted to children and willing to talk about it. Someone who seems to have given a false confession. Very interesting case, can be a teaching lesson. We might as well learn what we can.

 

[aspidistra]

LK: do we know the email address he used was date of her death?

CB: he had several email addresses. That might have been one of them. Some others are better versed on that than I am

LK: Lin, is JR between a rock and a hard place?

LW: I don't think it is inconsistent. JR wants the killer brought to justice. I believe investigators are on the case. Whether charges are sustained or not, the goal is to find killer. We know it was an intruder, if not Mr. Karr, it doesn't mean it was the Ramseys, it means the search must continue. We have to have patience and have restraint in the wild speculation. It should not dominate every news cycle.

LK: how quickly can he be in Colo if he waives extradition?
CB: very quickly. might be done covertly perhaps on a plane leased or owned by the sheriff's dept.

LK: how have the Ramseys handled themselves?
CB: very well. Presumption of innocence has to be there for everyone.

We all agree on that.

LK: a lot of people still think Karr is a kook
CB: I haven't seen anyone in 4 days who sees him as a viable suspect. But we don't know what is in the affadavit.

end of show
Anderson Cooper show is coming on now - all about the case.

 

[ljwf22]

Lin Wood is VERY obnoxious. What the heck did Wendy Murphy say on Paula Zahn that cheesed-off Wood and Michael Tracey?

 

[aspidistra]

Actually Wendy Murphy was saying things about Karr, not about Ramsey. I wrote the gist of what they said they heard her say - she was discussing Karr in terms of his child *advertiser censored* and so on.

Well, I went and reread the notes I wrote and apparently Wendy Murphy trashed both the Ramseys and Karr. I didn't see her on Paula Zahn so I don't know exactly what she did say.

 

[lostfaith]

I sure hope they did not pay him to be on that show! I would want my $ back!

I do know it is the right thing to do though, NOT talk. We all want to know, but we should not know yet!

 

[dragonfly707]

Actually Wendy Murphy was saying things about Karr, not about Ramsey. I wrote the gist of what they said they heard her say - she was discussing Karr in terms of his child *advertiser censored* and so on.

I actually saw that show and she did talk about JR also, she made some pretty strong statements accusing in fact that JR was resposible and that he did not intend to kill her, but she died accidentaly while he was using the garotte in an event of perverted sexual pleasure. It kind of upset other speakers including Micky (cant think of his last name but I believe he is a regular talking head defense atty)

 

[aspidistra]

You're right and I corrected my last reply after checking my notes. I had no idea Wendy Murphy was talking against the Ramseys AND Karr.

 

[Jess]

WEndy Murphy talked about sexual abuse that had taken place over time with Jon Benet. She could have been reading certain posts on this board word for word.

 

[dragonfly707]

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0608/21/pzn.01.html


MURPHY: I disagree with that. I think she was accidentally killed. Cyril Wecht, who studied this case, believes that it was an accidental death at the hands of her father, that the garrote was used for sexual purposes, that he accidentally asphyxiated her and then...

TOOBIN: ... That's just obscene, Wendy, come on.

(CROSSTALK) SHERMAN: So this guy's saying that the father killed him was an accident.

MURPHY: The whack to the head was after she died. We know the crack to the skull was after she died. If this was an outsider coming in, you don't have to stage the scene to make it look like an outsider.

TOOBIN: I mean, Wendy, do you feel at all bad about accusing a father of killing his 6-year-old daughter when everybody's been...

SHERMAN: ... lie detector test.

MURPHY: Do I feel bad? Are you kidding me? The Ramseys on the morning that child showed up dead in their basement, they hired the most high-powered criminal defense team in Colorado. They got on a jet, they fled the scene. They didn't cooperate at all.

SHERMAN: How can you criticize them for that? If you have a medical problem...

MURPHY: ... They didn't corroborate, Mickey, at all.

SHERMAN: Wendy, if you had a medical problem, wouldn't you get the best doctor available? Why criticize them for getting good talent?

MURPHY: For not cooperating.

ZAHN: You've got to concede, Wendy, if the D.A. really had evidence on either of the Ramseys that might have potentially have led to a trial. We can debate to on the other side of this break. Let's take a short one. We'll be back with all three of you.

 

[Jess]

I actually saw that show and she did talk about JR also, she made some pretty strong statements accusing in fact that JR was resposible and that he did not intend to kill her, but she died accidentaly while he was using the garotte in an event of perverted sexual pleasure. It kind of upset other speakers including Micky (cant think of his last name but I believe he is a regular talking head defense atty)

Mickey Sherman ??

 

[dragonfly707]

Mickey Sherman ??

Yes thanks. I also found the transcript see above. But it was so loud and so much rangling it was an easy mistake.

 

[paperhanger44z]

WEndy Murphy talked about sexual abuse that had taken place over time with Jon Benet. She could have been reading certain posts on this board word for word.

Wendy Murphy is an embarrassment to her field.