Breaking News Archive - 20th - 26th Aug

[Buzz Mills]

Karr's calls, e-mails had case details
But other claims he made to woman paint murky picture

By Kevin Vaughan, Charlie Brennan and Todd Hartman, Rocky Mountain News
August 22, 2006
John Mark Karr's communications with a woman in the spring of 2001 included details of the JonBenet Ramsey case that fit with the theory of longtime homicide detective Lou Smit and appear to have been provided before Smit made such details public.
But other statements Karr made to the woman - including that he attended a Christmas party at the Ramseys before JonBenet's death - don't appear to match up with the facts, leaving the value of the comments as murky as so many other elements of the infamous unsolved murder mystery.

Karr's statements were contained in e-mails and phone calls tape-recorded by a California woman, Wendy Hutchens, who came into contact with him through her work with a ministry that focuses on prison inmates. Karr contacted her as part of his research on Richard Allen Davis, who is on death row for kidnapping and murdering 12-year- old Polly Klaas.

Hutchens could not be reached for comment this week. However, she told both the Santa Rosa Press Democrat and KRON-TV in San Francisco that Karr, in a series of taped phone calls and e-mails, disclosed details about JonBenet's death.

Those included allegations that he used a window in the basement to get into the Ramsey home and that, before committing the crime, he hid beneath a bed in a guest room.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_4935078,00.html

 

[Buzz Mills]

Handwriting expert points finger at Karr
'At least a dozen traits' link ransom note and yearbook, he says

By Lou Kilzer, Rocky Mountain News August 22, 2006

A well-known national handwriting expert said Monday he is 99.9 percent certain John Mark Karr wrote the ransom note found near the scene of JonBenet Ramsey's murder.
"Most guys are riding the fence," said Curt Baggett, the Texas-based co-founder of the School of Forensic Document Examination. "But there are at least a dozen traits that match up perfectly, when comparing a (high school) yearbook signed by Karr and the ransom note."

Some of those traits are fairly common, while others are rare, he said. That there are so many similarities pushes the odds up into the seven digits.

To put it another way, Baggett said, the "chances are a million-to- one" that someone other than Karr wrote the ransom note.

The issue of handwriting could be critical. If DNA evidence in the 10-year-old case proves inconclusive, what might most connect a killer to the scene is the ransom note found on a stairway in the Ramseys' Boulder home on Dec. 26, 1996.

Other experts are less certain than Baggett about the note's origin, and they expect competing testimony should the case ever go to trial.

Handwriting expert Peggy Walla, also from Texas, said the issue is burning up the Internet as experts write back and forth.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_4934911,00.html

 

[Buzz Mills]

Boulderite says Karr obsessed on JonBenét in '02
Author Michael Sandrock said he had the sense the man "had done something bad to a child."

Michael Sandrock said John Karr was "very analytical, very calm, very measured." (AP / Rick Bowmer)

A runner and author from Boulder who met John Mark Karr in Paris in June 2002 recalled the JonBenét Ramsey murder suspect as "very analytical, very calm, very measured."

Michael Sandrock said he introduced Karr to Michael Tracey, the University of Colorado journalism professor who led authorities to Karr, via e-mail.

Sandrock was in Paris researching a book when he met Karr at a bookstore where Americans gathered, he said.

Karr was immediately drawn to Sandrock once he made the Boulder connection, Sandrock said.

"When he got me by myself, and over time, the meetings got more detailed, and he started focusing on the Ramsey case," Sand rock said.

Karr asked Sandrock whether he knew Tracey, who has produced documentaries on the Ramsey murder, and if Sandrock could put him in touch with the CU professor.

Sandrock said Karr told him he had been traveling in Europe for the summer by train and had been in Amsterdam, Netherlands, prior to Paris.

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_4217616?source=rss

 

[michelle]

Karr's Mother Tried to Kill Him, Family Friend Says
Karr Family Friend Says Mother Tried to Kill Him When He Was a Baby

ATLANTA, Aug. 21, 2006 — - The mother of the suspect in JonBenet Ramsey's murder tried to kill him when he was only a baby, a family friend told ABC News.

John Karr's mother, Patricia Elaine Adcock "made a big round donut [of kindling] and put him in the middle of it," said George McCrary, 76, who said he has known Karr's father, Wexford Karr, for 40 years.

"She just boxed the little baby in and tried to light it," McCrary said. John's older brother Michael "came running in just before she got the flame to the flammable material," McCrary added.

Adcock was later committed to a mental institution. She died in 2000, according to an obituary in the Pittsburgh, Pa., Post-Gazette. Attempts by ABC News to reach immediate members of the Karr family were unsuccessful.
More...

http://abcnews.go.com/US/print?id=2339385

Holy Cow, this family has MAJOR issues...

 

[Buzz Mills]

Harmon & Associates, a San Jose law firm, has been hired to represent Karr. Karr will allegedly represent himself this morning at the extradition hearing. It isn't known whether Harmon & Associates will represent Karr in the Ramsey case, or only in the CA case, if, and when, Karr returns to CA to face charges here. Patience Van Zandt, formerly Karr's Public Defender in the Sonoma County case, now works for Harmon & Associates.

 

[MrsMush99]

Holy Cow, this family has MAJOR issues...

You think?? LOL, I'm just teasing. I'm wondering if JMK was told about this. That could really screw up a kid knowing something like that.

 

[Buzz Mills]

According to what has been reported on Karr's mother, this must be her vitals.

PATRICIA E KARR 13 Jul 1939 16 Mar 2000 (V) 15642 (Irwin, Westmoreland, PA)

Wexford Karr, married Patricia Elaine Adcock on Aug. 21, 1958. He was 37 and she was 18, according to court documents.

I think the 1 year error is a reporting error.

 

[MrsMush99]

I have a feeling that he's going to want to plead guilty. Just a gut feeling I have.

 

[MrsMush99]

Karr's attornies on CTV.

He received some injuries from the media during his press conference. That must be why he doesn't want to speak to them.

 

[MrsMush99]

Karr, would represent himself if he could, he wanted to. But because this could be a capital case he is not allowed to.

 

[Buzz Mills]

Karr set for L.A. court today
Mixed signals given on whether he will fight extradition, who will represent him The suspect in the Ramsey case wants to "exercise his right to face the charges" in Boulder, says his lawyer from a 2001 case.
By Felisa Cardona and Howard Pankratz
Denver Post Staff Writers

Deputy Willie Jorman works Monday in the Boulder County jail s booking room. If John Mark Karr, the suspect in the JonBenet Ramsey case, waives extradition at a Los Angeles court hearing today, Boulder officials will have 10 days to pick him up. (AP / Paul Aiken)

Los Angeles - John Mark Karr told his former attorney Monday that he is ready to go to Boulder to face charges that he killed JonBenét Ramsey.

Just how quickly that could happen and whether Karr would be represented by a lawyer during a court appearance this morning in Los Angeles were still unclear Monday night.

Patience Van Zandt, an attorney who represented Karr when he was charged in 2001 with possessing child in northern California, visited with Karr at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles on Monday.

She told 9News that Karr plans to waive extradition and will retain a lawyer when he gets to Boulder.

"I think Mr. Karr is very anxious to be able to exercise his right to face the charges that are being brought against him, and he knows those charges are in Boulder; they are not here," she said.

Later, however, Jamie Harmon of Harmon and Associates, the firm where Van Zandt practices, answered Van Zandt's cellphone. She said she and Van Zandt will represent Karr this morning.

She said reports Karr would waive extradition may be "misconstrued. ... We have not made a decision on that yet."

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_4217608?source=rss

 

[Class-z]

John Karr's mother, Patricia Elaine Adcock "made a big round donut [of kindling] and put him in the middle of it," said George McCrary, 76, who said he has known Karr's father, Wexford Karr, for 40 years.

Now I heard on one of the talking head shows last night, that Karr's mother died when Karr was 12 and this might be why he's stuck in this adolensene state and fixated on females of that age group... Huh?

 

[dragonfly707]

CBS Early Show- Julie Chin interviewed Patience Van Zadnt, and Julie Harmon this morning.

The answered very little in the form of direct questions:

PV - Would not comment on what possible evidence CO has on Karr in this case. Said that she probably does not know any more about that subject than was released in the media. Said that Karr does appear to be the same man she assisted when he was facing the Sonoma County charges.

JH- Said that she remains unclear as to what her roll will be with Karr from this point out, she did say that her firm would be willing to assist him in any way. She said that he does not seem to understand why he needs a defense atty in the extradition hearing.
When questioned about her thoughts regarding his "confession" she said that it is important to listen to what he not only says but what he does not say in those media versions.
She said that she has spent a great deal of time with Karr over the last 24 hours.

All through the interview, I was struck by the look on Ms. Harmons face, it seemed to be a kind of frustration. I wondered if it could possibly be explained by the fact that he seems so dead set on going to CO and confessing in this case.

 

[Buzz Mills]

Now I heard on one of the talking head shows last night, that Karr's mother died when Karr was 12 and this might be why he's stuck in this adolensene state and fixated on females of that age group... Huh?

The story about Karr's mother, dying in an auto accident, when he was 12, was on Larry King live. Apparently that must be a cover story that the family used to cover the mother's mental problems. Her dying in 2000 in PA is apparently the truth.

 

[Buzz Mills]

The extradition hearing is at 8:30AM--Karr has already been transported.

 

[ragland]

when he married the first woman, she was 13 and to my knowledge it wasnt due to her being pregnant. were her parents maybe off in the head a lil to have signed her over like that? something about that whole arrangement doesnt sound right....was she traded into that marriage?

 

[Buzz Mills]

Karr was in Atlanta when JonBenét died, family says


WASHINGTON POST
The father and brothers of John Mark Karr, the man arrested on suspicion of killing JonBenét Ramsey in Colorado the day after Christmas a decade ago, do not recall him ever missing Christmas dinner in Atlanta or traveling to Colorado after the holiday, a lawyer for the family said Monday.

Gary Harris said the suspect's father, Wexford Karr, found a photograph indicating that his son was part of the family's 1996 Christmas gathering, the day before the child beauty queen was found strangled in her home in Boulder.

The Christmas Day photograph does not include John Karr but shows his three sons, who, Harris said, never attended the holiday dinner without their parents. Although the photo is undated, the lawyer said the family is certain it was taken in 1996, because an infant pictured in it, Karr's nephew, was 2 weeks old that Christmas.

The account of Karr's father and two brothers deepens the uncertainty of whether the 41-year-old teacher was responsible for the killing. Last week, Karr told reporters after his arrest in Thailand that he had been with the 6-year-old when she died.

A former wife of Karr who was married to him in 1996 also has said she remembers his being with her and his family during Christmas that year. An attorney for Lara Knutson, who lives in Northern California and was married to Karr for a dozen years until 2001, said she has "a great deal of contempt" for her ex-husband but wants to give investigators accurate information. Harris, the attorney for Karr's father and brothers, said they have had little contact with her since the divorce, though they remain in touch with her teenage sons by phone.

In an interview, Harris, of Clayton, Ga., said Boulder County investigators were in Georgia on Monday and had interviewed Karr's father, 85, and half brother, Nathaniel Karr, 34, on Sunday night. "I don't think they have the right guy," Harris said, based on his conversations with the family.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/15331377.htm?source=rss&channel=cctimes_news

 

[Buzz Mills]

CBS Early Show- Julie Chin interviewed Patience Van Zadnt, and Julie Harmon this morning.

The answered very little in the form of direct questions:

PV - Would not comment on what possible evidence CO has on Karr in this case. Said that she probably does not know any more about that subject than was released in the media. Said that Karr does appear to be the same man she assisted when he was facing the Sonoma County charges.

JH- Said that she remains unclear as to what her roll will be with Karr from this point out, she did say that her firm would be willing to assist him in any way. She said that he does not seem to understand why he needs a defense atty in the extradition hearing.
When questioned about her thoughts regarding his "confession" she said that it is important to listen to what he not only says but what he does not say in those media versions.
She said that she has spent a great deal of time with Karr over the last 24 hours.

All through the interview, I was struck by the look on Ms. Harmons face, it seemed to be a kind of frustration. I wondered if it could possibly be explained by the fact that he seems so dead set on going to CO and confessing in this case.

Attorneys never want to give an inch. I can believe they are in conflict with Karr, who just wants to get the show on the road, and head to Boulder.

 

[MrsMush99]

when questioned about her thoughts regarding his "confession" she said that it is important to listen to what he not only says but what he does not say in those media versions.
She said that she has spent a great deal of time with Karr over the last 24 hours.

she's got a point there, he never did say he killed her. Not once. He said he was there, her death was an accident, and that he loved her very much. Maybe there were two people there? Is that at all possible???

 

[christine2448]

Thanks everyone for keeping this thread updated with today's happenings!