JonBenet Ramsey Murder Suspect Arrested in Thailand

[Laura]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/08/18/ramsey.crimescene/index.html

The crime scene: What is known

Friday, August 18, 2006

(CNN) -- JonBenet Ramsey's body was discovered on December 26, 1996, in a storage room in the basement of her family's home in Boulder, Colorado.

A three-page hand-written ransom note demanding $118,000 was found on a back staircase leading down from the home's bedroom areas, according to the late Patsy Ramsey.

JonBenet's autopsy report, released by the Boulder County coroner in August 1997, is the main source of what is publicly known about the crime scene. The report included the following details:

# A knotted white synthetic "ligature" (a rope or cord) was wrapped around her neck, and another piece was loosely tied around the right wrist over the sleeve of her knit shirt.

# The cord around her neck was looped around a 4 1/2-inch wooden "stick" with the word "Korea" printed on it in gold lettering. A portion of another word on the piece of wood was not legible.

# The stick was irregularly broken at both ends, and was covered with several colors of paint and possibly some varnish. Police believe the stick was used to tighten the cord around the girl's neck.

# Some of her pony-tailed hair was entwined in the knot of the cord around her neck.

# JonBenet was lying on her back on the floor and was covered by a blanket and a Colorado Avalanche hockey team sweatshirt. Duct tape was found on her mouth, according to John Ramsey.

# Her head was turned to the right and her arms were extended over her head.

# She was wearing a long-sleeved white knit collarless shirt with a silver star in the middle decorated with sequins. She also was wearing long white underwear, and there were red stains and urine on the panties.

# A red-ink drawing of a heart was on the palm of her left hand, and a gold cross hung around her neck. She also was wearing an identification bracelet stamped "JonBenet 12-25-96" and a ring on her right hand.

A Boulder County judge ordered the autopsy report released over the objections of investigators, who contended it should not be released because it contained information that only the killer or killers would know.

 

[Laura]

http://www.newtimesbpb.com/Issues/2006-08-17/news/jonbenet.html

JonBenet Flimsy

As the case against John Mark Karr disintegrates, attention turns to CU prof Michael Tracey, who's fingered false suspects in the past.

By TONY ORTEGA
Article Published Aug 17, 2006

While the case against John Mark Karr disintegrates by the minute, New Times has learned that this isn't the first time Colorado University Professor Michael Tracey has caused a stir by fingering a "prime suspect" in the JonBenet Ramsey murder case - only to be proved wrong.

In 2004, Tracey, a British expatriate journalism professor and documentarian, produced a film about the Ramsey murder that aired on British television but not in the United States. By then, however, Tracey was already considered a notorious developer of false leads by a large group of Internet sleuths who congregated at Forums for Justice, a website started by a radio disc jockey named Tricia Griffith.

"If you know the case and you watch Tracey's documentaries, they're filled with blatant lies. It's so easily proven," Griffith says from Park City, Utah, where she does radio and voiceover work. In Tracey's 2004 documentary, Who Killed the Pageant Queen?, the professor claimed to have stunning new evidence that was leading police to a previously unidentified "prime suspect." The documentary claimed that police were trying unsuccessfully to track down the man because he had gone "underground." Tracey's film didn't name the man, but a document was shown onscreen that purported to be a police record of the suspect, with the suspect's name and address blacked out.

Griffith says an alert viewer in Scotland recorded the show and was able to do a screen capture of the police report. The image included a document number, enough information for Griffith to track down her own copy of the document.

Tracey's "prime suspect" turned out to be John Steven Gigax, who was, in fact, an acquaintance of Michael Helgoth's, who, in "intruder" theories about the murder of JonBenet, was long considered a possible suspect.

However, contrary to Tracey's claim that Gigax was underground and untraceable, Griffith found him in ten minutes with a simple Google search. "He was selling jewelry on the Internet," Griffith says.

Griffith says Gigax immediately contacted Boulder police to see if they were really looking for him.

They weren't.

"I talked to [Boulder District Attorney Investigator] Tom Bennett myself, and he said Gigax was never a suspect. Gigax can prove he was in Indiana on the day of the murder."

That sounds familiar. Two years later, Tracey has electrified the world with his fingering of another suspect who, it's looking likely, will turn out to have been in another state when JonBenet Ramsey was killed in the early hours of December 26, 1996. New Times tried to contact Tracey but was unable to do so.

After debunking Tracey's documentary, Griffith put out a news release (you can still find it at forumsforjustice.org), but she says she got no media interest from it.

In fact, when New Times phoned her this morning to ask about the Tracey documentary, she said she was getting no other inquiries from reporters.

As the rest of the media feed on the inconsistencies of John Mark Karr's confessions, they may soon turn their attention to the Colorado professor who has apparently yelled "Fire!" in this case before.

 

[Laura]

http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/county_news/article/0,1713,BDC_2423_4937937,00.html

DNA may lead to dead end

By Vanessa Miller, Camera Staff Writer
August 23, 2006

DNA swiped from John Mark Karr after his arrest last week in connection with the JonBenet Ramsey murder might be irrelevant, in part because "something got screwed up" when samples were taken from the crime scene in 1996, a former investigator on the case said.

Bill Wise, former first assistant with the Boulder County District Attorney's Office, said that although DNA "absolutely could be one of the biggest things in the case," it could also be nothing.

Some of the DNA taken from the 6-year-old pageant queen's fingernails and underwear was "degraded," Wise said. He said the tool used to take samples wasn't clean.

"It had foreign DNA on it," he said.

The other "minuscule" sample, which is probably blood, was mixed with JonBenet's DNA, he said. That leaves investigators with the daunting task of trying to match a partial DNA strand with a sample from John Karr.

"The amount of DNA is small enough that it could exclude someone. But it could not go so far for the inclusion," Wise said.

Partial strands might narrow possible matches down to one person in every 100,000, he said.

"The beauty of DNA is that if you have enough of it, you can say there is only one person in the solar system with that DNA," he said. "But if there's not very much of it, you can't take it down that far."

It shouldn't take long for investigators to know if they have an approximate match, Wise said. A sample can be tested in 48 hours.

Investigators from Bangkok swabbed Karr's mouth for DNA, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Karr was to be given another DNA test upon returning to the United States, the official said last week.

But two California attorneys, who are advising Karr, told CNN's Larry King on his talk show Tuesday that no DNA has been taken from the 41-year-old schoolteacher.

Colorado Bureau of Investigation officials were in meetings all day Tuesday and didn't comment about whether Karr's DNA has been submitted to their department. Denver police wouldn't confirm or deny whether their office is holding a sample from Karr or from the scene nearly a decade ago.

Atlanta police officers and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation didn't comment about Karr's DNA testing Tuesday.

If investigators can't land what analysts have called a "600-pound gorilla" by confirming a DNA match, they might still be able to convict Karr using other physical evidence, Wise said.

A palm print taken from a bedroom door, a "high-tech" boot print lifted from the property, some unfamiliar hairs found on JonBenet's bed blanket, and a handwriting match with the lengthy ransom note are just a few pieces of evidence that could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Karr was the killer, Wise said.

"There are other things, that if DNA doesn't pan out, could make a good case," he said.

But the senior deputy district attorney in Alameda County, Calif., said "it's hard to imagine anything more important" than a genetic link to Karr.

"This could be the answer," said Rock Harmon, who was involved in the high-profile O.J. Simpson case.

Although he's been involved in cases in which suspects have been prosecuted without a DNA match, there was corroborating evidence that was overwhelming.

"There was only one conclusion," he said.

Immediately after Karr said he was with JonBenet when she died Dec. 26, 1996, his family said Monday he was with them that Christmas. Lawyer Gary Harris said Karr's father, Wexford Karr, found a picture of Karr's three sons and is certain he was there, too.

"If he had flown to Colorado or somewhere at that time, they would have remembered it," Harris told the Washington Post.

Karr's ex-wife, Lara Knutson, told Boulder authorities Monday that she and Karr were at their Alabama home or his parents' Atlanta house that year, according to Knutson's attorney Michael Rains.

"But if you are to say to her, 'Are you absolutely certain?' she would say, 'No.'" Rains said. "She has not said to the authorities that her memory is infallible."

 

[Ruth]

One wonders who are the 'players' here? A lot of 'sound and fury' maybe....?

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/446263p-375638c.html

Yet Tracey's last documentary, released in 2004, pointed to a different man as a possible killer - a man who turned out to have a clear alibi and was never considered a suspect by investigators, according to Tricia Griffith, who runs an online discussion forum about JonBenet's death.

"I would bet money that Michael Tracey convinced [Boulder District Attorney] Mary Lacy that this guy had inside information - but he really didn't," Griffith said.

Tracey, who exchanged e-mails with Karr for four years (me:? - eh?), could not be reached for comment yesterday...

Uh-Oh, Media Storm warning...!

http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/publish/article_27267773.shtml

Karr became interested in Tracey's documentary "Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey?" and started an e-mail correspondence with him, private investigator Ollie Gray said. Tracey eventually became disturbed by Karr's writings and was encouraged to continue corresponding with him.

Ollie Gray is a private investigator who was hired by the Ramseys and has worked on the case for years alongside retired Colorado Springs homicide detective Lou Smit.

***

RMN reports that Tracey, closely aligned with Smit and Gray, was disturbed by the e-mails from Karr and brought the two into the loop on their exchanges, according to Gray.

"We encouraged (Tracey) to continue to communicate with him on it," Gray said.

Gray then told the newspaper that he was in possession of a "three-quarter-inch" stack of the e-mails and characterized them broadly:

Is Gray is a media blabber-mouth as well as a legal manipulator?

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/nation/15304120.htm

"Michael Tracey was instrumental in this investigation," said Susan Stine, a longtime Ramsey family friend who spent considerable time with them through Patsy Ramsey's losing battle with cancer.

Yes, she's a "hero", so you'd better listen to (and believe) what she said.... Make sure you don't question it.

"He was instrumental in flushing this person out in the sense of getting him to talk," Stine added.

Tracey himself declined to comment on his role, saying only this about the suspect:

"I do believe he has the right to be presumed innocent. I got involved in this, for 10 years, because I believe that right was never extended to the Ramseys, and that was wrong."

He may have 'sensed' that something was 'wrong'?

Tracey said that Boulder County District Attorney Mary Lacy and DA investigator Tom Bennett did a "phenomenal job" and are "taking a real risk."

Stine's description of Tracey's role in the case was confirmed by Ollie Gray, a private investigator who was hired by the Ramseys and has worked on the case for years alongside retired Colorado Springs homicide detective Lou Smit.

Tracey was disturbed by the e-mails from Karr and brought Smit and Gray into the loop on their exchanges, Gray said.

"We encouraged [Tracey] to continue to communicate with him on it," Gray said.

http://www.oldhamadvertiser.co.uk/news/s/216/216741_oldham_mans_key_role_in_worldfamous_murder_case.html

Mr Tracey, who grew up on Shrewsbury Street and Shaw Road, said: "It was just a living hell for them. A lot of the evidence that came out was just plain wrong[..]

The emails he exchanged with Karr, which ran into hundreds, were monitored by the FBI and international authorities, including the British police, after Tracey alerted the Colorado district attorney.

This give the impression it was 'quick', 'automatic' and followed protocol etc., etc., but did it?

Maybe 'Mr Ollie' had more to do with it than meets the eye?

But Stine said it was Tracey, along with Smit, Gray and their colleague, John Sanagustin, who played a major role in the case long before the Boulder district attorney's office was involved.

"Lou ... never stopped looking for the killer," Stine said of the man recently credited with helping reveal that a convicted Colorado Springs killer, Robert Browne, appears to be responsible for perhaps dozens of murders in several states.

"Lou Smit is the hero in all this," Stine said. "Lou Smit stood up against an onslaught of foolish people in Boulder and suffered the consequences for many years.

"Ollie was a big part of this," Stine added. "He and Lou worked together for all this time. They collaborated, they shared ideas, they brainstormed together."

Yes, they're wonderful, I bet they're happy that it isn't their reputation isn't being trashed, but Mr er... Tracey's.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Tracy

Gray said he and his associates initially struggled to get officials at the Boulder DA's office interested in pursuing the suspect.

It wasn't until he and his associates considered going to Paris -- from where Karr apparently was sending e-mails at some point -- and confronting the suspect themselves that prosecutors "got interested," Gray said.

That's called pushing the point, or pushing something...

Boulder prosecutors formally interviewed Tracey sometime in June, Gray said in an interview late Wednesday.

"Then they got damn serious in a big hurry," Gray added. "I would characterize it this way: I think the DA's office did a great job when they finally got started working on the case, which is what we said needed to be done all along."

Good job all round, I'd say.

And despite the huge police involvement, Mr Tracey describes it as "remarkable" they were kept under wraps.

eh?

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003052708

NEW YORK Michael Tracey, the Colorado University journalism professor whose correspondence with John Karr helped lead to the latest twist in the JonBenet Ramsey case, told the Denver Post for an article today that he grew angry when he learned private investigator Ollie Gray leaked some of their e-mails to the Rocky Mountain News last week.

"I was really furious," he said. Gray had encouraged Tracey to keep writing Karr.

Meanwhile, the Rocky Mountain News -- which had declared Karr almost certainly guilty of the murder in its first news story on his arrest -- also took a hit in a new column by Michael Roberts in the local Westword weekly. Roberts also blased Tracey for "showboating" and for his writings for that paper.

Yes, we know he is the victim and the person who is supposed to get 'trashed'. Hope he doesn't take it too badly.

 

[Ruth]

One wonders who are the 'players' here?

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/446263p-375638c.html

Yet Tracey's last documentary, released in 2004, pointed to a different man as a possible killer - a man who turned out to have a clear alibi and was never considered a suspect by investigators, according to Tricia Griffith, who runs an online discussion forum about JonBenet's death.

"I would bet money that Michael Tracey convinced [Boulder District Attorney] Mary Lacy that this guy had inside information - but he really didn't," Griffith said.

Tracey, who exchanged e-mails with Karr for four years (me:? - eh?), could not be reached for comment yesterday...

Uh-Oh, Media Storm warning...!

http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/publish/article_27267773.shtml

Karr became interested in Tracey's documentary "Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey?" and started an e-mail correspondence with him, private investigator Ollie Gray said. Tracey eventually became disturbed by Karr's writings and was encouraged to continue corresponding with him.

Ollie Gray is a private investigator who was hired by the Ramseys and has worked on the case for years alongside retired Colorado Springs homicide detective Lou Smit.

***

RMN reports that Tracey, closely aligned with Smit and Gray, was disturbed by the e-mails from Karr and brought the two into the loop on their exchanges, according to Gray.

"We encouraged (Tracey) to continue to communicate with him on it," Gray said.

Gray then told the newspaper that he was in possession of a "three-quarter-inch" stack of the e-mails and characterized them broadly:

Is Gray is a media blabber-mouth as well as a legal manipulator?

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/nation/15304120.htm

"Michael Tracey was instrumental in this investigation," said Susan Stine, a longtime Ramsey family friend who spent considerable time with them through Patsy Ramsey's losing battle with cancer.

Yes, she's a "hero".

"He was instrumental in flushing this person out in the sense of getting him to talk," Stine added.

Tracey himself declined to comment on his role, saying only this about the suspect:

"I do believe he has the right to be presumed innocent. I got involved in this, for 10 years, because I believe that right was never extended to the Ramseys, and that was wrong."

He may have 'sensed' that something was 'wrong'?

Tracey said that Boulder County District Attorney Mary Lacy and DA investigator Tom Bennett did a "phenomenal job" and are "taking a real risk."

Stine's description of Tracey's role in the case was confirmed by Ollie Gray, a private investigator who was hired by the Ramseys and has worked on the case for years alongside retired Colorado Springs homicide detective Lou Smit.

Tracey was disturbed by the e-mails from Karr and brought Smit and Gray into the loop on their exchanges, Gray said.

"We encouraged [Tracey] to continue to communicate with him on it," Gray said.

http://www.oldhamadvertiser.co.uk/news/s/216/216741_oldham_mans_key_role_in_worldfamous_murder_case.html

Mr Tracey, who grew up on Shrewsbury Street and Shaw Road, said: "It was just a living hell for them. A lot of the evidence that came out was just plain wrong[..]

The emails he exchanged with Karr, which ran into hundreds, were monitored by the FBI and international authorities, including the British police, after Tracey alerted the Colorado district attorney.

This give the impression it was 'quick', 'automatic' and followed protocol etc., etc., but did it?

Maybe 'Mr Ollie' had more to do with it than meets the eye?

But Stine said it was Tracey, along with Smit, Gray and their colleague, John Sanagustin, who played a major role in the case long before the Boulder district attorney's office was involved.

"Lou ... never stopped looking for the killer," Stine said of the man recently credited with helping reveal that a convicted Colorado Springs killer, Robert Browne, appears to be responsible for perhaps dozens of murders in several states.

"Lou Smit is the hero in all this," Stine said. "Lou Smit stood up against an onslaught of foolish people in Boulder and suffered the consequences for many years.

"Ollie was a big part of this," Stine added. "He and Lou worked together for all this time. They collaborated, they shared ideas, they brainstormed together."

Yes, they're wonderful, I bet they're happy that it isn't their reputation isn't being trashed, but Mr Tracey's.

Gray said he and his associates initially struggled to get officials at the Boulder DA's office interested in pursuing the suspect.

It wasn't until he and his associates considered going to Paris -- from where Karr apparently was sending e-mails at some point -- and confronting the suspect themselves that prosecutors "got interested," Gray said.

That's called pushing the point.

Boulder prosecutors formally interviewed Tracey sometime in June, Gray said in an interview late Wednesday.

"Then they got damn serious in a big hurry," Gray added. "I would characterize it this way: I think the DA's office did a great job when they finally got started working on the case, which is what we said needed to be done all along."

Good job all round, I'd say.

And despite the huge police involvement, Mr Tracey describes it as "remarkable" they were kept under wraps.

eh?

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003052708

NEW YORK Michael Tracey, the Colorado University journalism professor whose correspondence with John Karr helped lead to the latest twist in the JonBenet Ramsey case, told the Denver Post for an article today that he grew angry when he learned private investigator Ollie Gray leaked some of their e-mails to the Rocky Mountain News last week.

"I was really furious," he said. Gray had encouraged Tracey to keep writing Karr.

Meanwhile, the Rocky Mountain News -- which had declared Karr almost certainly guilty of the murder in its first news story on his arrest -- also took a hit in a new column by Michael Roberts in the local Westword weekly. Roberts also blased Tracey for "showboating" and for his writings for that paper.

 

[Ruth]

One wonders who are the 'players' here?

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/446263p-375638c.html

Yet Tracey's last documentary, released in 2004, pointed to a different man as a possible killer - a man who turned out to have a clear alibi and was never considered a suspect by investigators, according to Tricia Griffith, who runs an online discussion forum about Jon-Benet's death.

"I would bet money that Michael Tracey convinced [Boulder District Attorney] Mary Lacy that this guy had inside information - but he really didn't," Griffith said.

Tracey, who exchanged e-mails with Karr for four years (me:? - eh?), could not be reached for comment yesterday...

Uh-Oh, Media Storm warning...!

http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/publish/article_27267773.shtml

Karr became interested in Tracey's documentary "Who Killed Jon-Benet Ramsey?" and started an e-mail correspondence with him, private investigator Ollie Gray said. Tracey eventually became disturbed by Karr's writings and was encouraged to continue corresponding with him.

Ollie Gray is a private investigator who was hired by the Ramseys and has worked on the case for years alongside retired Colorado Springs homicide detective Lou Smit.

***

RMN reports that Tracey, closely aligned with Smit and Gray, was disturbed by the e-mails from Karr and brought the two into the loop on their exchanges, according to Gray.

"We encouraged (Tracey) to continue to communicate with him on it," Gray said.

Gray then told the newspaper that he was in possession of a "three-quarter-inch" stack of the e-mails and characterized them broadly:

Is Gray is a media blabber-mouth as well as a legal manipulator?

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/nation/15304120.htm

"Michael Tracey was instrumental in this investigation," said Susan Stine, a longtime Ramsey family friend who spent considerable time with them through Patsy Ramsey's losing battle with cancer.

Stine's a "hero", but what is she doing for the family other than that?

"He was instrumental in flushing this person out in the sense of getting him to talk," Stine added.

Tracey himself declined to comment on his role, saying only this about the suspect:

"I do believe he has the right to be presumed innocent. I got involved in this, for 10 years, because I believe that right was never extended to the Ramseys, and that was wrong."

He may have 'sensed' that something was 'wrong'?

Tracey said that Boulder County District Attorney Mary Lacy and DA investigator Tom Bennett did a "phenomenal job" and are "taking a real risk."

Stine's description of Tracey's role in the case was confirmed by Ollie Gray, a private investigator who was hired by the Ramseys and has worked on the case for years alongside retired Colorado Springs homicide detective Lou Smit.

Tracey was disturbed by the e-mails from Karr and brought Smit and Gray into the loop on their exchanges, Gray said.

"We encouraged [Tracey] to continue to communicate with him on it," Gray said.

http://www.oldhamadvertiser.co.uk/news/s/216/216741_oldham_mans_key_role_in_worldfamous_murder_case.html

Mr Tracey, who grew up on Shrewsbury Street and Shaw Road, said: "It was just a living hell for them. A lot of the evidence that came out was just plain wrong[..]

The emails he exchanged with Karr, which ran into hundreds, were monitored by the FBI and international authorities, including the British police, after Tracey alerted the Colorado district attorney.

This give the impression it was 'quick', 'automatic' and followed protocol etc., etc., but did it?

Maybe 'Mr Ollie' had more to do with it?

But Stine said it was Tracey, along with Smit, Gray and their colleague, John Sanagustin, who played a major role in the case long before the Boulder district attorney's office was involved.

"Lou ... never stopped looking for the killer," Stine said of the man recently credited with helping reveal that a convicted Colorado Springs killer, Robert Browne, appears to be responsible for perhaps dozens of murders in several states.

"Lou Smit is the hero in all this," Stine said. "Lou Smit stood up against an onslaught of foolish people in Boulder and suffered the consequences for many years.

"Ollie was a big part of this," Stine added. "He and Lou worked together for all this time. They collaborated, they shared ideas, they brainstormed together."

Yes, they're wonderful, I bet they're happy that it isn't their reputation isn't being trashed, but Mr Tracey's.

Gray said he and his associates initially struggled to get officials at the Boulder DA's office interested in pursuing the suspect.

It wasn't until he and his associates considered going to Paris -- from where Karr apparently was sending e-mails at some point -- and confronting the suspect themselves that prosecutors "got interested," Gray said.

That's called pushing the point.

Boulder prosecutors formally interviewed Tracey sometime in June, Gray said in an interview late Wednesday.

"Then they got damn serious in a big hurry," Gray added. "I would characterize it this way: I think the DA's office did a great job when they finally got started working on the case, which is what we said needed to be done all along."

Good job all round, I'd say.

And despite the huge police involvement, Mr Tracey describes it as "remarkable" they were kept under wraps.

eh?

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003052708

NEW YORK Michael Tracey, the Colorado University journalism professor whose correspondence with John Karr helped lead to the latest twist in the Jon-Benet Ramsey case, told the Denver Post for an article today that he grew angry when he learned private investigator Ollie Gray leaked some of their e-mails to the Rocky Mountain News last week.

"I was really furious," he said. Gray had encouraged Tracey to keep writing Karr.

Meanwhile, the Rocky Mountain News -- which had declared Karr almost certainly guilty of the murder in its first news story on his arrest -- also took a hit in a new column by Michael Roberts in the local Westword weekly. Roberts also blased Tracey for "showboating" and for his writings for that paper.

 

[paulnotbilly]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/5293822.stm

JonBenet suspect charges dropped

Mr Karr had told reporters JonBenet's death was an accident
A man arrested in Thailand and accused of killing US child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey will not be charged with the murder, prosecutors say.

The case against John Mark Karr was dropped after forensic tests found that his DNA did not match that discovered at the scene of the crime.

Mr Karr, 41, was arrested in Thailand two weeks ago and had been due to appear in court on Monday.

He has said he was there when the girl died, but her death was an accident.

But outside court in Colorado on Monday public defender Seth Temin said in a statement: "The warrant on Mr Karr has been dropped by the district attorney. They're not proceeding with this case.

"We're deeply distressed by the fact that they took this man and dragged him here from Bangkok, Thailand with no forensic evidence confirming the allegations against him, and no independent factors leading to a presumption that he did anything wrong."

However, Mr Karr is still in police custody, following a request that he be taken to California to face child pornography charges dating back to 2001.

'No forensic evidence'

Mr Karr's arrest sparked hopes in the United States that one of the most infamous crimes of recent years might finally be solved.

The BBC's John Kay in California says there has been hysterical media coverage of developments since he was arrested in Bangkok.

He was held on a US warrant which sought his arrest for murder, kidnapping and sexual assault of a child.

But Mr Karr's ex-wife Lara has insisted he was with her in Alabama for the entire Christmas period of 1996, when JonBenet died.

And Mr Karr's family insisted he was innocent, saying he was deluded, possibly as a result of taking drugs.

JonBenet's body was found in the cellar of her family home after her parents had reported her missing on 26 December 1996.

She had been garrotted with a cord and her skull had been fractured.

JonBenet's family, who later moved to Atlanta, Georgia, fought for years to clear their names of persistent accusations that they were involved in the death of their daughter.

 

[Mark]

JonBenet suspect charges dropped

Free ride out of India. He's no dummy.

 

[Laura]

Ramsey Family Cleared in JonBenet's Murder
_http://www.news10.net/news/national/story.aspx?storyid=44490&catid=5

DENVER, CO - Newly discovered DNA evidence in the JonBenet Ramsey murder case does not match any Ramsey family members or anyone in law enforcement DNA databases, according to Denver TV station, KUSA.

The recent testing was done on a different area of the child's clothing and it matches previous DNA tested from the child's panties in 1997. It is DNA from a male.

The discovery, from a new testing method, has prompted the Boulder District Attorney's office to release a letter officially clearing the Ramsey family, including John, Patsy and their immediate family of any involvement in the December 1996 death of the 6-year-old.

District Attorney Mary Lacy met with John Ramsey and his defense attorneys, Bryan Morgan and Hal Haddon, on Wednesday morning to formally deliver the letter clearing the family of any involvement.

Lacy based her decision, according to the letter, on the results of new DNA samples secured and tested at the The Bode Technology Group Inc., in Lorton, Va. The new DNA "touch" analysis technology was not available in 1996 when the child was killed.

JonBenet Ramsey's body was found in the family home in Boulder on December 26, 1996. Her father found her body in a rarely used room in the basement of the home.

According to Boulder Police reports, the family got up early on the morning of December 26 to fly to Charlevoix, Mich. to visit family.

JonBenet's mother, Patsy Ramsey, found a ransom note (click here to see the ransom note) at the bottom of a spiral staircase about 5:30 or 6 that morning. Police were called, and searched the home, but the child's body wasn't found until another search of the home was done five hours later by John Ramsey.

In April of 1997, Boulder County District Attorney Alex Hunter declared the family under an "umbrella of suspicion" for the murder.

Nine years later, Patsy Ramsey died in June of 2006 after a 13-year battle with ovarian cancer.

New EvidenceThe new DNA "touch" analysis tests were run on the leggings that went over the child's panties.

Boulder DA investigators and Lacy made the decision late last year to have the leggings tested at the Bode Lab. It is not clear if the leggings had been previously tested for DNA.

Boulder DA investigators considered the possibility that since the child was sexually assaulted, and was undressed and redressed, there was a possibility the perpetrator left skin cell samples. They believe that could have happened when he first pulled JonBenet's leggings down and then later back up. Investigators wanted to test to see whether DNA skin cells might be found in the waistband of the leggings.

The Bode Lab recovered DNA from the top portion of the leggings, on both the right and left legs, where the perpetrator would have put his hands to move the leggings. Those new DNA "touch" samples from the leggings match the DNA that was found in 1997 on the panties of the child.

The new DNA "touch" testing technology from the Bode Lab tests for DNA in cells left behind from the act of touching a person's clothing. (Bode Lab) At the time of JonBenet's death, technology for DNA testing on the child's panties used "swabs" from fluid obtained from skin and clothing to establish DNA identity.

The previous 1997 DNA "swab" testing of the child's panties found DNA in two separate areas. DNA was found mixed with fluid from the little girl. The 1997, DNA contained enough information or DNA markers to be entered into the federal DNA database called CODIS.

The new "touch" DNA from JonBenet Ramsey has been compared with what exists in CODIS, but no match has been found.

CODIS includes strict guidelines for what can be entered into its system. There has to be a minimum of information or DNA markers before CODIS will accept the samples into its system. The original 1997 DNA passed CODIS requirements and is in the federal CODIS data base. It was entered into CODIS in 2002.

CODIS contains DNA from local, state and national databases of DNA profiles from convicted offenders, unsolved crime scene evidence and missing persons.

Mandatory DNA testing varies widely from state to state. In Colorado, legislation was introduced mandating any felon arrested of a crime to be tested for DNA, so it can be entered into the CODIS data base.

Both the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and Denver Police were involved in the analysis of the new DNA.

"There is now one step left in finding the killer of the little girl." A source close to the investigation told KUSA. "And that's to match the DNA to the right person."

_http://kdka.com/national/ramsey.jonbenet.dna.2.767139.html
DNA Clears Ramseys, Points To 'Unexplained Party'
Results Prompt DA To Aplogize To JonBenet's Father

BOULDER, Colo. (CBS) ― A new type of DNA test has again cleared the family of JonBenet Ramsey in her death. The new results prompted Boulder County District Attorney Mary Lacy to meet with John Ramsey, JonBenet's father, Wednesday and give him a letter of apology, CBS station KCNC-TV in Denver reports.

The letter says the Ramsey family will be treated as victims in the case going forward. John flew to Colorado Tuesday evening.

JonBenet's parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, were long said to be under an "umbrella of suspicion" in the girl's slaying.

Lacy apologized to the family, saying, "To the extent that this office has added to the distress suffered by the Ramsey family at any time or to any degree, I offer my deepest apology."

The new type of DNA testing, not available in previous years, was conducted on DNA recovered from JonBenet's leggings. Previous tests were conducted on DNA collected from her underwear.

Those earlier tests also did not match any of the Ramsey family members.

The new test also ruled out anyone in a large criminal DNA database. The results do point to an unknown man, authorities said.

JonBenet's body was found in the family home in Boulder on December 26, 1996. Her father found her body in a rarely used room in the basement of the home.

Patsy Ramsey died in June of 2006 after a 13-year battle with ovarian cancer.

Boulder District Attorney Mary T. Lacy issued the following announcement with regard to the investigation of the murder of JonBenet Ramsey:

On December 25-26, 1996, JonBenet Ramsey was murdered in the home where she lived with her mother, father and brother. Despite a long and intensive investigation, the death of JonBenet remains unsolved.

The murder has received unprecedented publicity and has been shrouded in controversy. That publicity has led to many theories over the years in which suspicion has focused on one family member or another. However, there has been at least one persistent stumbling block to the possibility of prosecuting any Ramsey family members for the death of JonBenet – DNA.

As part of its investigation of the JonBenet Ramsey homicide, the Boulder Police identified genetic material with apparent evidentiary value. Over time, the police continued to investigate DNA, including taking advantage of advances in the science and methodology. One of the results of their efforts was that they identified genetic material and a DNA profile from drops of JonBenet's blood located in the crotch of the underwear she was wearing at the time her body was discovered. That genetic profile belongs to a male and does not belong to anyone in the Ramsey family.

The police department diligently compared that profile to a very large number of people associated with the victim, with her family, and with the investigation, and has not identified the source, innocent or otherwise, of this DNA. The Boulder Police and prosecutors assigned to this investigation in the past also worked conscientiously with laboratory analysts to obtain better results through new approaches and additional tests as they became available. Those efforts ultimately led to the discovery of sufficient genetic markers from this male profile to enter it into the national DNA data bank.

In December of 2002, the Boulder District Attorney's Office, under Mary T. Lacy, assumed responsibility for the investigation of the JonBenet Ramsey homicide. Since then, this office has worked with the Boulder Police Department to continue the investigation of this crime.

In early August of 2007, District Attorney Lacy attended a Continuing Education Program in West Virginia sponsored by the National Institute of Justice on Forensic Biology and DNA. The presenters discussed successful outcomes from a new methodology described as "touch DNA." One method for sampling for touch DNA is the "scraping method." In this process, forensic scientists scrape a surface where there is no observable stain or other indication of possible DNA in an effort to recover for analysis any genetic material that might nonetheless be present. This methodology was not well known in this country until recently and is still used infrequently.

In October of 2007, we decided to pursue the possibility of submitting additional items from the JonBenet Ramsey homicide to be examined using this methodology. We checked with a number of Colorado sources regarding which private laboratory to use for this work. Based upon multiple recommendations, including that of the Boulder Police Department, we contacted the Bode Technology Group located near Washington, D.C., and initiated discussions with the professionals at that laboratory. First Assistant District Attorney Peter Maguire and Investigator Andy Horita spent a full day with staff members at the Bode facility in early December of 2007.

The Bode Technology laboratory applied the "touch DNA" scraping method to both sides of the waist area of the long johns that JonBenet Ramsey was wearing over her underwear when her body was discovered. These sites were chosen because evidence supports the likelihood that the perpetrator removed and/or replaced the long johns, perhaps by handling them on the sides near the waist.

On March 24, 2008, Bode informed us that they had recovered and identified genetic material from both sides of the waist area of the long johns. The unknown male profile previously identified from the inside crotch area of the underwear matched the DNA recovered from the long johns at Bode.

We consulted with a DNA expert from a different laboratory, who recommended additional investigation into the remote possibility that the DNA might have come from sources at the autopsy when this clothing was removed. Additional samples were obtained and then analyzed by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation to assist us in this effort. We received those results on June 27th of this year and are, as a result, confidant that this DNA did not come from innocent sources at the autopsy. As mentioned above, extensive DNA testing had previously excluded people connected to the family and to the investigation as possible innocent sources.

I want to acknowledge my appreciation for the efforts of the Boulder Police Department, Bode Technology Group, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, and the Denver Police Department Forensic Laboratory for the great work and assistance they have contributed to this investigation.

The unexplained third party DNA on the clothing of the victim is very significant and powerful evidence. It is very unlikely that there would be an innocent explanation for DNA found at three different locations on two separate items of clothing worn by the victim at the time of her murder. This is particularly true in this case because the matching DNA profiles were found on genetic material from inside the crotch of the victim's underwear and near the waist on both sides of her long johns, and because concerted efforts that might identify a source, and perhaps an innocent explanation, were unsuccessful.

It is therefore the position of the Boulder District Attorney's Office that this profile belongs to the perpetrator of the homicide.

DNA is very often the most reliable forensic evidence we can hope to find during a criminal investigation. We rely on it often to bring to justice those who have committed crimes. It can likewise be reliable evidence upon which to remove people from suspicion in appropriate cases.

The Boulder District Attorney's Office does not consider any member of the Ramsey family, including John, Patsy, or Burke Ramsey, as suspects in this case. We make this announcement now because we have recently obtained this new scientific evidence that adds significantly to the exculpatory value of the previous scientific evidence. We do so with full appreciation for the other evidence in this case.

Local, national, and even international publicity has focused on the murder of JonBenet Ramsey. Many members of the public came to believe that one or more of the Ramseys, including her mother or her father or even her brother, were responsible for this brutal homicide. Those suspicions were not based on evidence that had been tested in court; rather, they were based on evidence reported by the media.

It is the responsibility of every prosecutor to seek justice. That responsibility includes seeking justice for people whose reputations and lives can be damaged irreparably by the lingering specter of suspicion. In a highly publicized case, the detrimental impact of publicity and suspicion on people's lives can be extreme. The suspicions about the Ramseys in this case created an ongoing living hell for the Ramsey family and their friends, which added to their suffering from the unexplained and devastating loss of JonBenet.

For reasons including those discussed above, we believe that justice dictates that the Ramseys be treated only as victims of this very serious crime. We will accord them all the rights guaranteed to the victims of violent crimes under the law in Colorado and all the respect and sympathy due from one human being to another. To the extent that this office has added to the distress suffered by the Ramsey family at any time or to any degree, I offer my deepest apology.

We prefer that any tips related to this ongoing investigation be submitted in writing or via electronic mail to BoulderDA.org, but they can also be submitted to our tip line at (303) 441-1636.

This office will make no further statements.

Somehow, I just don't believe it. How much you want to bet that John Ramsey will be running for some kind of political office pretty soon and that his politics just happen to be on the "Bushy" side?

 

[Ruth]

How much you want to bet that John Ramsey will be running for some kind of political office pretty soon and that his politics just happen to be on the "Bushy" side?

I think he's already tried.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/08/03/politics/main633681.shtml
But who's to say he won't be trying again?

This is definately one stain that WON'T 'come out in wash'. And I don't think the public are going to 'buy' any claim of him being 'clean' Even if he is completely innocent, the association with this crime would be enough to get people asking questions. Also, if the guy was completely innocent he would be having a much harder time than this rather than being 'mollycoddled' by handlers encouraging his political ambitions. Kind of says that they may have some kind of hold over him.

Edit: No - he hasn't given up!
http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2008/apr/04/john-ramsey-run-again-michigan-legislature/
And yes, it does seem he want to join the Fascists - or at least, the right-wing ones...

 

[PepperFritz]

The recent testing was done on a different area of the child's clothing and it matches previous DNA tested from the child's panties in 1997. It is DNA from a male.

Uh.... am I missing something? A test was done on her panties in 1997, revealing a male donor who is not a member of the Ramsay family. Now a test has been done "on a different area", and it too reveals a male donor who is not a member of the Ramsay family.

So what's "new" about this evidence, and why does it call for an official clearing of Ramsay as a suspect? What has changed since 1997?

 

[NormaRegula]

Ten years later, yet another murder confession: According to the Daily News, a convicted pedophile has admitted to murdering Jon Benet Ramsey. The guy he confessed to nearly 22 years ago is allegedly a former classmate of the pedophile.

I'm wondering why the former classmate didn't make more noise after being told the pedophile hurt a little girl right after the murder. A phone call to a hotline isn't gonna cut it. Sounds suspicious, but who knows?

This murder has haunted me from the start. There were a few credible connections to Jon Benet being used by a pedophile ring uncovered by researchers. The whole case was bungled from the start. Not sure if this will be any closer than the story at the top of this old thread.

 

[Laura]

Ten years later, yet another murder confession: According to the Daily News, a convicted pedophile has admitted to murdering Jon Benet Ramsey. The guy he confessed to nearly 22 years ago is allegedly a former classmate of the pedophile.

I'm wondering why the former classmate didn't make more noise after being told the pedophile hurt a little girl right after the murder. A phone call to a hotline isn't gonna cut it. Sounds suspicious, but who knows?

This murder has haunted me from the start. There were a few credible connections to Jon Benet being used by a pedophile ring uncovered by researchers. The whole case was bungled from the start. Not sure if this will be any closer than the story at the top of this old thread.

I don't believe it for a minute. The guy is probably just after attention or money or both.

 

[NormaRegula]

More weirdness in the Jon Benet Ramsey murder mystery. A creepy photographer who shot, then sold photos of Jon Benet that were taken shortly before her death has been arrested and charged with downloading Child Pornography. Apparently he once walked around naked in public saying "I didn't kill Jon Benet Ramsey."

JonBenét Ramsey’s former photographer indicted on child porn charges

An Oregon man who reportedly photographed JonBenét Ramsey just months before her unsolved 1996 murder — and was later arrested for walking down a street naked, muttering “I didn’t…

nypost.com

Also, take a gander at the older-related headlines to the left of the article from the NY Post.

Sad, sad story of an exploited little girl's murder that just keeps on going more than 20 years later.

 

[Laura]

I noticed this item:

JonBenet Ramsey’s brother settles $750M defamation suit with CBS

BOULDER, Colo. — A $750 million defamation lawsuit filed against CBS by the brother of JonBenet Ramsey has been settled. The Daily Camera reports court records show that a Michigan Circuit Court ju…

nypost.com

Funny that I was wondering about that just the other day. I think the documentary pretty much demonstrated the strong possibility that the brother did it. That is the one solution that explains a whole LOT of confusing elements of the case.