Sources: Arrest made in JonBenet Ramsey case

[DrummerDeanna]

Originally Posted by skcin

I'm not surprised, it all seemed too odd. But WTF were they (and by "they", I'm not sure who I mean) thinking by getting the media involved so early? Before they really knew anything?

Well they're falling back on the fact that Karr supposedly knows details that are not known to the public, including info that was only known to the medical examiner about JonBenet's body....

So they're apparently looking into other things - he's appearing in court this afternoon - but still hasn't been charged!

[estranged4life]

NBC affiliate KUSA in Denver cites two sources for its report

BREAKING NEWS
MSNBC News Services

BOULDER, Colo. - KUSA, a television station in Denver, reported Monday that two sources said the DNA sample taken from John Mark Karr is not a match with the DNA found on JonBenet Ramsey's body when she was slain in 1996.

Samples of Karr's saliva and hair were taken in Boulder after his arrival on Thursday, KUSA, an NBC affiliate, reported. Those samples were tested over the weekend at the Denver Police Department's Crime lab, KUSA reported.

Earlier Monday, an attorney for Karr demanded that the state turn over all evidence related to DNA in the case.

Among other things, Seth Temin's court filing asked for a clear description of any biological evidence, including how much is left and how it is being stored.

"Eventually in this case, a court will have to analyze the admissibility of DNA evidence and its alleged statistical results," the public defender wrote. "It appears that more than one laboratory handled or had custody of samples subjected to testing in this case and more than one expert has evaluated the samples and testing results."

Karr was scheduled to be in court Monday afternoon for a hearing expected to last only a few minutes - long enough for the judge to advise him of his rights and charges against him.

Temin has already challenged the results of any DNA testing involving his client, saying it was illegally obtained. Prosecutors have not confirmed if they performed DNA testing on Karr.

Aggressive defense
Temin and Steve Jacobson, a retired public defender, spent about three hours at the jail Sunday and declined to answer questions as they left. Temin has been aggressive in his short time on the case, winning approval of a gag order and making sure prosecutors and anyone else comes through him before talking with Karr.

He also joined prosecutors in opposing media requests to unseal the arrest affidavit, using capital letters to spell out his contention that releasing the details would violate Karr's right to a fair trial.

Jacobson is considered a DNA specialist, and DNA could be one of the major issues should Karr go to trial. Jacobson's name wasn't listed on Monday's court filing, but it focused on the rules and procedures of DNA testing, right down to definitions of false positives and "multi-probe genotypes."

DNA key, experts say
The best-case scenario for prosecutors would be slam-dunk DNA evidence linking Karr to the Ramsey's former home, where JonBenet's beaten and strangled body was found by her father on Dec. 26, 1996.

Without it, experts say, it's much more difficult to build a strong murder case against the 41-year-old Karr, who has said he was there when the girl died but stopped short of an outright confession.

"In this day and age of shows like 'CSI' jurors not only want forensic evidence before they will convict a person, they demand it," said Robert Hirschhorn, a jury consultant based in Dallas.

Forensics expert Henry Lee and former prosecutor Bob Grant, both involved in the Ramsey investigation, have said some of the DNA collected at the scene was mixed or contaminated.

Investigators have said DNA was found in blood spots on JonBenet's underwear, but a Ramsey family attorney said two years ago it didn't match any of the 1.5 million samples in an FBI database at the time. Other DNA recovered under the girl's fingernails is degraded, Grant said.

Evidence includes garrote, ransom note
Other physical evidence includes a ransom note, the garrote used to strangle the girl, a boot print found outside the Ramsey house and some indications an intruder could have entered through a basement window.

JonBenet's parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, were initial targets of a grand jury investigation that ended with no indictments. Patsy Ramsey died in June after learning authorities had turned their attention to Karr, who was living in Thailand when he was detained earlier this month.

Scott Robinson, a Denver attorney familiar with the case, said prosecutors may end up attacking the police investigation for the alleged contamination of the DNA evidence.

Prosecutors can overcome police mistakes with solid work, said Grant, a former Adams County district attorney who served as an adviser on the case in the 1990s.

"I've never seen a case in trial where the defense didn't find something to attack the investigation about in terms of technical investigative techniques, and I've never seen an investigation that was perfect," Grant said. "If there's DNA able to be matched to him, then the mistakes are of little or no consequence."

NBC News affiliate KUSA in Denver and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[DrummerDeanna]

I just saw this while putting together my first newscast:


9NEWS has confirmed from two sources that the DNA sample taken from John Mark Karr is not a match with the foreign DNA found on JonBenet Ramsey's body when she was murdered in 1996. 9NEWS has also learned the Boulder County District Attorney's office will not file charges against Karr in connection with the Ramsey case.

[gldstwmn]

Jesus Christ. No one will ever believe the DA's office about this case again.

[mikeschmike]

So if you're ever in a dire need to off someone, CO is apparently the place to do it. Seriously though, what a bunch of morons. Could they possibly mess this case up any more?

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by mikeschmike

So if you're ever in a dire need to off someone, CO is apparently the place to do it. Seriously though, what a bunch of morons. Could they possibly mess this case up any more?

We'll see.

[Livia]

Did he just want a free trip back to America?

[irishgrl]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Colorado prosecutors will not charge schoolteacher John Mark Karr with the murder of 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey after tests showed his DNA does not match DNA found in her underwear, Karr's attorney said on CNN.

"The warrant on Mr Karr has been dropped by the district attorney. They're not proceeding with this case," Karr's lawyer, Seth Temin, said on CNN.

So now, he gets extradited to CA for charges pending against him in Petaluma presumably.......

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by irishgrl

So now, he gets extradited to CA for charges pending against him in Petaluma presumably.......

Perhaps - but note he never commented on that case, so where is the evidence? I think that is correct, but have not read anything. Again, I think he is conniving and planned this from the get go -- I also think he knows who killed that poor little girl.

[DrummerDeanna]

^^

There is only one article I've found saying that he is now awaiting extradition to California - it was I think Rocky Mountain News....I've looked as so many sites I can't remember....

[estranged4life]

Originally Posted by DrummerDeanna

^^

There is only one article I've found saying that he is now awaiting extradition to California - it was I think Rocky Mountain News....I've looked as so many sites I can't remember....

just reported that extradition papers from Petaluma have been sent and should be received/processed within 24 hours:


Karr cleared in JonBenet Ramsey case

DNA of suspect in murder no match, but he faces child porn charges in Calif.

BOULDER, Colo. - Prosecutors abruptly dropped their case against John Mark Karr in the slaying of JonBenet Ramsey on Monday, saying DNA tests failed to put him at the crime scene despite his repeated insistence he killed the 6-year-old beauty queen.

The move came just a week and a half after the 41-year-old schoolteacher was arrested in Thailand and put on a plane to the U.S. in what was regarded as a remarkable break in the decade-old murder mystery that had cast suspicion on JonBenet's parents.

Karr, 41, will be held in custody by the Boulder County sheriff's office pending extradition to Sonoma County, Calif., to face child pornography charges dating to 2001. Earlier in the day, the sheriff's department announced Karr had been released.

Sheriff Joe Pelle said Karr will be held in the same jail cell where he's been since last week. He described Karr as "polite and cooperative."

Boulder County District Attorney Mary Lacy's office did not return repeated calls from The Associated Press. A news conference was scheduled for 10 a.m. MT Tuesday.

Defense 'deeply distressed'
"The warrant on Mr. Karr has been dropped by the district attorney," public defender Seth Temin said outside the jail, a few hours before he was cleared in the Ramsey case. "They are not proceeding with the 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," Temin said.

Earlier in the day, Denver's KUSA, citing two sources close to the investigation, said that hair and saliva taken from Karr in Boulder after his arrival last week were tested over the weekend at the Denver police crime lab and that he was ruled out as the source of the DNA taken from the crime scene. Prosecutors later confirmed that.

The schoolteacher's arrest in Thailand a week and a half ago was seen as a surprise break in the decade-old murder mystery that had cast suspicion over JonBenet's parents. But inconsistencies in Karr's account immediately raised suspicions that he might be an obsessed follower of the case who confessed to a crime he didn't commit.

Christmas whereabouts
Among other things, Karr's relatives insisted that he was with them, celebrating Christmas in Georgia and Alabama, around the time the child beauty queen was found strangled and beaten at her Boulder home on Dec. 26, 1996. They said that if Karr had not been with his family at Christmas, they would have certainly remembered it.

In an interview with the media in Thailand, Karr said that he was with JonBenet when she died and that her death was an accident. Asked if he was innocent, he said no.

In an interview Monday with MSNBC's Rita Cosby, Gary Harris, who had been spokesman for the Karr family, said of the DNA: "I knew it wouldn't match."

Karr has been "obsessed with this case for a long time. He may have some personality problems, but he's not a killer," Harris said. "He obsesses. He wanted to be a rock star one time. ... He's a dreamer. He's the kind of guy who wants to be famous."

Ramsey family attorney Lin Wood had no immediate comment.

© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by irishgrl

So now, he gets extradited to CA for charges pending against him in Petaluma presumably.......

Someone else was saying that those charges were dropped.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

I also think he knows who killed that poor little girl.

I think that is entirely possible.

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

I think that is entirely possible.

The emails about the death scene are very graphic - and very almost staged - as if he was appeasing someone, likely the murderer.


Then, they were unable to get the DNA in Thailand (convenient wasn't it ) - then, they don't take the DNA in California - he must go to Col. - that makes no sense.

This case is just so bizarre.

[irishgrl]

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

Someone else was saying that those charges were dropped.

I dont think so Unless its past the statute of limitations? I haven't heard anything about charges being dropped, and Brian's article says he's being held pending extradition?