Georgia native, 41, in eye of storm

Kevin Vaughan, Sara Burnett And Nancy Mitchell, Rocky Mountain News

Thursday, August 17, 2006

John Mark Karr is a 41-year-old Georgia native who claims to have taught children around the world after apparently leaving the country to avoid child-pornography allegations in California in 2001.

Now Karr stands at the center of a crime that has grabbed headlines across the country for nearly a decade: the 1996 murder in Boulder of child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey.

Arrested in Thailand, Karr is now the prime suspect in JonBenet's brutal killing.

It was not clear Wednesday how authorities had established that he had been in Colorado in the last days of 1996.

However, while he had never applied for a teaching license, certification or authorization in the state of Colorado, a file was opened at an undetermined point in his name with the Colorado Department of Education. That may have been triggered by the submission of either test scores or fingerprints, signaling his intention to apply for a license. He never did so.

It is unclear if he ever applied to work for the Boulder Valley School District or if he ever volunteered there.

However, for a time he did have a teaching license in California. Karr was hired as a substitute teacher in Petaluma City elementary schools on Dec. 8, 2000.

Karr was terminated April 2, 2001, said Steve Bolman, the school district's deputy superintendent of business administration. There is no record of why he was terminated.

But that same month, he was arrested in Sonoma County, Calif., and charged with five counts of possession of child pornography, the Bay City News Service reported Wednesday.

Karr failed to show up for a Sonoma County court appearance in December 2001, and a warrant was issued for his arrest, Chief Deputy District Attorney Joan Risse said.

According to two online résumés posted in Karr's name on the Internet, he left the United States to teach abroad in 2001.

On the Web site GnBCanada, the job application in Karr's name lists him as seeking a job teaching children and holding a bachelor's degree from Regents College in New York. Now called Excelsior College, its Web site describes it as the "world's first virtual university."

That application lists jobs in South Korea and the Netherlands as well as work between 1996 and 2001 "in some of the most prestigious schools in the United States, working with children from high-profile families."

On the Job4Teacher Web site, Karr is listed as teaching in Asia and Europe in 2001 and 2002, in Europe in 2003, and in Central America in 2004 and 2005.

In an entry for his time in Germany, the site listed Karr as taking care of three girls, ages 7, 11 and 12.

"I taught English to the girls through conversational and instructional methods," the author wrote. "I gave computer instruction to the girls via their laptop PCs. I drove the girls to their activities: ballet, riding, handball, etc. I assisted the girls with their homework."

Another entry said that Karr took care of two girls, ages 5 and 8, and a 10-year-old boy in Germany.

"I taught English to the children through conversational and instructional methods," according to the résumé. "I awoke the children in the morning and gave them breakfast. I helped the children get ready for school and escorted them to the school bus. I helped the 8-year-old girl with her homework each day. I took the children outside for play. At day's end, I made sure the children had their evening bath, then put them to bed and read to them before they went to sleep."

Karr's brother, Nate Karr, told Fox News he was shocked by the allegations. He described John as a loving family man and "wonderful person. It's just beyond us how this could be possible," Nate Karr said from Atlanta.

John Karr went to live with his grandparents in the small town of Hamilton, Ala., when he was about 12, Nate Karr said. He didn't say why.

As a high school student John was at the top of his class. He played musical instruments and attended Bevill State Community College in Hamilton, where he also made the dean's list. At least 13 years ago Karr got married, Nate Karr said. The couple has three sons.

Nate Karr also said that his brother, who was a student teacher for a time in Alabama, almost always returned to Atlanta for the holidays. He believes John may have been in Atlanta in 1996, the year JonBenet was killed, though he said the family hadn't had time to check photo albums to make sure.

Around 2001, John Karr and his family moved to California. Around that same time, Karr also began doing research for a book he wanted to write about men who commit crimes against girls, Nate Karr said. He believes the research, which included reviewing police and coroner reports about the JonBenet murder, may have been what landed his brother in trouble.

"He was trying to get in as in-depth as he could, to not only this case but to other cases as well. It wasn't . . . something that he was like obsessed with the JonBenet Ramsey case. He was researching multiple incidences," Nate Karr said.

"That is the only possible way that we think that he could have been brought into this, because, of course, there is going to be no physical evidence. If they do in fact have DNA at the scene, please test him immediately so he can be vindicated."

Nate Karr also said he hadn't communicated much with his brother since John Karr moved to California. He said it's possible John Karr traveled overseas because he was having marital problems, but said he didn't know he was in Thailand.

The family had not spoken to him Wednesday, nor had they heard anything from law enforcement, Nate Karr said.