Handwriting expert points finger at Karr

'At least a dozen traits' link ransom note and yearbook, he says

Lou Kilzer, Rocky Mountain News

Tuesday, 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.

"There are groups of us that are working on this internationally," she said. "We have little arguments, like 'no, I don't see this and I see that.' "

Walla said she studied under Baggett and that he is regarded as one of the nation's top handwriting authorities. Baggett said he has provided expert testimony in court cases in all 50 states.

Boulder police almost immediately suspected John and Patsy Ramsey in the death of their 6-year-old daughter, placing them under an "umbrella of suspicion."

Experts later ruled out John Ramsey as the writer of the note, but some questions remained concerning Patsy Ramsey.

Last week, police in Thailand said Karr confessed to the slaying. He was expelled from the country, arriving in California late Sunday night, and he is now in a Los Angeles jail awaiting extradition to Colorado.

Lining up behind Baggett in his assessment is his son, Bart, who is president of Handwriting University, an organization that trains and certifies handwriting experts.

"There are a lot of similarities," Bart Baggett said from his offices in Los Angeles. "Quite a few, actually. Significant similarities."

"When I saw the yearbook, it was just shocking. It was wow! (The similarities) are more than just chance. I would definitely lean toward Karr being the author of this note."

Still, he said he would like to see originals and a lot more samples from Karr before sticking his head out too far.

"We do most of our business by fax," he said. "Usually you can tell. But this case has so much weighing on it. It would be great to get more samples."

He said he is withholding a final verdict until he gets the writing under a microscope.

Document examiner Don Lehew also is staking part of his reputation on saying Karr is the likely writer of the Ramsey ransom note, based on samples from the yearbook.

"And that's not something you go off half-cocked about because it will come back and bite you," Lehew said.

One person who could find himself on the other side from the Baggetts and Lehew is Honolulu document examiner Reed Hayes, author of a textbook on forensic handwriting analysis.

"I do see a few similarities between the writing in the yearbook and the so-called ransom note, but not enough that I would identify him as the writer.

"In fact, I would lean more toward him not being the writer."

Hayes said he is very conservative in making handwriting matches.

Ronald Morris, a Virginia-based expert who spent 23 years as a document examiner with the Secret Service, said everyone is getting ahead of themselves. He said making conclusions without seeing the actual document is "absolute BS."

He said faxes or newspaper reproductions are two-dimensional, and that actual documents are in 3-D - meaning the amount of pressure a person applies to the pen and the actual dimensions of the lettering are critical in forming an opinion.

Lehew said he, too, would like to see the originals, but "I don't think the FBI is going to give them to me."

What seems clear, Texas expert Walla and others said, is that there are more similarities between Karr's yearbook and the ransom note than any that supposedly linked JonBenet's mother to the case.

Is there a match with Karr?

Said Walla: "I would say this guy is pretty damn close."

But even those who are leaning hard toward the conclusion that Karr's yearbook writing is quite similar to the ransom note, say his later writing on a job application bore almost no similarities.

"His handwriting has changed considerably since the yearbook," said Walla.

Curt Baggett agreed.

"We did not find similarities on the application," he said.

The 12 points of similarity that Curt Baggett notes included the writing of the small letters "a" and "f" - which he said included "a very unusual trait."

The letter "t" was crossed in the same place and the majority were crossed on the right.

Curt Baggett said he isn't concerned that he has taken the lead on the identification of Karr as the ransom note's author.

"It takes guts to make a decision," he said. "Most people want to wait and see."

Developments

Karr to appear in court this morning in L.A.

John Mark Karr will appear in a Los Angeles courtroom today at 9:30 a.m. MDT to be advised that he is being held in California on a fugitive from justice charge. A judge also will detail the warrant from Boulder, which includes first-degree murder, kidnapping and sexual assault allegations, and will give Karr a chance to indicate whether he is willing to waive a formal extradition hearing.

Handwriting experts analyze a few samples

Handwriting experts are poring over the few samples obtained from Karr - a yearbook entry and a job application - to see what, if any, similarities exist between them and the JonBenet ransom note. At least one analyst concluded that the odds that Karr did not write the ransom note are a million to one. Prosecutors, however, are sure to be faced with dueling experts.

Former Karr home in Ala. vacant since '01

The home in Hamilton, Ala., where John Mark Karr lived before and after JonBenet Ramsey's death has been vacant since 2001. The dust is still undisturbed there, as local law enforcement agents scratch their heads about the fact that no one from Boulder has requested a search warrant for the property.

Sex-change accounts now appear at odds

Doctors in Bangkok's thriving sex-change and cosmetic surgery trades have muddied the waters about whether Karr was seeking medical help to become a woman.

One says he treated Karr, removing facial hair after Karr told him he was interested in pursuing a sex change. Another, quoted this weekend by The Associated Press, now denies acknowledging that Karr consulted with him, saying he would never violate patient-doctor confidentiality.

Suspect's calls, e-mails had details about case

Questions have surfaced about details John Mark Karr allegedly gave a California woman phone calls and e-mails five years ago, placing himself in the Ramsey home at Christmas. A guest list and photo of some of the partygoers show no sign that Karr was there. Yet, his account included details that were consistent with an investigator's findings - findings that were not widely made public at the time, including a theory that the child's killer hid under a bed in the home.