Karr headed for Boulder County Jail

Charlie Brennan and Bill Scanlon, Rocky Mountain News

Published August 24, 2006 at midnight

Text size

More Local News

Murder suspect John Mark Karr arrived in Jefferson County late this afternoon and is headed to Boulder where he is wanted on a warrant charging probable cause for his arrest in the Christmas night 1996 murder of JonBenet Ramsey.

Chief District Judge Roxanne Bailin is expected to issue an order tomorrow morning detailing when Karr, 41, will have his initial advisory hearing, according to Colorado Judicial Branch spokeswoman Karen Salaz.

He’ll be told then that he is being held for investigation of first-degree murder after deliberation, first-degree felony murder, first-degree kidnapping, second-degree kidnapping and sexual assault on a child in one of the most notorious crimes in Colorado history.

Karr’s flight was tracked by news organizations around the world, some of whom were caught off guard by a last-minute change of arrival location. A flight plan had been filed indicating the plane would arrive at the airport in Boulder and sheriff’s officials had a heavy presence there. But the actual landing occurred miles away on a tarmac in Broomfield, where six off-duty Jefferson County sheriff’s department SWAT members were standing by.

The state-owned Beech King Air turbo-prop carrying Karr smoothly touched down at the airport in Broomfield at 4:56 p.m. He emerged from the plane at 5:06 p.m., and was promptly walked a short distance to an unmarked black SUV, his ride to the Boulder County Jail.

Karr was attired much as he was for his 15-hour flight Sunday from Thailand, in dark slacks, a short-sleeved red dress shirt and tie. But unlike the trip from Southeast Asia, where he was not handcuffed and enjoyed Champagne and fried prawns in business class, today he traveled in handcuffs and leg shackles.

He was immediately driven to the jail, where he was expected to have a standard-fare dinner: beef stew, noodles, celery sticks, squash from the jail garden and apple crisp.

Karr will wear a red one-piece jump suit for the first 48 hours he is in the jail.

The trip, under police escort aboard the Colorado State Patrol turbo-prop that often carries the governor, represents one of the most significant benchmarks in the troubled almost 10-year history of the saga that began with the murder of the 6-year-old pageant princess.

Karr’s odyssey started more than a week ago, with his arrest at an apartment in Bangkok, Aug. 16, where the 41-year-old teacher with a checkered past and two failed marriages to women under 15 years of age had been most recently residing.

The ensuing eight days have proved a whirlwind of often conflicting remarks concerning Karr’s reported confession to Thai police and his claims to media hordes in Thailand that he loved JonBenet, that he was with her when she died in the Ramseys’ Boulder basement and his characterization of her death as an "accident." Recent reports have focused on his history, which includes outstanding misdemeanor child pornography charges in Sonoma County, Calif., and an apparent obsession with both JonBenet and Polly Klaas.

Karr must be given his first advisement in Boulder County Court within 24 hours of his arrival. At that proceeding he will simply be told the reason for his arrest, the fact that he is being held without bail, and a time will be set for filing of charges — if charges are to be filed — within 48-to-72 hours.

JonBenet, the youngest child of John and Patsy Ramsey, was found beaten and strangled in the Ramseys’ basement the afternoon of Dec. 26, about seven hours after her mother called 911, saying she had found a 2 1/2-page ransom note demanding $118,000 for the girl’s safe return.

A promised ransom pickup phone call never came. John Ramsey recovered his daughter’s body — duct tape over her mouth, a garrote secured around her neck — from a little-used room in the basement after then-Boulder Detective Linda Arndt told Ramsey and family friend Fleet White to search the house for signs of anything amiss.

Then-Boulder District Attorney Alex Hunter convened a grand jury to probe the case, but it was disbanded after 13 months with no indictments being issued.

JonBenet’s parents were branded as being under an "umbrella of suspicion" in the case in December 1997, but long before Karr’s arrest, support for the theory that an intruder had killed JonBenet was gathering steam.

Patsy Ramsey lost her 13-year battle with cancer when she died in Roswell, Ga., on June 24. But before she died, Boulder District Attorney Mary Lacy had told her that a strong suspect had been identified.

That suspect’s name was revealed Aug. 16, the day of his arrest. Karr, it was soon learned, had kept up a four-year e-mail relationship with University of Colorado journalism professor Michael Tracey.

Tracey, believing the content of Karr’s e-mails showed knowledge of the crime, passed his name to investigators Lou Smit and Ollie Gray this spring. They, in turn, brought Karr to Lacy’s attention.

According to a brief from Lacy’s office Wednesday explaining why Karr’s arrest warrant should remain sealed, Assistant District Attorney Bill Nagel said authorities only learned Karr’s name Aug. 11 — five days before his arrest.

At her Aug. 17 press conference announcing Karr’s arrest, Lacy explained that "exigent circumstances" sometimes force an arrest before an investigation is complete. She said those circumstances are typically a fear of flight or a risk to public safety.

Lacy didn’t say which of those was her paramount concern in arresting Karr Aug. 16, but noted he had started teaching second grade at a Bangkok school Aug. 15.

Jamie Harmon, one of two San Jose, Calif., lawyers representing Karr in the case, doesn’t believe the flight to Boulder necessarily means murder charges will follow.

"No, I don’t," she said. "I’m not doing any interpreting. I worked in the district attorney’s office (in Santa Clara County) for 14 years, and I know a lot of things go on behind the scene. I have no idea what they’re thinking, or what their ideas are, or what they’re planning.

"I do know I’m getting ready to come to Boulder."

Harmon emphasized that Colorado authorities know they are not to speak to Karr.

"I’ve told them that repeatedly, in writing," she said. "The day that I learned he was in custody, I told them nobody was to talk to him again."

Subscribe to the Rocky Mountain News