Karr still jailed in Boulder
Rocky Mountain News
Published August 29, 2006 at midnight
John Mark Karr will not be charged with the death of JonBenet Ramsey but will be held in the Boulder County jail awaiting extradition to California, where he will face charges of possessing child pornography, Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said today.
"California wanted him," Pelle said.
Prosecutors decided against charging Karr in the killing of the child beauty queen because his DNA does not match the DNA found in the girl's underwear.
Authorities notified Karr earlier today that he might not be charged in Boulder, but he didn’t get the official word until he was transferred to the Boulder County justice center this afternoon
Karr was minutes from being released from custody when the Sonoma County District Attorney’s office around 3 p.m. sent a warrant for Karr’s arrest to authorities in Boulder, his attorney said.
The school teacher has been wanted in Sonoma County since failing to appear at a 2001 court hearing on charges he had a computer containing images of child pornography.
Karr’s attorney, Boulder public defender Seth Temin, was happy to have the charges for the 1996 murder of JonBenet dropped against his client. But he’s not pleased about the last-minute extradition.
"The warrant wasn’t active when he got here," Temin said. "It seems disingenuous of the California people to reinstate it."
Karr was returned to the Boulder County jail at 4:15 this afternoon, riding in the front seat of a white Sheriff’s SUV. Wearing a blue polo shirt, Karr stared straight ahead through flashing news media cameras as he arrived.
There will be a hearing at 2 p.m. Tuesday at which he can waive
extradition, in which case California will have 10 days to return him
to that state.
If he fights extradition he could remain in the Boulder jail for 30 to
60 days.
Investigators arrested Karr in Thailand before completing their investigation because they needed to obtain an uncontaminated DNA swab and feared he'd flee if he learned they were on to him, according to court papers filed this afternoon.
Also, Karr had described in e-mails a fascination with young girls he was teaching that made authorities concerned that other children might be in danger.
Earlier today, Temin had said he was "deeply disturbed" that the Boulder District Attorney’s office brought Karr from Thailand to the United States "without any forensic evidence."
This afternoon, he was more sanguine. "You would have hoped they would have more before they took this action. But I respect that they made the decision on what they thought was right.
"I do appreciate that once they realized they didn’t have a case, that they took very swift steps to end it. I respect and appreciate that."
Temin declined to speculate on Karr’s mental state except to agree with suggestions that he needs help.
District Attorney Mary Lacy defended her office's decision to arrest Karr today in court filings and in a statement announcing she'd dropped the case against him.
"As I said last week, our role in the investigation of JonBenet Ramsey's murder has been to follow up on all legitimate leads that we have received from law enforcement and concerned citizens," her statement read. "This case is not closed, and we will continue to investigate leads and pursue justice."
In her statement, Lacy also acknowledged "circumstantial evidence" provided by Karr's family that he spent Christmas 1996 with them in Atlanta and was not in Boulder when JonBenet was killed.
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