CU prof sticks to his guns on Ramseys

Innocence opinion irks critics in wake of role in Karr case

Todd Hartman And Charlie Brennan, Rocky Mountain News

Published September 2, 2006 at midnight

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University of Colorado professor Michael Tracey knows people hate him. But instead of aggravating him, it intrigues him.

The man at the center of the latest JonBenet Ramsey media storm, the media studies scholar who exchanged e-mails for four years with one-time suspect John Mark Karr, said there's a common thread running through his severest critics: It's not his work they despise, it's his viewpoint.

"Intellectually, it fascinates me," he said

Tracey believes that John and Patsy Ramsey are innocent in the killing of their 6-year-old girl nearly a decade ago. And it's this opinion - laid out firmly and directly in his words and documentaries about the case - that sets people off, he said.

"A lot of people are emotionally invested in the guilt of Patsy, and earlier in the guilt of John, and if you say anything that goes against that, you're a heretic, and it just drives them nuts," Tracey said. "My view is, for good or ill, I go where my interpretation of the evidence takes me. That's what I'm trained to do."

Whatever motivates his critics, they have been loud in the weeks since the media reported that Tracey took his suspicions about his electronic pen pal to Boulder District Attorney Mary Lacy. That was the contact that led Lacy's office on its controversial search and seizure of Karr in Thailand, and his exoneration 13 days later when his DNA didn't match the evidence.

The furor around Tracey's role in the case seems to fit a man with strong opinions, a quick thinker who relishes debate and never shrinks from a fight. In the climate of academic politics and fragile egos common to campus life, Tracey's forceful style rubs some the wrong way.

"When Mike speaks out, he speaks out and really irritates . . . He can get under people's skins," said Len Ackland, an associate professor of journalism at CU who has enjoyed sometimes heated give-and-takes with Tracey. But, he emphasized, "Mike's not a fraud. He's a guy who has convictions."

During an 18-year career at CU, Tracey, 58, has won the respect - if not always the love - of colleagues. He's consistently graded well by students, earning an A in 10 of the last 16 courses he's taught, according to journalism school dean Paul Voakes. And, through the current whirlwind, he's had the backing of the university hierarchy.

"The campus administration above me has been nothing but supportive of his place in the faculty, the scholarship, the strength of his teaching," Voakes said.

Voakes said Tracey is adept at living in two worlds at the same time - the more insular one of scholarly media criticism and the boisterous environs of the mainstream press.

Critics amp up their voices

And Tracey certainly seemed in his element as the Karr investigation unfolded. Appearing on CNN's Larry King Live, and in an impromptu press conference in Boulder, Tracey didn't shy from the media spotlight. Nor did he do what he has criticized the media for over the years: speculate about the viability of suspects.

Over and over again, Tracey emphasized that Karr is presumed innocent. Don't put him through what, in Tracey's view, the media put John and Patsy Ramsey through after JonBenet's murder, a trial in the court of public opinion.

But as the Karr investigation unfolded, even as no one yet knew the outcome, Tracey's critics went on the attack. They accused him of milking the relationship with Karr, even enjoying and exploiting it, in a quest for publicity, fame and a book he wants to write about the infamous 1996 murder and its aftermath.

"No one would think a professor of journalism would become a media vulture circling around the body of a dead beauty queen," said one of Tracey's fiercest critics, Tricia Griffith, a Utah woman who runs a Web site devoted to arguing the Ramseys are guilty of killing JonBenet.

"What do you say to things like that?" Tracey said. "It's just silly."

He calls the communication with Karr "the worst experience of my life," apart from a miscarriage suffered by his first wife. "It was a f------ nightmare, because you're hearing the most awful things, and you have to pretend it's OK."

He said toward the end, when the district attorney was working with Tracey to tape phone calls with Karr, the ordeal reached the abyss and he "lost it." He said DA investigator Tom Bennett even gave him the option of dropping out of the investigation because of the toll it was taking on his psyche.

"That's when I get so p----- off, it's all a publicity stunt," Tracey said. "Give me a f------ break. I don't recommend it. It's a sobering experience."

Various pundits have also ripped at Tracey (along with Lacy) for failing to figure out that Karr was apparently delusional about his role in JonBenet's death.

"I've got a guy who's telling me he's assaulting little girls, that he killed another girl. What am I supposed to do?" Tracey said. "Do people really think . . . that I should have kept quiet? Would they like that if they had a kid, if I knew something and didn't say anything? Would they have kept quiet? I hope not."

'Obsessed' is the word

Tracey said the dialogue with Karr began as an academic one, but soon shifted as Karr began showing a darker side. Throughout, Tracey never knew the writer's true identity, though Karr often referred to himself as Daxis.

"I began to sense something. He became more and more interesting, he started opening up," Tracey said. "I became kind of concerned. I thought this guy's a dangerous guy . . . I kind of got into this role play. The key was I couldn't be judgmental . . . I want to understand. He kind of went along with that, and opened up more and more, whether in truth or fiction."

It was about two years ago when Tracey, his concern growing, began sharing some of the e-mails with investigator Lou Smit, the retired homicide detective who had put together the case that an intruder snuck into JonBenet's house and killed her.

It was May when Tracey received an e-mail that riveted his attention - an e-mail he still won't talk about - and spurred his belief that law enforcement needed to be involved immediately. He went to a third party, who contacted Lacy's office, and that's when the district attorney picked up the case.

Some wonder if the latest episode shows that Tracey has become too wrapped up in the entire Ramsey drama.

Gaby Wood, a London Observer reporter who interviewed Tracey in April at what he calls his downtown "office" - The Hungry Toad pub in downtown Boulder - said she was struck by Tracey's fascination with the case, noting that he brought a Manila folder containing autopsy photos of JonBenet.

"It will be pretty ironic if, in the end, the only thing that John Mark Karr is guilty of is being obsessed with JonBenet, because that is exactly the description you could use for Michael Tracey," Wood said.

Tracey didn't deny he was obsessed, but wasn't sure if the word was being used pejoratively. Obsessed people get things done, he noted. Michael Jordan didn't become the greatest player in NBA history by staying off the practice court, he said.

"There's a lot of obsessions to go around," he said, noting that some of his critics who run Internet sites could be classified the same way. "You could tap it as an energy source and solve the energy crisis."

He noted that his life is filled with plenty of other activities, mostly teaching, reading and writing - including a scholarly work of essays. But he accepted the label regarding the JonBenet case.

"What I'm obsessed with is getting the truth out about what happened," he said. "I am obsessed with the idea the Ramseys didn't do it."

And, he had a parting shot at his critics: "I know it drives them crazy, but we're not going away. On that they can rest assured."

About Tracey

• Name: Michael Tracey

• Age: 58

• Position: Professor, media studies, University of Colorado since 1988.

• Previous work: Head of the Broadcasting Research Unit in London, a British think tank dealing with media issues.

• Publication: Contributed to eight books, various academic journals, conference papers and popular media. Lectured in several countries on the politics, organization and economics of public service broadcasting

• Other work: Since 1998 has made three documentaries about the JonBenet Ramsey case. Currently researching and writing two books dealing with aspects of what he calls "the injustice of the American justice system."

• Diversions: Skiing, The Sopranos, two German shepherds.Source: University Of Colorado; Rocky Mountain News

hartmant@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-5048

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