Complaints and Questions about John Mark Karr Keep Piling Up

By Linda Orlando

The suspect in the JonBenet Ramsey murder case is said to be eager for his day in court, according to his public defender. John Mark Karr, the man whose name and face have been plastered over newspapers and television screens every day for nearly a week, had his first court appearance on Tuesday. Karr waived extradition, meaning that he will now be transported to Boulder, Colorado, to face murder charges in the slaying of 6-year old JonBenet Ramsey.

Public defender Haydeh Takasugi said that she met with Karr for more than two hours at the county jail, during which time he told her that the had been "treated very well in Thailand." However, he was upset when he learned that he would have to wear an orange prison jumpsuit to court, instead of civilian clothes. Takasugi said that she thinks Karr’s appearance in the traditional inmate garb may influence the outcome of his case. "It’s going to taint any potential jury pool out there," she said.

There are already numerous questions swirling about in the media about whether or not Karr is actually JonBenet’s killer. Karr’s family has produced a photo of a 1996 Christmas gathering in Atlanta, which the family says proves that he wasn’t even in Colorado at the time JonBenet was killed. Her body was found in the basement of her parents’ home on December 26, 1996. Karr’s ex-wife, Lara Knutson, told reporters that Karr did not miss family Christmases, and since his three sons are together in the photo, Karr would have been there, too.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation has not yet been asked to compare any personal evidence from Karr with evidence taken from the Ramsey’s house during the investigation. There is almost no public word about what evidence Boulder officials have against Karr, but a spokeswoman for prosecutors in Boulder County said that the probable-cause arrest warrant lists charges of first-degree murder, felony murder, first-degree and second-degree kidnapping, and sexual assault on a child.

Several intriguing facts about John Mark Karr have emerged during the past few days, adding to the media frenzy surrounding his arrest. Karr was arrested in April 2001 on five misdemeanor counts of possessing child pornography, after a woman described as a police informant said that she had exchanged e-mails and taped more than 20 hours of phone conversations with Karr. But the 2001 investigation turned up no clues that tied him to the Ramsey murder, according to the Sonoma County, CA, sheriff.

Also a second doctor in Thailand has confirmed the rumors about Karr seeking a sex-change operation at a Bangkok clinic. The dermatologist said that Karr had already undergone laser hair removal treatments to have his sideburns and chin hair removed permanently in preparation for a sex-change operation. Another doctor at a Bangkok sex-change clinic had revealed on Sunday that Karr was one of his patients.

News organizations have filed a request in a Colorado court demanding that arrest warrants and other documentation involving the Karr investigation be unsealed. The court filing said that there is a great deal of public interest in the JonBenet Ramsey killing and investigation, and the public deserves to know whether the arrest of Karr will solve the case, or if it yet "another mistake" by prosecutors. A Colorado district attorney is planning to oppose the media’s requests, because the case is still under investigation.

Meanwhile, some Boulder residents are outraged at reports and photographs of Karr’s lavish flight from Thailand to California. Stories about his flight home revealed that he dined on king fried prawns and pate, drink champagne and wine, and clinked glasses with his Homeland Security escort while chatting, without being handcuffed. One Boulder resident said that he is incensed at the idea of the suspect in JonBenet’s slaying "schmoozing on the taxpayers’ dime," and that the descriptions of champagne, roast duck, and chocolate cake seem like just "another twist in a crazy saga."

Authorities tried to explain Karr’s kid-gloves treatment by saying that he had volunteered to return to the United States, and he wasn’t really a prisoner until he got off the plane. Since arriving in Los Angeles, Karr has been kept in a high-power cell used for noteworthy inmates, and he is checked by guards every 15 minutes. Some have speculated that the top-notch treatment he received on his way back to the US may have been a calculated move by authorities who wanted to keep him happy and malleable, hoping that would prompt him to provide information that will make the investigation easier. But Boulder residents are bristling at the idea that they may wind up footing the bill for lavishly escorting home a suspected child killer.