All Charges Dropped Against John Mark Karr

Public defender Seth Temin told reporters outside the Boulder, CO, jail on Monday afternoon that his client, John Mark Karr, is not going to be charged with anything connected to the 1996 murder of 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey. "The warrant on Mr. Karr has been dropped by the district attorney," Temin said. "They are not proceeding with the case." Karr’s first appearance in Boulder County Court had been scheduled for Monday afternoon, but the hearing was cancelled.

All eyes in America have been focused on Karr since he was detained in Bangkok, Thailand, after saying that he loved JonBenet Ramsey and he was with her when she died. The 41-year old suspect was brought back to the United States last week, where he was immediately arrested. After his return to the US, Karr was held in Boulder County Jail on suspicion of first-degree murder, first- and second-degree kidnapping, and sexual assault while investigators interviewed him and collected DNA samples from him. The Denver police crime lab tested those samples over the weekend, and as a result of those tests, Karr was ruled out as a suspect.

"We're deeply distressed by the fact that they took this man and dragged him here from Bangkok, Thailand, with no forensic evidence confirming the allegations against him and no independent factors leading to a presumption that he did anything wrong," Temin said.

Prosecutors were hoping that they would find DNA evidence linking Karr to JonBenet’s battered and strangled body, but without such evidence it would be nearly impossible to build a case against him. Karr’s family has maintained all along that he was with them in Georgia that Christmas and therefore couldn’t have been in Denver.

Scott Robinson, a Denver attorney familiar with the case, told reporters, "If Karr’s DNA is linked to the scene, it's all over but the verdict. But if in fact there is no DNA match, a defense attorney could argue that the confession means nothing."

It is not known whether or not Karr will be released from jail in Boulder, or will be transferred to California, where he still may face child pornography charges. Authorities in Sonoma County, California, arrested Karr for possession of child pornography in 2001.