Althouse: We've just spent two weeks watching a kook who figured out a new way to be famous.

August 28, 2006

We've just spent two weeks watching a kook who figured out a new way to be famous.

The DNA doesn't match in the Jon Benet Ramsey case.

UPDATE: Charges dropped. Why didn't they test the DNA before they went public with the story?

18 comments:

michael farris said...: I'm partial to the theory (not my own) that he found a convenient way to dodge apparent looming legal problems (involving young girls) in Thailand.; 8/28/06, 3:25 PM
Laura Reynolds said...: Just in time for Hurricane coverage..; 8/28/06, 3:28 PM
jimbino said...: I think it's wonderful that a guy figured out how to use DNA as a weapon against the nosy gummint. And I await availability of a commercial spray that combines DNA samples from hundreds of sources along with the scent, perhaps, of THC to confuse both cops and dogs.

Barbers would be in a perfect position to make such a spray from their floor sweepings!; 8/28/06, 3:38 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: This makes evident our media and parts of our government are frigging broken.

Average citizens were able to quickly debunk Karr's likelihood of being guilty. Hell, his own relatives did too and how smart can they be?; 8/28/06, 4:01 PM
Joseph said...: Trans-Pacific airfare is expensive. Maybe he just wanted a free ride home.; 8/28/06, 4:01 PM
Tibore said...: This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.; 8/28/06, 4:44 PM
Revenant said...: Hell, his own relatives did too and how smart can they be?

Um... while I agree that it was pretty obvious Karr wasn't a good suspect, "his relatives said he was innocent" isn't exactly a winning argument.; 8/28/06, 5:09 PM
nina said...: Am I missing something? If the DNA evidence cleared him then why did it not clear the parents?; 8/28/06, 5:53 PM
Revenant said...: The DNA evidence didn't "clear him", it just failed to connect him to the crime. It was already pretty obvious they probably had the wrong guy; they were just holding out hope for a blood match.; 8/28/06, 6:02 PM
Charles Chapman said...: For the reason they supposedly had to bring him back to the U.S. before doing a proper DNA test, see the Motion to Quash, particularly paragraphs 18, 20 and 22.; 8/28/06, 7:30 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Nina: We do know the parents were in the house, of course. If the presence of unknown DNA on a murder victim were completely exhonerating, people could get away with murder by placing a hair they found on the person they killed.; 8/28/06, 8:03 PM
Charlie Eklund said...: Ann asks..."Why didn't they test the DNA before they went public with the story?"

Well, I'd say that blunder is in accordance with the Boulder police department and district attorney's office well known track record of staggering incompetence where this case is concerned.; 8/28/06, 10:00 PM
MadisonMan said...: I heard on the radio this morning that they couldn't get a DNA swab 'til he got to the States and was served with a warrant. So that's why they flew him over.; 8/29/06, 7:25 AM
jeff said...: I wonder if he confessed because he knows that he is a very, very sick man, and simply wants to be locked up for everyone's good?; 8/29/06, 3:53 PM
knox said...: ok, when I go to read the comments on this post, there's a little Amazon menu on the side. One of the items is a book called Professional Models' Portfolios and there is a very Jon-Benet-esque photo on the cover that looks like it's supposed to appeal to, well, guys like JMK. Gross. I sure hope that is a coincidence and not Amazon targeting people they believe are interested in, well, the stuff guys like JMK are interested in...; 8/29/06, 5:36 PM
Beth said...: Jeff, maybe I just have a dark heart, but I think part of his motivation, at least in his emails to the Colorado professor, was to act out his sexual fantasy by sharing it with someone. He's now had the immense satisfaction of appalling a whole nation with his tale of a sexual relationship with a six-year-old, complete with erotic asphyxiation. It's just a porn fiction writ large. If he was trying to keep himself from committing actual acts against children, he sure did it with flair, and a big sendoff.; 8/29/06, 10:23 PM
Revenant said...: One of the items is a book called Professional Models' Portfolios and there is a very Jon-Benet-esque photo on the cover that looks like it's supposed to appeal to, well, guys like JMK. Gross

Um, "Jon-Benet-esque"? The full-size cover and some of the contents are available through the "look inside" option on Amazon; the women are clearly adults.

The book itself seems to be a guidebook aimed at photographers looking for advice on techniques for shooting models' portfolios.; 8/30/06, 4:03 PM
Alan, Esq. said...: I've invented a new word to describe this nonsense: Karrfuffle; 8/30/06, 6:26 PM