JonBenet Ramsey Murder Case

Alleged Suspect Arrested in Thailand

Criminal defense attorney Jeralyn Merritt was online Thursday, Aug. 17, at 1 p.m. ET to discuss the latest developments in the unsolved murder of 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey ( Post, Aug. 17 ).

Merritt has been a frequent contributor of analysis of the case for MSNBC, Fox News, CNN, NBC News, Court TV and CNBC.

A transcript follows.

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Jeralyn Merritt: Welcome, everyone. We have just finished listening to DA Mary Lacy's press conference. There are far more questions than answers. Let's get to your's first.

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Silver Spring, Md.: Has this fellow been on the run? Why did this take so long?

Jeralyn Merritt: He reportedly is a fugitive on misdemeanor child pornography charges in California. He left the U.S. after charges were filed in that case.

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Annapolis, Md.: I grew up in Southeast Asia and the prisons are terrifying and make a life-long impression -- and that's just the exteriors. So, who wouldn't confess to a high profile U.S. crime, if it would get them out of a Thai prison and into the U.S. system?

Jeralyn Merritt: I don't think he was in a Thai prison. He began teaching elementary school this week in Thailand. Thailand has said it has no criminal charges against him. His arrest was prompted by Boulder.

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Fairfax, Va.: What was he doing in Thailand, hiding?

Jeralyn Merritt: He left the U.S. after misdemeanor child pornography charges were lodged against him, so assuming he knew about them, that makes him a fugitive. He had his bio on the Internet seeking teaching jobs abroad.

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Sterling, Va.: AP news is reporting that the ex-wife of Mr Karr, has proof he was in Alabama with her at time of the killing. Is it possible Mr. Karr confessed to a crime he didn't commit?

Jeralyn Merritt: Yes it is possible that he confessed to a crime he did not commit. That happens far more frequently than people realize. Hopefully, the Boulder District Attorney has more than his confession.

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Orlando, Fla.: How credible do you believe the alibi of Karr's former wife to be?

Jeralyn Merritt: Her alibi is curious to me. Does she remember Christmas of 1996 vs 1995 or 1997? Or, is she sure it was 1996 because she remembers him being glued to the TV news on Dec. 26 when reports of the murder broke.

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Ashburn, Va.: I didn't hear the press conference. Do you think there is any chance at all that they've got the right guy, based on what you heard?

Jeralyn Merritt: I think the Boulder DA would not have sought out the Justice Department and Thai authorities unless they were confident this could be the right guy. She said at one point the investigation in substantially complete. Perhaps they have handwriting and evidence of presence in Colorado but no DNA match. I don't put much faith in his confession.

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Washington, D.C.: What's the latest on his location in December 1996?

Jeralyn Merritt: The DA would not discuss any specific evidence in the case. We don't know yet whether anyone can place him in Colorado.

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Washington, D.C.: How do we know that Karr didn't know Ramseys? He didn't answer and John Ramsey didn't seem to answer either. Maybe they invited him in and he went too far with JBR?

Jeralyn Merritt: I think John Ramsey was saying he didn't know the name Mark Karr. But he may have known of the person sending e-mails to Professor and documentary film producer Michael Tracy. And he may indeed have written Patsy. Perhaps he just didn't give his name.

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Washington, D.C.: How soon do you expect that we would hear about any DNA link?

Jeralyn Merritt: Excellent question. The DNA evidence in the Ramsey case is now in the FBI's CODIS database. If Karr's is also in it, perhaps from the time of any prior offenses, it will take no time at all.

I suspect if they didn't have his DNA before his arrest in Thailand, they have it now and it is en route back here for testing. That could take from days to weeks.

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Sherbrooke, Quebec: Why is Mr. Karr being so forthcoming even though he hasn't been charged yet?

Jeralyn Merritt: That's a good question for a shrink, which I'm not. But, perhaps he knew Patsy was in her probably last stage of ovarian cancer and wanted her to know.

Or, perhaps he's just claiming the spotlight. But since he didn't seek out the public spotlight and didn't know his arrest was imminent, it's hard to figure.

One other possibility. The Boulder DA has had an investigator in Thailand this week. Perhaps he was able to interview Karr and get statements.

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Washington, D.C.: Is the DA up for reelection? I am thinking about the Duke case.

Jeralyn Merritt: I don't know if she is or not. What I can tell you is that there are light years of difference between her and Mike Nifong in the Duke case. She has never been loose-lipped and she is a strict adherent to the ethical rules governing prosecutors. This is not an election issue.

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Lincoln, Neb.: Any idea if he tried to insert himself into the Polly Klaus case/investigation? An article mentioned that he was very interested in this case as well as JonBenet.

Jeralyn Merritt: I've heard reports that he was fascinated with both cases and did extensive research on both murders. The media reports he was planning on writing a book on JonBenet, but I don't know if he wrote or was planning on writing something about Polly Klaas.

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Evanston, Ill.: Why couldn't the police find this guy's finger prints on the night of the murder?

Jeralyn Merritt: Maybe he or whoever the murderer was wore gloves. Maybe he smudged them all. Maybe other people touched the places he touched.

He may have tried to wipe the body clean. I'm not presuming he is the one who did it, only answering about fingerprints.

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Pittsburgh, Pa.: Wouldn't an intruder need to be familiar with the Ramsey house layout?

Jeralyn Merritt: Many people were familiar with the Ramsey house layout. They were frequent entertainers and I believe just the week before the murder, Patsy had a lot of people over for a house tour.

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Katy, Tex.: Couldn't the Thai authorities, before his arrest and under their legal system, already have surreptitiously retrieved something from his apartment to match DNA?

Jeralyn Merritt: There are a number of ways to get DNA surreptitiously. They could have gotten it from his garbage, such as tossed tissue, a smoked cigarette, a drinking glass at a bar after he left. If they had him under surveillance, any of this is possible.

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Minot, N.D.: Isn't this guy just playing the "Get out of a Thai jail free" card? It appears he was under investigation in Thailand. Now, suddenly, he's getting jettisoned out, and once he arrives back here, he can claim to have temporarily lost his mind but ... he'll never languish in a Thai jail.

Jeralyn Merritt: The Thai police said no charges were pending against him. They are deporting him. I don't think he feared languishing in a Thai jail when he hadn't been charged with a crime. Given his travel history, he would have just left. Why start a new job this week in Thailand if you think you are going to be arrested?

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Washington, D.C.: Could what he's said to reporters and the fact that he didn't have a lawyer in Thailand be considered violations of his rights and due to some technicality could somehow dismiss the case?

Jeralyn Merritt: meric

Jeralyn Merritt: No, he made the statements to the media not the police. Remember John Walker Lindh, the "American Taliban" interviewed by CNN after being shot in Afghanistan? The court ruled those statements admissible.

A lawyer and Miranda rights apply to a custodial interrogation by police, not the media.

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Flemington, N.J.: If there is no DNA match, will it be impossible to prosecute this person? The crime scene was muddied from the start, so wouldn't a defense attorney be able to say that the police and prosecutors can't even be sure of the details of the case and whether this man has knowledge of the details of the case that were not available to the public?

Jeralyn Merritt: There is DNA evidence, two kinds, that were found together in JonBenet's panties. Her parents and all relatives have been excluded. I agree DNA will be critical to the case, although not essential.

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Brentwood Glen, Calif.: How do you interpret the fact that Lin Wood, the Ramseys' lawyer, would not say whether any connection existed between Karr and the victim's parents.

Jeralyn Merritt: Linn Wood and John Ramsey don't want to say anything that can compromise the investigation or that a defense lawyer for Karr or anyone else can later attack.

The DA and John and Patsy Ramsey spoke about this individual, they may not have been aware of his name.

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Virginia: Is there a statute of limitations for those kinds of cases?

Jeralyn Merritt: There is no statute of limitations on murder.

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Crownsville, Md.: You said he was fascinated with the JBR case and the Klaus case and was thinking of writing a book. I've never heard of a murderer planning to write a book about the murder he committed. Something doesn't seem right here. If he was immersed in the details of the case, then he could have fooled investigators by displaying detailed knowledge of the facts. How do we know this isn't what happened?

Jeralyn Merritt: We don't. That is a possibility. It depends on whether he knew details that weren't publicly available.

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Washington, D.C.: Why did it take so long to uncover this mystery? Why is it that this "break" came shortly AFTER the mother's death? What a coincidence.

Jeralyn Merritt: The investigation began before her death. John and Patsy had been told something would develop soon.

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Maryland: Why now? Why not back then?

Jeralyn Merritt: Reportedly, Karr began e-mailing Michael Tracey a few years ago. Tracey is a journalism professor at CU in Boulder who made a documentary favorable to the Ramseys. The emails got more and more "distressing" to Tracey, and in the last several months, apparently, he provided them to the DA.

I assume but don't know that they were able to track the IP address and link them to Karr and his location in Bangkok.

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Fairfax Station, Va.: The former spouse of Karr is claiming he couldn't have been in Boulder at the time. Didn't the authorities check this out before formally arresting him?

Jeralyn Merritt: I would be shocked if they didn't. You don't involve the FBI, the Justice Department and the Thai Government without some indication he was in the vicinity of the crime scene at the relevant time. If I'm wrong on this, then Mary Lacey isn't the DA I thought she was.

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Florida: Don't a whole boatload of talking heads on TV now owe the Ramseys a big apology?

Since many all but accused them of murder of their own child. Somehow I doubt it will happen.

Jeralyn Merritt: Most of the media speculated she was guilty. That's a book I'd love to write, about all the pious talk show hosts and former prosecutors who proclaimed them guilty night after night for years on TV. It used to make me crazy. The worst in my opinion was victim's rights attorney Wendy Murphy and Denver radio host Peter Boyles.

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Rockville, Md.: What makes this case more important than any other of the unsolved child murders that have occurred recently in the U.S., or for that matter the world?

Jeralyn Merritt: That's a great question. I believe it was the public's fascination with her looks and the pageantry pictures of her, all made up and in costume. It's been a real puzzle, and I can't think of any other case that could knock the war in Iraq and Lebanon off the cable news for a whole day (so far.) Short answer: Ratings. People watch when there's news in the case. They can't get enough.

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Washington, D.C.: If there was DNA evidence not from any of the Ramsey family members, why were they ever considered suspects? (The DNA was thought to be part of some cover up?)

Jeralyn Merritt: They were considered "under the umbrella of suspicion." But the then Mayor of Boulder, Leslie Durgin, said at a press conference the week of her murder that the people of Boulder were safe, there wasn't a killer in their community. She later said she made that statement based on information from police.

The police focused on the Ramseys from day one and failed to follow leads objectively. They didn't like the way they acted. They didn't like them getting lawyers.

By the way, getting a lawyer was the right thing to do. The jails are filled with people who think if they could only explain their version of events, the police would see it there way. Miranda rights exist for a reason, use them or lose them.

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Bethesda, Md.: Is it possible that Karr is making up his story so he can gain the spotlight like other sociopaths, in order to support his sexual fantasy?

Just because he admits to the crime doesn't mean that he is guilty, right?

Jeralyn Merritt: You are absolutely correct. He is presumed innocent and at this moment in time and until there comes a time when he pleads guilty in a court of law or is found guilty by a jury, he is innocent.

People confess to crimes more frequently than the public suspects. A confession alone means little, unless as I said earlier, he had details no one else could have.

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Washington, D.C.: Is there any evidence that JB was drugged at the time of her death?

Jeralyn Merritt: Not that I'm aware of. I'm sure we'll be hearing soon from the many pathologists who studied the evidence in the case as to whether it is possible.

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Sewickley, Pa.: What do prosecutors and police investigators take away from this debacle? I couldn't help thinking that a less wealthy, less sophisticated family would have been easily railroaded by the Boulder police.

Jeralyn Merritt: There are many things they should learn. Police should follow the evidence objectively and see where it leads before reaching a conclusion and then looking for evidence to support that conclusion.

Local police and prosecutors' offices should have a good working relationship with each other and work together towards the common goal: finding the right perp and bringing them to justice.

Local police need to be experienced in handling crime scene evidence -- even in small towns. You never know where a murder will happen.

Local police shouldn't get their egos involved to the point where they turn down experienced help from larger and more experienced law enforcement agencies.

And number one, don't rush to judgment.

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Orono, Maine: So ... what are we to make of the reported inconsistencies in the alleged ransom note that was left at the crime scene? There have been reports that the writing matches Patsy Ramsey's. Were those reports simply inaccurate or is there more to this story than we know right now?

Jeralyn Merritt: The handwriting did not match Patsy Ramsey. She was not excluded. Handwriting identification is not a science. She voluntarily submitted to multiple exemplars. Unless an examiner had the original note, not a xerox or fax, available for comparison, they cannot make a determination. That lets out all the examiners you saw on TV and in the media. Only the police and DA and Ramseys' lawyers had access to the original note.

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Jeralyn Merritt: Thanks everyone! This is a fascinating case. I've been following every detail for 9 1/2 years and really hope for JonBenet that justice is served. I also caution to respect the presumption of innocence for Mr. Karr. He may or may not be her killer.

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