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CNN Live Today
Arrest in JonBenet Ramsey Case
Aired August 17, 2006 - 11:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Pat Brown is a nationally known criminal profiler and founder of the sexual homicide exchange. She joins me now from Washington.
Good to see you, Pat.
Well, had it not been for this Colorado University journalism professor to have this kind of e-mail exchange with John Mark Karr and then alerting authorities, do you think this arrest would be here now?
PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: Well, probably not. Because most cold cases get solved by either luck or a DNA match, you know, a hit in a predator bank or somebody out in the public, a citizen will say, hey, wait a minute, here's something peculiar. Here's a person you want to take a look at, and they'll bring that to the attention of the police. And from thereon, it's up to police investigators to go forth with the investigation.
WHITFIELD: And it really does take a lot for the investigators to follow up on that, because they get calls all the time about stuff, and most of which they don't want to take seriously.
BROWN: Well, absolutely, especially in a case like this, because this has been such a prominent case. You're going to get all these nutcases around who just become obsessed, and they want to be with JonBenet, they even want to be with JonBenet in the moment she's dying, so that someone saying this to me doesn't prove they committed the crime. There are only three things that are really going to lock it in, DNA that matches the scene from this man, his handprint inside the house at that location or in his own possession he would have to have something from the crime scene. Other than that, you know, he might just be a nutcase who wants attention.
WHITFIELD: For ten years under the cloud of suspicion, JonBenet's immediate family members, was it your gut feeling from the start that the family members had something to do with this crime, or it had to be from someone outside the family?
BROWN: Well, it was such a strange crime that really, the family did come into focus right in the beginning. There were interesting fibers at the scene that matched the family. There was the peculiar behavior. There was the refusal to take a polygraph. On top of that, there's something interesting in the three-page note, which makes no sense for a child predator to write. The person wrote, "listen," and you don't write a note and write "listen" unless you're dictated it to someone, which would indicate two people involved. So there are enough things that are peculiar that make the family still, unless they're going to come with absolute evidence on Karr, still...
WHITFIELD: But also peculiar, too, that the crime was so brutal. Because of the brutality of the crime, it's not likely, say some, that a parent would carry out an attack like that.
BROWN: Well, it depends at how you look at the crime. We can look at the crime as possibly accident and a cover-up. It can look more brutal than it might have really been. After all, isn't this what Karr is saying. Of course we don't believe anything he says. So every child predator who tries to kidnap a child will say that. But also, what child predator writes -- who wants to kidnap a child for sexual purposes, writes a three-page ransom note and says he was trying to get money. That makes no sense.
WHITFIELD: And so now the comparisons, if it hasn't already been made, his handwriting, compared to this ransom note. Would that really help kind of close this -- any question about him?
BROWN: Actually not at all. Because the ransom note -- first of all, somebody already said it matched Patsy's handwriting, so we already have a disagreement right there. And thirdly, nobody's looked at this. I looked at that ransom wrote, and the font looked like it was traced off a "Choose Your Own Adventure" story. This is a young story that young boys read at 8, 9 years old. It looked like somebody traced it. So can you really tell the handwriting or not? I don't whether that's been looked into, but they're going to have to come up with absolute physical evidence and nothing else.
WHITFIELD: If there's a way to delve into the mindset of John Karr, how would you do so, knowing he reached out to Patsy Ramsey before her death in June, that he would want to open up the dialogue with these family members who've been grieving now for 10 years.
BROWN: Well, he's obviously obsessed with children. That's clear. He's also a pedophile. That's also clear. It's also, obvious, that he's found ways to get near children without actually killing them, and he wants -- and for JonBenet, she's the princess of all. I can see his obsession. The question is, did he actually commit the crime.
And one more interesting thing, why would his wife not know where he was around Christmas? He had three children with her. That's a little weird as well.
WHITFIELD: Ex-wife.
BROWN: The ex-wife. Excuse me. The ex-wife said he was with her. You would think she would know where her husband was on Christmas. So it's going to be the evidence. Hopefully at 12:00 we'll hear that there's actual evidence linking this man to the crime. That would be nice. But the jury is out on this one.
WHITFIELD: It is strange. I mean, there are a lot of things that are strange about this. He, you know, himself is saying before television cameras that he was there at the time of JonBenet's death. He doesn't necessarily say right out that he killed her. He just says he was there.
BROWN: And it was an accident.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
BROWN: So was he there in spirit? Or was he really there bodily? It has to be proved it was bodily, and not just in his mind.
WHITFIELD: How do you see this case as being a risky one for any law enforcement or specifically, the DA, Mary Lacy, to say, you know what, I think we've got all the things necessary in order to corner this person, name him a suspect, charge him and bring him overseas to this country to face these charges. Big risk for her?
BROWN: Well, it's a big risk unless she has absolute evidence. I certainly wouldn't want to put that out there, knowing the publicity it's going to generate without having something so absolute I feel confident I wouldn't make a fool of myself. So I'm assuming they've got something, but I don't know what the heck it could be at this point. So I'm hoping they didn't jump the gun and start something up that really is meaningless.
WHITFIELD: And so now you have to wonder, given that John Karr has been a lot of different places over the years, hopscotching across this country as well as overseas, might a number of jurisdictions be trying to look at whether he in any way could be linked to any other kind of child molestation, or even child assault or murder cases in their jurisdiction that he may have been in?
BROWN: Well, absolutely. Because if he were, let's say, in three different locations the exact day some little girl gets murdered, you would take a look at that very, very closely. The question is, can you prove where he was on what day?
If you work in this field long enough, you'll realize the coincidence rate is extremely high, and it'll drive you absolutely berserk. You can have a murder in an area, and you can Find out that two serial killers live within a block of each other and a block of the murder, and then neither one of them committed the crime. So you can't just to those conclusions and get tunnel vision; you have to keep all the options open until you have the evidence in your hand.
WHITFIELD: All right, Pat Brown, joining us from Washington, thanks so much.
Ad you were seeing on the other side of the screen there, preparations for the press conference out of Boulder, Colorado right there, that is scheduled to take place less than 30 minutes from now. We'll be carrying that live.
(NEWSBREAK)
WHITFIELD: Well, stay with us for unfolding developments on the arrest in the JonBenet Ramsey murder case. The district attorney's office in Boulder, Colorado has scheduled a news conference for noon Eastern, 9:00 Pacific. Preparations right now under way there on your screen. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Tiger Woods starting the PGA Championship with the British Open and Buick Open titles fresh in his pocket.
CNN's Larry Smith is following today's action at the Medinah Country Club outside Chicago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LARRY SMITH, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT (on camera): This is the longest course in major championship history. More than 7,500 yards here at Medinah number three. And the August humidity in Chicago will make this a very fast track, at least at to start, here at the final major of the PGA Championship.
Now, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods have each won three of the last eight majors, though they have taken very different approaches to get here.
PHIL MICKELSON, DEFENDING PGA CHAMPIONSHIP: I guess here's a great example of how Tiger and I prepare differently. You know, he goes into the PGA Championship thinking that winning the British and winning the Buick Open is the best way. And I go in thinking that missing the cut is. And it gives me a weekend off to really focus on my game. See, he didn't have that weekend off.
SMITH: Mickelson is vying for his first Player of the Year award, while Woods, going after his 12th career major -- only Jack Nicklaus has more -- and trying to extend the hot streak that has seen him win his last two starts at the British Open and the Buick Open.
Let's go back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right, a little sports there. But the big news today, a break in the JonBenet Ramsey case. A reminder that we're just moments away from a news conference on the arrest in that case. The district attorney's office in Boulder, Colorado, has scheduled a news conference at noon eastern, 9:00 Pacific, and CNN will carry that for you live.
Meantime, let's go straight to Carol Lin for new details on this case -- Carol.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Fredricka, this just crossed over the Associated Press priority wire. The alleged Ramsey killer claimed he drugged, had sex with JonBenet Ramsey before, quote, "accidentally killing her." This according to a Thai police general.
Now, we have to remind people that he is facing charges. No charges yet. He hasn't been in court. He hasn't had a court date yet. We are going to hear more, hopefully, from the district attorney at noon at this news conference. Fredricka, this is really unusual access to a murder suspect. I mean, the Associated Press was able to sit down with Karr for an interview. He has been talking publicly in a confessional manner. And it is also very unusual to hear from authorities who are detaining him, coming out with not only detail, but such graphic detail.
SO there are a lot of questions that hopefully will be answered at this noon news conference, as we're looking at this photo opportunity overseas of this suspect in this ten-year-old murder case.
WHITFIELD: Yes, and what's also remarkable about this, Carol, too, is you know, while prosecutors may not have a big complaint about the suspect being so loquacious, perhaps his defense attorney might be a bit chagrined, like, you know, stop talking already!
LIN: Well, it's just -- you just don't see this kind of thing. I mean, ten years goes by and suddenly this man in Thailand is saying that he killed this little girl and offering up so much detail about the case. And a lot of the details have been out in the public forum. Right, this has been talked about, documentaries, films, interviews on "LARRY KING LIVE."
So some of the things that he is saying is definitely related to information that has been out there. So we'll see how the charges lay out, and what the district attorney here stateside has to say about this case, and how good a case do they really have against him?
WHITFIELD: Well, it looks like we're getting a deluge of details now. And we're likely to hear much more about some those details coming from this press conference. You see preparations in this live picture, currently under way. Press conference by the D.A.'s office there out of Boulder, Colorado. And we will be carrying that live for you right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Ten minutes away now from a press conference out of Boulder, Colorado, from the district attorney's office in the JonBenet Ramsey murder investigation. And details may be just ten minutes away now on the suspect now in custody.
Well, updating the arrest in the JonBenet Ramsey case, here's what we know right now. A stunning admission from the suspect, former school teacher John Mark Karr. He says he was with JonBenet Ramsey when she died, but her death was an accident. In an Associated Press interview, Karr says he wrote to JonBenet's mother, Patsy Ramsey, before her death in June. He says he told her he was sorry for what happened.
We are waiting for that news conference to begin by the D.A. in Boulder, Colorado, on the arrest. That is expected to take place just about ten minutes from now. We'll be having live coverage of that.
Police in Thailand announced the arrest in the Ramsey case, and led suspect John Mark Karr through a throng of reporters. There, the 41-year-old American seemed to confess. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN MARK KARR: I loved JonBenet very much.
QUESTION: We're from the associated press, can you give us a brief statement, please?
QUESTION: Are you innocent?
KARR: I loved JonBenet, and she died accidentally.
QUESTION: Are you an innocent man? Are you an innocent man?
KARR: No.
QUESTION: What happened?
KARR: Um, her death was an accident.
QUESTION: So you were in the basement?
KARR: Yes.
QUESTION: Can you tell us about your connection to the Ramsey family?
KARR: Um, no comment.
QUESTION: How did you get into the basement?
KARR: No comment.
QUESTION: And how do you feel now? How are you being treated?
KARR: Um, I'm being treated OK.
QUESTION: How well had you known JonBenet?
KARR: No comment on that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: John Mark Karr, the suspect in the JonBenet Ramsey murder investigation. Stay with us for the unfolding developments. You're looking at preparations for a news conference to take place less than 10 minutes from now out of Boulder, Colorado. CNN will carry that live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: In minutes we will hear from the Boulder District attorney on why John Mark Karr was arrested for murdering the former beauty queen, child beauty queen, JonBenet Ramsey 10 years ago. We're minutes away from this press conference to take place out of Boulder, Colorado. When it does, we'll be taking you there live.
(NEWSBREAK)
WHITFIELD: Stay with us for the unfolding developments on the arrests in the JonBenet Ramsey case. The district attorney's office in Boulder, Colorado to hold a press conference minutes from now, noon Eastern, 9:00 Pacific. We'll bring that to you live. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Just minutes away from a live press conference out of boulder, Colorado. Details in the arrest of a murder suspect in connection to the JonBenet Ramsey murder investigation, 10 years old now. A live news conference taking place in minutes. We'll be carrying that live.
(NEWSBREAK)
Police meantime in Thailand announced the arrest in the Ramsey case and led suspect John Mark Karr through a throng of reporters. There, the 41-year-old American, made a stunning confession.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN MARK KARR: I loved JonBenet very much.
QUESTION: We're from the associated press, can you give us a brief statement, please?
QUESTION: Are you innocent?
KARR: I loved JonBenet, and she died accidentally.
QUESTION: Are you an innocent man? Are you an innocent man?
KARR: No.
QUESTION: What happened?
KARR: Um, her death was an accident.
QUESTION: So you were in the basement?
KARR: Yes.
QUESTION: Can you tell us about your connection to the Ramsey family?
KARR: Um, no comment.
QUESTION: How did you get into the basement?
KARR: No comment.
QUESTION: And how do you feel now? How are you being treated?
KARR: Um, I'm being treated OK. QUESTION: How well had you known JonBenet?
KARR: No comment on that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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