Karr's off the hook

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Holy moley...there goes that idea of a John Mark Karr thriller with Naomi Watts playing Karr, which I mentioned last Tuesday. The D.A.'s office in Boulder, Colorado, announced its decision earlier today not to file criminal charges against Karr in the death of JonBenet Ramsey because his DNA doesn't match the evidence found at the scene of her death 10 years ago. Amazing. The guy's a pathetic charlatan. Kick him out of jail, put him on a bus. No TV-movie deals, no rights to his story...over.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on August 28, 2006 at 5:16 PM

comment #1

tholl-yung says ...

Another Million Little Lies. Who will get the first interview?

Posted by tholl-yung at August 28, 2006 5:41 PM

comment #2

D.Z. says ...

I guess they agreed to the DNA test, because he was white.

Posted by D.Z. at August 28, 2006 5:41 PM

comment #3

Daniel Fienberg says ...

Wells, your gift for keeping everything in perspective is almost always flawless.

The true tragedy today is that nobody will be able to make a TV movie about this guy (They will anyway, but whatever...).

Rats.

Do you figure that John Mark Karr's just been lying to you this whole time? You reckon he did this whole thing to make money off the movie rights?

Somehow, I'm putting all of my chips in the "He's crazy" pile, less a charlatan and more a man with more psychological problems than any of us can probably comprehend... His story made virtually no sense right from the beginning -- and not just because his ex-wife insisted from Day One that he simply wasn't in Colorado at the time of the murder -- but the media so desperately wanted to rehash this entire case that folks got caught up in the hype. He fit the part perfectly. He looked like what we figure a pedophile looks like. So Fox News and Court TV were just like, "Whee! Let's go!!!"

Sigh. And now no TV movie? Boo-hoo.

Daniel

Posted by Daniel Fienberg at August 28, 2006 5:58 PM

comment #4

tholl-yung says ...

A lawyer here at work says perjury (the false confession) is a serious crime. The child porn possession is minor. But he predicts, the guy is gonna get put away in a mental hospital.

Posted by tholl-yung at August 28, 2006 5:59 PM

comment #5

AlexStroup says ...

I say Frank Whaley would have been good to play him.

Posted by AlexStroup at August 28, 2006 6:16 PM

comment #6

D.Z. says ...

T.H.: He actually believed he did it, so he didn't technically perjure himself.

Posted by D.Z. at August 28, 2006 6:30 PM

comment #7

jeffmcm says ...

Yeah, 'charlatan' is the wrong word, because that implies he was attempting a hoax when in fact he's a guy with serious mental problems.

Posted by jeffmcm at August 28, 2006 7:05 PM

comment #8

Nick Rogers says ...

As soon as they didn't say what connection he had, I knew this was another bullshit red herring in a case that likely will never get solved. I hope John enjoyed his prawns in mid-air on our dime.

Posted by Nick Rogers at August 28, 2006 7:41 PM

comment #9

rr3333 says ...

No footprints in the snow. I guess the parents did it.

So, the whole reason he confessed was to stay out of a Bangkok prison for child abuse?

Posted by rr3333 at August 28, 2006 7:49 PM

comment #10

MovieBob says ...

Charlattan my balls. The guy was in trouble in Thailand, the LAST place you wanna be in jail, so he scammed his way into U.S. custody where they'll feed him, medicate him and probably eventually release him as just another headcase.

Posted by MovieBob at August 28, 2006 8:47 PM

comment #11

MagillaOrangutang says ...

This bullshit story has conveniently diverted big media attention away from first year retrospectives on Katrina.

More Americans now know about this Karr faux news than the total devastation of a major American city.

Conspiracy?
I honestly dont know. But its timing was perfect.

Posted by MagillaOrangutang at August 28, 2006 8:48 PM

comment #12

Goulet says ...

So the parents did it, right?

Posted by Goulet at August 28, 2006 8:52 PM

comment #13

Josh Massey says ...

You sound surprised. From the beginning, I thought it was fairly obvious he was lying.

Posted by Josh Massey at August 29, 2006 5:24 AM

comment #14

Mike Schaefer says ...

an AP story today says he wanted Johnny Depp to play him in the movie:

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/08/29/national/a034850D44.DTL

Posted by Mike Schaefer at August 29, 2006 8:06 AM

comment #15

adorian says ...

Someone will have to play him in a skit on "Saturday Night Live" when they start their new season. I suggest Martin Short (as a guest host) because he can already do that pants-up-near-the-armpits thing so well.

PLEASE!--bring on the Fall movies so we can have something else to watch besides cable TV "news." Nancy Grace shouting about JonBenet's panties has got to be the lowest of the low points in TV coverage this summer. Please, movies!!

Posted by adorian at August 29, 2006 8:20 AM

comment #16