What Drove Karr?

Todd Hartman at the Rocky Mountain News has more or less the only interesting story I've read in the Jonbenet-Karr story - an interview with Michael Tracey, the tireless media professor who corresponded with "[e-mail]."

The criticism started ramping up again Monday afternoon. Within a
couple hours of reports that charges wouldn't be filed against Karr,
Tracey said he already was hearing flak.

He said he's prepared for the grief he'll take from pundits and talk radio hosts who have been bashing him all along.

"What's new?" he said. "It's nothing new."

Asked about KHOW radio talk-show host Peter Boyles, who has
skewered Tracey almost daily since news of the Karr arrest, Tracey
said, "Boyles is professionally and emotionally invested in the Ramseys
being guilty. There's nothing you can do about that. Nothing."

Tracey doesn't knock the mainstream media for covering the Karr arrest to death, which is refreshing - the only news more tiresome than the Karry story is the post-Karr media hairshirt festival.

Comments

[Ayn_Randian]

Please tell me that reason hasn't stooped so low as to make some terrible pun off of this Loony-Toon's name...

[JKP1187]

Who. The fuck. Cares?

[Number 6]

The media should be embarrasssed, not because they covered Karr before there was proof that he did anything, but because they're still covering this stupid litttle case.

[Creech]

Haven't the Boulder voters had enough of the circus and the outflow of their tax dollars?
At the very least, shouldn't Karr have been charged with obstruction of justice or impeding an investigation? His false confession cost the Boulder taxpayers tens of thousands $$ and Karr should, at the very least, make them whole.

[Timothy]

Well, it's good to know we can safely go back to speculating that it was her mom.

[Xmas]

I, for one, am glad the whole Karr thing happened. For the Karr kurfluffle seems to have dramatically affected the price of gasoline across the nation. Per gallon gas prices have dropped 15 to 25 cents in the Northeast since Karr confessed to the murder of little JonBenet.

[thoreau]

I would just like to observe that an uncoerced confession, from a cooperative suspect, in a case where the authorities had nearly a decade to gather evidence, turned out to be false, and it took a couple weeks to really get to the bottom of it.

Would anybody like to draw any conclusions that might be relevant to a hypothetical ticking time bomb?

[David]

Would anybody like to draw any conclusions that might be relevant to a hypothetical ticking time bomb?

Those confessions will work, they always do for Jack Bauer. 😛

[TrickyVic]

It's not Karr fault they fell for it. It's the nature of prosecution to not look at the whole story. They are concerned only with what helps them indict and convict. There was NO reason to believe his confession from day one.

With a little bit of investigation first, they would have realized his story had way too many holes and not worth bringing him back to the US.

When the story first appeared on H&R I said "Not a chance" that this guy was guilty. I came to that conclusion by looking at some of the evidence presented in the news and applying a little common sense.

When I heard that the ransom demand was the exact amount of Mr. Ramsey's Christmas bonus, I realized that the killer was close enough to the Ramseys to know how much he received in his Christmas bonus. Be it someone from Ramsey's employer, friends of Ramseys, or someone at the bank, if the bonus was an actual check as apposed to direct deposit. Karr was not that close to the Ramseys. They couldn't determine if Karr was even in the state. Colorado should have answered a few more questions before laying out the expense of bringing him back.

If prosecutors were interested in truth first, this story would have been over shortly after it started.

This is an embarrassment to Boulder and Colorado, they would be better off letting it fade away.

[Marcus Wellby]

It was obvious from day one that this nitwit was seeking attention.

I look forward to the coming media coverage of the "flawed media coverage" of the whole mess. Nothing is more entertaining than watching the dingbats on cable TV analyze themselves as if they are all uninvolved parties.

Remember after 9.11 when the media was going to be more serious and attentive to real issues? I hope The Legs of Katie Courac bring on a new Golden Age of journalism...

[Warren]

Michael Tracey, the tireless media professor who corresponded with "[e-mail]."

David, sometimes your sarcasm is too suBtle for me. I've scanned this post twice and the only hint I found was here:

"Boyles is professionally and emotionally invested in the Ramseys being guilty."

Tracey is of course professionally and emotionally invested, nay obsessed with the Ramseys being innocent.

There are no innocents involved with this case. Everyone, the parents, the cops, the reporters, the public, everyone, is guilty of scumbagatude to varying degrees. Michael Tracey, with his role in the Karr business has moved toward the head of the line, second only to the actual killer.

And yes I am totally embarrassed that I know this much about the case. I have no interest, beyond a general interest to see killers brought to justice, and am sick of seeing it splashed all over.

[Timothy]

I hope The Legs of Katie Courac [SIC] bring on a new Golden Age of journalism..The Doctored Legs of Katie Couric, you mean.

[rafuzo]

What drove Karr? Free airfare.

[rafuzo]

Incidentally, am I the only one who views the Huffington Post as an endless source of humor from self-important media types? Their excitement at being "bloggers" is almost palpable in their writing.

[John]

"I hope The Legs of Katie Courac [SIC] bring on a new Golden Age of journalism..The Doctored Legs of Katie Couric, you mean."

I saw that Tim. How disapointing.

[Pi Guy]

Nothing says "Trust me - I'm reporting impartially!" like a blonde in a skirt sitting on a stool or behind a 9 inch high coffee table.

If women were the prime consumer of Cable News then the anchors would all look like Fabio or Brad Pitt. News is just another form of entertainment now like sports and Hollywood. I've said it here before but if experience and integrity was what really mattered Candy Crowley would've been an anchor years ago.

[AndyP]

I'd like to second rafuzo's free airfare theory.

[TrickyVic]

The airfare theory sounds pretty good but I'm going with this sicko was so consumed with the case he wanted his name synonymous with Jon Bonet.

When you think Bonet, you think Karr.

I don't think it worked as he hoped.

but he did get airfare, whether or not it was free has yet to be seen. They might be able to charge him for lying. That's a high price for a plane ride.

[thoreau]

As I understand it, the guy has already been sent to California to face child porn charges. And he's under investigation in Thailand for molestation charges. And if he manages to avoid conviction on all of those charges, I have a hunch that Colorado will find a way to charge him with making false statements, or something along those lines.

One way or another, this guy is going to wind up in a lot of trouble for something. I don't think it worked out quite as well as he was hoping.

[TrickyVic]

""As I understand it, the guy has already been sent to California to face child porn charges. And he's under investigation in Thailand for molestation charges."""

I wonder.

I think the Cali incident is closed. It was reported that he told his parents he was going somewhere else when he was facing the charges in CA.

I haven't seen anything about the Thailand investigation since the start of this ordeal. They could have been hyped up to make him look like a monster in the media.

[Will Allen]

More than anything, the Boulder prosecutor is living proof that any imbecile can become a lawyer.

[David]

They could have been hyped up to make him look like a monster in the media.

I think his appearance does a good enough job of that.

[Dan T.]

One of the more irritating aspects of this case is that it gives the "Perspective Police" a chance to point out that there are "much more important things we should be focused on" ad nauseum.

[The Beat-tles]

Bonet you can drive my Karr.
Yes, I'm gonna be a star.
Bonet you can drive my Karr,
and Bonet I love you.
Beat-beat, beat-beat, yeah!

[Mr. Nice Guy]

I think Karr and Gary Glitter should get together and start a mod band. Karr definitely got that David Byrne/David Bowie thing going.

[Mr. Nice Guy]

Seriously, this was a whole exercise of collective stupidity. Whose bright idea was to give this creep that special "three-name assassin" designation?

John Wilkes Booth
Lee Harvey Oswald
James Earl Ray
--- (loser fuck who killed Lennon, who I refuse to mention)

Now we got "John Mark Karr", the most pathetic "assassin" there ever was.

Sheeple are so enamored by the sexy mystique of killers. They glamorize them. Fucking sick.

[thoreau]

MNG-

I don't know if this is true or not, but I heard that the "3 name" thing is in part to protect innocent people with similar names. If I happened to be named "John Karr" and they referred to this creep without his middle name, that would suck. OTOH, if the media calls him "John Mark Karr" then I can go around saying "No, I'm John Bart Karr."

What?

[Mr. Nice Guy]

t:

Since when does the media give a rat's ass about smearing an innocent person's name? Geez, and you rib me for my faith in certain collectives 😉

Nope, methinks the "3 name" thing is simple glamorization. It sells newspapers, magazines, books, etc. The irony is that it is exactly this kind of nonsense that drew Karr out from under his rock.

[thoreau]

Since when does the media give a rat's ass about smearing an innocent person's name? Geez, and you rib me for my faith in certain collectives 😉

Oh, come on, we're both just naive conspiracy theorists. Remember those people looking at us funny in the restaurant?

Seriously, though, that's a fair point. Maybe protecting the innocent isn't terribly high on the list of priorities. Still, I think that glamorization might not be quite the right word. Fascination with evil might be a better word. It's like how in horror movies you want to look away but you can't. That which scares us also fascinates us. Doesn't mean we exactly admire it, but we want to know all about it.

[Mr. Nice Guy]

t:

To flesh things out more, I consider "glamorization" in this situation to involve a very, very base fascination with human suffering. People crave titillation in this form to distract them from their own pointless existence.

And yeah, cynicism itself can be a bit of a crock, but the thing is, when you're a cynic, people rarely disappoint you...

[SR]

"--- (loser fuck who killed Lennon, who I refuse to mention)"

And the man who took his life, he said, he said, "I just shot John Lennon!" He said, "I just shot John Lennon!" What a sad and sorry, sickening sight, what a sad and sorry, sickening night.

[rob]

"Since when does the media give a rat's ass about smearing an innocent person's name?" - MNG

Since they don't want to get sued for mis-identification. At least, that's where the "full ID" convention originated...

Sheesh, over-paranoid much?

[David]

John Wilkes Booth
Lee Harvey Oswald
James Earl Ray
--- (loser fuck who killed Lennon, who I refuse to mention)

Let's not forget John David Stutts.

[van]

Unbelievably, I got an e-mail from the "Move On" people, wanting me to sign a petition to let the media know I wanted the coverage of Karr stopped. Since when do PACS go around telling the media not to cover stories? And what makes Move On think a petition will influence the media? Last time I checked, the media looks to ratings and sales to determine what stories they will cover.

As for Karr, it seemed obvious early on that he is a just wanna-be killer. I find that pretty fascinating in itself.

[van]

who does katie couric think she is? stevie nicks? ann wilson?

[Russell]

It;s a crying shame - if Karr went to trial, Alan Dershowitz would spring to defend him, which would set Jon Benet's forebear, Stephen Vincent Benet a spinning in his grave.

The underground commotion might arouse Daniel Webster , who has been laying low since his energetic defense of the devil to object to the proceedings, whereupon CBS could offer him a contract as a netork anchor , sparing us Miss Couric

[Garth]

Now you know why I never use my middle name.

Seriously: anyone here consider that this guy might have been so obsessed with the case that he actually believes he did it?

Me neither, but I suppose it is possible.

[James Kabala]

I believe John Wilkes Booth had used his full name during his acting career, but I don't know about the others.

[Ken Shultz]

Perhaps media saturation can induce something of an anonymous Stockholm Syndrome in certain personalities. I can imagine someone in an identity crisis so affected coming to think of himself as the killer. ...all lost in the supermarket tabloids, so to speak.

[Eric]

Haven't the Boulder voters had enough of the circus and the outflow of their tax dollars?

Not for any reason, it seems.

[Mr. Nice Guy]

rob: Yeah, I'm paranoid, but that's besides the point.

Let's say a person named John Shagnasty bombed a busload of nuns. Explain to me how other John Shagnasties can sue a newspaper for only using a first and last name (and this is assuming that the newspaper got the name right).

David: It is too painful for me to mention John David Stutts. I will never, ever forget that night. I can still hear that yell "Mr. Wheat!!" echoing in my head.

[Rick Barton]

I want to help find the real killer. I have a lot of experiance looking for the real killer. Has anyone checked golf courses?

OJ Simpson

[Mami]

OJ Simpson, as in Orenthal James Simpson?

[Mami]

OJ Simpson, as in Orenthal James Simpson?

[Rick Barton]

Who else?

[NICK]

OJ IS UNDER INVESTIGATION CURRENTLY