By Katherine Ramsland, Ph.D.

August 31, 2006

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(Crime Library)

What was Karr Thinking?

American investigators swept into Bangkok on August 17, 2006 to question John Mark Karr, a.k.a., "Daxis," in the decade-old investigation of the murder of JonBenet Ramsey. 

Suddenly the forty-one-year-old school teacher admitted to the media, "I was with JonBenet when she died."  He added, "I am so very sorry for what happened to JonBenet.  It's very important for me that everyone knows that I love her very much, that her death was unintentional, that it was an accident."  It turns out, he was lying.  His DNA, supposedly left behind when he "tasted her blood," was no match for the unidentified DNA found on the child's underwear.  In addition, his family, including one former wife, claimed he was with them in Alabama at the time of the murder.

People.com quoted Karr as saying the DNA test was untrustworthy and his family was just protecting him.  He continues to connect himself to the crime, and there are still open questions about the "S.B.T.C." signature on the ransom note — and on letters to his first wife. But the media attention to him faded fast, even as multiple inquiries surfaced about his bogus confession.  Was Karr lying just to get attention as the "world's most wanted killer," as he indicated in an e-mail, or had he come to believe what he said?  The answer lies in his degree of obsession, coupled with a specific sexual pathology.

False confessions are common in high profile cases: the Lindbergh kidnapping, the Black Dahlia murder, and even the Nicole Brown Simpson/Ronald Goldman case all collected voluntary false confessions.  Clearly, Karr was seeking attention, since he hoped Johnny Depp would play him in a movie made from his manuscript — which would earn a "billion dollars." Karr also initiated an association with a journalism professor, Michael Tracey, who'd made several documentaries about the murder.  Sending explicit and revealing e-mails to this man risked exposure. It seems likely that he was toying with getting caught.

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Katherine Ramsland, Ph.D.

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