[psmith2.0]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/08/17/ra...est/index.html

You guys been following this any? Kinda hard to avoid...it's been on TV and radio, nonstop, since yesterday afternoon.

I didn't realize it has been nearly 10 years since the little girl was found dead.

Then this guy pops up, copping to it. I'm not sure what to think. But if he did do it, it's a bummer that the mom died earlier this summer without seeing this thing brought to an end.

I saw a clip of this guy on CNN this morning, talking during that press conference. Supremely wormy, and kinda gave me the creeps. No, that doesn't make him guilty. But it doesn't make me like him, or extend any sympathy or understanding.

He's already on the hook for a sexual offense, so I guess he's one of those types. Then again, maybe he's just a wingnut whoring for publicity and notoriety (it happens, you know ). But the police seem pretty certain of a few things. So maybe he is the one?

I don't know.

Sad case, this whole thing. 10 years?!? A little girl is killed, and with all our technology and resources (not to mention the family's wealth and status, which, to some, counts for everything in these types of situations) it's taken so long to even get this close on a possible solving.

Looks like Nancy Grace picked the wrong week to take a vacation...she'd be having multiples on top of her desk, yakking about this latest development. She lives for this kind of crap...

[Engine Joe]

Originally Posted by pscates2.0 But if he did do it, it's a bummer that the mom died earlier this summer without seeing this thing brought to an end.

I have no idea if he did it. But I did read (somewhere, I'll try to source it) that the cops were onto this guy this spring and had shared their suspicions with the family - before the mother died. So she would have at least known there was a prime suspect (who wasn't a family member) before she passed.

[alcimedes]

The worst part of it is it sounds like if this guy hadn't opened his mouth, there still wouldn't be an arrest.

[Engine Joe]

Now his ex-wife claims he couldn't have done it because she was with him in Alabama at the time of the murder.

So who knows.

[psmith2.0]

Yeah, now it's all getting a bit twisty and strange. Who knows what's what...

He might just be grasping for attention (which, in my book, is still deserving of a beating simply for wasting everyone's time, getting the family's hopes up, giving Nancy Grace something to gobble on about non-stop for the next 4-8 weeks, etc.).

From the article Engine Joe linked above:

Karr's ex-wife, Lara Karr, told KGO-TV in California that she was with her former husband in Alabama at the time of JonBenet's killing and she does not believe her former husband was involved in the homicide. She said her ex-husband spent a lot of time studying the cases of Ramsey and Polly Klaas, who was abducted from her Petaluma, Calif., home and slain in 1993.

So did he just get all wrapped-up with this stuff, and place himself into the proceedings because of some warped obsession?

[InactionMan]

Yeah, I doubt this guy did it. I'm sure he has a boatload of mental problems but this is a titch fishy. He probably was just obsessed with the murder.

I honestly thought it was assumed the parents or someone in the family had killed her and no one could prove it.

[Brave Ulysses]

I'm kind of tired of all the media outlets jumping on this and assuming its case closed, this guy did it.

The guy is a creep, definitely has the potential, but something seems wrong about it all.

[MBHockey]

I think the public has developed this idea that someone in the family MUST have done it just because it is what the media has been feeding us for the last 10 years. I think it's hard for ANYONE to try and see this 10 year old case with an open mind, but we must try.

That said, I hope they have finally caught the true murderer, and if this guy turns out not to be him, i hope they keep looking. But I do think our collective gut-feeling that the family must have done it stems from our (humans) morbid tendency to like things that are even that more twisted and sick...having a family member doing the murder would certainly satisfy this hidden appetite for our thinking like this, in conjunction with what the media has been suggesting all along.

/opinion

[autodata]

Originally Posted by MBHockey I think the public has developed this idea that someone in the family MUST have done it just because it is what the media has been feeding us for the last 10 years.

Personally, I've paid almost zero attention to the case, but from just briefly checking it out this morning it's hard to not think the family is somehow involved. The whole thing is just too weird.

[psmith2.0]

Whatever the deal is, CNN.com is treating it like the biggest story since...well, Paris Hilton's latest "cooch on hiatus" proclamation.

This guy has been on the homepage (looking wormier in every shot), and, as of noon EST, there's a yellow "NEWS ALERT" banner at the top, where he's providing ghoulish details.

Ugh.

Just something to talk about. I'm telling you...in the age of 24/7 news, these networks live for this stuff. The whole Israel/Hezbollah thing was getting played out, the Mel Gibson thing was dying down, no city-destroying hurricanes taking place, no terrorist Gatorade arrests, etc. Then BAM...something like this drops out of the blue and it's wall-to-wall coverage, analysis, speculation, debate, re-analysis, speculation on the analysis, analysis of the speculation, coverage of the coverage, etc. At least until, of course, our favorite heiress releases a press statement next week, announcing that the Hilton Hangar is once again open for business.

[hiltond]

This guy looks ill. Nothing about his appearance says healthy.

Does a $118,000 ransom demand strike anyone else as odd? Why would the ex lie to protect this guy after he left the family to become a fugitive from child porn charges? A sick man reaching out for attention?

Well either way it is probably good that this guy is going to jail and ending what some are saying was a long trip to southeast Asia where he engaged in inappropriate behavior with way too young children.

[Banana]

I've toyed with the idea of getting a law passed requiring that media be non profit and held publicly, and get their revenues through taxation instead of advertising. Then the journalism would go up a notch or two.

Oh, well.

[MBHockey]

Sadly, that would never happen. There is too much money in the "non-biased media"

[Bryson]

Originally Posted by Banana I've toyed with the idea of getting a law passed requiring that media be non profit and held publicly, and get their revenues through taxation instead of advertising. Then the journalism would go up a notch or two.

Originally Posted by MBHockey Sadly, that would never happen. There is too much money in the "non-biased media"

So, what about the BBC, then?

[hiltond]

Originally Posted by Bryson So, what about the BBC, then?

I wouldn't be comfortable with my government being in charge of the news. Too tempting

[Banana]

Which was why I thought a non profit held by a group of people unrelated to governmental entity would work.

Hm, hang on. I think I saw a rabbit with big watch. Be right back.

[murbot]

Oh my god, they're actually detailing the abuse in the headlines.

The shocker in the Ramsey case

Watch for Katie Couric to get right on this one. And those two. Yeah, that's right. Oh yeah, she's on it.

(stop by my place on your way down there, Kick)

[MBHockey]

Jesus Christ murbot....

[SKMDC]

Had the Ramsey's not exploited their daughter in such a perverse fashion, the prepubescent beauty queen business, they probably would have gotten a bit of a break from the public.

and please, you get the media you deserve, America is becoming a stupid country so we are cultivating a stupid lazy media, lousy political leaders, and morally bankrupt business leaders.

The best and the brightest? Were all sitting in our underwear at our iMacs, downloading porn and eating popsicles.

Sorry, the cynical ferry visited last night.

[psmith2.0]

No shit. Go outside and have a lemonade and pick a flower.

[Windswept]

Originally Posted by hiltond Does a $118,000 ransom demand strike anyone else as odd?

I heard in one report that apparently $118,000 was the amount of a bonus John Ramsey had received - possibly a Christmas bonus, though the report didn't actually say that.

If true, then such a ransom amount obviously would indicate someone with pretty close knowledge of the family.

I can't believe Thai police/officials had an internationally-covered press conference in which they stated that he had confessed to second-degree murder because her death was an accident.

Wouldn't such blatant international publicity, apparent lack of counsel, and obvious self-incrimination (presumably without having been read his Miranda rights) be grounds for the defense to demand dismissal of the case?

I know we have a fair number of lawyers hanging out here, so just thought I'd ask.


I mean, the defense couldn't even really request a change of venue. What alternate location could they choose... the *moon* ???

[murbot]

Originally Posted by SKMDC The best and the brightest? Were all sitting in our underwear at our iMacs, downloading porn and eating popsicles.

That's the best line I've read here in a while.

[eventhorizon]

Originally Posted by pscates2.0 Whatever the deal is, CNN.com is treating it like the biggest story since...well, Paris Hilton's latest "cooch on hiatus" proclamation.

Dude, when one of the country's largest fast food chains closes its doors to business, it's news.

[Kickaha]

Originally Posted by murbot (stop by my place on your way down there, Kick)

Should I beep the horn, or will you be on the curb?

And you know... the popsicle explains why bits of me are strangely purple and sticky.

[Bryson]

...and shiny and amazing?

[Moogs]

I saw parts of the media circus this morning. It's sad and all but the truth is, even if he did do it, he wants the attention. That's quite obvious. This should get 5 minutes a news program MAX.

I'm sorry a little girl died a horrible death, but given all that's transpiring in the world around us, this is hardly the most important news story of the day. Everything just gets so twisted and out of perspective; drives me nuts.

[autodata]

news is entertainment. This just the reality crime drama series.

[Moogs]

Sad but true....

[SKMDC]

I think he's a hoaxer.

[psmith2.0]

The more little tidbits I hear about this (last night and a little this morning), I'm beginning to think that's the case as well.

If he's wasted everyone's time like this, and jerked the family and authorities around - getting their hopes up and so forth - isn't he on the hook for that, at least? What would the charge(s) be (other than felony asshattery in the second degree)?



How small or warped would a guy have to be to put himself into all this if he truly had nothing to do with it? I don't understand that...

Moron. He's a moron, no matter what.