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Karr won't be charged in JonBenet's murder
BOULDER, Colorado (CNN) -- Schoolteacher John Mark Karr will not be charged with the murder of 6-year-old beauty pageant competitor JonBenet Ramsey, Karr's attorney said Monday.
"The warrant on Mr. Karr has been dropped by the district attorney," public defender Seth Temin said outside the jail. "They are not proceeding with the case."
He said a hearing scheduled later Monday afternoon has been canceled.
Temin also said he was "deeply disturbed" that authorities in Boulder brought Karr from Thailand with what appears to have been scant evidence.
Colorado authorities have not commented on their decision not to pursue charges against the man named in a warrant alleging murder, kidnapping and sexual assault on a child.
But CNN's Denver affiliate, KUSA, reported that the DNA sample taken from Karr does not match DNA found on JonBenet's body. KUSA quoted two sources in a bulletin on its Web site.
KUSA reported that samples of Karr's saliva and hair were taken in Boulder after his arrival Thursday evening. Those samples were tested over the weekend by the Denver Police Department's crime lab.
Those tests ruled out Karr's DNA as the foreign DNA left on JonBenet's body when she was slain in December 1996, the station reported on its Web site.
CNN is working to independently confirm the report.
Karr still could face child pornography charges in California.
Earlier Monday, Karr's defense team requested that prosecutors hand over DNA evidence in the Ramsey case.
The 41-year-old suspect was being held in Boulder County Jail on suspicion of first-degree murder, first- and second-degree kidnapping, and sexual assault.
It was not immediately known whether he would be freed or transferred to California.
Karr was brought back last week to the United States from Bangkok, Thailand. He arrived in Colorado Thursday evening from California, where he skipped bail in 2001 after being charged in Sonoma County with five misdemeanor counts of possessing child pornography.
Karr appeared at a brief hearing in Los Angeles and waived extradition to Colorado. (Watch Patsy Ramsey's sister reveal what the family will do if Karr isn't guilty -- 4:11)
He told reporters in Thailand he was with JonBenet the night she died, and that her death was an accident. The child's beaten and strangled body was found December 26, 1996, in the basement of her family's Boulder home.
Autopsy results showed she had suffered a blow to the head and been strangled with a garrote tightened with a paintbrush handle.
After Karr's statements in Thailand, questions have surfaced as to whether the slight, soft-spoken man could have been involved in the grisly killing.
Earlier this year, Michael Tracey, a journalism professor at the University of Colorado, alerted authorities to e-mails he had been receiving from a person now believed to be Karr.
Tracey, who has produced a documentary about the Ramsey case, said there was something in the e-mails "that made me decide I had to try and do something." But he would not say just what prompted him to contact prosecutors.
A law enforcement official told CNN that Karr's e-mails to Tracey were initially innocuous but that the professor contacted authorities when they became "weird." The communications were eventually tracked to Thailand.
"The warrant on Mr. Karr has been dropped by the district attorney," public defender Seth Temin said outside the jail. "They are not proceeding with the case."
He said a hearing scheduled later Monday afternoon has been canceled.
Temin also said he was "deeply disturbed" that authorities in Boulder brought Karr from Thailand with what appears to have been scant evidence.
Colorado authorities have not commented on their decision not to pursue charges against the man named in a warrant alleging murder, kidnapping and sexual assault on a child.
But CNN's Denver affiliate, KUSA, reported that the DNA sample taken from Karr does not match DNA found on JonBenet's body. KUSA quoted two sources in a bulletin on its Web site.
KUSA reported that samples of Karr's saliva and hair were taken in Boulder after his arrival Thursday evening. Those samples were tested over the weekend by the Denver Police Department's crime lab.
Those tests ruled out Karr's DNA as the foreign DNA left on JonBenet's body when she was slain in December 1996, the station reported on its Web site.
CNN is working to independently confirm the report.
Karr still could face child pornography charges in California.
Earlier Monday, Karr's defense team requested that prosecutors hand over DNA evidence in the Ramsey case.
The 41-year-old suspect was being held in Boulder County Jail on suspicion of first-degree murder, first- and second-degree kidnapping, and sexual assault.
It was not immediately known whether he would be freed or transferred to California.
Karr was brought back last week to the United States from Bangkok, Thailand. He arrived in Colorado Thursday evening from California, where he skipped bail in 2001 after being charged in Sonoma County with five misdemeanor counts of possessing child pornography.
Karr appeared at a brief hearing in Los Angeles and waived extradition to Colorado. (Watch Patsy Ramsey's sister reveal what the family will do if Karr isn't guilty -- 4:11)
He told reporters in Thailand he was with JonBenet the night she died, and that her death was an accident. The child's beaten and strangled body was found December 26, 1996, in the basement of her family's Boulder home.
Autopsy results showed she had suffered a blow to the head and been strangled with a garrote tightened with a paintbrush handle.
After Karr's statements in Thailand, questions have surfaced as to whether the slight, soft-spoken man could have been involved in the grisly killing.
Earlier this year, Michael Tracey, a journalism professor at the University of Colorado, alerted authorities to e-mails he had been receiving from a person now believed to be Karr.
Tracey, who has produced a documentary about the Ramsey case, said there was something in the e-mails "that made me decide I had to try and do something." But he would not say just what prompted him to contact prosecutors.
A law enforcement official told CNN that Karr's e-mails to Tracey were initially innocuous but that the professor contacted authorities when they became "weird." The communications were eventually tracked to Thailand.
MY MEAT IN THE HOT DESERT.......
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