Judge Carnes did not have access to the 60,000 documents of the whole case file, because the BDA's office said it was too costly to reproduce them.
What she had was Lou Smit's PowerPoint presentation, which he has given on TV and in documentaries. He is a proponent and supporter of the Ramseys and makes no bones about it. The actual investigators on the case (he left long ago) held no such bias.
Most are gone now and the BDA's office is nearly all made up of intruder theorists.
This was a civil case with lower standards than a criminal prosecution. The judge used a "preponderance of evidence" and it was wieghted heavily in favor of the intruder theory because that is all the documentation she was given and little of it is actually proven. In fact, much of it has been disproven.
People will just have to do their own research, because this process has taken nearly 10 years to come to this point, so there isn't a "link" or URL to give that sums it all up.
- The slipknots and garrote were both sophisticated bondage devices designed to give control to the user. Carnes wrote, "these devices suggest they were made by someone with expertise using rope and cords."
The wooden garrote was, in fact, fashioned from the handle of one of Patsy Ramsey's paintbrushes. I, for one, can't imagine an intruder foraging stealthily around a house looking for tools of torture. Nor can I fathom a kidnapper leaving a 3 page ransom note written with one of the Ramsey's Sharpies, on their notepad. This "intruder" came extraordinarily ill-prepared, or was so cheap he was compelled to use just what happened to be on hand.
Or....it wasn't an intruder. This Karr guy has demonstrated himself as a nutcase and dangerous. He may even have some indirect knowledge of the case beyond his obsession gained through the news. But, I just can't believe he was the murderer.