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Posted on 08/19/2006 11:03:11 AM PDT by gopwinsin04

Crucial steps in investigation of Karr didn't get under way until after arrest D.A. in Boulder, Colo., did not request DNA or handwriting samples until after suspect in killing of JonBenét was detained By Kirk Mitchell MEDIANEWS

Basic steps in the investigation that could tie John Mark Karr to the 1996 killing of JonBenét Ramsey did not begin in earnest until after his arrest in Thailand on Wednesday, a Denver Post investigation has revealed.

Although the Boulder, Colo., District Attorney's Office had enough evidence to obtain an arrest warrant for Karr for first-degree murder, it was only after the warrant was issued that investigators started asking questions that would form the basis of a successful homicide prosecution, experts say.

For example, it was not until Wednesday morning, after Karr was in Thai custody, that a representative of Boulder District Attorney Mary Lacy's office called Hamilton County, Ala., schools to seek a handwriting sample of Karr for comparison to the ransom note left by JonBenét's killer.

Similarly, Lacy's office still has not contacted the Colorado Bureau of Investigation to compare anything from Karr -- DNA, handwriting, a palm print, footprint or even shoe size -- to the evidence found at the scene of the killing.

Nor did the D.A.'s office consult with education officials in Colorado or California to see whether they could track Karr's teaching history.

Karr's ex-wife and children also were not contacted to see whether they could provide an alibi for Karr's whereabouts at the time of JonBenét's slaying. Karr's former wife told a San Francisco television station that she is sure he spent Christmas 1996 with her and the family. JonBenét was killed the day after Christmas that year.

Likewise, the spokesman for the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department, which has had a fugitive warrant since 2001 seeking Karr's arrest on five counts of misdemeanor possession of child pornography, said the department was unaware of Karr's connection to the Ramsey case until after he was in Thai custody.

At a news conference Thursday, Lacy indicated that "exigent circumstances" forced the arrest of Karr to occur before she would have preferred. She did not disclose any of the evidence she has that could tie Karr to the crime. She added that an investigator from her office was dispatched to Bangkok on just a few hours' notice before Karr was picked up at Boulder's request.

Lacy's spokeswoman, Carolyn French, reiterated Friday that public safety and fear of flight generally drive decisions on when to arrest someone.

"Karr began his employment as a second-grade teacher in a Bangkok international school on Tuesday of this week," Lacy said at her Thursday news conference.

But former Denver prosecutor Craig Silverman raised questions about the handling of the case.

"You must conclude either Mary Lacy has solid, conclusive evidence or this is massive prosecutorial incompetence," Silverman said.

He said the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office could have been notified by Boulder that Karr was in Thailand, and then could have used the California warrant to seek Karr's detention there. Or the Justice Department could have been asked to issue a warrant charging Karr with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, Silverman said.

While California or federal officials had him in their custody, evidentiary tests could have been performed that would corroborate Boulder's case against Karr or exclude him, Silverman said. That way the public -- and potential jurors -- would never have known that a suspect was being tracked in the JonBenét case until prosecutors had it nailed down.

There was substantial evidence at the JonBenét killing scene that is available for comparison to any suspect, officials say.

Law-enforcement sources have previously confirmed that the girl was found with "foreign" DNA under her fingernails. The DNA reportedly did not match genetic material collected from dozens of Ramsey family members and friends. There was also DNA in her underwear.

CBI spokesman Lance Clem said experts there processed 3,000 pieces of evidence including DNA and 150 handwriting samples in the Ramsey case.

The office has been asked numerous times to process new evidence in the Ramsey case, but the last time CBI criminalists processed any of the evidence was in June 2005, Clem said.

Bravill Jackson, the school superintendent in Hamilton where Karr briefly was a substitute teacher, answered a request Wednesday from the Boulder D.A.'s office and faxed a copy of a letter Karr wrote to the district in 1996 when he was fired from the school.

Silverman said the D.A.'s office could have requested the letter earlier. The ransom letter is critical to solving the case, he said. If Karr's writing is not a match, it would be compelling evidence that could exclude him, he said.

"Why create this hubbub when you could conduct all the corroborating tests while he is in someone else's custody?" Silverman asked.

French said she could not comment on whether Boulder asked Sonoma County authorities to have Karr detained.

Bryan Cunningham, a Denver attorney who prosecuted international drug cases as a federal prosecutor and extradited drug kingpins to the United States, said no prosecutor who has probable cause to prove a case would ask a foreign government to expel a fugitive on a misdemeanor offense.

"It's not a trivial matter to get another government to arrest and hold someone," Cunningham said.

Treaties with different countries may not even allow an extradition on such a minor case as the misdemeanor pornography charges, he said.

Christopher Mueller, who teaches evidence law at the University of Colorado Law School, said he believes Lacy has strong evidence in the case -- either physical evidence connecting Karr to JonBenét's killing or Karr's descriptions of elements of the crime only the killer would know.

"There is a lot of trouble they are going through and I don't believe they would be doing it on a lark," Mueller said.

In an ideal world, all loose ends, including a DNA test and handwriting comparisons, would be done before an arrest, but if the D.A. has legitimate worries that a suspect will flee or molest more children, that would be a good reason to file charges first, he said.

And if DNA tests show that Karr was present in the Ramsey home, it likely will not matter to anyone whether the bulk of the investigative work took place before or after a warrant was issued for his arrest.

"I think it is too early to know if the D.A. has done something precipitous," Mueller said.

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