Tuesday, August 22, 2006
"It's important that someone
confesses..."
I know many of you consider the Karr imbroglio a
distraction from more significant matters. As it happens, this blog shall
feature a very significant spy story
within hours. Right now, though, I must confess that the Karr/Ramsey business
has a can't-take-my-eyes-off-the-car-wreck fascination -- which means that I
must indulge in another round-up of mondo bizarro newsbits. Is Karr covering for an accomplice? Conspiracy
fans will get a tingle from this Karr quote, preserved on oxide by his
one-time confidant Wendy Hutchens:
"I may or may not have ever been to her grave, I may or may have
not ever been to her house."
"Maybe that person who did that ... thinks
it's important that someone confesses... And he's chosen that other person to
do that in his place ..." In the meantime, we have additional evidence strongly suggesting (but
not proving) that Karr was in Georgia, not Colorado, on Christmas of
1996. Can we definitively say
that Karr was out of state on that holiday? Not necessarily. This story from 2001 notes that a mysterious
Jaguar was seen in near the Ramsey home at Christmas, 1996 -- and Karr drove
such a vehicle in 1997, although he may not have owned one at the time of the
killing. (One of the oddities of this case is that Karr, an ill-to-do teacher,
always managed to afford high-end wheels.) Regardless of where he
actually ws on that date, we now know that Karr used this Yahoo email address:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]. That choice
proves obsession, not complicity. He used that account to correspond with
professor Michael Tracy, and signed the emails "Daxis." A handwriting expert with the Secret Service
argues that Karr did not write the ransom note. However, Curt Baggett, co-founder of the School of
Forensic Document Examination, insists that Karr is the author. This case establishes a new law
of physics: For each new claim, an equal and opposite claim shall
emerge. George McCrary, a long-time friend of John Karr's father, claims
that Karr's mother tried to burn her son John alive when he was an infant.
Could so early a trauma leave lasting scars on the psyche? I will leave that
poser for the pros to dope out -- if even they know. Finally, a non-Karr note on
child abuse: I urge readers to read an original piece by Professor
Hex, who discusses Joe Lieberman's previous Republican
opponent in Connecticut -- Phil Giordano, an ex-Marine and young "G.O.P.
hotshot." Turns out Giordano had a prostitute mistress. He was also recorded as
saying "I want one of the little girls" -- referring to the lady's 8-year-old
daughter and 11-year-old niece. The motif asserts itself yet again:
Republican family values.
~~~
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Very weird Karr
stuff
Yes, I know that the John Mark Karr story has
rapidly turned into silly-season material. Face it: We're hooked. Karr,
we learn, was in Thailand to change his sex. (Yet he likes girls. Did he intend
to become a lesbian?) Dr. Thep Vechavisit claims that Karr was one
of his patients. According to this site, "Doctor Thep Vechavisit has no
licence to practise, but makes cosmetic operations at Pratunam Polyclinic." So.
A wanna-be female who may also be a wanna-be killer goes to a wanna-be
doctor... ![]() Even stranger: The late psychic Dorothy Allison provided a sketch
of Jon Benet Ramsey's killer in 1997. The sketch, we now see, bears a remarkable
resemblance to John Mark Karr. Hmm...but does it resemble the way Karr looked
then? For a somewhat-skeptical
take on Allison (by crime author Katherine Ramsland), go here. For the very-skeptical viewpoint (by Joe
Nickell, one of the few CSICOP types who does actual research instead of just snorting harrumph harrumph), go here. Since the Karr business butts up
against the Polly Klaas case, I suppose now would be a good time to get a story
on the record which might otherwise go unwritten. This tale may place the
Allison matter in some perspective. As I noted in an earlier post, a
friend of mine -- call him Arthur -- was acquainted with Polly's grandfather.
Arthur worked with the ad-hoc citizens' group which tried to help find Polly in
the two months between the kidnapping and the recovery of the
body. Somehow, Arthur ended up dealing (always by telephone) with one of
the many psychics who claimed to have info on the case. The psychic --
call him Bernie -- insisted that he had never visited Northern California. Yet
he pinpointed an unused road not on any current map. He gave accurate, detailed
descriptions of structures and geographical features found along a rural trail
known only to few locals. Bernie insisted that something important would happen
at a specific location along this trail on Halloween, which happened to fall
within that two-month "search" period. Arthur and a small group of other
Polly-hunters spent that entire night in this remote locale. And they
saw... nothing. In the end,
nothing Bernie said had any discernable relation to the case. After the
captrue of Richard Davis, Bernie became increasingly manic and impossible to
deal with -- so much so that my friend Arthur, normally tolerant and
unflappable, found himself close to losing his temper. I still have no
idea if psychics have ever proven helpful in detective work. The little-seen
film Man on a Swing, with Cliff
Robertson and Joel Grey, does a good job of capturing the difficulties of
dealing with such claimants.
~~~
Friday, August 18, 2006
Karr, his ex, and the usenet
trail
Guilty or no, John Mark Karr presents us with an intriguing
conundrum. So, perhaps, does his former wife -- as we shall soon
see. Credible reports in the Mexican press have exposed pedophile rings
in that country, rings which service the elites. Similar reports have come out
of other nations. Do such criminal enterprises exist in the United States? Karr
has made a few cryptic remarks which -- arguably -- hint at such a scenario at
play in the Jon Benet Ramsey case. But,
but but...many people now strongly suspect that his confession is as
phony as the Niger documents. He claims that he used chloroform, yet no trace of
chloroform was found on her body. More details on the Karr case have
emerged; see here and here. (Thanks to the esteemed Professor
Hex for the links.) We learn that Karr once married a
13-year-old girl named Quientana Shotts. This report ascribes an older age to her. (Ah,
southerners! They don't feel queasy about grown men marrying children, but god
forbid grown men from marrying grown men...) After leaving Europe, Karr told employers, he had
made his way first to Costa Rica, teaching English to business people. But
Mark Henker, the owner of the school where Karr says he worked, said Thursday
the only John he's had working with him over the last few years went by a
different name. Costa Rica immigration officials say a John Karr left Costa
Rica on Aug. 3, 2004, crossing the border into Nicaragua by land.
His
next stop was Honduras, where he returned to teaching students at an English
school until 2005, according to a school employee.
How does a man so ill-to-do finance such travels? Call me
paranoid, but this aspect of the tale carries a vague whiff of
spookiness. I'm also a little disturbed to learn that Karr had considered
writing a book on the Jon Benet Ramsey case. (As readers know, I did some
initial spadework on a Polly Klaas book -- but that doesn't mean I had anything
to do with the event!) Pursuant, perhaps, to that project, Karr corresponded
with Richard Allen Davis, convicted of killing Polly. Karr has also
expressed sympathy for Michael Jackson. Mark Klaas, asked for
his reactions to Karr's move to Petaluma, responded: "I can't believe that he
moved there for any other reason than to be close to my daughter's situation.
Give me another reason for someone to move to a sleepy little town in Northern
California." Maybe he wanted to see where Reagan's "Morning in America"
commercials were filmed? Petaluma is
pleasant, but I would not go out of my way to live there. Is John Mark
Karr a child molester? He apparently wants very much to be taken for one. Call
it molester mystique. Before you
dismiss the guy as nothing more than an ultra-creepy fantasist, check out his
usenet trail. Not only is his history even more disturbing than we previously knew, we
learn that his wife -- the woman who provided his alibi -- must have known about
his interactions with the underaged. A man named John Karr (who must be the same person; the age
coincides, as does the name of his wife) made several postings to usenet ten years ago, promoting a
concept called "Powerwurks." An example:
If it would help anyone on this newsgroup, I have
the complete data base of the National Center For Missing and Exploited
Children. I downloaded it from their website. Their URL is
http://www.missingkids.org If you don't have web access, I'd be glad to
help.
My name is John Karr, creator of PowerWurks; a world wide support
organization for kids, teens and college students. At this time, it is an
e-mail based crisis feedback program. I have alot of plans for the future,
like an 800 hotline and more. All my plans revolve around kids. I am very
concerned about the well being of all young people. I'll do anything I can to
help find a missing child. I have 3 children of my own and I don't know what I
would do if they were taken from me.
Please don't hesitate to ask for
my assistance. I can't send the huge data base to you but I will share any
information that might help you.
Powerwurks soon morphed:
PowerWurks is a support organization for kids,
teens and college students but all ages are welcome. We provide a safe and
private environment where you can freely and comfortably express your thoughts
and feelings on any subject. No subject is banned from discussion. All
conversations are strictly confidential and that's a promise!!
The latter post seems like a fairly obvious ploy to gather
contact information from vulnerable young people. The first one, which speaks to
an interest in kids that have already
gone missing, seems more troubling. There are quite a few "Powerwurks"
postings on usenet from this period, most of which do not contain Karr's name.
For example, in the group k12.chat.elementary, a poster known only as "Powerwurks" asks "Is sex among people under
10 a rarity or common place?" See also here and the anti-drug message here. Other messages purport to instruct
youngsters in the art of maintaining anonymity on the net -- because "the
internet is a dangerous place." As we have discussed, Karr's wife Lara
has provided an alibi for the Jon Benet Ramsey case. Should we take her
statement at face value? One Powerwurks post from June 3, 1996, reads as
follows: Hello,
My name is Lara, and I live in the
United States. I am married with three small children. I would enjoy writing
to another female from another country. Please respond via e-mail at
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
The message may seem innocent enough at first glance, but it
indicates that Lara knew full well about
Powerwurks. It wasn't something that John Karr hid from her. Note too the
odd interest in foreign matters -- a recurrent motif in the Karr tale. The vast
majority of Americans don't give a damn about the rest of the world; why did
Lara?
Some other Powerwurks posts originate with one George Wheeler, then
44, who was looking for a "SWF." The messages seem quite innocent; still, one
wonders what this fellow would now have to say about John Karr.
The old
Powerwurks domain, run by Karr, was an AOL site and is no loger operational.
There is no archive of it at Archive.org. Someone created a "Powerwurks.com"
domain yesterday -- August 17. The page offers some of the same information
given here. The anonymous author condemns John Karr -- for good reason. But why
the anonymity?
~~~
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Did John Karr write in
code?
Forgive my fascination with the Karr case -- but
the mystery has become something of a national pastime, hasn't it? I have a
feeling that, in the end, the guy is going to turn out to be nothing more than a
sick fantasist. But even so, some of the clues are unnerving... For
example, check out this usenet posting from 1997 (and yes, this
really is the same Karr):
To the Treasured ones. Eak, Ache, somber.
-------------====
Posted via Sexzilla News ====------------------
http://www.sexzilla.com
Code. It's gotta be code. But for what, I wonder? Sounds to me like the guy was
networking with three contacts...one with a name beginning with E, another whose
name begins with A, and another whose name begins with S. Why hasn't the
media tried to contact anyone else involved with Powerwurks? And why
hasn't anyone asked Lara what she knew about Powerwurks? I am limited in what I
can say, since she is not a public figure. But if Karr was using Powerwurks in
1996 to troll for the underaged...and if she knew about it...well, there are implications. Some have
speculated that the horror novel Dark Resurrection was written by the John Karr
linked to the Ramsey case. In fact, that author is a different Karr.
~~~
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Karr
update
Mainstream news sources have taken notice of John
Mark Karr's usenet trail, and of the "Powerwurks" ploy he attempted back in
1996. Powerwurks appears to have been a "company" (if we can call it that)
designed to help Karr contact vulnerable young people. (For more details, scroll
down or go here.) So far, though, nobody else
seems to have noticed that Lara, his wife at the
time, used a Powerwurks address. To my way of thinking, this means that
she probably had some idea as to what her husband was up to. (And no-one has
identified or contacted the other Powerwurks-linked individual, the mysterious
George Wheeler.) Incidentally, Lara may have backtracked -- just a bit -- on her
alibi. Let's throw a little cold water on the oft-heard suggestion that
all this journalistic Karr-nage is a nothing but a ploy to divert national
attention from Iraq (or Lebanon, or whatever). Back in the '60s, some fringe
folk believed that Beatlemania was a conspiracy designed to divert young people
away from studying the JFK assassination. You can't think that way without
becoming too paranoid to function in society. Of course, some will
counter that if you're not paranoid, you're not paying attention. PS: Sometimes I wish I had Xymphora's
certitude. He fastens on a theory early on and never lets
go. Me, I change my ideas on l'affaire
Karr about once an hour.
__._,_.___
Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/
Please let us stay on topic and be civil.
OM
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