John Mark Karr stepped off a turboprop plane at Jefferson County Airport on Thursday afternoon and into a black Chevrolet Suburban to embark on his last, short leg to Boulder, where he is being held on suspicion that he killed 6-year-old JonBenét Ramsey.
Karr, 41, arrived about 5 p.m. from the Long Beach, Calif., airport in a plane operated by the Colorado State Patrol.
Wearing a red, short-sleeve, button-down shirt, black pants and a dark-purple tie, the shackled Karr shook hands with several men escorting him before he was whisked away in a motorcade of SUVs carrying armed officers.
Thirty minutes later, the Suburban pulled into the Boulder County Jail past a throng of media and curious onlookers.
Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle gave a brief news conference. He said Karr would be kept isolated from other inmates.
"He will be segregated from the rest of the population," Pelle said. "Whether he is placed on suicide watch will depend on the mental and physical evaluation that he undergoes."
Is his experience in paradise, thus far, all that he thought it would be?
This sounds like good news:
The Boulder District Court judge who has been presiding over matters relating to murder suspect John Mark Karr is no stranger to the JonBenét Ramsey case.
In 1998 and 1999, Chief Judge Roxanne Bailin presided over the grand jury looking into JonBenét's killing. Those who know her and have argued before her say she would make an ideal judge should she end up handling the entirety of Karr's case.
"There couldn't be a better judge to have to handle something of this magnitude," said Steve Louth, a Boulder attorney who has had numerous cases before Bailin. "She's got a lot of experience. I think she will take a lot of the circus out of the media circus."
As I understand it, Karr isn't expected to make a court appearance until Monday. I expect the coverage will die down unless and until the arrest warrants are unsealed. The information contained therein will determine the size of the Big Top from that point forward.
As for John Mark Karr's involvement in the murder of JonBenét Ramsey, remember these adages from P.T. Barnum:
"There's a sucker born every minute."
and
"Every crowd has a silver lining."
