JonBenet murder suspect agrees to return to Colorado

John Mark Karr, wearing an orange jail jumpsuit and handcuffs chained around his waist, waived extradition to Colorado on Tuesday to face murder charges in the slaying of 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey.

Karr spoke only briefly during a two-minute court hearing to confirm his decision. His blank expression changed only once when he slowly closed his eyes as the judge recited the charge of first-degree murder.

Although his public defender and a former defense attorney described Karr as eager to go, it was unclear when the 41-year-old teacher would be transferred. The Boulder County sheriff’s deputies would not discuss travel plans and Los Angeles jail officials said they had not yet been contacted about a transfer.

Deputy Public Defender Haydeh Takasugi, who represented Karr in the hearing, said he was concerned about having to appear in court wearing jail attire rather than civilian clothes.

“It’s going to taint any potential jury pool out there,” Takasugi said. “He was upset at that.”

Karr’s face has flooded newscasts since he was named a suspect in Bangkok last week in the long-unsolved slaying of the 6-year-old beauty pageant queen, who was found strangled in the basement of her Boulder home on Dec. 26, 1996.

In addition to first-degree murder, the charges against Karr in a sealed probable-cause arrest warrant include felony murder, first-degree kidnapping, second-degree kidnapping and sexual assault on a child.

The felony murder charge means prosecutors are either accusing Karr of killing JonBenet during the course of a sexual assault or kidnapping, or that he was present while someone else killed the girl.

Felony murder carries the same penalties as first-degree murder: either life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty.

“It’s a perfect insurance policy for the prosecution in Colorado,” said former Denver prosecutor Craig Silverman. “Even if a jury were to somehow buy that this was an accident, any death during the commission of a kidnapping or sexual assault is first-degree murder regardless.”

Karr told reporters in Thailand before he voluntarily flew to Los Angeles on Sunday that he was not innocent in JonBenet’s slaying, explaining only that he was present when she died and that her death was an accident.