Several readers have written to ask me if I will withdraw my generous commentary the other day giving the benefit of the doubt to Colorado authorities who have arrested John Mark Karr in connection with the 1996 slaying of JonBenet Ramsey in light of this Denver Post story.

It was only after the warrant was issued that investigators started asking questions that would form the basis of a successful homicide prosecution... For example, it wasn't until Wednesday morning, after Karr was in Thai custody, that a representative of Boulder District Atty. Mary Lacy's office called Hamilton County, Ala., schools to seek a handwriting sample of Karr for comparison with the ransom note left by JonBenet's killer. ...Karr's ex-wife and children also weren't contacted to see if they could provide an alibi for Karr's whereabouts at the time of JonBenet's murder.

My answer is that if I'd known Friday what was in the Post story Sunday, I would not have written that blog item. It now seems much more likely than it did to me Friday that the descendants of Barney Fife are in charge in Boulder, and that this arrest will replace the arrest of security guard Richard Jewell in the Atlanta Olympic bombing atop the list of  high-profile law enforcement blunders.

But since I'm now all but alone out there in having voiced confidence that there's more to the case against Karr than meets the eye, I might as well stick to it. 

Doesn't look so good NOW does it, Mr. Nice Guy?
It was kind of you to give the benefit of the doubt to the Boulder Police. Kind of naive.

What has been kind of interesting through all this is the question as to why the media hated Patsy and John Ramsey so much. It seemed, at times, almost visceral. The Governor of Colorado still seems so. Was it the films and photos of young, JonBenet in the outfits, dressed like an older girl? The government, the media (gee, am I sounding like a paranoid?) really seemed to be out to get them, beyond the norm.

I don't know what else the BP could have done. Some guy confesses to the murder, and they extradite him for questioning. No charges have been filed, and no one has claimed that the case is closed. Isn't this what they were supposed to do?

I can't believe that after a decade, and even with this new possible lead, that people are still convicting John and Patsy in their minds. They loved their daughter. And now with Patsy dead people still fling the vitriol. It's disgusting.

I'm with tjr on this one. What sane person would suggest that public officials should let a man continue to teach children after he has confessed to killing a young girl.

What would the press be saying if the Boulder DA had said "Gee, we just don't have enough to pick him up on. Good luck over there, Thailand."

What I heard her say in the very first TV appearance was: He's too dangerous to ignore; we have to act for the safety of the Thai school kids --- everything else notwithstanding.

The Boulder DA has a duty to take actions in Thailand in the interest of the safety of Thai kids? Really? Wow -- talk about your "long-arm-of-the-law! But seriously, isn't that why the Thais have a police force?

Should the Boulder DA start making arrests in Darfur too, based on her new international duties to safeguard kids? If not, should the Cook County States Attorney rush in to fill that void?

Needless to say, I disagree with tjr and RBD. From what I've read, numerous crackpots have, over the years, "confessed" to the Ramsey killing. While I would expect the DA to investigate such confessions, I would not expect her to run out and make an arrest in each case, without some more evident probable cause to believe that the confessor is a credible suspect.

ZORN REPLY -- I wonder if the Muzak in the Boulder DA's offfice plays "Yackity Sax" (The "Benny Hill" song) non-stop?

I have always thought that the dislike and suspicion of the Ramsey's would not have existed if they had within days of her murder made the following satement:

"We thought putting our daughter in beauty pagents was just simple fun. She loved them and really wanted to participate.

But now we realize that we made a terrible mistake. We failed to think about all of the truly sick people out there who would not see, as we did, a little girl having fun dressing up, but rather a child who looked like an adult and for whom that image would provoke dangerous interest.

We should never ever have allowed our child to dress like this and we urge every other parent out there who does to rethink things. It's not fair that sick and evil people should control these things, but it is our duty as parents to protect our children. We failed in this and hope that others can learn from our tragic error"

BTY, I am not sure why but I still put the chances that Mark Karr was involved at around 30 to 50 percent.

This case has been unusual from the begining. It seems that the media has been the driving force behind the charge to assign guilt with little in the way of facts to support the statements made in black and white.

I can accept the quick apprehension of John Karr as he is already a fugitive from the California legal system. As to the "facts" to support his guilt, I have heard so much over the last week that has been false that I will venture no further than to proclaim innocent until proven guilty.

I am not impressed by the Boulder PD press releases to date. And the media seems obsessed with releasing information without research. But after 10 years I find no reason why another few days awaiting the disclosure of the basis for the warrant and the actions taken so far seems reasonable.

I am not sure which side to come down on this one. I am just not following the details closely enough to have an informed opinion.

However, Eric, the lead to this blog entry reads as though you are eating your crow and having it too.

What do you mean by first saying "It now seems much more likely ... that the descendants of Barney Fife are in charge in Boulder..." followed by "having voiced confidence that there's more to the case against Karr than meets the eye, I might as well stick to it."

Are you sticking with your judgment, or do you think the police are Barney Fifes? Or, can you some how parse this so both are true?

I wonder if the public officials in all parts of this situation aren't doing what they normally do and what is different is the press focus.

Americans probably get deported from other countries all the time but without massive press coverage.

I recall the huge search effort for the airplane flown by John Kennedy, Jr. There was criticism that he was getting special treatment but the fact was, the special treatment was by the press -- the government officials were just doing what they do for every lost plane.

So the Boulder DA tells the Thai authorities Karr is very questionable, especially around children. Thailand deports him.

Are you saying that the US/Boulder officials should let Karr just wonder around the US saying he killed the Ramsey child - without at least checking him out first.

Barney Fife was a good cop!