Psychiatrist: Ramsey Suspect Seems Like 'Ill Man'

ByABC News via logo
August 26, 2006, 12:22 PM

Aug. 26, 2006 — -- Alleged voice recordings of the suspect in the killing of child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey and exclusive interviews with the suspect's relatives reveal a "deeply disturbed, psychiatrically ill man," according to a renowned forensic psychiatrist.

Dr. Keith Ablow, host of the upcoming "Dr. Keith Ablow Show," reached that conclusion on "Good Morning America Weekend Edition" after listening to alleged telephone recordings of the suspect, John Mark Karr, broadcast exclusively by ABC News, and after viewing ABC News' exclusive interviews with Karr's father, half brother and first wife.

"GMA" asked Ablow to review the public evidence that surfaced this past week in advance of Karr's first court hearing on Monday, and before the debut of Ablow's television show on Sept. 11.

Following are excerpts of Ablow's conversation with ABC News' Kate Snow:

Kate Snow: Let's start with our exclusive interview that we had here on ABC News with Nate Karr, the brother of John, and also his father, Wex. When I spoke to them, they talked about his obsession, John's obsession, with JonBenet Ramsey.

Clip:

Nate Karr: I think that he -- because of the fact that he had, you know, five years ago, had lost basically the ability to see his sons and his wife -- that maybe he felt lost and maybe that was the only reality he had left, you know, unfortunately. That's very unfortunate, but that's a possibility in my mind -- you know, maybe -- that his dedication to that project is all he had left.

Snow: He's talking about the project of researching and being obsessed with JonBenet.

Dr. Keith Ablow: Absolutely. That's what I've been speaking publicly about this man, is he seems untethered to his own existence. In other words, he's not sure of his own gender. He's not sure chronologically even what age he is. He had such trauma in his early life experience, including apparently an assault, an attempted murder by his mother, that I think he is a free-floating individual who isn't anchored in himself. Therefore, he can dock his ship wherever he's moved to. As his brother alludes to in your interview, he has had trauma more recently: He's lost everything. This may be all he has. It makes sense. It makes psychological sense.