John Mark Karr: The Accidental Suspect

Aug. 20, 2006 — -- It may have been a chain of coincidence that ultimately led to the arrest of John Mark Karr. This weekend the Colorado newspaper man who apparently put that chain in motion explained how it all happened.

In the summer of 2002, Michael Sandrock, a 48-year-old newspaper columnist and runner, claims he casually met John Karr outside a bookshop in Paris. They struck up the type of conversation that American travelers in Europe typically do, introducing themselves in generalities.

Sandrock, a sportswriter en route to cover a race it Switzerland, introduced himself as a journalist with the Daily Camera, a local newspaper in Boulder. Karr introduced himself as "John" -- no last name -- and said he was a writer from Amsterdam. During the next few days, the two would discuss in detail the mysterious death of six-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey.

It wasn't long before Sandrock realized that Karr was fascinated by the Ramsey case.

"That's all he really wanted to talk about," Sandrock told reporters Saturday. "I didn't think it was real strange at that time, because so many people asked about the Ramsey case at that time."

Their initial conversations, according to Sandrock, were fairly normal.

"He would ask for my opinion about who did it," he said.

But what would appear to just be creepy conversations would eventually become something more -- a lead and later, a first arrest in a 10-year-old murder case.

One of the elements that stood out for Sandrock was how well Karr seemed to know Boulder well, accurately describing the location of the Ramsey's house, the street where the Daily Camera is headquartered and what the building looks like.

It was as if Karr had been to Boulder before -- a fact that if true, would be critical to the case.

There is no trace of Karr ever living in Colorado. Moreover, even though Karr confessed to killing JonBenet, his ex-wife has stated publicly that he was with her in Alabama during the days around the murder.