Karr left for parts unknown, dad says

By ADRIANNE MURCHISON
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 10/28/06

John Mark Karr has apparently left his father's Sandy Springs home, driven away by pressure from neighbors, his father said Friday.

His departure came about a week after an e-mail announcing the arrival of Karr — the man brought back from Thailand as a suspect in the slaying of 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey — circulated through several neighborhoods in north Atlanta and Sandy Springs.

"I don't know nothing. I'm not hiding anything. ... He's not here," said his 85-year-old father, Wexford Karr.

During the monthly Chastain Park Civic Association meeting last Monday, 35 residents spoke out and said they were concerned that Karr had moved into their neighborhood, said Jim King, the association's president.

"To say that they were concerned would be an understatement," King said.

Since that meeting, Wexford Karr has received harassing telephone calls, he said.

During a reporter's visit in Karr's home Friday, he received two calls from callers who appeared to remain silent on the other end of the line.

"Hello? Hello? Nobody here but me," Karr said into the receiver.

He reported the harassing phone calls to the Sandy Springs Police Department, but an official report was not filed, said Lt. Steve Rose, a police spokesman.

The department may add an extra patrol to Wexford Karr's neighborhood, Rose said.

During the past week, Karr and his son visited Hamilton, Ala., where they have relatives, to see whether John Mark Karr would be more welcome there. But after John Mark Karr stopped at a local Wal-Mart, word got out around town about his arrival, the father said. The two returned to Atlanta.

"Then his attorney called and the next thing I knew, John Mark Karr was on the road into oblivion," the father said.

Sandy Springs residents at a local Caribou Coffee were relieved upon learning that Karr had left the area.

"We keep a close tab on our kids," said Hubert Pereira, "but it's awesome that he's gone."

Added Rob Robinson, another resident. "His presence in the area was kind of disturbing."

In August, Karr, 41, was cleared by DNA tests as a suspect in JonBenet's 1996 slaying in Boulder, Colo.

Earlier this month, he was released from a California jail after a judge dismissed child pornography charges, saying prosecutors didn't have enough evidence to take the case to trial.

"I knew he didn't do it," said Wexford Karr, who'd been estranged from his son for nearly six years. "John Mark Karr couldn't kill a flea. ... I'd love my son no matter what ... whether he was a murderer or not."