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John Mark Karr released from jail
Once linked to JonBenet Ramsey; charged with battery on father
By CHRISTIAN BOONE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 07/08/07
It's not easy dating a notorious man. When 22-year-old Brooke Simmons took her new boyfriend, John Mark Karr, to services at her church recently, she received a chilling e-mail the next day from her pastor: "You can come back, but don't bring him (Karr) again," she said it read.
Karr, 42, attracted global attention last August after he claimed to have been with 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey on the day she was killed. The child's death remains unsolved more than 10 years later.
AP
(ENLARGE)
John Mark Karr
Karr was later cleared of the crime by DNA testing. He was, according to his father and girlfriend, trying to lead an unassuming life before re-entering the spotlight early Saturday morning when police received a 911 call from the Sandy Springs home of his father.
Wexford Karr, 86, said he made the call to quiet an argument between his son and Simmons. Police arrived and found sufficient evidence to book John Mark Karr with battery against his father and obstruction of a 911 call, said Lt. Keith Zgonc, a Sandy Springs police spokesman.
Fulton County Magistrate Judge Jay Roth set a $3,000 signature bond for Karr during an initial court appearance Sunday morning. He was released Sunday afternoon and is scheduled him to appear in Superior Court on Friday.
His father said the fight was minor and doesn't believe his son should be in custody.
"Nah, he didn't hurt me," Karr said. "I'm too tough for a little whippersnapper kid to hurt me."
There were small cuts and abrasions visible on the elder Karr's arms and hands, but he said they were a byproduct of yardwork.
Responding to a 911 call from Karr's home early Saturday, police went to the Merlendale Drive residence and found "evidence to suggest that a physical altercation took place," Zgonc said. Wexford Karr did not require medical treatment, Zgonc said.
According to Wexford Karr, his son reached for his hand to prohibit his father from completing the call. The resulting fracas caused the phone to fall and shatter, he said. "I was going to call 911 to shut his mouth," Wexford Karr said. "And I was trying to get some sleep."
Simmons said the couple was having a small argument that got blown out of proportion.
"When the police came, I kept asking, 'Why is he being arrested?' " said Simmons, who met Karr in late November.
She said they fight sometimes, but Karr has never been violent toward her.
Both Karr's father and Simmons said they don't think he would've been taken into custody if not for his infamous name. Zgonc said it is routine for an arrest to be made in domestic violence cases when a primary aggressor (in this case, John Mark Karr) is identified.
Simmons said her boyfriend is no stranger to harassment. Trips to restaurants, shops or nearby Chastain Park often prove adventurous, as the couple is routinely greeted by dirty looks or curse words, she said.
Neighbors interviewed said they aren't comfortable living next to Karr.
"Since he's not been convicted, there's nothing we can do to get him out of the neighborhood," said Jay Singh, 43. He has three daughters, ages 6, 4 and 2. "He (Karr) is someone who brings the realities of the world home. People like him are out there. My wife, though ... it creeps her out, absolutely. She's hypervigilant. This morning before she left town, she left me a note saying 'I saw the creep's car.'"
A few months after Karr's claims in the Ramsey case were made public, the former private school teacher attempted to move into his father's home, but local opposition was fierce.
In late October, the elder Karr said his son "was on the road to oblivion." That road eventually led back home. Wexford Karr said John Mark moved back in February. Neighbors noticed.
"As soon as he came back, everyone knew it," Singh said.
Wexford Karr and Simmons first made contact after she mailed a Bible verse supporting the family to their Sandy Springs home. That led to e-mails between the younger Karr and Simmons, who was in the process of divorcing her first husband.
Simmons, Wexford Karr said, might well have saved his son's life.
"He would not get out of bed all day, just lay in his room under the sheets," he said. "She got him out of bed, got him to start living a life again."
Karr is resigned to never teaching again, Simmons said. He was teaching at private schools in Bangkok, Thailand, before being taken into custody last August.
Wexford Karr said his son assumes he won't be able to find a job, due to his name. But at least now he has a purpose, he said, thanks to Simmons.
Simmons said her boyfriend is misunderstood.
"He's not a pedophile. He's not a child molester," she said. "He's not out there lurking for children. He's not a creep. He's a mild-mannered, nurturing, intelligent man."
Simmons said she has been disowned by her family for coupling with Karr. Most of her friends have also abandoned her.
Simmons said they discuss the Ramsey case, but she insists she doesn't want to know whether he had any involvement in the killing.
"I want to separate our relationship from that," she said. "I tell him I don't want to hear anything about it. But no, I don't believe he's a violent person."
Staff writer S.A. Reid contributed to this article.