Alexis Reich

Alexis Valoran Reich (born December 11, 1964) is an American trans woman formerly known as John Mark Karr who in 2006 falsely confessed to the unsolved murder of six-year-old JonBenét Ramsey.^[1][2] She has, on other occasions, faced a number of other criminal charges.

Childhood

Reich was born in Conyers, Georgia^[3] and spent her early childhood in Atlanta.^[4] Her father, Wexford Karr had married Patricia Elaine Adcock (John's mother) on August 21, 1958, when he was 37 and she was 18. Wexford filed for divorce in 1973, saying the marriage was "irretrievably broken," and that Reich and her older brother, Michael, were in his custody. Soon after, Wexford Karr, then 52 years old, married 29-year-old Susan Simpson, his neighbor in the same apartment complex.^[5] His marriage with Simpson ended in divorce six months later.^[4]

A family friend, George McCrary, has said that Reich's mother believed her child was possessed by demons. Reich's mother allegedly built a pyre of kindling around her child then attempted to burn the then infant alive. Adcock was committed to the Central State Hospital, a mental hospital in Milledgeville, Georgia, and later lived in a group home, according to her stepmother Shirley Adcock.^[5][6]

Reich moved to Alabama to live with her grandparents when she was about 12 years old. She grew up in Hamilton^[4] and graduated from Hamilton High School in 1983.^[7][8] Reich returned to live in Atlanta at least twice: once to attend one semester at Riverwood High School in Sandy Springs from January to May 1981, and again some years after graduating from high school.^[4]

Marriages

In 1984, Reich married 13-year-old Quientana Ray Shotts.^[9] Reich evidently told Quientana to lie about her age, and took her out of Alabama, where they both lived, to marry her. Reich and Shotts lived together as a couple in Hamilton after their wedding, and Reich "was abusing her every way there was," according to Melissa Shotts.^[10] Court records show that, in 1985, a 14-year-old girl sought an annulment of what the records call a "ceremonial marriage," saying she had feared for her life when she agreed to marry Reich in 1984. Reich admitted to the court that Shotts was a minor, but disputed Shotts had been 13. The marriage was annulled^[9] in 1985. Shotts later remarried and now bears a different surname.^[11]

Reich married Lara Knutson^[12] in Alabama on May 19, 1989, when Reich was 24 and she was 16 and pregnant. She was carrying twin daughters who were delivered via a home birth on September 1, 1989. The girls, named Angel and Innocence, died later that day. The couple went on to have three boys in close succession, the oldest, John born in 1990, Damon in 1992 and Seven Exodus in 1993.^[13][14] The couple divorced in 2001 following Reich's arrest for five misdemeanor counts of possession of child pornography in Petaluma, California.^[8][15] In the divorce petition, Reich's wife wrote that Reich was never physically violent towards her, but that Reich was "very controlling" of her. A restraining order against Reich was granted.^[13] Knutson said he purposely set out to get her pregnant, telling her the pregnancy would allow them to skirt the law and get married, according to statements she made in divorce records.^[4]

In 2007, Reich became engaged to a 23-year-old woman named Brooke Simmons who had a three-year-old daughter from a previous relationship.^[16]

Career

Reich had been working as a substitute teacher in Petaluma, but Bob Raines, the Superintendent-Principal at Wilson Elementary School in Petaluma said she was an ineffective substitute teacher: "He just seemed like somebody who thought he wanted to be a teacher... After a day, I could see it just wasn't for him."^[17] She worked from December 2000 through June 2001 in as many as 14 schools in the Petaluma, Old Adobe, Liberty and Wilmar elementary districts.^[18] Reich's last paycheck for teaching work in Petaluma was issued in April 2001, the same month that Reich made her first court appearance for the aforementioned pornography charges. When she failed to show up for a readiness conference in December 2001, a judge issued a warrant for Reich's arrest, which was still outstanding as of August 2006.^[15]

In March 1996, Reich registered the domain Powerwurks.com and used it as a cover, claiming on Usenet to be "a world wide support organization for kids, teens and college students." As well as seeking troubled or depressed children, she also solicited discussion on sex.^[19]

Reich also operated a day care center in northwest Alabama. The Marion County Department of Human Resources issued a license for Reich to begin operating a day care out of her home in June 1997. Under the license, Reich was allowed to care for as many as six children at a time, ranging in age up to 14 years old.^[20]

2001 arrest

On April 13, 2001, Reich was arrested for possession of computerized child pornography. She pled not guilty four days later. On October 15, 2001, after a series of court hearings, Reich was released from jail, but was ordered to report to a probation officer. The court records in the case were sealed. In December 2001, Reich failed to appear and a "No Bail" warrant was issued by a Sonoma County Superior Court Judge.^[21] Reich then went on the run, living in Asia, Europe and Central America, until her arrest in Thailand.

Events of 2006

Initial investigation

Authorities were made aware of Reich via e-mails she exchanged over the course of four years with Michael Tracey, a journalism professor at the University of Colorado.

In June 2006, the Boulder District Attorney's office received copies of the suspect's emails from Tracey, who received the emails from a person with the email address "December261996@yahoo.com." December 26, 1996, was the date of JonBenét's murder. At least one of the emails was signed with the signature "Daxis."^[22]

Armed with the email address and Internet service provider, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) determined the general location of the suspect in Thung Maha Mek, a neighborhood in Bangkok, Thailand. At the time, the suspect's name and exact location was not known.^[22]

Discovery of whereabouts

Authorities identified and found Reich when she sent an envelope to Tracey by regular mail with a return address bearing the name of a major thoroughfare in Bangkok, but no number or cross street.^[22] Tracey sent Reich another kind of mail – a photograph delivered to a Thai post office box. Agents arranged a controlled delivery and were ready to spot their suspect. The man who arrived to pick up the mail delivery was using a 21-speed bicycle, the purchase of which was mentioned in e-mails sent by the suspect. The agents followed Reich to her residence and learned her name.^[23]

On August 11, 2006, they notified ICE officials, and from that point on, Reich was placed under surveillance by Thai immigration officials.^[22] A sealed arrest warrant, signed by Boulder County District Judge Roxanne Bailin,^[24] was sent by the Boulder District Attorney's office to officials in Thailand on August 15, 2006. The next day, upon receipt of the warrant, Thai immigration authorities revoked Reich's visa.^[22]

Arrest

Reich was arrested in Bangkok, Thailand, on August 16, 2006, by Thai authorities, then released to U.S. agents and flown first to Los Angeles, California,^[25] then to Boulder for further investigation. On August 28, prosecutors announced they had decided not to pursue charges in connection with the murder after DNA tests failed to place Reich at the scene,^[26] although serious doubts had been expressed about the veracity of her admission even before the tests were conducted.^[27] Reich was held in Boulder until September 12, 2006, when she was transported to Sonoma County, California to face unrelated misdemeanor child pornography charges.^[28][29] The charges were dismissed by a California judge on October 5, 2006, and Reich was immediately released.^[30]

Detention in Thailand, deportation to United States

Reich was detained in Bangkok, Thailand, on August 16, 2006. Reich said she was with JonBenét when she died,^[31] and told a press conference that her death was an accident.^[2] She said: "I love JonBenét," and "I was with JonBenét when she died; she died accidentally."^[2] When asked if she was an innocent person, she said: "No."^[27] Thai Immigration Police Lieutenant General Suwat Tumrongsiskul stated that Reich admitted attempting to kidnap JonBenét Ramsey for an $118,000 ransom to be paid by the Ramseys, only to strangle the child after her plan went awry.^[32] While she was detained in Thailand, officials there had Reich on a 24-hour suicide watch.^[33]

Reich returned on a business class flight. She was not handcuffed or under arrest during the flight, ate from a free choice of menu and drank Champagne^[34] on the Thai Airways Airbus 340-500 she took to the United States.^[35] Experts, such as Denver attorney Larry Posner, have speculated that Reich was given the food and drink to get her to start talking about her involvement in the murder of JonBenét:

Reich was escorted by investigators working for the Boulder district attorney.^[37] Reich had been detained in Thailand because her visa had been revoked by request of Boulder County, Colorado, but Reich was released to United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to ensure Reich returned to the U.S. Reich was not legally arrested until August 20, 2006, after the airliner touched down at Los Angeles International Airport. She was first admitted into the country, then she was arrested at the airport on a warrant from Boulder County^[24] by the waiting officers of the LA County Sheriff's Department, and taken by helicopter to Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown Los Angeles. Citing Sheriff's Department policy regarding inmates who are "accused child molesters", deputies stated that Reich was held in isolation while she was at the facility.^[38][39]

Extradition to Colorado

On August 22, 2006, Reich waived extradition during a three-minute hearing in Los Angeles County Superior Court, clearing the way for her transfer to Boulder.^[40] According to CNN, on the way back to the correctional facility after the extradition hearing, Reich was quoted as telling an officer, "Everybody says I couldn't know my way around the house, but I got in the house around 5 o'clock ... and I stayed there all night."^[41]

On August 24, 2006, Reich was handcuffed and driven by Los Angeles Sheriff's deputies onto the tarmac at the airport in Long Beach, California, where she boarded a State of Colorado twin turboprop airplane.^[42] Reich arrived more than 3 hours later at Jefferson County Municipal Airport in Broomfield, Colorado,^[43] and then was driven to the Boulder County Jail.

Although Reich had been represented by public defenders in Los Angeles and Boulder, two California-based attorneys, Patience van Zandt (who worked with Reich on the 2001 child pornography case) and Jamie Harmon served her in an advisory capacity.^[44] In Boulder, Reich was assisted by Boulder County Public Defender Seth Temin, despite the fact that three dozen lawyers had offered to represent Reich (for free in many cases) against the charges.^[45]

Charges dropped

On August 28, 2006, the Boulder County District Attorney's Office announced "the case of the People vs. John Mark Karr has been vacated."^[46] According to Denver's NBC affiliate, KUSA, the DNA taken from Reich's hair and saliva after her arrest and tested by the Denver Police Department's crime lab did not match the DNA found on JonBenét Ramsey's body; as a result, the District Attorney's Office would not file charges against Reich for the murder. Boulder County District Attorney Mary Lacy estimated the total public cost of the investigation at about $13,000;^[47] other estimates have put the cost at $30,000.^[48] Colorado Governor Bill Owens said Lacy should be "held responsible for the most expensive DNA test in Colorado history."^[49]

Prior to August 28, George McCrary, a longtime friend of the Karr family, insisted that John Karr is innocent of the murder. "He's a pedophile, not a murderer," said McCrary, who also called John Karr a "genius" whose "confession" was a deliberate tactic to avoid jail in Thailand, and be taken to the United States where she knew she would be found innocent.^[50]

Following Reich's release on August 28, she was quickly rearrested after prosecutors in California indicated that she was to face charges of possessing child pornography.^[51]

Extradition to California

On August 28, 2006, the Sonoma County DA's Office announced their intent to have Reich extradited from Boulder to face the five misdemeanor counts of possessing child pornography that had been filed five years earlier. On September 12, 2006, Reich arrived in Santa Rosa, where she stood by her original plea of not guilty^[52] On September 19, 2006, prosecutors offered Reich a plea bargain in which she would plead guilty to two of the five counts, in exchange for dismissal of the remaining three counts and a sentence of time served in jail and three years probation. Reich would also be required to register in California as a sex offender.^[53] San Francisco based criminal defense attorneys Robert Amparan, Gayle Gutekunst, and Benjamin Prince represented Reich in Sonoma County. Reich turned down the plea bargain offer in the case. On September 25, 2006, however, Judge Cerena Wong agreed to consider a defense motion to dismiss all charges against Reich, in light of the Sonoma County sheriff's department's alleged 2002 junking of a computer believed to contain the pornographic images that are the basis of the prosecution's case. The prosecution maintained that it printed the photos from Reich's computer before it went missing; it is these printed copies that the prosecution planned to introduce as evidence if the case went to trial.^[54]

Charges dropped

On October 5, 2006, all of the child pornography charges against Reich were dropped after investigators lost the computer seized from Reich in April 2001. The Deputy District Attorney Mary Maxiemer was put up on the stand and questioned by defense attorneys. It was determined she withheld information from the Court and she was appointed an attorney. The case was immediately dismissed by the court. She was immediately released from jail per orders from Judge Rene Chouteau.^[55][56]

Later developments

On October 6, 2006 Reich already found herself being questioned again by police when she decided to stop by a school where she used to teach. A limousine carrying Reich and two producers from ABC's Good Morning America was stopped and questioned by police but they determined that no crime was committed.^[57] Reich was apparently giving the producers a tour of the neighborhood where she used to live and work when she suddenly exited the limo and approached the school. According to Jeffrey Schneider, senior vice president of ABC News, "his behavior gave us serious pause, and ABC decided not to proceed with the interview."^[58] Reich was the guest on CNN's Larry King Live on October 16, 2006.^[59]

On October 26, 2006, Reich sent an email to Bill Hammons of Bill's List of Literary Agents and Their Authors' Books from a "phoenix rising" email address and stated that "I seek a literary agent who can help me publish a manuscript that some might find controversial."^[60]

2007 domestic argument arrest

After a long break from being in the media, Reich was again arrested and jailed July 6, 2007 when Reich was involved in a domestic argument at her father's house in suburban Atlanta. The argument was between Reich, Reich's girlfriend and Reich's father. Reich was charged with battery and obstruction. Reich later was released.

Transition

Reich subsequently began to undergo hormone replacement therapy and to transition into a female role in early 2010. She currently lives as a woman.^[61]

References

Wikinews has related news: Man confesses to 1996 murder of JonBenet Ramsey

Further reading

• Boulder arrest warrant for John Mark Karr, signed and issued by Judge Roxanne Bailin
• Larry King Live transcripts on the John Mark Karr confession.
• Does Karr Believe He Did It? The truth in John Mark Karr's false confession.