What then do you think?

I see creepy Mark Karr is off the hook on the JonBenet Ramsey matter. Was there ever any doubt? Karr, who has already been convicted on child pornography charges, and has stated his fascination with young girls, including an intrigue with the murder of little JonBenet of Boulder Colorado back in 1996, seemed made-to-order and a perfect candidate for a rush-to-judgment.

But, he seems, rather than being a child-slayer, just another weird false-confessor. And, while false confession seems like a bizarre manifestation emanating from certain warped psyches, it is more common than we might think. As an example, in the case of the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby in the 1930s, nearly 200 people confessed to committing the crime. In the notorious ‘Black Dahlia’ case in Los Angeles in the 1940s (never solved, but soon to featured in a new film in a theatre near you), over 30 people confessed to having killed her.

Reasons for false-confession can be manifold. Surely there is grandstanding – a momentary bite of publicity for people of remarkably little accomplishment. Better to be remembered for something, even if it’s something bad, goes their warped logic. It’s a morbid wish to be a celebrity at any cost. Currently this is known as the Paris Hilton Syndrome. Just kidding – sort of.

Another motivation, according to psychoanalysts, is a subconscious psychological need to be punished for something the individual actually wants to do, but has never actually done. Mark Karr is, I think, a dangerous dude, and it is quite within the realm of his fantasies that he could kill a little girl.

Whatever really happened to little JonBenet will likely never be solved; the entire investigation has been so thoroughly screwed up since day one, that there will probably be no resolution at this stage. Some suspect that aspects of the truth accompanied Patsy Ramsey to her grave a few months ago. Maybe so, but we’ll probably never know.

Whatever the case, I have my suspicions about the case. You likely have yours. Yours might be the same as mine.

The woods abound with unresolved issues. Life isn’t like CSI or Law & Order, wherein a transgression is solved and all wrapped up within a neat hour’s viewing. Real crime is much more like the often excellent series Cold Case, in which a tired, old and long-forgotten crime is suddenly resurrected and, like the other shows mentioned, neatly solved within the allotted time constrictions. Would that life were like that.

If life, and crime-solving were like that, we would know the truth about the OJ trial and the felon would be doing hard time.

I’m not saying OJ was the perp. But, I have my suspicions, and you have yours. Yours might be the same as mine.
Was Michael Jackson the pedophile he was accused of being in two high-profile trials? I cannot say. I have my suspicions. You have yours. Yours are possibly the same as mine.

Did the British Secret Service on a directive from the Royal Family bump off the beauteous Princess Diana? Was she a victim of Islamic terrorism directed at Dodi Fayed and his seeming concubine? I don’t know. You and I will likely never know. You and I are likely not meant to ever know. But I do have my suspicions. You have yours. Yours might be the same as mine.

In truth, an amazing number of nefarious doings are never solved. An old cop once told me that if you want to bump somebody off, and you cover your tracks well enough, you will likely not be apprehended. If you are apprehended and go to trial, you will likely not be convicted. If you are convicted, you will likely only do a fraction of the time you are sentenced to.

What’s that all about? I have my suspicions. You have yours. Yours just may be the same as mine.