Prosecuting suspect in JonBenet Ramsey slaying may not hinge on DNA, experts say

BOULDER, Colo. -- The best-case scenario for prosecutors would be slam-dunk DNA evidence linking John Mark Karr to the battered and strangled body of 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey.\nWithout it, experts say, it's still possible -- but much more difficult -- to build a strong murder case against the 41-year-old teacher who has said he was there when the girl died 10 years ago but stopped short of an outright confession.\nKarr's first appearance in Boulder County Court is scheduled for today, an advisement hearing expected to last only a few minutes. He has not been formally charged for JonBenet Ramsey's death.\nOne of District Attorney Mary Lacy's strengths could be Karr himself, who chose not to fight extradition to Colorado after telling reporters in Thailand he was there when JonBenet Ramsey was killed in the basement of her home.\nAuthorities in Sonoma County, Calif., who arrested Karr for possession of child pornography in 2001, said he had made "uncertain allusions to placing himself in the killer's role" in talking about JonBenet and 12-year-old Polly Klaas, who was slain in 1993 in Petaluma, Calif.\nRichard Allen Davis, 52, was convicted in 1996 of Polly's kidnapping and murder and is under sentence of death.\n"From everything I've seen this guy wants to come back to Boulder," said former Denver prosecutor Craig Silverman. "The only question is whether he's coming to Boulder for the first time. I suspect Mary Lacy has some evidence that it's not his first visit."\nJonBenet Ramsey's parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, were initial targets of a grand jury investigation that ended with no indictments. Patsy Ramsey died in June after learning authorities had turned their attention to Karr, who was living in Thailand when he was detained earlier this month.\nIn a court filing, prosecutors said they have evidence that has not been disclosed despite a decade of public scrutiny of the case.