More On Van der Sloot, And The Similarities And/Or Disimilarities To John Mark Karr

See original story in the next post, immediately below. -SD

Van der Sloot, Nancy Grace, and John Mark Karr

From, Scared Monkeys:
Joran Van der Sloot/Peter R. De Vries Tapes: Why Some Pundits in the Natalee Holloway Case Should be Seen and Not Heard
Spare us the spin that Joran Van der Sloot made a “false confession”. Joran’s attorney Joe Tacopina floated that concept early after the Peter De Vries tapes were released and it was shot down immediately. Tacopina referenced the concept that “false confession” exists and then in the next breathe said, but not in this case. However, it would appear that his fellow partners in crime, defense attorney, have followed his lead.
Here is a helpful hint to pundits who discuss the Natalee Holloway case … know the topic that you are pretending to be an expert on. This message especially goes on to Defense attorney Ann Bremner from the Nancy Grace show.
There is nothing more pathetic than to hear an attorney on a cable show pretend to know what they are talking about just because they are an attorney. There is also nothing more hideous than defense attorney forwarding an agenda of one of their own. The comments seem to be even worse when one listens to a defense attorney ramble with some on the most ridiculous excuses for suspects. In this case its using the theory of “false confession”.
How could anyone compare two cases that were more different in how the suspects handled themselves with regards to confessing to a crime?
(Go to minute 5:25 to hear the comments in question)
GRACE: OK. Out to the lawyers, Randi Karmel, Richard Herman, Ann Bremner.
Ann Bremner, you`ve got a guy that says I hope you don`t find her body because my semen will be in, on, and about the body. You`ve got him describing her underwear and he`s accurate according to her mother. This is not just caressing on the beach. Now he says she died of a convulsion and he disposed of her body?
ANN BREMNER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, Nancy, either this is another iteration of statements he`s given before, which there have been scores of different statements, or in terms of the confession and proving this case, remember John Mark Carr. I killed JonBenet, coming home with the shrimp and a champagne. And, in fact, he didn`t. They tried every which way to show that he did it, but in this case, there is corpus delecti, no evidence.
GRACE: But the big difference - Ann, Ann, I appreciate that. Thank you.
BREMNER: Yes.
GRACE: Randi Karmel, the difference is that Joran Van der Sloot was seen by witnesses with her the last known person to be with her when she was alive. He confesses that he had sex with her. I can`t imagine that that was voluntary. And then disposes of his - of the body. Now, if it had been an innocent death, an accidental death, why not call 911, Randy?
Actually, the difference is that not only was Joran Van der Sloot one of the last known people ever to be seen with Natalee Holloway before she disappeared forever. Joran Van der Sloot had denied any involvement in Natalee’s disappearance or death from the outset. Joran has never admitted in an interview or in statements to police that he had involvement in the crime. (That is statements that we know of unless any were destroyed from 5/30/05). Until the Peter R. De Vries tape was released, Joran had denied all. Now, when he thought there was no camera or public audience … he made the admission and confession.
Let’s compare that to the situation with John Mark Karr’s “false confession as defense attorney and so called pundit Anne Bremner wants to do. From the outset John Mark Karr stated that he had involvement in the crime against Jon Benet Ramsey. Karr never said he did not do it, then he did, then he didn’t. He admitted that he killed Jon Benet and stuck to the story. Even after it was determined through DNA that John Mark Karr had no involvement in the Jon Benet murder case, he still insisted he did. John Mark Karr wanted to be found guilty.
The two cases have absolutely nothing in common when it comes to the “false confession” defense. To say that “false confession” is what Joran Van der Sloot did is just plain lazy punditry. Joran Van der Sloot has denied all involvement from day one and has lied along the way in his denials. Maybe it’s time that cable shows get pundits on that know the subject matter and are familiar with the cases, rather than the only criteria being that they are a lawyer.
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Posted February 10, 2008 by Scared Monkeys Aruba, Bizarre, Crime, John Mark Karr, Joran Van der Sloot, Media, Missing Persons, Murder, Natalee Holloway, WTF, You Tube Video 18 comments

Van der Sloot , another John Mark Karr?

As some of you may know, John Mark Karr was also accused of making a false confession in the death of sweet little beauty princess JonBenet Ramsey. Personally, from my vantage point, I don't think Karr's confession was false, but, I digress. In some fashion, Van der Sloot's story reminds me of that of Karr's. If your interested in responding at the source level of this story, just click on the link within this post. Thanxx, SD

Joran Van der Sloot/Peter R. De Vries Tapes: Why Some Pundits in the...
Sunday Feb 10 Scared Monkeys
Spare us the spin that Joran Van der Sloot made a "false confession". Joran's attorney Joe Tacopina floated that concept early after the Peter De Vries tapes were released and it was shot down immediately.
Comment? Click on the following link, http://www.topix.com/search/article?q=John+Mark+Karr+ to comment. Third story down, there.

An Update On Officer Veenstra, As Promised. Prognosis: Good!

Wounded SWAT team officer recovering after shot to jaw
By Susan Abram, Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 02/08/2008 12:33:45 AM PST

NORTHRIDGE - As they grieved for one member of the elite SWAT unit on Thursday, hundreds of officers with the Los Angeles Police Department rushed to the hospital bedside of another fallen comrade who had taken a gunshot to the jaw but was expected to survive.
The bullet pierced Officer James Veenstra, 51, just below his lower lip as he entered a Winnetka home where a 20-year-old gunman had killed three people and eventually was shot to death by police.
Veenstra was rushed to Northridge Hospital Medical Center, where he underwent three hours of surgery to remove bullet fragments that shattered bone and teeth.
"The projectile, with all of its kinetic energy, crashed into his left lower jaw," said trauma surgeon Dr. Gabriel Aslanian.
Had the bullet traveled further, it could have pierced a major artery or brainstem, Aslanian added.
"He was very fortunate," he said, adding that Veenstra was alert, oriented and responsive after surgery. He likely will undergo more surgery that could include bone grafts, Aslanian said.
Michelle Veenstra, commanding officer of the LAPD's Central Division, sat at her husband's bedside all morning, leaving only briefly to stop at their Northridge home to change clothes, before returning. She told reporters her husband was doing well, thanks to painkillers.
"He's exactly what we expect a police officer to be," she told KCBS (Channel 2). "Honor and integrity and strength. And he puts his life down on a daily basis for all of Los Angeles, people he knows and people he doesn't know."
While Veenstra rested inside the Intensive Care Unit at the hospital, his partner, Officer Randal Simmons, 51, died about 1 a.m., a few minutes after entering the home in the 19800 block of Welby Way.
Their colleagues reflected on both men, repeatedly hailing them as trustworthy leaders and mentors. Both had been with the SWAT unit for 20 years. Both had received commendations, Simmons recently with a Crystal Angel Award for "outstanding community service" and Veenstra with the Medal of Valor in 1999 for heroism during a fatal shootout in Chatsworth in 1997, when a gunman killed Glendale police Detective Charles Lazzaretto.
Inside the hospital, visitors described seeing dozens of officers clad in SWAT uniforms gather in almost every corner of the hallways to express grief.
But as officers came back from their visit, some felt a little better knowing Veenstra, nicknamed "Jimmy," seemed in good spirits.
"We came in and he took my hand and squeezed it," said Sgt. Richard Rakitis, who served in SWAT for 12 years and knew both men.
Rakitis called Veenstra a true outdoorsman, who excels in hockey, fishing, mountain climbing and any other sport he puts his mind to.
"He's what I'd call a Renaissance man," he said. "He can speak all these languages. He's good at everything."
susan.abram@dailynews.com 818-713-3664

Article extracted from online Daily News. -SDRoads