PRactical P.R. BlogThe Leader in Small Business Public Relations

David here:

Something doesn’t make sense to me…

John Mark Kerr, the man who allegedly killed Jon Benet Ramsey in 1996, is finally back on American soil.  Hooray for the organized efforts of the Thai and American officials on this one!  But, this is what bothers me.

Mr. Kerr flew from Bangkok to Los Angeles aboard a commercial airliner.  No problem there.  But, he flew in Business Class enjoying all of the amenities that the airline offered.  Mr. Kerr sipped champagne, ate pate, he enjoyed a dinner of duck and other epicurean delights while sitting next to an agent from the prosecutor’s office from either Los Angeles or Denver.  He wasn’t handcuffed or apparently inconvenienced in any way.  As a matter of fact, the agent was quoted in the newspapers as saying that Mr. Kerr was free to leave the plane if he could find a way to do so at 38,000 feet.  What kind of message is being sent here?

As the parent of a three year-old daughter, for whom I would throw myself in front of a moving truck, I’m appalled at the treatment that Mr. Kerr received during his extradition from Thailand, and not by the Thai officials, I have to say.  Why wasn’t he just treated like any other suspect?  Why the special treatment?  And, who paid for his special treatment? 

After serving on a jury this summer and occupying the role of jury foreperson, I truly believe in our system of justice, even though it can be slow moving and cumbersome.  But, given the notoriety that this case has had for the past decade, it would have been nice to have seen Mr. Kerr being treated with the appropriate level of suspect respect as opposed to a level of respect given to other public figures.