Comparison of John Mark Karr's 1982 yearbook handwriting to 1996 Ramsey "ransom note"

Discussion in 'Justice for JonBenet Discussion - Public Forum' started by Cherokee, Aug 21, 2006.

  1. Cherokee

    Cherokee FFJ Senior Member

    I hate posting only small pieces of the analysis before it is finished, but there is so much crap being said in the media about Karr's handwriting, I decided I needed to get at least SOMETHING out there so people could see the truth.

    Karr's handwriting is NOT a match, and I will start posting why. Like I said, I don't usually like to show this type of analysis in cut-up sections because the best handwriting analysis is a composite of the whole picture ... not, this "n" matches or this "w" matches , etc. But, a person has to start somewhere, so I'll try to show some of the comparisons made by a COMPETENT handwriting analyst, like the former Secret Service agent who stated that Karr's handwriting was not a match.

    The following graphic illustrates just one point of comparison between Karr's handwriting in 1982 and the ransom note written in 1996.

    The word "you" in both samples has many different variations, and we will discuss those further in later posts, but the main exemplar I want you to notice is the lowercase letter "u" in the word "you."

    Please note that Karr finishes the letter "u" with a tail. This tail comes down to the baseline and finishes with a little hook towards the next word or punctuation mark.

    However, the writer of the ransom note writes their lowercase letter "u" WITHOUT a tail. They write the cup of the "u" and leave the stroke in the air, not returning to the baseline.

    In essence, Karr finishes his lowercase "u"s, the ransom note writer does not. This is a consistent difference, and only one of many.

    Even though our handwriting may change through the years in terms of slant, inflation of loops, zone structure, etc., it is RARE for a person to change how they connect (or disconnect) lowercase letters to the baseline.

    I will construct and post more comparisons in the coming days. I don't want people to get the wrong idea that handwriting can be matched, or unmatched, based on just a few letters. It is much more complicated than that and involves spacing, zones, rhythm, pressure, and many other individual traits. However, the most obvious are the individual exemplar comparisons, so we will start with those.

    (I will lock this thread to keep all of the comparisons together. If you would like to make comments or ask questions, please post them on the thread started by Nikeo entitled "John Karr's High School Handwriting.")
     

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    Last edited: Aug 21, 2006
  2. Cherokee

    Cherokee FFJ Senior Member

    Next we have a comparison of the lowercase letters "ught" or "ight" between Karr's handwriting and the Ransom Note.

    As I have stated many times, it is not just the individual letters that are important, it is also the way they are connected to each other and spaced on the page.

    We have already seen that Karr writes his lowercase "u" with a tail whereas the Ransom Note author does not.

    The lowercase letter "g" is drastically different. Karr's "g" has a complete lower zone loop that comes back to the baseline and above into the next letter "h." The Ransom Note author's lowercase "g" does NOT have a complete loop, and instead, features a half loop or "cradle" that has a slight hook on the end. The RN author's "g" NEVER comes back to the baseline, much less crosses above it and connects to the next letter.

    In addition, Karr's loop is rounded and flowing whereas the RN author's half-loop is slightly squared off with an almost 90 degree angle at the right corner.

    Both of Karr's lowercase "gh" exemplars are connected by the "g" loop upper stroke. NONE of the RN author's "gh" exemplars are connected. In fact, in three of them, there is a huge space between the two letters.

    There is only one example of Karr writing a lowercase combination of the letters "ght." It looks nothing like the RN author's "ght." When combining those letters, the RN author tends to slant the lowercase "t" to the right by almost 45 degrees as opposed to Karr's vertical "t."

    As I stated before, there can be surface similarities between the handwriting of any two individuals. However, one must look for over-all patterns of structure and form.

    Karr's handwriting has a lot of flourish and extra hooks, loops and strokes. It is light, "soft" and rounded, whereas the Ransom Note author's handwriting is more direct and unadorned. The height of the lowercase letters in relation to the uppercase letters is different than the height of the RN author's lowercase letters. In other words, Karr's lowercase zone is taller and fuller compared to his uppercase letters than the RN author's lowercase/uppercase ratio.

    Notice, I did not say that Karr's lowercase letters were larger than the Ransom Note author's lowercase letters, but that the size ratio of lowercase to uppercase was bigger. (Since I do not have the original copies, nor even the exact measurements of the samples, it is hard to determine the exact size of the letters ... but, we do have a close approximation for comparison based on page size.)

    Let me illustrate my point further. Have you noticed how children and some (mostly female) teenagers have a large lowercase zone compared to their uppercase? This is related somewhat to maturity and self-centeredness. A person who has a very large middle zone (where the lowercase letters are written) is mostly concerned with themselves, not other people. This is natural in children and teenagers. It is also an indication of preoccupation with the present, or what is happening TODAY versus the past or future.
     

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    Last edited: Mar 12, 2013
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