Karr drove flashy car, wedded teens

updated 1:06 p.m. ET Aug. 18, 2006

HAMILTON, Ala. - The man who claimed he killed JonBenet Ramsey was known in his Alabama hometown for his flashy red sports car, but he was also dogged by questions about his marriages to teenage girls and behavior in elementary classrooms where he worked as a substitute teacher.

John Karr, who lived in northwest Alabama from his preteen years until after the brutal slaying in Colorado, stood out in this rural town both for his gull-winged red DeLorean and his intelligence.

"You couldn't help but like John. He always had something going," said Marion County School Superintendent Bravell Jackson, who both taught Karr and later had to fire him as a substitute teacher amid parent complaints.

Karr received a substitute teaching certificate in Alabama in 1996. Mitch Edwards, spokesman for the State Department of Education, said the certificate was requested by the Marion County Board of Education.

Jackson said the school system was contacted Wednesday by the DA's office in Boulder, Colo., which was seeking employment records. He said the town was shook up over Karr's arrest. "It's a situation that happens once in a lifetime in a small place like this," he said.

Annulment after marriage to 13-year-old
Few people seemed to know Karr well in Alabama, yet his marriage to young brides generated plenty of talk.

Court records show a 14-year-old girl sought an annulment of their "ceremonial marriage" in 1985, claiming she feared for her life when she agreed to wed him in 1984, when she was just 13 and he was 19.

Karr admitted she was a minor, documents show, but he disputed she was 13. A judge granted the annulment, and they didn't have any children.

Karr later married Lara Karr, who was 16 when their twin daughters died the day they were born on Sept. 1, 1989. The girls, Angel and Innocence Karr, are buried in the cemetery of a rural church in a family plot.

Twins die after home birth
Former Sheriff A.C. Tice and others recalled the death of the newborns partly because of the circumstances: They were born at home rather than in a hospital.

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"It seems he delivered his children at home," said Probate Judge Annette Bozeman. She said Karr was in her office frequently working on car titles.

"He had a used car business. We saw him quite often. He was a very polite fellow, but he was a little unusual," she said.

Originally from Atlanta, Karr came to live with his grandparents in Hamilton around age 12. Records indicate he remained in town through the fall of 2000, when Lara Karr transferred her voter registration to California.

Lara Karr told KGO-TV in California that she and her former husband were in Alabama when JonBenet was killed. She said she does not believe he was involved in her death.

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