Facing a combative group of reporters in her first press conference since Monday's dramatic about-turn, Boulder District Attorney Mary Lacy accepted full responsibility for the move.
'The decisions were mine,' she said at the news conference. 'I should be held accountable.'
Karr was cleared of JonBenet's murder on Monday due to lack of evidence, after DNA taken from the suspect did not match samples found on the six-year-old child at the time of her death in 1996.
Lacy said bringing Karr back from Thailand was the only way to get a reliable DNA sample from the suspect and ensure he would not flee and possibly harm other young girls.
'We had probable cause to arrest him,' Lacy said. 'We also had taken advantage of a forensic psychologist who advised that this person was dangerous, this person was escalating. We felt we could not ignore this, we had to follow it.'
Her comments came after she was subjected to a barrage of criticism in the case, which erupted after Karr gave himself up to authorities in Thailand and claimed to have been with the JonBenet at the time of her death, which he described as an accident.
But there were big question marks as soon as news of his arrest broke. Family members of Karr said he was with them in Georgia or Alabama at the time of the slaying in Boulder, Colorado, while legal experts pointed to other inconsistencies in his confession.
In addition to the barbs of local citizens and legal experts, Lacy also faced criticism from Colorado Governor Bill Owens.
'Mary Lacy should be held accountable for the most extravagant and expensive DNA test in Colorado history,' he said, according to the Rocky Mountain News.
Though Karr was cleared of the murder charges, he remained in the Boulder County jail awaiting extradition to California, where he is wanted on charges of possession of child pornography stemming from 2001. Karr fled the US to Asia that year.
His arrest in Thailand sparked a firestorm of media attention, reflecting the infamous nature of the December 1996 murder. The story garnered national news coverage for years as police failed to apprehend any suspect and a cloud of suspicion enveloped JonBenet's parents.
Karr had worked for years as a primary-school teacher, including in Thailand after fleeing the US.
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