Hmmm . . .

The JonBenet case: Is a man whose last name contains the word"hell" the actual killer of JonBenet Ramsey?

- Let me digress: A leg injury has enabled Sneed to watch 'round-the-clock TV coverage of the unsolved murder of the young beautyqueen until my eyes started confusing Wolf Blitzer with CatherineCrier. This media madhouse, fueled by a frenzy to feed first at thescoop trough, has yielded goofy interviews and confused facts sincethe arrest of John Mark Karr, who confessed to being involved inJonBenet's death.

- Let me suggest: However, Sneed spotted a CourtTV documentary onthe private detectives who worked on behalf of the Ramseys to findtheir daughter's killer. Their work centered on one strongpossibility: a Boulder, Colo., man who committed "suicide" afterJonBenet's death

Their suspect liked young girls, had a stun gun, owned boots thatleft a similar footprint to the ones found at the scene, andreportedly said he wanted to know what it was like to "crack a head."(JonBenet's skull was fractured.) The private investigators felt theman, who shot cats and fired guns in proximity of his friends, mayhave been murdered. They believe his suicide looked more like ahomicide. And after his death, a series of home invasions by a manwho attempted to molest sleeping children in the area around theRamseys' home stopped.

Will this case surface again?

Did two people abduct JonBenet?

Did Karr witness someone else cracking her skull?

Stay tuned.

THE RAMSEY CASE II . . .

The Karr connection: The e-mail correspondence between murdersuspect John Mark Karr and University of Colorado journalismprofessor Michael Tracey that led to Karr's arrest has its roots inan unusual meeting at the Shakespeare and Co. bookstore in Paris.

- To wit: Michael Sandrock, a columnist for the Daily Camera, theBoulder newspaper, said he bumped into Karr at the shop in June 2002.When Karr learned Sandrock was from Boulder, he reportedly queriedhim about the Ramsey case, asking, "Who do you think did thekilling?" Sandrock recalled in the New York Times. "And when I said,'Some think the parents, but others say an intruder,' he kind of hada little smile."

- The buckshot: Sandrock gave his e-mail address to Karr and thenput Karr in touch with Tracey, thus beginning the four-year e-mailexchange that culminated in Karr's recent arrest.

TRUMP 'EM . . .

Now comes word of two Trump tales.

- Hire 'em: Can it be true? Melania Trump, third wife of realestate mogul Donald Trump, is reportedly using the online bulletinboard Craigslist to find a nanny for the couple's young son, Barron.

- Shop 'em: Ivanka Trump, the product of The Donald and wife No.1, Ivana, hits town this week to shop at the Merchandise Mart andMarshall Field's/Macy's for furniture to spruce up the modelapartment at Trump Tower with our town's Sugar Rautbord. "Did youknow Ivanka has received her construction license in Dubai, whereanother Trump Tower will be built?" asked Sugar. "She is one smartgirl."

I SPY . . .

St. Louis Cardinals skipper Tony LaRussa dining solo with a bookat Pane Caldo eatery. . . . Powerful NFL owners Steve "New YorkGiants" Tisch and Daniel "Washington Redskins" Snyder also madeseparate appearances at the posh Gold Coast eatery.

SNEEDLINGS . . .

Today's birthdays: Tori Amos, 43; Ray Bradbury, 86; Dutchie Caray,ageless; Ald. Tom Tunney, 51; Terry Savage, ageless; Cindy Williams,59; John Callaway, 70, and Dorothy Camden, ageless.

e-mail: sneed@suntimes.com