John Mark Karr was the American picked up in Thailand in the summer of 2006 on charges related to sexual molestation of children. He immediately confessed to being present at the murder of JonBenet Ramsey. John Mark Karr managed to get himself flown out of Thailand to the US, where immediately the Ramsey case fell apart.

Of course it fell apart. It was a giant lie.

On the day after John Mark Karr was picked up, while everyone else was agog at the stunning breakthough in the Ramsey case, I wrote:

I have to wonder whether he had the "Ramsey confession" in his back pocket, as it were, ready to be used when, inevitably, he would be facing Thai justice for whatever kinky stuff he was up to. A hastily arranged trip to the US where the case falls apart, perhaps a short stint on a mischief charge, and then he is a free man.

Sounds like a plan.

Now let's consider the case of Karlheinz Schreiber.

Schreiber is sitting in a Toronto jail fighting extradition to Germany where he faces criminal charges. His latest salvo was contained in a letter sent directly to the prime minister about his dealings with Mulroney. Harper aides say the prime minister never saw the letter.

Top bureaucrats say the correspondence was not considered important enough seven months ago to share with the prime minister.

Schrieber is fighting extradition and losing. Soon he will face criminal charges in Germany. He knows in all likelihood he would die in a German prison should he set foot in Germany. So seven months ago he sent the letter (actually many letters). In it he puts just enough truth to make it credible. Brian Mulroney received $300,000 when he was already a private citizen in 1993 and 1994. Brian Mulroney met with Stephen Harper in August 2006.

But then the letter has the bombshells. The $300,000 payment was arranged with Brian Mulroney over a month earlier, while Brian Mulroney was winding down his last 48 hours as prime minister. Twelve years later, Schreiber claims Mulroney delivered a letter to Harper on behalf of Schreiber, a letter that contained the details of the Airbus affair.

Of course Brian Mulroney and Stephen Harper deny those elements of the story. But for Karlheinz Schreiber, that's not important. The important thing is that a major inquiry be held, in which Brian Mulroney will be focus of charges, and not Karlheinz Schreiber. The proceedings would certainly be a far comfortable situation for Schreiber here in Canada than in Germany.

The more elaborate the inquiry, the better for Schreiber:

In a phone call from Toronto West Detention Centre, where Mr. Schreiber had to turn himself in more than a month ago in the buildup to his extradition hearings, the 73-year-old German-Canadian said he was elated.

"It is so amazing. I cannot tell you how happy I am," he said.

Mr. Schreiber has written letters to many members of Parliament urging for an inquiry.

"They need a good judge. A Supreme Court judge or something or two or three, but none which was appointed by Mulroney," he said.

A Supreme Court judge, no less. Maybe even three! Well, that could drag on for a year or more. With extradition stayed for the duration, Karlheinz Schreiber might not even spend that time in the Toronto West Detention Centre. He could use the time to fight the extradition charges, or come to a deal with the German authorities who might have reached the end of their patience with Schreiber.

At 73, Schreiber might not even live long enough to be extradited. Maybe the Germans will decide it's better to just make a deal and have Schreiber agree to a fine and time-served instead of having him die in Canada without ever having paid a price for his alleged criminal activities in Germany.

As Schreiber mentions, several MPs received letters hoping for an inquiry to he held. Now a preliminary investigation is going to occur, and that means Schreiber isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Is Karlheinz Schreiber trying to force the German authorities to conclude that a deal with no extradition and no jail time is the best they can hope to expect now?

Sounds like a plan.

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