The Trial Of Amanda Knox
My interest in the murder trial of Amanda Knox began not with the news or in the blogosphere, but with a conversation I had with a complete stranger in a London coffee shop. The bespectacled man of approximately twice my years asked in an American accent if I had been following the case of Meredith Kercher, the British exchange student tragically raped and murdered in Perugia a year prior. I responded I had been following the reports a little but could not recall the exact details of the case. The American, it turns out, was interested in gauging the British public’s attitudes towards Knox, to which I responded the general consensus was foggy but she appeared to be guilty.
Speaking from behind his laptop, the American stranger directed me to a fresh opinion article written in the New York Times by well-respected journalist Timothy Egan, to which I have linked at the bottom of this post. The article was far different to any evaluation of the case I had previously heard. Egan took issue with the zeal of prosecution magistrate Giuliano Mignini, whose determination to establish the case as a drug-fuelled orgy with tragic consequences became a “recurring obsession”. To Egan, Mignini was a prosecutor obsessed with solving sensational crimes to further his career. At the time, this went largely against public attitudes towards Knox and the comments section of the article was filled with substantial outrage and lengthy responses. I myself was sceptical. It sounded much like an American patriot defending his own daughter – incidentally, Egan’s daughter was in fact studying in Italy at the time and complained herself of negative Italian attitudes to all female American students during the trial. As time has passed however, the chief concerns raised by Egan have become more acceptable and widespread and I shall admit now I have come to share them myself.
More4 last night aired a documentary entitled The Trial of Amanda Knox, in which the significant details of the case, including forensic evidence and extracts from Amanda’s prison diaries, were combined with testimony from journalists, Knox’s family and friends to build a picture of the trial. It largely restated the points expressed by Egan’s article, confirming a more sceptical attitude to the case in the public domain. The bra clasp supposedly holding the DNA of Amanda’s new lover Raffaele Sollecito – also convicted – we learn was not retrieved from the scene until six weeks after the murder had taken place, leaving the enormous possibility of contamination. Additionally, the knife found at Sollecito’s apartment was found not to match both wounds on the body of Meredith Kercher – a detail the prosecution avoided by proposing the existence of a second, as yet undiscovered, knife. Amanda’s confused statements under questioning and slander of Patrick Lumumba are now considered to be statements given in broken Italian under overly-intense questioning without the presence of a lawyer.
Perhaps strangest of all, a man had already been convicted for the murder before Amanda and Sollecito’s trial even began, raising questions as to why the prosecution demanded more from the case. The DNA of Rudy Guede, a drifter, was discovered in Meredith’s body, making him the only person linked unquestionably to the crime. Guede, who agreed to a fast-track trial, at first claimed he had indeed been in the house, but had returned from Meredith’s bathroom to find another man standing over her wielding a knife. This story later changed to Mignini’s version of events: that this was a sex game and Sollecito had held the knife. In the trial however, it is oddly Amanda who has been prosecuted for killing Meredith with a knife, demonstrating an obsessive desire on the part of the prosecution to convict her.
From an outsider’s perspective, the entire case is marred by shoddy police work, conflicting testimonies and unsubstantiated claims. The constant police leaks and negative press surrounding Amanda’s provocative online identity were surely enough to throw the case into disrepute yet they unwaveringly pressed toward a guilty verdict. I find it surprising that they would not move the trial to an area less affected by publicity and negative press. Indeed, the stoical retention of the case by the Perugian authorities clearly supports a harmful emphasis on honour in Italian trials. As an unfortunate result of the case’s handling, it is now, in my opinion, impossible to ascertain the true guilt or innocence of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito. There are certainly things in this trial that do not add up and need to be explained coherently, especially as the lives of two young individuals are in the balance, and until a truly cohesive account of the events of that night can be presented, the likelihood that suspicions will dissipate remains slim.
The English translation of Judge Massei’s sentencing report can be downloaded from here:
http://www.perugiamurderfile.org/viewtopic.php?p=53735
The evidence against Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito is overwhelming.
Amanda Knox’s DNA was found on:
1. On the double DNA knife and a number of independent forensic experts – Dr. Patrizia Stefanoni, Dr. Renato Biondo and Professor Francesca Torricelli – categorically stated that Meredith’s DNA was on the blade.
2. Mixed with Meredith’s blood on the ledge of the basin.
3. Mixed with Meredith’s blood on the bidet.
4. Mixed with Meredith blood on a box of Q Tip cotton swabs.
5. Mixed with Meredith’s blood in the hallway.
6. Mixed with Meredith’s blood on the floor of Filomena’s room, where the break-in was staged.
7. On Meredith’s bra according to Dr. Stefanoni AND Raffaele Sollecito’s forensic expert, Professor Vinci.
Amanda Knox’s footprints were found set in Meredith’s blood in two places in the hallway of the new wing of the cottage. One print was exiting her own room, and one print was outside Meredith’s room, facing into the room. These bloody footprints were only revealed under luminol.
A woman’s bloody shoeprint, which matched Amanda Knox’s foot size, was found on a pillow under Meredith’s body. The bloody shoeprint was incompatible with Meredith’s shoe size.
Two independent imprint experts categorically excluded the possibility that the bloody footprint on the blue bathmat could belong to Rudy Guede. Lorenzo Rinaldi stated:
“You can see clearly that this bloody footprint on the rug does not belong to Mr. Guede, but you can see that it is compatible with Sollecito.”
The other imprint expert print expert testified that the bloody footprint on the blue bathmat matched the precise characteristics of Sollecito’s foot.
An abundant amount of Raffaele Sollecito’s DNA was found on Meredith’s bra clasp. Sollecito must have applied considerable pressure to the clasp in order to have left so much DNA. The hooks on the clasp were damaged which confirms that Sollecito had gripped them tightly.
According to Judge Massei and Judge Cristiani, Rudy Guede’s visible bloody footprints lead straight out of Meredith’s room and out of the house. He didn’t lock Meredith’s door, remove his trainers, go into Filomena’s room or the bathroom that Meredith and Knox shared.
He didn’t scale the vertical wall outside Filomena’s room or gain access through the window. The break-in was clearly staged. This indicates that somebody who lived at the cottage was trying to deflect attention away from themselves and give the impression that a stranger had broken in and killed Meredith.
Guede had no reason to stage the break-in and there was no physical evidence that he went into Filomena’s room or the bathroom. The scientific police found a mixture of Knox’s DNA and Meredith’s blood on the floor in Filomena’s room. They also found irrefutable proof that Knox and Sollecito had tracked Meredith’s blood into the bathroom.
The murder dynamic implicates Knox and Sollecito.
Barbie Nadeau wrote the following:
“Countless forensic experts, including those who performed the autopsies on Kercher’s body, have testified that more than one person killed her based on the size and location of her injuries and the fact that she didn’t fight back—no hair or skin was found under her fingernails.”
Judge Paolo Micheli claimed that Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito knew precise details about Meredith’s murder that they could have only known if they were present when she was killed.
Amanda Knox voluntarily admitted that she involved in Meredith’s murder in her handwritten note to the police on 6 November 2007. She stated on at least four separate occasions that she was at the cottage when Meredith was killed. She also claimed that Sollecito was at the cottage.
Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito both gave multiple conflicting alibis and lied repeatedly. Their lies were exposed by telephone and computer records, and by CCTV footage. Neither Knox nor Sollecito have credible alibis for the night of the murder despite three attempt each. At the trial, Sollecito refused to corroborate Knox’s alibi that she was at his apartment.
Legal expert Stefano Maffei stated the following:
“There were 19 judges who looked at the evidence over the course of two years, faced with decisions on pre-trial detention, review of such detention, committal to trial, judgment on criminal responsibility. They all agreed, at all times, that the evidence was overwhelming.
Achtung! Warum konzentriert sich die Energie der journalistischen Arbeit im Mordfall Meredith Kercher nicht auf ein
ganz anderes Problem! Die elementare Frage: Wer kommt als Akteur des Verbrechens
noch in Frage! Welches seriöse reale Motiv steht wahrscheinlicher, als die falschen Beschuldigungen noch Phantasien der Staatsanwaltschaft dahinter! Die wirklichen Täter sind den Behörden und Geheindiensten längst bekannt!
Regard! Why focus the energy of the
journalists do not work in the murder of Meredith Kercher
a
entirely different problem! The fundamental question: Who can be a
Actor of the crime
still in question! What is the real motive is serious
more likely than the false accusations yet
Fantasies of the Prosecutor’s behind it! The real culprits
have long been known to the authorities and Geheindiensten!
More: http://www.politikcity.de/forum/showthread.php?t=29361
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replace if needed more correct text on! Thank you!
Great blog. Usually Egan gets trashed over there.
These links may be useful or at least of interest to you.
The documentary hasn’t been seen in the States yet. Tks for the review.
Amanda Knox – Police Deceit – Assassins of Character
Crime scene video inside Raffaele Sollecito’s apartment; police collect important evidence that confirms Amanda told the truth about her alibi; investigators will find this evidence again a month later in a completely different location.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHleYhBJy8k
Amanda Knox – 47 Days is a Long Time – The Bra Clasp Discovery
This video looks into the circumstances surrounding the discovery of Raffaele Sollecieto’s DNA on a Bra Clasp that was collected from the crime scene 47 days after the murder of Meredith Kercher.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLE4s3jXTVU
Amanda Knox – Bathroom Fallacy – What Amanda Saw
This is actual crime scene video of the bathroom at Via della Pergola #7 taken within hours of the murder of Meredith Kercher.
Contrary to reporting and popular belief, the bathroom looked relatively normal; there was nothing so out of the ordinary that Amanda Knox would suspect that a murder had been committed in the room next door. She simply took a shower as she did every day. (Even on chilly mornings).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n71ZJPBq8uk