Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Judge’s Report On Guede Sentence Suggests Roles Of Knox And Sollecito

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Seems rather a bombshell for the remaining two defendants. A shapeshifter, even.

Last October, Judge Micheli [bottom here] released a summary rationale of his verdict and sentencing of Guede. And last night, the judge released his full report on the rationale.

Richard Owen of the London Times [above] seems the only reporter so far to have read all 106 pages - how we wish American coverage could achieve this superb level. Some excerpts:

Judge Paolo Micheli, releasing a report on his reasons for sentencing Rudy Guede, 22, to 30 years in prison in October for his part in the murder, said the killing was “a group crime”. Guede had not himself cut Ms Kercher’s throat. But there was “cast iron proof” that he had taken part in the murder, even if he did not strike the “mortal blow”.

Under Italian law a judge has to outline the “motivation” behind his verdict. Unlike Ms Knox and Mr Sollecito, Guede… opted for a “fast track” trial in the hope of a reduced sentence.

Judge Micheli was also the pre-trial judge who in October said there was enough evidence against Ms Knox and Mr Sollecito for them to be sent for trial. The prosecution alleges that Guede tried to sexually assault Ms Kercher while Mr Sollecito held her down and Ms Knox toyed with a knife against her throat, which she then used to stab her. Judge Micheli said he accepted that there was “complicity” between the assailants, but said some aspects of the prosecution reconstruction were “fantasy”.

Reconstructing the crime in his 106-page report, Judge Micheli said the first blow was struck at Ms Kercher while she was standing up. He said she was killed because she refused to take part in a sexual game which “escalated into violence and got out of control”.

Judge Micheli said Guede was “a liar” and there were “no extenuating circumstances”. “Even someone who wanted to believe him would find it impossible,” the judge wrote. He added: “It is credible that Guede entered the house because he was let into it by someone else, and that someone could only be Amanda Knox.”

He said there had been an “agreed plan” to satisfy “sexual instincts” which ended in “murderous intent”. Guede had continued to try to assault Ms Kercher sexually even when a knife was produced and even when the knife “sank deeper into her neck” the judge said. Guede had not completed the sexual act only because of Ms Kercher’s “screams of pain and fear”.

The prosecution in the trial of Ms Knox and Mr Sollecito alleges that Ms Knox arranged for Guede, who had made clear that he was attracted to Ms Kercher and wanted to have sex with her, to come to the cottage when she knew her flatmate was there.

Judge Micheli said the statements Guede, who fled to Germany after the murder, had made following his arrest and extradition to Italy were “nothing more than a colossal accumulation of contradictions and attempts to throw investigators off the track”.

In his haste to flee, Guede had bumped into a couple near the cottage who had testified to police, the judge said. Ms Knox and Mr Sollecito meanwhile had been seen at a square above the cottage by a homeless man, and apparently waited there “to see if police arrived”, the judge said.

He said that because of “complicity” between the three, Guede had “never once mentioned the name Amanda” until late into the inquiry, when he said he had heard Ms Knox’s voice at the door and seen a man “resembling” Mr Sollecito….

Judge Micheli said Guede had had “no intention of saving” Ms Kercher’s life as she lay bleeding to death. He noted that neighbours had testified that they clearly heard a woman screaming in agony inside the cottage late at night.

In his defence Guede had claimed that he was in the bathroom with stomach pains when Ms Kercher was murdered. The judge said this was untrue.

So it seems Meredith was set-up. Tortured. Stabbed, many times. And abandoned. Walked out on, when she still could have been saved. Savagery incarnate.

Poor Meredith. Poor poor Meredith. How very much sadness you evoke.

Comments

Thanks for getting your hands on the full report in Italian, Pete. I’m sure capable translators will get to work on it quickly.

Posted by Skeptical Bystander on 01/27/09 at 07:10 PM | #

Thank you Pete for this report. I just had a quick read and it is very disturbing, I had to stop reading it. The cruelty to poor Meredith is shocking horror.

Posted by Jools on 01/27/09 at 08:20 PM | #

Link to report is dropped for now as Italian speakers tell us it’s really very disturbing.

Many have told us they cried on reading it. And many had to simply stop reading.

We’ll be putting it back up as soon as we have redacted the disturbing sections.

Posted by Peter Quennell on 01/28/09 at 01:10 AM | #

By the way, some of those analyzing the report behind the scenes believe that Judge Micheli is hinting at various pieces of evidence not yet in the public domain. Even in the quotes above, he seems confident that evidence backs his conclusions.

As we have often remarked, there are now over 10,000 pages of evidence presently available only to the defense lawyers and the Kerchers’ lawyer. Some or most of this, but perhaps not all, will seep out during the trial.

And then it will all be strongly contested, which is good. We very much welcome that. The pros and cons of the evidence seem to us more important than the pros and cons of the justice system or its employees.

Posted by Peter Quennell on 01/28/09 at 05:06 PM | #

Unfortunately, the American media has its hands full of much more heinous crimes on a daily basis.  During the year of the crime against Meredith, at least seven young college students were viciously murdered in the towns and cities across America.  Mothers, children and young women were brutally murdered in cold blood for no apparent reason.  The loss of Meredith Kercher was such an insane loss of a beautiful person as well.

The American media fixates on crimes that are so   sad and ruthless, over time it seems we seem to have lost our sensabilities toward life. 

I am an American living in the southern United States, and I read online reports of sad news of killings of whole families in my country. Tragic loss of people who are not unlike each of us who one day hope to have kids, a garden, maybe a safe place to play with our grandchildren when we grow old.

I was an military serviceman stationed in Italy,Spain, and Sicily so many years ago.  Italy is such a cool place to live.  The people are amazing and life there is a fantastic thing.  I have a dream one day to live there.  I have confidence Meredith will be honored there with true justice.  Just as you all expect.  The Italians will do what people expect of them.  They have been doing it for many thousands of years.  Meredith smiles at us for that reason.

Remember, find peace and justice for Meredith, and pray for peace for her family and friends.  May blessings find her mother, father, and sister.

Peace and cool, Antonio

Posted by tony on 02/27/09 at 06:04 AM | #

“neighbours had testified that they clearly heard a woman screaming in agony inside the cottage late at night.”

Then why didn’t they call the police immediately? I would understand that kind of unresponsiveness had it been one scream. But multiple screams? And screams of agony?

Posted by profk on 12/09/09 at 12:01 AM | #

In response to Profk: Sometimes people don’t want to get involved in other people’s “business”. I think anyone who knows about this crime feels that it was totally unecessary, and not least of all Meredith’s family. However, given that whatever has happened has happened, I think there are many lessons to be learned from it.

One thing that I have learned from this is to never, ever ignore screams or sounds of serious fighting. Now whenever I hear that kind of thing in my apartment complex I check it out and if necessary call the police. In one case, I heard fighting between a man and a woman, and I was concerned especially for the woman so I called the police. When the police came, the people said everything was okay. I didn’t feel stupid, because I thought at least they know people can hear and know they can’t get away with harming others. I don’t worry that I might be intruding on other people’s business. The way I see it, if I can see or hear it, it has become my business. Who knows, we might save a life.

Posted by Vedantist on 01/21/10 at 11:53 PM | #

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