Thursday, May 07, 2009

“An American Student Kills 62 Years Old Retired Bankteller”

Posted by Nicki

[click for larger image]

Corriere reports that this crime took place yesterday.

The American student was under the effect of psychotic drugs. He was wandering through the streets of Florence. He tried to force entry through a garage door while the victim was in the process of locking it.

The student attacked the retired bankteller and cut his throat with a mirror sliver. He covered the body with a piece of cloth and then left.

Police found him sitting on a bench nearby, a few hours after the murder was discovered. He has already confessed the murder.

Posted by Nicki on 05/07/09 at 02:20 PM in Various hypotheses, Pondering motive, The psychology, The legal followups, Italian related, The wider contexts, Italian context, Hoaxes against Italy, Hoaxes Knox & team, 13 AK persona hoax, 18 No drug use hoax

Comments

What an appalling story. What a tragedy. This reminds me of something that happened when I was younger - a friend’s brother woke up in hospital after taking massive quantity of drugs - LSD amongst them. He recovered consciousness and found a policeman at the end of the bed waiting to question him about a murder he had committed under the influence. He had no memory of the events whatsoever. It was Kafka-esque.

I feel terribly sad for the murder victim’s family. What a terrible waste of a life…

And it just goes to show, how drugs could well have played a part in Meredith’s death.

Posted by TT on 05/08/09 at 04:01 PM | #

The Associated Press now has a longer report on this sad, preventable case.

Posted by Peter Quennell on 05/08/09 at 05:24 PM | #

Yes, another truly horrific incident wrapped in international clothing.

However, it is important not to link MK’s tragedy with this one.

The fact that the alleged assailant is an American - is quite frankly irrelevant.
It is shameful, however, that the FOA clan continue to portray the MK murder trial as a US v Europe/rest of the world diplomatic fallout.

Posted by Kent County lad on 05/08/09 at 06:41 PM | #

Hi Kent County Lad. Excellent comment. The US-Italy tension is one of the saddest aspects of this whole case.

Whether this is another one-off case or a worrying trend is hard to tell. The apparent second (and possibly third) murder in Italy by an American student in less than 18 months might suggest a trend.

You might consider this post here.

Posted by Peter Quennell on 05/08/09 at 07:26 PM | #

Hi Peter,

Having now read the article via the link above, I can see your point.

It is important that we distinguish the clearly unrelated events that have or are occurring in Italy - with American nationals being at the centre of them all and tarring a nation with the same brush.

I would err on the side of caution, when faced with opportunities to stereotype any particular group.

Americans in general are generous and decent folk.

However, it seems quite clear that they are relatively clueless when abroad - and in particular the younger Americans.
I am not too surprised mind, afterall what does a kid from say, South Dakota, really know about cultural behaviour in North Dakota just next door?

Posted by Kent County lad on 05/09/09 at 08:24 PM | #

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