Overview: This page exclusively covers the 500 or so zombie lies in Knox's English-only 2013 book. See this page for Knox's zombie lies to media and paying groups.
Category: Examples 73-129
3. Knox Book Lies 73 To 129
Posted by Chimera
Also Implacably Nasty… Click here to go straight to Comments.
1. Overview Of This Post
My opinion is that this book is essentially Amanda Knox’s way of getting back at everyone in Italy she ever encountered, while falsely making her notoriously brash, sharp-elbowed, frequently drugged-up persona look endearing, naive, and squeaky-clean.
Knox includes numerous lies, smears, and stories to compromise literally dozens of others. None of them help clear up what happened to Meredith. And given how rampant the lies are, it doesn’t really clarify anything about Amanda Knox either. All it really does it muddy the waters, which may be the real desired benefit.
I previewed this series and explained why “Revenge of the Knox” in this post here. Series post #1 dissected pages 1 to 66 of the new paperback edition. Post #2 dissected pages 67 to 107.
2. Dissection Of Pages 107 to 168
[Chapter 10 Page 107] ‘’ ... That afternoon at Raffaele’s, I got a text from one of Meredith’s friends””a student from Poland””telling me about a candlelight memorial service for Meredith that night. Everyone was supposed to meet downtown, on Corso Vannucci, at 8 P.M. and walk in a procession to the Duomo. I kept wondering about what I should do. I wanted to be there but couldn’t decide if it was a good idea for me to go to such a public event. I was sure the people I ran into would ask me what I knew about the murder. In the end my decision was made for me””Raffaele had somewhere else to be, and I wouldn’t have considered going alone. It didn’t occur to me that people would later read my absence as another indication of guilt.
At around 9 P.M. Raffaele and I went to a neighbor’s apartment for a late dinner. Miserable and unable to sit still, I plucked absentmindedly at his friend’s ukulele, propped on a shelf in the living room. At about ten o’clock, while we were eating,Raffaele’s phone rang. “Pronto,” Raffaele said, picking up…’‘
- You get a text telling you there is a vigil for your murdered ‘‘friend’‘, and you aren’t sure what you should do?
- Yes, people might ask about the case, but you had no problem refusing to talk to your classmates about it, correct?
- Did Raffaele really have somewhere to be? Why couldn’t you go alone? You could go with the Polish student who texted you.
- Or did you simply not want to be confronted by anyone with what really happened, or not respect the victim?
[Chapter 10, Page17] ‘’... Raffaele said, “We’re just eating dinner. Would you mind if I finished first?” That was a bad idea, too.
While we cleared the table, Raffaele and I chatted quickly about what I should do while he was at the police station. I was terrified to be alone, even at his place, and uneasy about hanging out with someone I didn’t know. I could quickly organize myself to stay overnight with Laura or Filomena, but that seemed so complicated””and unnecessary. Tomorrow, when my mom arrived, this wouldn’t be a question we’d have to discuss.
“I’m sure it’s going to be quick,” Raffaele said. I said, “I’ll just come with you.” Did the police know I’d show up, or were they purposefully separating Raffaele and me? When we got there they said I couldn’t come inside, that I’d have to wait for Raffaele in the car. I begged them to change their minds. I said, “I’m afraid to be by myself in the dark.”
They gave me a chair outside the waiting room, by the elevator. I’d been doing drills in my grammar workbook for a few minutes when a silver-haired police officer””I never learned his name””came and sat next to me. He said, “As long as you’re here, do you mind if I ask you some questions?”
I was still clueless, still thinking I was helping the police, still unable or unwilling to recognize that I was a suspect. But as the next hours unfolded, I slowly came to understand that the police were trying to get something out of me, that they wouldn’t stop until they had it.
I’d done this so many times in the questura I felt as if I could dial it in. And finally someone there seemed nice. “Okay,” I said, starting in. “There are the guys who live downstairs.”As I was running through the list of male callers at No. 7, Via della Pergola, I suddenly remembered Rudy Guede for the first time. I’d met him only briefly. I said “Oh, and there’s this guy””I don’t know his name or his number””all I know is that heplays basketball with the guys downstairs. They introduced Meredith and me to him in Piazza IV Novembre. We all walked to the villa together, and then Meredith and I went to their apartment for a few minutes.
- ”The logic here is a bit convoluted. Raffaele is called to clear up discrepancies in his alibi, and you assume it is an elaborate plot to lure YOU in?
- You claim the police thought you were a suspect, yet you had to beg them to let you in, and to stay when you were told to go home to bed?
- Who was the “silver haired officer”? Did he even exist? There was trial testimony proving this untrue, that Rita Ficarra kept an eye on you and eventually suggest you list possible perps.
- If you had just been eating very late, and you were brought refreshments, then why complain later about not having been given anything to eat?
- You admit, once again, that you knew who Rudy Guede was. Again, why did you say in your December 2013 email to Judge Nencini, that you had never met him?
- You can see why lying to a judge about not ever meeting your co-accused might be suspicious?
- You later claim that Guede is a drug dealer. With what proof? If Guede was a drug dealer, why would he not break into the bottom floor (where the drugs were)?
- Why did you bring your college homework to the police station? Did you know Raffaele could be a long time in there?
- You definitely worked on a list of men who came by the apartment. In fact you produced a list of 7 names that included: Rudy Guede, Patrick, Shaky, Spyros and Jude. You drew maps to where they lived.
- Why did that never appear in your book? How long did this list take to make? Didn’t you only stop because Raffaele withdrew his alibi for you?
- Did you ever name Rudy, Patrick, Shaky, Spyros or Jude before? Or as the next hours unfolded?
- How long was it exactly before Raffaele ‘‘took away your alibi’‘? Just shortly before you finished your first statement at 1:45, right?
[Chapter 11, Page 125] ‘’ ... I signed my second “spontaneous declaration” at 5:45 A.M., just as the darkness was beginning to soften outside the small window on the far side of the interrogation room…’‘
- “spontaneous declaration” ? There is no obvious reason for the quotation marks. It WAS spontaneous made at your own request. Granted Cassation gave you the benefit of the doubt in excluding it form the main trial, it was completely your own decision to write it.
[Chapter 11, Page 125] ‘’ ... The room emptied in a rush. Except for Rita Ficarra, who sat at the wooden desk where she’d been all night, I was alone in the predawn hush. Just a few more hours and I’ll see Mom, I thought. We’ll spend the night in a hotel.
I asked permission to push two metal folding chairs together, balled myself into the fetal position, and passed out, spent. I probably didn’t sleep longer than an hour before doubt pricked me awake. Oh my God, what if I sent the police in the wrong direction? They’ll be looking for the wrong person while the real killer escapes. I sat up crying, straining to remember what had happened on the night of Meredith’s murder. Had I really met Patrick? Had I even been at the villa? Did I make all that up? I was too exhausted, too rattled, to think clearly. I was gripped by uncertainty about what I’d said to the police and the pubblico ministero. I tried to get Ficarra’s attention. “Um, scusi,” I murmured tentatively. “I’m not sure what I told you is right.” “The memories will come back with time,” Ficarra answered mechanically, barely raising her eyes to look at me. “You have to think hard.”
- Putting the chairs together for you to rest was actually Rita Ficarra’s idea. She and other investigators were trying to calm you down. She never brushed you off as you claim.
- Prior to this Dr Mignini chaired a hearing specifically to inform you that you were being held and charged and you should say no more without a lawyer - though you did talk and did write statements at 5:45 and noon.
- The evidence he listed against you was very substantial and was summarised at length in the reports of the Matteini and Ricciarelli hearings and the sharp refusal of the Supreme Court to allow house arrest.
- What language were you speaking in? You say that you are alone except for Rita Ficarra and she speaks no English, and you ‘‘virtually have no’’ Italian, and she testified she called for a translator as no progress was made.
- You are trying to ‘‘frame’’ it as doubt, but you did send the police on a wild goose chase naming numerous new suspects, and you did help your accomplice, Rudy Guede, escape.
- Just so we are clear: Did you speak with Dr Mignini prior to your second spontaneous declaration only, or prior to the first as well, though he is conclusively proven to have not been there?
- Your ‘‘account’’ of the fictional questioning by Dr Mignini is so detailed. How is it you have such ‘‘vague’’ recollections about everything else?
- You fell asleep? Was it exhaustion, or knowing the anticipation was over? Ask any American or Canadian police officer. Guilty perps who are arrested have no trouble falling asleep. But the innocent ones can’t.
[Chapter 11, Page 126] ‘’ ... I tried to weave the images that had flashed in my mind the night before into a coherent sequence. But my memories””of Patrick, the villa, Meredith’s screams””were disjointed, like pieces of different jigsaw puzzles that had ended up in the same box by mistake. They weren’t ever meant to fit together. I’d walked by the basketball court near the villa every day. I’d said, “It was Patrick,” because I saw his face. I imagined him in his brown jacket because that’s what he usually wore. The more I realized how fragmented these images were, the closer I came to understanding that they weren’t actual memories….’‘
- You are right in one sense. They were not memories. Various courts all concluded that they were lies.
- ’‘I imagined him’‘? Really, when you are faced with the loss of your alibi you start imagining people?
- Memories ... of Meredith screaming… You were the first to claim this and it was then was corroborated by several others, strong proof that you were there.
- So you have memories of Meredith screaming, you walked by the basketball court [where Rudy plays] everyday, and you imagine Patrick’s face?
[Chapter 11, Page 126] ‘’ ... Suddenly my cell phone, which had been lying on the desk since it was waved in my face, lit up and started ringing. Ficarra ignored this. “Can I please answer it?” I begged.
“I’m sure it’s my mom; I’m supposed to meet her at the train station. She’ll freak out if I don’t answer.” “No,” Ficarra said. “You cannot have your phone back. Your phone is evidence.”
- This is all made up. There is no proof this exchange took place. No call came through. Nobody took your phone, you yourself passed it across several times. You waved ii before the cops.
- Again, what language are you and Rita Ficarra talking in? Was the translator now there?
[Chapter 11, Page 127] ‘’ ... Around 2 P.M. on Tuesday””it was still the same day, although it felt as if it should be two weeks later””Ficarra took me to the cafeteria. I was starving. After the interrogation was over they brought me a cup of tea, but this was the first food or drink I’d been offered since Raffaele and I had arrived at the questura around 10:30 P.M. Monday. With my sneakers confiscated, I trailed her down the stairs wearing only my socks. She turned and said, “Sorry I hit you. I was just trying to help you remember the truth.”
- There is no proof this exchange took place. You were not hit ever by the police. Even your own lawyers confirmed this. The police had no need, and no time after you did the list and maps.
- Minute to minute it is known what happened, this came out at trial. In fact, you currently face more calunnia charges for this false accusation among others.
- This was the first food you had had since last night? In the 2009 trial, the police testified you were fed and brought drinks several times. You admitted this at trial.
[Chapter 11, Page 127] ‘’ ... I was still too confused to know what the truth was….’‘
- That reads very evasive and deceptive. If you were so confused then, and at trial, how is it you have such perfect recall now?
[Chapter 11, Page 128] ‘’ ... I didn’t want them to think I was a bad person. I wanted them to see me as I was “”as Amanda Knox, who loved her parents, who did well in school, who respected authority, and whose only brush with the law had been a ticket for violating a noise ordinance during a college party I’d thrown with my housemates in Seattle. I wanted to help the police track down the person who’d murdered my friend…’‘
- This is not how anyone in Perugia saw you. It reads like you are a lawyer trying to pitch for leniency at a trial. “Your Honor, really Ms. Knox is a good person. She does well in school, loves her family, and her only prior is for making noise. Please ignore the evidence about the sexual assault and stabbing.”
- Whether you love your parents is irrelevant. Whether you got good grades or not is irrelevant. Whether you respected authority is irrelevant. The ticket may have been your only police involvement, but you left out the rock throwing which was part of the offense.
[Chapter 11, Page 128] ‘’ ... What I did not know was that the police and I had very different ideas about where I stood. I saw myself as being helpful, someone who, having lived with Meredith, could answer the detectives’ questions. I would do that as long as they wanted. But the police saw me as a killer without a conscience. It would be a long time before I figured out that our presumptions were exactly the opposite of each other’s….’‘
- As they testified, the police thought no such thing. At most several of them thought you might be withholding vital information, based on what they overheard, but they were still pursuing numerous other leads.
- You three statements smacked of desperation given you were really treated well. It doesn’t help that you said you went out alone, or deliberately vague about Raffaele possibly also being there.
- In previous days the police merely asked you for some routine background about yourself and Meredith. They also asked where you were at the time, which is standard procedure. You would only have to do that ‘‘as long as they wanted’’ if you were either lying or being uncooperative. Remember, you complained (and in this book) that the questioning was excessive, though others were questioned too.
[Chapter 11, Page 129] ‘’ ... “We need to take you into custody,” she said. “Just for a couple of days””for bureaucratic reasons.”
- This is a complete fabrication. There is no proof this exchange took place. You knew full well you were being arrested, and signed a statement saying you understood why.
- By your own admission, they were still just looking for possible suspects. And if Sollecito had withdrawn your alibi, they wouldn’t need a name—they would suspect him and you. This makes no sense.
- Dr Mignini had just spelled out your status with great care. Why would Ficarra diifer from that? Custody? What does that mean?
- You claim the mysterious silver-haired cop who no-one else saw had told you during his “interrogation” that they would protect me if I cooperated, if I told them who the murderer was. Really?
[Chapter 11, Page 129] ‘’ ... I needed to say that I had doubts about what I’d signed, to let the police know they couldn’t rely on my declarations as the truth. I knew that undoing the cops’ work would almost surely mean they’d scream at me all over again. As paralyzing as that thought was, I had to risk it. In naming Patrick, I’d unintentionally misled them. What if they thought I did it on purpose? They’d wasted time on me when they could have been out pursuing the real killer….’‘
- According to Cassation, you did deliberately mislead the police, and you did it to divert suspicion from yourself. Many present testified that no-one screamed at you. The only screaming was yours, when you had several head-thumping fits.
- When you talked to your mother, why didn’t you then tell the police Patrick was innocent? Why didn’t Edda (your mother), tell anyone Patrick was innocent? You told her he was.
[Chapter 11, Page 130] ‘’ ... “Can I have a piece of paper?” I asked Ficarra. “I need to write down in English what I’m trying to tell you, because you apparently don’t understand me right now. You can bring the paper to someone who can tell you what it says in Italian. We can communicate better that way. You’re telling me that I’m going to remember when I’m telling you that I am remembering, and that I doubt what I said is true.”
She handed me a few sheets of paper and a pen. “You’d better write fast,” she said. “We have to get going.”
- Wow, either Rita Ficarra is learning English really fast .... or you speak Italian quite well. Really, Officer Ficarra is taking you to be confined and she isnt remotely interested in having you write another incriminating statement having had less sleep than you.
- You quote the noon statement in full. Answer the numerous points proving you piled lie upon lie made by Peter Hyatt here.
[Chapter 11, Page 135] ‘’ ... I finished writing and handed the pages to Ficarra. I didn’t remember the word for “explanation.” “This is a present for you”””“un regalo,” I said.
She said, “What is it””my birthday?” I felt so much lighter. I knew that I was blameless, and I was sure that was obvious to everyone. We’d just had a misunderstanding. I’d cleared the record. ....’‘
- There is no proof the exchange took place as described. Rita Ficarra is not known for even being sarcastic, she is regarded as firm but kind and had kindly looked after you all night.
- For days you deny knowing anything about Meredith’s murder. After Raffaele removes your alibi, you write that you left him to meet Patrick, and he murdered Meredith.
- You then write you met Patrick, he murdered Meredith, and Raffaele may or not be there. You then write this completely vague, contradictory, and convoluted letter to police.
- You tell Officer Ficarra you are giving her a ‘‘gift’‘, or was it an un-explanation? You now think it was just a misunderstanding, and you cleared the record???? Wow ....
[Chapter 11, Page 136] ‘’ ... I was on the police’s side, so I was sure they were on mine. I didn’t have a glimmer of understanding that I had just made my situation worse. I didn’t get that the police saw me as a brutal murderer who had admitted guilt and was now trying to squirm out of a hard-won confession….’‘
- Three statements proves you did know you had dropped yourself in it and every copy would regard three statemenst as overkill. Lying and obstructing justice would hardly put you ‘‘on the police’s side’‘?
- Why would they see you as a brutal murderer? How do you know how brutal the murder was? You inisisted to write all of these ‘‘confessions’’ and were not being interrogated, so how can any be ‘‘hard won’‘?
[Chapter 11, Page 136] ‘’ ... My memoriale changed nothing. As soon as I gave it to Ficarra, I was taken into the hall right outside the interrogation room, where a big crowd of cops gathered around me. I recognized Pubblico Ministero Giuliano Mignini, who I still believed was the mayor….”
- What big crowd of cops? There is no proof this event took place. You knew Dr Mignini’s full name and title, but not what his job is? He himself had told you three times - on the morning of the crime at the house, when the knives were shown to you at the house, and when you were arraigned and read your rights.
- There is no slightest hint that Dr Mignini was the mayor. Do politicians typically investigate homicides in America? The claim reeks of self-importance so typical of you.
- You seriously thought after writing that letter, you were going to be released? By the way, again, what language were your ‘‘declarations’’ in? If Italian, did you have a translator?
[Chapter 11, Page 136] ‘’ ... I thought that they were keeping me to protect me. But why would they have to arrest me? And why did they have to take me to prison? I’d imagined that maybe “custody” meant I’d be given a room in the questura. That Mom could be there with me….’
- Yes, police stations and prisons typically double as hotels in Italy…. More blatant lies. Dr Mignini fully explained your status with an interpreter there and you signed a statement that you fully understood.
- So Mom could be there in prison with you? Well, maybe, for not reporting her knowledge of your false accusation.
[Chapter 11, Page 137] ‘’ ... Still, what came next shocked me. After my arrest, I was taken downstairs to a room where, in front of a male doctor, female nurse, and a few female police officers, I was told to strip naked and spread my legs. I was embarrassed because of my nudity, my period””I felt frustrated and helpless. The doctor inspected the outer lips of my vagina and then separated them with his fingers to examine the inner. He measured and photographed my intimate parts. I couldn’t understand why they were doing this. I thought, Why is this happening? What’s the purpose of this? ....’‘
- Did you tell this to any Judge? Matteini, Micheli, Massei, Hellmann, Nencini? No. If any of this were actually true, it would be sexual assault. Did your lawyers file a complaint? No, of course not, they knew it was made up.
- This was simply a routine frisk and testified to at trial, and in earlier descriptions you left all of this out. This farfetched claim is completely undermined by you elsewhere writing about your ‘‘medical check’’ as fairly routine.
[Chapter 11, Page 137] ‘’ ... Next they checked my entire body for cuts and bruises, clawing through my hair to get to my scalp and inspecting the bottoms of my feet. A female police officer pointed out different places to examine and document. I thought, Why are they measuring the length of my arms and the breadth of my hands? What does it matter how big my feet are? Later, I realized they were trying to fit the crime to my dimensions. What would Meredith’s wounds be like if I’d been the one who stabbed her? Could I have stabbed her from my height? They took pictures of anything they thought would be significant….’‘
- Well you did have a scratch on your neck, I mean hickey. There were bare bloody footprints at the crime scene.
- While checking for other injuries is quite routine you are trying to make it sound like an alien probe.
[Chapter 11, Page 137] ‘’ ... I asked to use the bathroom. A female police officer stood in front of the stall with the door open. Why is she standing here? I can’t relax enough to pee, even if she’s looking away. I guessed this unwanted guardian was somehow supposed to keep me safe.
Eventually I put aside my inhibitions long enough to be able to pee. After that they closed the handcuffs back around my wrists. I think they’d left them intentionally loose, but I was so submissive I reported their breach. “Excuse me,” I said. “But I can slip my hand out.”
- Do you really need to include the story about going to the bathroom? Being watched is untrue, in fact prior to 5:45 Knox was at any time free to go. And your Italian is progressing nicely since your ‘‘interrogation’‘.
[Chapter 11, Page 139] ‘’ ... I just wanted this ordeal to end.’‘
- This is probably about the only true statement in the book. After causing chaos in so many other lives, Knox just wants to get on with her own life.
[Chapter 11, Page 139] ‘’ ... I was consumed by worry for Patrick. I felt that time was running out for him if I didn’t remember for sure what had happened the night of Meredith’s murder. When I’d said, “It was Patrick,” in my interrogation, the police pushed me to tell them where he lived. As soon as I’d mentioned his neighborhood, several officers surrounding me raced out. I figured that they’d gone to question him. I didn’t know that it was too late, that they’d staged a middle-of-the-night raid on Patrick’s house and arrested him….’‘
- You claim you are consumed with worry, but still let him languish desperate and depressed in jail while his business tanked. You name someone as a sex-killer, and several officers rush out, and they only want to question him?
- They pushed you to tell them where he lived? But did you not eagerly draw a map previously?
[Chapter 11, Page 140] ‘’ ... Finally our car pulled through the main gate of the Casa Circondariale Capanne di Perugia””not that I knew where we were””and came to a stop inside a dim, cavernous garage. As the doors rumbled closed, I was allowed to sit up. A uniformed prison guard came over, and I tried to catch his eye. I wanted someone, anyone, to look at me and see me for who I was””Amanda Knox, a terrified twenty-year-old girl. He looked through me….’‘
- You want them to see you as a terrified 20 year old girl? Why, so they won’t think of you as a murderer? Do you know what most people call 20 year old girls? Women.
- You tried to catch his eye? Was he cute? He saw right through you? So have most people in Italy.
[Chapter 11, Page 141] ‘’ ... Ficarra ahead of me, the other officer behind, each gripping one of my arms. Once inside, they let go. “This is where we leave you,” they said. One of them leaned in to give me a quick, awkward hug. “Everything’s going to be okay. The police will take care of you.”
“Thank you,” I said. I gave her a last, beseeching look, hoping this meant that finally they knew we were on the same side….’‘
- This is absurd. Who gave such a hug? Mothers dropping their kids off at school give hugs. Police generally don’t hug accused killers as they leave them at the jail or say to them that all will be okay.
[Chapter 12, Page 144] ‘’ ... The cold traveled up from the concrete floor and through my bare feet. I hugged myself for warmth, waiting””for what? What’s coming next? Surely they wouldn’t give me a uniform, since I was a special case. It wouldn’t make sense, since I’d be in prison so briefly.
“Your panties and bra, please,” Lupa said. She was polite, even gentle, but it was still an order.
I stood naked in front of strangers for the second time that day. Completely disgraced, I hunched over, shielding my breasts with one arm. I had no dignity left. My eyes filled with tears. Cinema ran her fingers around the elastic of the period-stained red underwear I’d bought with Raffaele at Bubble, when I thought it’d be only a couple of days before I’d buy more with my mom….’‘
- This is gross. Why the heck is Knox adding these easy-to-disprove inventions in?
- Oddly, she is more precise, and certain about these details, than what she was doing before, during and after Meredith’s death, with fewer contradictions.
[Chapter 12, Page 147] ‘’ ... When I’d first been brought inside from the squad car, I’d seen Raffaele through a barred glass window, locked in a hallway near the prison entrance. He was wearing his gray faux fur”“lined jacket and was pacing back and forth, his head down. It was the first time since we’d been separated that I’d seen more than his feet. He didn’t look at me. I’d wondered if he hated me.
Raffaele and I hadn’t been together long, but I’d believed I knew him well. Now I felt I didn’t know him at all….’‘
- You wonder if he hated you? As in, he doesn’t love you enough to cover for you? His own statement to Judge Matteini did say he never wanted to see you again, it was all your fault.
[Chapter 12, Page 149] ‘’ ... “I feel terrible about what happened at the police office. No one was listening to me,” I said. Tears sprang to my eyes again.
“Hold up there, now,” Argirò said. “Wouldn’t listen to you?” the doctor asked. “I was hit on the head, twice,” I said. The doctor gestured to the nurse, who parted my hair and looked at my scalp.
“Not hard,” I said. “It just startled me. And scared me.” “I’ve heard similar things about the police from other prisoners,” the guard standing in the background said. Their sympathy gave me the wrongheaded idea that the prison officials were distinct and distant from the police.
“Do you need anything to sleep?” the doctor asked. I didn’t know what he meant, because the idea of taking a sleeping pill was as foreign to me as being handcuffed. “No,” I said. “I’m really tired already.”
- When exactly were you hit and why? What anonymous guard would say that? Italian police are well known in fact for being too nice. You claim that the prison officials were now aware you were ‘‘assaulted’’ by police, yet do not report it?
- Do these anonymous prison officials speak English? You did make such a huge deal about not understanding the language. And remember, you were interrogated in a ‘‘language you barely knew’’ just 24 hours ago.
[Chapter 13, Page 154] ‘’ ... Argirò had said this seclusion was to protect me from other prisoners””that it was standard procedure for people like me, people without a criminal record””but they were doing more than just keeping me separate. In forbidding me from watching TV or reading, in prohibiting me from contacting the people I loved and needed most, in not offering me a lawyer, and in leaving me alone with nothing but my own jumbled thoughts, they were maintaining my ignorance and must have been trying to control me, to push me to reveal why or how Meredith had died….’‘
- You were repeatedly advised to get a lawyer and meanwhile say no more and confirmed thgis in writing in fact. The interrogators themselves confirmed they did not want you watching news or hearing what Sollecito had claimed.
- In no US prison would you have been allowed to watch TV. And to keep asking this: Did Argiro say this in English or Italian? Remember, you barely speak any Italian….
- Why would they be pushing you further to reveal why or how Meredith died? Didn’t you just sign multiple statements saying how and why it happened, which Judge Matteini found more than enough?
[Chapter 13, Page 154] ‘’ ... But I had nothing more to tell them. I was desolate. My scratchy wool blanket didn’t stop the November chill from seeping bone deep. I lay on my bed crying, trying to soothe myself by softly singing the Beatles song “Let It Be,” over and over….’‘
- Actually, your third signed statement (the one you included in this book), gave many confusing and contradictory details and facts. In fact, you claimed that you are confused and ‘‘unsure about what the truth is.’’ Perhaps you can be the one to tell them what was fact, and what was total fiction.
- Didn’t stop the November chill? You said in your January 2014 interview with Simon Hattenstone that you and Meredith went sunbathing on your terrace—regularly. Wow, in Italy temperature drops are abrupt.
- According to accounts from the prison staff and other prisoners, you never ever cried.
[Chapter 10, Page 154] ‘’ ... I tried to answer, to say, “I’m okay,” but I couldn’t stop the surge of tears. Lupa asked her colleague to unlock the door and came inside. She squatted in front of me and took my cold hands in her large ones and rubbed them. “You have to stay strong,” she said. “Everything will be figured out soon.”
- Really? You are accused of sexual assault and murder, and her response is to hug you, and say ‘‘everything will be figured out’‘? There is no proof this exchange took place.
[Chapter 10, Page 155] ‘’ ... Six days ago I believed that I could, and should, cope with Meredith’s murder by myself. But everything had broken down so quickly. I was sure that if I’d asked for Mom’s help sooner, I wouldn’t have felt so trapped and alone during my interrogation. I could have stopped it. If my mom, my lifeline, had been ready to jump to my defense on the other side of the door, I’d be staying with her now, not in prison by myself….’‘
- Either you are REALLY bad at math, or this is disturbing. The ‘‘date’’ November 7th, and 6 days earlier would be November 1st while Meredith was still alive. So, you can cope with Meredith’s murder by yourself? Does this mean you will kill her by yourself, or you won’t need any comforting afterwards?
- Why would you not have felt trapped if your Mom was there? Would she not have let you write those incriminating and accusatory statements? Were you not thinking clearly?
- Why would you be home by now? Would you have fled Italy before the forensic testings were done?
[Chapter 13, Page 155] ‘’ ... And then, right after the nun had left, detail after detail suddenly came back to me.
I read a chapter in Harry Potter. We watched a movie. We cooked dinner. We smoked a joint. Raffaele and I had sex. And then I went to sleep.
- Well that clears it up. I assume you would agree to be questioned immediately.
- And if it ever goes to trial, I assume you will testify fully, without any restricted questionings.
[Chapter 13, Page 156] ‘’ ... I quickly wrote at the top of the page: “To the person who must know this.” Unlike my first memoriale, this one expressed less doubt and more certainty about where I’d been the night Meredith was killed. I rushed to get it down, so excited to finally be able to make sense of my memories for myself, and to be able to explain myself to the police. It read:
- If your memories are now clear, there shouldn’t be any doubt.
- You have dug yourself a deep hole already by ‘‘expressing yourself’‘
- But, okay, let’s clear things up
[Chapter 13, Page 156, Knox letter to police] ‘’ ... Oh my God! I’m freaking out a bit now because I talked to a nun and I finally remember. It can’t be a coincidence. I remember what I was doing with Raffaele at the time of the murder of my friend! We are both innocent! This is why: After dinner Raffaele began washing the dishes in the kitchen and I was giving him a back massage while he was doing it….’‘
- I’m freaking out a bit now because I talked to a nun, and I finally remember? Talking in English or Italian?
- You remember what you were doing with Raffaele at the time of the murder of my friend? Your friend? Meredith I am assuming? How do you know exactly when she was murdered?
- We are both innocent! This is why: After dinner Raffaele began washing the dishes in the kitchen and I was giving him a back massage. Okay .... you are innocent, not because you say you didn’t do it, but because you were giving Raffaele a back massage?
[Chapter 13, Page 156, Knox letter to police] ‘’ ... [backrubs are ] something we do for one another when someone is cleaning dishes, because it makes cleaning better. I remember now that it was AFTER dinner that we smoked marijuana and while we smoked I began by saying that he shouldn’t worry about the sink. He was upset because the sink was broken but it was new and I told him to not worry about it because it was only a little bad thing that had happened, and that little bad things are nothing to worry about…’‘
- I remember now it was after dinner we smoke marijuana? Umm, who cares?
- The sink was new? I thought the plumber had been there for prior problems. In fact, you claimed it, so that your ‘‘leaky pipe’’ story wouldn’t seem so convenient. But still not sure why you didn’t have towels or a mop handy….
- Stabbing Meredith…. where does that fit on the ‘‘spectrum’’ of bad thing?
[Chapter 13, Page 156, Knox letter to police] ‘’ ... We began to talk more about what kind of people we were. We talked about how I’m more easy-going and less organized than he is, and how he is very organized because of the time he spent in Germany. It was during this conversation that Raffaele told me about his past. How he had a horrible experience with drugs and alcohol. He told me that he drove his friends to a concert and that they were using cocaine, marijuana, he was drinking rum, and how, after the concert, when he was driving his passed-out friends home, how he had realized what a bad thing he had done and had decided to change.
He told me about how in the past he dyed his hair yellow and another time when he was young had cut designs in his hair. He used to wear earrings. He did this because when he was young he played video games and watched Sailor Moon, a Japanese girl cartoon, and so he wasn’t a popular kid at school. People made fun of him. I told him about how in high school I had been unpopular as well, because the people in my school thought I was a lesbian. We talked about his friends, how they hadn’t changed from drug-using video game players, and how he was sad for them.
We talked about his mother, how she had died and how he felt guilty because he had left her alone before she died. He told me that before she died she told him she wanted to die because she was alone and had nothing to live for. I told Raffaele that wasn’t his fault that his mother was depressed and wanted to die. I told him he did the right thing by going to school….’‘
- So, you remember all of these topics being discussed, but at the police station, you are so vague about what you were doing? Interesting
- You remember all of this, but not when you woke up, or why you turned your phone off?
[Chapter 13, Page 157, Knox letter to police] ‘’ ... I told him that life is full of choices, and those choices aren’t necessarily between good and bad. There are options between what is best and what is not, and all we have to do is do what we think is best….’‘
- So, stabbing Meredith, was that a good/bad choice, or a best/not best choice?
[Chapter 13, Page 158, Knox letter to police] ‘’ ... Around five in the evening Raffaele and I returned to his place to get comfortable. I checked my email on his computer for a while and then afterward I read a little Harry Potter to him in German….’‘
- 5:00pm is not the evening. It is the afternoon. Anyway, didn’t you both claim at other times you were out, but that you didn’t remember what you did?
- So, you read a little Harry Potter to Raffaele (in German), and this was BEFORE watching Amelie, cooking dinner and doing dishes, having the pipe FLOOD the floor… However, remember this quote (Page 44/45), you claim to be reading Harry Potter to him AFTER the flood. REMEMBER???
‘’ ... After the movie ended, around 9:15 P.M., we sautéed a piece of fish and made a simple salad. We were washing the dishes when we realized that the kitchen sink was leaking. Raffaele, who’d already had a plumber come once, was frustrated and frantically tried to mop up a lot of water with a little rag. He ended up leaving a puddle. “I’ll bring the mop over from our house tomorrow. No big deal,” I said. Raffaele sat down at his desk and rolled a joint, and I climbed into his lap to read aloud to him from another Harry Potter book, this one in German. I translated the parts he didn’t understand, as best I could, into Italian or English while we smoked and giggled….’‘
[Chapter 13, Page 158, Knox letter to police] ‘’ ... We watched Amelie and afterward we kissed for a little while. I told him about how I really liked this movie and how my friends thought I was similar to Amelie because I’m a bit of a weirdo, in that I like random little things, like birds singing, and these little things make me happy. I don’t remember if we had sex….’‘
- You are weird like Amelie? Does she publish lurid sexual details and rape stories?
- You remember a lengthy list of topics you talked about BUT NOT whether you had sex? You seemed to remember all the others….
[Chapter 13, Page 158, Knox letter to police] ‘’ ... Raffaele made dinner and I watched him and we stayed together in the kitchen while dinner was cooking. After dinner Raffaele cleaned the dishes and this is when the pipes below came loose and flooded the kitchen floor with water. He was upset, but I told him we could clean it up tomorrow when I brought back a mop from my house. He put a few small towels over the water to soak up a little and then he threw them into the sink. I asked him what would make him feel better and he said he would like to smoke some hash…. ‘’
- Kitchen floor flooded with water? To heck with it, let’s smoke a joint.
- So, how much water was it, approximately? You are (not surprisingly), vague about this.
- You claimed the pipe had leaked before, (page 44 of WTBH…. did you not have an extra towel handy?
- Raffaele cleaned the dishes? Did you notice the ‘‘fish blood’’ on his hand you claimed earlier to have seen?
[Chapter 13, Page 158, Knox letter to police] ‘’ ... I received a message from my boss about how I didn’t have to come into work and I sent him a message back with the words: “Ci vediamo. Buona serata.”
While Raffaele rolled the joint I laid in bed quietly watching him. He asked me what I was thinking about and I told him I thought we were very different kinds of people. And so our conversation began, which I have already written about. After our conversation I know we stayed in bed together for a long time. We had sex and then afterward we played our game of looking at each other and making faces. After this period of time we fell asleep and I didn’t wake up until Friday morning…’‘
- You had sex? You said just 2 paragraphs ago you didn’t remember if you had sex. You woke up Friday morning? Okay, care to specify WHEN exactly?
- So you get a message from Patrick (not to come to work), and in your letter to the police, it comes AFTER your dinner, washing the dishes, and the pipe bursting. However see your account on page 62 of the book.
- By the way in court that text was proven to have reached you away from the house.
[Chapter 13, Page 159, Knox letter to police] ‘’ ... I know the police will not be happy about this, but it’s the truth and I don’t know why my boyfriend told lies about me, but I think he is scared and doesn’t remember well either. But this is what it is, this is what I remember….’‘
- You are talking about what ‘‘could’’ have happened, and you can’t understand police frustration?
- But it’s the truth? You just said you COULD swear by it, not that you actually ARE swearing to it
- What doesn’t Raffaele remember? The truth? Or the ‘‘truth’’ you came up with?
[Chapter 13, Page 159] ‘’ ... I was a little girl again. I was doing what I’d done since I was seven years old, whenever I got into trouble with Mom. I’d sit with a Lion King notebook propped up against my knees, write out my explanation and apology, rip it out, fold it up, and then either hand it to Mom or, if I wasn’t brave enough, put it somewhere I knew she’d immediately find it. When I was older I had a small, old-fashioned, beat-up wooden desk with a matching chair and a drawerful of pens. I felt so much more articulate writing than speaking. When I talk, my thoughts rush together, and I say things that don’t always seem appropriate or make sense…’‘
- So you write you ‘‘apologies’’ to Mom, and give them to her? Out of curiosity, are those also completely full of B.S.?
- Yes, childhood discipline with Mom…. just like police questioning for a murder….
- You feel more articulate writing than speaking? That is scary, you are a university junior, and your writing is awful.
- You say things that don’t always seem to make sense? Either they make sense, or they don’t.
[Chapter 13, Page 160] ‘’ ... That’s what I wanted to have happen now. Somehow the kindness from the nun and that embrace from Agente Lupa had encouraged me that it would.
I believed it was only a matter of time before the police understood that I was trying to help them and I would be released. The guard would unlock the cell. Without leading me by the arm, she’d escort me to an office where I could reclaim my hiking boots, my cell phone, my life. I’d walk out and into my mom’s arms…’‘
- Either you are completely delusional, or just pretending to be. The police have charged you with sexual assault and murder, and you are just ‘‘trying to help them’‘?
- You think you will just walk out of here, into your mother’s arms? Wow ... and you thought you were mature?
[Chapter 13, Page 160] ‘’ ... I thought I’d made it clear that I couldn’t stand by what I’d said during my interrogation, that those words and my signature didn’t count.
We would have to talk again. This time they would have to listen and not shout.
I thought about what to do while I waited for my memoriale to get passed to the right readers and the paperwork to get filled in. Since I’d never been in a prison before “”and I’d never be here again””I decided to record what I saw so I wouldn’t forget.
I felt I had a duty to observe and collect information, just like a tourist who writes a travelogue or a war correspondent who witnesses devastation…’‘
- You couldn’t stand by your interrogation? So, I assumed you made all efforts to get Lumumba released immediately? No….
- So, you being here is just a ‘‘paperwork’’ issue?
- You have a duty to observe and collect information—just like a tourist ...? Guess you need something for material, should you ever get out and need to cash in on it.
[Chapter 13, Page 161] ‘’ ... As I gathered this insider’s information, I felt more like an observer than a participant. I found that being watched by a guard every time I peed or showered or just lay on my bed seemed less offensive when I looked at it with an impersonal eye. I saw the absurdity in it and documented it in my head…’‘
- So, you just ‘‘get used to’’ having people watching you ‘‘pee and shower’‘. Odd, you aren’t immediately okay with it. You…
- Published a rape story
- Have sex with random strangers
- Published lurid details about random sexual encounters
- Published about Grandma helping you get medicine for your STD.
- Published details about your strip search
- Flirt with people in court
- Just a thought: Even if you WERE watched in the shower, or on the toilet, you would probably enjoy it.
[Chapter 13, Page 161] ‘’ ... But no matter how much I tried to distance myself from my physical surroundings, I was stuck with the anger and self-doubt that were festering inside me. I was furious for putting myself in this situation, panicked that I’d steered the investigation off course by delaying the police’s search for the killer….’‘
- Of course there was self doubt. Rudy hadn’t been identified yet, had he?
- You were furious for putting yourself in that situation, but not for putting Patrick there? Classic narcissist.
- You didn’t ‘‘panic’’ for steering the investigation off course. It probably released the tension.
[Chapter 14, Page 163] ‘’ ... In the middle of my second full day as a prisoner, two agenti led me out of my cell, downstairs, outside, across the prison compound, and into the center building where I’d had my mug shot taken and my passport confiscated. There, in an empty office converted into a mini courtroom, seven people were waiting silently for me when I walked into the room, including two men, who stood as I entered.
Speaking in English, the taller, younger man, with spiky gray hair, said, “I’m Carlo Dalla Vedova. I’m from Rome.” He gestured toward a heavier-set man with smooth white hair. “This is Luciano Ghirga, from Perugia.” Each man was dressed in a crisp suit. “We’re your lawyers. Your family hired us. The American embassy gave him our names. Please, sit in this chair. And don’t say anything.”
- Hmm… so only 2 full days as a prisoner, and you already have 2 lawyers ready for you? Guess this isn’t Guantanamo Bay after all.
- Ghirga and Vedova? Funny, wasn’t there someone named Giancarlo Costa representing you for a while?
[Chapter 14, Page 164] ‘’ ... Also in the room were three women. The one in black robes was Judge Claudia Matteini. Her secretary, seated next to her, announced, “Please stand.”
In an emotionless monotone, the judge read, “You, Amanda Marie Knox, born 9 July 1987 in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A., are formally under investigation for the murder of Meredith Kercher. How do you respond? You have the right to remain silent.”
I was stunned. My lower jaw plummeted. My legs trembled. I swung my face to the left to look at the only people I recognized in the room””Monica Napoleoni, the black-haired, taloned homicide chief; a male officer from my interrogation; and Pubblico Ministero Giuliano Mignini, the prosecutor, who I still thought was the mayor. Napoleoni was resting her chin on her hand glowering at me, studying my reaction. She seemed to be enjoying this….’‘
- Judge Matteini? Wasn’t she the one who would determine if you could be released, or had to be detained? Sounds a bit like a ‘‘bail hearing’‘. Wait, bail does not exist in Italy.
- You ‘‘still thought Mignini was the Mayor’‘? Are you that dense? He told you who he was both at the house on the morning after the murder and when presiding over the 5:45 am warning of charges.
- Why exactly do you think Napoleoni was enjoying this? There is no sign in her extensive testimony that she did.
- Just for reference, was this hearing done in all English, all Italian, or did you have an interpreter?
[Chapter 14, Page 165] ‘’ ... There hadn’t been enough time between their hiring and this preliminary hearing for Carlo and Luciano to meet with me. But more time might not have made a difference. It turned out that, mysteriously, Mignini had barred Raffaele’s lawyers from seeing him before his hearing. Would the prosecutor have treated me the same? I think so. I can’t be certain who ordered that I be put in isolation and not allowed to watch TV or to read, to cut me off from news from the outside world. But I believe that the police and prosecution purposely kept me uninformed so I would arrive at my first hearing totally unprepared to defend myself.
I do know this: if I’d met with my lawyers, I could have explained that I was innocent, that I knew nothing about the murder, that I imagined things during my interrogation that weren’t true. The only thing my lawyers knew about me was that when I talked I got myself in trouble. I understand their impulse to keep me silent then, but in the end, my silence harmed me as much as anything I’d previously said….’‘
- You had at least six opportunities before trial to argue the same thing - and failed at them all. The evidence list was long and you failed a psychological test to establish whether you could do more harm.
- And besides lawyers ALWAYS can get delays by saying they need to consult with their clients.
- Mignini barred Raffaele from seeing his lawyers? Really, in Honor Bound, Sollecito says no such thing. He told his father he saw his lawyers the very next day.
- You are in prison, you ARE cut off from the outside world. Why do you assume you have the right to a TV?
- Your silence harmed you? No, your mouth, and your ‘‘creative writing’’ harmed you.
[Chapter 14, Page 166] ‘’ ... It would be a long time before my Italian would be good enough to read Judge Matteini’s nineteen-page report, which came out, and was leaked to the press, the next day. But my lawyers told me the gist of it. The judge said, “There were no doubts” that Patrick, Raffaele, and I were involved. Our motive, according to her, was that Raffaele and I wanted “to try a new sensation,” while Patrick wanted to have sex with Meredith. When she refused, the three of us tried “to force her will,” using Raffaele’s pocketknife.
I couldn’t believe anyone could think that of me…’
- Well, considering November 5th you barely spoke the language, and November 7th you can converse with the guards, you may be the world’s fastest learner of the Italian language. Keep up the good work.
- Patrick wanted to have sex with Meredith? Who gave the police and judge THAT idea?
- The Judge thought you, Raffaele, and Patrick were involved? Did someone sign a statement or something?
- You can’t believe anyone would think that of you? This is a murder case, no one cares who YOU are.
[Chapter 14, Page 166, Matteini Report] ‘’ ... She went on to say that we hadn’t called 112, the emergency number for the Carabinieri military police; that the Postal Police arrived at 12:35 P.M., and that our calls to 112 came afterward, at 12:51 P.M. and 12:54 P.M., suggesting that the police’s appearance at the house took us by surprise and our calls were an attempt at orchestrating the appearance of our innocence. It wasn’t until our trial that this accusation was proven to be erroneous….’‘
- Interesting summary, except is WASN’T proven to be false. Your call to the police DID come after the Postal Police arrived
[Chapter 14, Page 166, Matteini Report] ‘’ ... The report said that in Raffaele’s second statement, made on November 5, he changed his story. Instead of saying that we’d stayed at his apartment all night, as he’d done originally, he told police we’d left my apartment to go downtown at around 8:30 or 9 P.M., that I went to Le Chic and he returned to his apartment. He said that I’d convinced him to lie….’‘
- Actually, Raffaele said that you left his apartment. He didn’t say you both left home, and that he went back later. You misconstrue Sollecito’s ‘‘amended’’ statement.
[Chapter 14, Page 167, Matteini Report] ‘’ ... A bloody footprint allegedly compatible with Raffaele’s Nikes was found at our villa, and the pocketknife he carried on his beltloop was presumed to be compatible with the murder weapon…’‘
- Yes, the sneaker did look similiar to Raffaele’s shoe
- In ‘‘Honor Bound’‘, Raffaele claims he told the Judge that someone stole his shoes. Any comment on this?
- In ‘‘Honor Bound’‘, Raffaele first claimed to never meet Patrick, then says he’s been to the bar. Any comment?
- Yes, the knife Raffaele had was confirmed at trial (and confirmed on appeal), to be used in the attack. Comments?
[Chapter 14, Page 167, Matteini Report] ‘’ ... The judge’s report concluded that we “lost the appearance that [we] were persons informed about the facts and became suspects” when I confessed that Patrick had killed Meredith; that I wasn’t sure whether or not Raffaele was there but that I woke up the next morning in his bed…’‘
- First and foremost: You do not CONFESS that someone else did something. You ACCUSE them of something.
- Well, you did say that you were with Raffaele at his apartment when Meredith was killed.
- You later wrote that you left Raffaele to go meet Patrick, and that he killed her (you were a witness).
- You later wrote that you witnessed Patrick killing Meredith, and you weren’t sure if Raffaele was there.
- You later wrote that you can’t remember for sure what happened.
- Sollecito first claimed he was at a party.
- Sollecito later said you two were at his apartment
- Sollecito later said you left, and that you asked him to lie for you
- Sollecito claimed his ‘‘matching shoes’’ were stolen, and he ‘‘wasn’t sure’’ if he ever met Patrick.
- Yes, you left Raffaele, met up with Patrick, heard him kill Meredith, and woke up the next morning with Raffaele. Makes sense.
- Gee, any wonder Judge Matteini has reasons to doubt you all? Well, Patrick, maybe not.
[Chapter 14, Page 167] ‘’ ... It was just the start of the many invented stories and giant leaps the prosecution would make to “prove” I was involved in the murder””and that my lawyers would have to try to knock down to prove my innocence…’‘
- Let’s see here:
- False accusation of innocent person (Susan Smith, Casey Anthony…), to divert attention.
- Multiple false alibis
- Statements saying you were at crime scene (contradicting earlier statements)
- Your alibi witness (Sollecito), removes his alibi for you, says you asked him to lie.
- Sollecito brings knife—and possible murder weapon—to police station, and says his ‘‘matching shoes’’ were stolen, then presumably returned.
- The prosecution did not make any of this up. You did.
[Chapter 14, Page 168] ‘’ ... “It’s the judge’s paperwork,” the male guard explained, his voice without inflection.
“The confirmation of your arrest. It says the judge “˜applies the cautionary measure of custody in prison for the duration of one year.’ “
“One year!” I cried out.
I was floored. I had to sit down and put my head between my knees. That’s when I learned how different Italian and U.S. laws can be. The law in Italy allows for suspects to be held without charge during an investigation for up to a year if a judge thinks they might flee, tamper with evidence, or commit a crime. In the United States, suspects have to be indicted to be kept in custody.
I felt I had only myself to blame. If I’d had the will to stick to the truth during my interrogation, I would never have been put in jail. My imprisonment was my fault, because I’d given in to the police’s suggestions. I’d been weak, and I hated myself for it….’‘
- This is being disingenuous. In America, you would have been indicted on this evidence.
- You were given the opportunity to speak up. Why didn’t you? You are not a timid person. Hell, people can’t shut you up.
- You do all of the ‘‘suspicious behaviour’’ listed above, it is your fault ... because you’d given in to their suggestions?
- Vedova and Ghirga didn’t do too well for you? What about the disbelieving Giancarlo Costa? Why do you never mention him?
Archived in Knox False Claims, Examples 73-129
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