Headsup: Disney's Hulu - mafia tool?! First warning already sent to the Knox series production team about the hoaxes and mafia connections. The Daily Beast's badly duped Grace Harrington calls it "the true story of Knox’s wrongful conviction of the murder of her roommate". Harrington should google "rocco sollecito" for why Italians hesitate to talk freely.

Category: Other physical

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Trial: Judges And Jury To Visit House On The 17th - What Can We Expect? EDIT

Posted by Arnold_Layne

[click for larger image]

Having seen and heard the autopsy evidence, the judges and jury will now see the actual crime scene.  What might we expect from this? 

I think this will have an emotional and lasting impact on them.  Until now, everything has been pictures and talk. Seeing the actual site of the brutal murder right after the autopsy information will cement the enormity of the crime in their minds.

For one thing, they will most likely try to reconstruct the crime in their minds.  When might Meredith have eaten mushrooms?  With whom?  What was the sequence of events in the attack?  What was visible from the park?  Where did the sexual assault take place?  The torturous stabbing?  The final thrust to the neck?

The defense will also have to present images that are more consistent with what the jurors have actually seen.  It will be much more difficult for them to create a fuzzy mental picture of someone breaking in when they have actually seen the window.

A question still for me is where the actual attack took place. 

We know it ended in the bedroom.  But why did Knox and Sollecito seemingly spend the entire night cleaning up the common areas?  And if Guede was voluntarily with Mez, why did he not use the bathroom adjacent to her room?  Why was there so little DNA evidence in Meredith’s room after such an epic struggle?

When the jurors leave this murder scene, they will be very different people.  This crime will be much more real to them, and rendering a verdict will no longer be just a civic duty. 

When they next meet in court, I have to wonder what their impression will be of a smiling, carefree Amanda Knox.

Friday, April 03, 2009

Trial: Knox & Sollecito See Graphic Photos And Video Footage Of The Autopsy

Posted by Peter Quennell

Click above for a report by Richard Owen of The Times (may be behind paywall). This was the description of the defendants

Lawyers at the session, which was held in camera, said that Ms Knox, 21, Ms Kercher’s American flatmate, had refused to look at the footage, keeping her head down and at times burying it in her folded arms on the table in front of her.

Mr Sollecito, 25, Ms Knox’s former Italian boyfriend, occasionally glanced at the screen in the courtroom.

Many other media reports including Nick Pisa’s on Sky News [mostly scrolled away] described this also.

Trial: Agenda Is Closed Court For The Autopsy Report, And Maybe Testimony From Guede

Posted by Nicki

What We May Expect In Court

Part of the Friday court hearing will be closed for the autopsy evidence.

A just decision on the part of the Italian Court, and a due act of respect for Meredith and her grieving family.

The murderers didn’t “simply” stab her. She was sadistically tortured before she was left to die, in a locked-up room, without her mobile phones, and thus robbed of even the slightest chance to call for help.

The medical findings that I have actually been able to get through in Judge Micheli’s report (itself toned down from the autopsy report) are truly shocking.

Multiple bruises were found on the face and jaw-line - at least eight - in a clear attempt to muffle her screams. There were more bruises on her elbow and arm, all ranging from 1 to over 4 cm diameter (up to a bit less than two inches).

The genital area was also bruised, as well as her leg and her hip. Multiple bruises and scratches were found on her neck, plus four cuts on her hand. Someone DESPERATELY fighting not to be raped - and then for her life.

I can only pray that the medical examiner evidence on Friday will not reveal additional horrific details that we are not aware of from the Micheli report.

All of the above is very far from suggesting a “consensual” intercourse, as the Guede defence tries to claim.

And by the same logic, the medical findings unequivocally indicate that the murder was committed by multiple aggressors.

So, unless Rudy Guede is a four-armed God Vhisnu, and therefore able to silence Meredith’s screams with one hand, wave a knife to stab her neck with the other, and at the same time try to rape her, the logical conclusion is that the attack was carried out by more than one aggressor.

Perhaps the other attackers were not Mr Sollecito and Ms Knox, and if they are able to prove that in Court, good for them. But so far, there are two unassailable truths: Meredith had been savagely raped and killed, and Guede sure didn’t do it alone.

The smiling portion of the trial will probably be behind us now, after this demonstration of just how depraved Meredith’s death really was.

The court will be re-opened to the public when Carlo Maria Scotto di Rinaldi, who owns an underwear store where Knox was seen buying lingerie with Sollecito shortly after Meredith was killed, takes the stand.

Point is to describe even more of what was apparently a cold and uncaring demeanor on the part of the defendants.

Thursday, April 02, 2009

Sollecito Family Charges Likely For Callous Disrespecting By PR Of Meredith EDIT

Posted by Jools

[above: the Telenorba reporter who may soon be among those facing charges]

1. Alleged Crime In Summary

Raffaele Sollecito comes from Bari in south-east Italy.

Precisely one year ago, the local Bari TV station Telenorba did the almost unthinkable.
It broadcast some crime-scene video of Meredith. They showed her lying half-naked on her back on the floor, with the wounds to her throat clearly visible.

The footage was then picked up by the Italian state broadcaster, RAI, and it was rebroadcast a number of times.  Still shots ended up in a number of newspapers. And a video of the broadcast ended up on YouTube where (as of this morning) it still remains.

All of which now appears likely to attract numerous criminal charges.

2. As Reported In London Times

Here is Richard Owen of the London Times describing the broadcast one year ago.

Relatives of Meredith Kercher, the British student murdered in Perugia in November, were said to be shocked and distressed last night after images of her bloodied corpse were broadcast on Italian television…

Telenorba, which showed the footage late at night, warned viewers that it was disturbing and suitable only for adults. It showed police scientists in white protective clothing pulling back the duvet to reveal Ms Kercher’s body and slashed throat, and turning the corpse over to examine her bloodied back.

Her eyes were covered by a mask. RAI did not include this part of the footage in its news broadcasts.

3. As Reported In Daily Mail

Here is the report in the Daily Mail also one year ago.

The Kerchers’ lawyer, Francesco Maresca, said: “This is an example of gross journalistic misconduct, which evidently violates all the rules of how to report a story….

Anna Maria Ferretti, the director of the leading Italian TV programme Antenna Sud, said: “For five minutes of television, the ultimate taboo has been broken without any shame.”

Italy’s Order of Journalists has asked for the video to be confiscated so that it is not shown again and a repeat of the programme that had been due to air on Tuesday night was cancelled…

Enzo Magistra, the editor of the programme, defended the show and insisted it had not meant to cause offence.

He said: “When I decided to transmit the images of Meredith’s corpse, I did not have the least intention of violating anyone’s dignity, but merely to do my job with respect to an important event.”

4. Findings Of Investigation

Sparked by a complaint from Mr Maresca for the Kerchers, the Perugia prosecutor initiated a one-year investigation.

And yesterday the outcome was announced. This is a translation of the report in La Nazione.

The prosecutor of Perugia has served notice of the completion of four investigations into Raffaele Sollecito’s family members and two journalists of the TV station Telenorba on the transmission of a forensic video in which the body of Meredith Kercher wa shown…

The report on the investigations (usually a prelude to a request for trial) indicates crimes were committed of defamation, invasion of privacy, publication of arbitrary acts of investigation and publication of gruesome acts.

According to the reconstruction by the Perugia prosecutor, the father and sister of Raphael Sollecito had legitimately obtained the scientific survey of the police, and had then illegally provided it to Telemundo.

The report also cites a journalist and the editor of Panorama for the publication of an article in which they reported that blood samples from Meredith had revealed an alcohol concentration above the legal norm - implying she was drunk when she was killed. This claim was proved a lie in the course of the forensic tests.

And this is a translation from the AGI news-service website.

Eight “notices of termination of the investigations” have been reported by the public prosecutor of Perugia…  Four Sollecito family members, the TV journalist on Telenorba and the director of the station, are accused of the crimes of defamation, invasion of privacy, publication of documents during the investigation, and publication of gruesome acts….

According to the reconstruction, the Sollecito family members delivered to Telenorba the video and photos of the crime scene survey carried out by the forensic team on November 2 of 2007 in Meredith’s house. Telenorba then put the material on the air.

Other investigations are on-going.

5. Graphic Evidence On YouTube

The YouTube video of the Telenoirba broadcast as of this morning had had over 9,000 looks.

It is in an area for adults only, and it requires registration to get in.

Notwithstanding, these are typical of the angry comments in Italian that appear right under the video.

This video is a disgrace to every individual. There’s a girl who is no more, a family suffering for this, and now has to suffer public humiliation ... Let us never forget that the right to dignity and decency of the victims, especially if already dead.
*********
The video should be removed. The right to record is in conflict with the respect and devotion of the deceased. The publication of such images add nothing to the journalistic chronicle

Lawyer Maresca at left here

6. Good Battling By Dr Maresca

Dr Maresca is in legal practice in Florence. He appears to us to have fought hard for the rights of Meredith and the Kerchers.

He put the case for a closed trial (which the Knox and Sollecito forces bitterly fought) and he won the court’s agreement that the most disturbing segments at least would be closed to the journalists and the public. 

Here is the Times report on his battle then with the defendants’ families.

Mr Maresca said Italian law provided for trials in cases of sexual violence to be closed to the public, at the discretion of the judge. He said that showing graphic photographs and video footage of Ms Kercher’s body and the murder scene in open court could do injury to her memory.

Mr Maresca said that 280 journalists had been accredited for the pre-trial hearings, which were held in camera. This led to reporters and photographers trying to snatch pictures of the accused as they arrived and left the court, with defence lawyers and prosecutors besieged by the media outside the courtroom.

And to counteract the massive and pervasive spin being put on every development in the trial, Mr Maresca has been sharp and outspoken on what the growing body of evidence implies.

Other apparent attempts by the Sollecito family to interfere with the course of justice, as suggested in telephone intercepts, are still being investigated by the Perugia prosecutor. Mr Mignini is famous in Italy for fighting for victims’ rights to the maximum.

Mr Maresca is clearly doing a fine job in protecting Meredith’s dignity and the peace of mind of her poor family. And this throws a major shot across the bows of the families of the defendants, if they incline to further disparaging of Meredith.

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

The Steel Stairs That Suspiciously Clanged On The Night ADD SHOT

Posted by Peter Quennell

[click above for the series]

Neighbor and witness Nara Capezzali has testified that she heard feet running across the top deck of the parking facility and up some steel stairs.

Despite some truly absurd claims to the contrary we believe every word of this testimony.

Click here for a series of images of the route Ak and RS appear to have followed.

The top of the parking facility at night is well, deathly quiet. You can hear anything that moves. And those steel stairs are so noisy, you would think they had been designed as a giant musical instrument.

Because of something the witness in the park said, we think it was TWO sets of feet: Knox’s and Sollecito’s. What the witness in the park said was that Knox and Sollecito approached the park from the street ABOVE the park.

And also, two witnesses have confirmed that it was Rudy Guede who ran up the stone steps alone, and bumped into one of them.

Across the deck, up the steel stairs, through the arch, up the street, past the gelateria, and down a few of the stone steps to the park.

About a half of a kilometer or a quarter of a mile in total.

By the way, from the point by the arch up the street and down the stone steps, this is the route that MEREDITH also followed that evening, not long before, on her final way home from the English girls’ place.

Monday, March 30, 2009

The Locations That Various Witnesses Have Been Talking About EDIT ADD SHOTS

Posted by Peter Quennell

Click above for the full series, all shot within 300 meters of Meredith’s house.

Four witnesses on Friday, three on Saturday, and several previously have testified that they saw things in these areas.

This shot above is where Sollecito and Knox may have been seen sitting on a low wall on the night. Near the railing there is a good view down to the gate of the house.

As with all our shots on TJMK, these will expand when you click on them.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Trial: Prosecution Witnesses Present Many More Reports On Odd Behavior Of Knox

Posted by Peter Quennell

1) Nick Pisa reported this in Sky News:

Tests found that nobody had worked on Raffaele Sollecito’s computer over an eight-hour period spanning the night when Ms Kercher was stabbed to death in her bedroom, prosecution witness Marco Trotta told an Italian court.

Sollecito has maintained he was at his own apartment the night of the murder, working on his computer. Trotta showed the court videos and said there was “no human interaction” between 9:10 pm on November 1 and 5:32am the following day…

Ms Kercher is believed to have died between 9pm and 11pm on November 1, according to court documents.

2) Other reports from the trial state that the playing of the 90-minute movie “Amelie” from 6:37 pm was the last detectable major action.  The 9:10 pm action appears to have been simply the closing of a program that was running.

3) Sollecito’s lawyer Giulia Bongiorno claimed in the trial that while “this computer may or may not be proof or evidence of an alibi” it had proved impossible for the communication police ‘to read data on four of the five machines seized [two belonging to Sollecito, one to Knox, one to Meredith and one to Guede] three of which have suffered electric shocks” and that the reconstruction of the evening’s computer actions “provided only partial and fragmentary data.”

4) The lawyer Francesco Maresca, who represents the Kercher family as a civil party, observed that for him “one of the alibis collapses” because the findings indicate that in the period of the murder there was no human interaction with the computer.

5) Nick Squires reported this in the Daily Telegraph:

The American’s former teacher told the court that four days after the murder she told her class to practise their Italian by writing a letter home.

Miss Knox penned a letter to her mother in Seattle in which she said she was “confused and worried” and that as a way of distracting herself she wanted to going shopping.

The teacher, Antonella Negri, described Miss Knox as “diligent” and “attentive”. She said that at the beginning of the lesson she had made reference to Miss Kercher’s murder. “I saw in Amanda a reaction of discomfort,” Mrs Negri told the court. “She leant forward onto the desk and lay her head in her arms.”

6) John Hooper reported this in the UK Guardian:

Earlier today, another police interpreter described noticing a red mark on Knox’s neck. Aida Colantone said Knox was in the police station at Perugia.

“Since her throat was bare ““ she had a blue tracksuit with the zip in front ““ I was struck in my mind by the extraordinary pallor of this girl from which a red mark leaped out,” she said.

7) Nick Pisa reported this in the Daily Mirror:

The pretty American - known as Foxy Knoxy - is accused with her ex-lover Raffaele Sollecito, 24, of murdering British student Meredith, 21. She could now face a second slander charge after claiming in court she had been hit by police during questioning.

8) And Richard Owen reported this in the London Times:

Chris Mellas, Ms Knox’s stepfather, told journalists at the court that the police investigation was flawed.

Mr Mellas, 35, an IT consultant, said that he had visited Ms Knox three times in prison.

“She is doing OK,” he said. “These things stress her out, and it’s hard for her to see the overall picture. I sit down and tell her that is not going so bad, that the prosecution haven’t really brought anything up in court yet.”

Asked if he shared the defence view that the police inquiry had been mishandled and evidence contaminated, he said: “I think particular portions of it have not been done appropriately, and the court is seeing that as well. We will see how it was conducted.”

He said that Ms Knox was “completely innocent”. There had “not been a day” when he “even considered” doubting her. There is no evidence against Amanda”.... He had spoken to Ms Knox on the eve of the hearing. “I told her she’s innocent and she needs to speak up for herself.”

Asked for his opinion of the Italian justice system he said: “It is different from ours, but I’m sure it will end up OK. As soon as this is done she will want to rejoin her family and friends. But do I think she will come back to Perugia? Most certainly.”

Friday, March 13, 2009

Sky News Video Of Meredith’s Final Moments Outside DRAFT

Posted by Peter Quennell

We maybe need to point out that this video is from the INTERMEDIATE level pf the parking building. The camera up on top of the building, the one we showed earlier, has a much superior view.

Why is not THAT the video now being presented? Presumably, one day, all will become clear.

Trial: The Process Resumes: The Court Agenda For Friday And Saturday

Posted by Nicki

Days 8 and 9 of the trial. Only the bare bones of what will be discussed has been made public.

First, the police who first arrived at the crime scene will testify further. Then the crime scene investigators who collected all the evidence at the crime scene will testify further. And next, the interpreter called upon by the police to assist in the interrogation of Knox will be heard.

And on Saturday morning, Sollecito’s seized notebook computer will be the subject of interest, with the investigations on it carried out by the police being described. We have already heard that it seems to have been dormant, not downloading a movie, until the early hours of the morning.

Did Sollecito start his new day by googling “bleach” and “blood” as has been conjectured? Perhaps we are about to find out. 

On the details of what to expect, the prosecutors are playing their cards typically close to their chests.  Contrary to the myths apparently first propagated in Seattle, Prosecutor Mignini is not renowned among journalists for leaking his case in advance.

In fact, he is rather famous among journalists for being a hard interview to nail down. So it’s still a wait and see mode for trial watchers in in Italy, the UK, the US, and 100-plus other countries that are fascinated by the trial. 

Our usual highlighting of developments will follow.

Monday, February 09, 2009

Trial: Highlights Of The Testimony On 6 February And 7 February

Posted by Peter Quennell

These seem to have been the most significant and dramatic happenings in the courtroom on Friday and Saturday.

This was the first part of the prosecution’s case to be presented, and so the first of the prosecution witnesses were testifying and were being cross-examined by the defense lawyers.

In the defense part of the trial coming up, the defense counsel will present their own witnesses to try to rebut this testimony, and then the prosecutors will cross-examine their witnesses.

So none of this can be considered cast in stone, then. But it looks quite a tough case so far. The defenses seem to have their work cut out for them.

Reports in the Italian media were considerably more detailed than in the UK media, though coverage there was good too. It looked in both countries to be pretty objective.

Americans are as usual the most ill-informed or mis-informed on this tragic case. With one or two fine exceptions, the US media continues to fall short.

Translations here from Italian to English are mostly by our own team. 

• Judge Massei admitted into evidence the uncoerced written admission of Amanda Knox that she was present at the scene during the murder of Meredith.


• In a surprise statement to the court, Sollecito claimed that “I barely knew Meredith, I didn’t know Guede at all” and that he began a close relationship with Knox only on 24 October, days before the murder.


• The communication police testified on the lines of the Micheli report on how Meredith’s two mobile phones were found in Signora Lana’s garden and retained at the police station.


• Mr Bartolozzi, whose agency oversees internet activity in Italy, said an examination of Sollecito’s computer had indicated that contrary to his claim there had been no activity on it between 9.10pm and 5.32am.


• The communication police seem to have found Knox and Sollecito embarrassed and surprised when they arrived, and they were apparently encountered with a bucket and a mop.


• Sollecito’s claim to have already called the Carabinieri to come to the house when the communication police officers arrived seems to have been misleading.


• The communication police noticed that there was a washing machine in operation and they could hear the noise of the centrifuge. Soon after, the mobile-squad police found that the machine had finished its work a few minutes earlier, and the clothes were still warm.


• Filomena testified that the washing machine was still warm when she returned to the cottage and that it contained some of Meredith’s clothes.


• Filomena said of Knox “She told me: ‘It’s very odd. I’ve just come back to the house and the door is open. I had a shower but there’s blood everywhere. I’m going to get Raff. Meredith is nowhere to be seen. Oh God, maybe something’s happened to her, something tragic’.”


• Filomena said she replied “But Amanda. I don’t understand. Explain to me, because there’s something odd. The door’s open. You take a shower. There’s blood. But where’s Meredith?... The door’s open. I go in. There’s blood. I take a shower? I don’t know about you, but I really don’t think that that’s normal.”


• To the communication police, the break-in via Filomena’s bedroom window appeared to have been faked, as there was window glass on top of some disarrayed clothes, valuable items had been left in the room, and luminol had revealed Knox-sized and Sollecito-sized footprints on the floor.
  
• Filomena testified that her first instinct on returning to the apartment had been to go to her room. Her clothes were on the floor and her cupboard was open, but none of her jewellery was missing, nor were her designer sunglasses and handbags.


• Filomena said there was glass on top of the pile of clothes. Her laptop was among the clothes.“I remember that in lifting the computer I realised that I was picking up bits of glass because there were bits of glass on top and it was all covered with glass.”


• Filomena testified that the relationship between Amanda and Meredith started off well and they bonded immediately.  “They were of the same age, they had interests in common, and both spoke English.” Then the relationship seemed to deteriorate.


• Filomena said that Kercher was involved with a “very kind” young man, Giacomo Silenzi, who lived in an apartment downstairs and who she said “courted her very sweetly…. Meredith never brought men home ““ the only people who came to the house were two of her English girlfriends.”


• Filomena contradicted Knox on whether Meredith was in the habit of locking herself in her bedroom, according to Filomena, Meredith never did, whether inside or outside.


• Filomena testified that Knox and Sollecito just cuddled at the scene while everyone else was in tears and she said she was bewildered by Knox’s behavior. Another witness testified that Knox may have cried.


• Filomena examined the knife found in Sollecito’s apartment and said she had never seen that knife in Via della Pergola. She was unaware of any dinner or lunch that Meredith had attended at Sollecito’s apartment which could explain her DNA on that knife.


• Filomena said she saw Raffaele Sollecito and Amanda Knox exchanging a note at the police station.


• Luca Altieri said “With the police we decided to break into the room - I don’t know exactly where Amanda and Raffaele were at that time, but I can tell you, they were not in a position to see inside the room.”


• Inspector Bastianelli described having made everyone exit the house after the door to Meredith’s room had been opened. And of then having stood for about half a minute at the door of the room, facing into the room without entering it, and concluding that Meredith was already dead.


• But according to Luca Altieri, Inspector Bastianelli seemed to enter into Meredith’s room a little and incline toward Meredith on the floor [this has been modified, as Italian reports say he did not claim the inspector touched the duvet.]


• Paola Grande confirmed not having seen the inspector entering the room, but hearing him subsequently confirm that the person under the bedcover was dead, that there was a lot of blood, and that the victim had struggled because there were bloodied prints on the wall.


• The police were curious as to why Knox’s lamp was in Meredith’s room, especially as there was no other light source in Knox’s room.

This next Friday, Meredith’s English friends will be heard in court. And Meredith’s former boyfriend Giacomo Silenzi is expected to tell the court about his relationship with Meredith.

And now rescheduled for next Saturday are Giacomo Silenzi, Stefano Bonassi and Daniele Ceppitelli.