Saturday, October 04, 2014
Negative Drumbeat Continues: Two New Developments Mitigating Against Breaks for Knox Or Sollecito
Posted by Our Main Posters
1. Overview
Tick tick tick. The growth of factors negative to Sollecito and Knox is relentless.
We already count several dozen, the most recent of which are the legally impeccable sentencing report by Judge Necini the lead Florence appeal judge, the expected hard line on Sollecito’s and Knox’s further appeal by a hard-line Supreme Court justice, the legal focus on the world-record blood money and two books riddled with felonies (more to come), the surfacing in the US media of Knox’s daily liaison with a drug kingpin (more to come), and the Sollecito camp’s ongoing moves to put Knox squarely between the fire and Sollecito (more to come).
In the last couple of days these two stories hit the headlines with further implications negative to the foolishly uncomprehending pair.
2. The Further Promotion Of Arturo De Felice
The official title of the prime minister of Italy is President of the Council of Ministers, which is the counterpart body to the President’s cabinet in the United States and the Prime Minister’s cabinet in the United Kingdom
Our main poster Jools has picked up reports by the Italian media that the Council of Ministers has appointed Dr Arturo de Felice (image above) to be Prefect of the Republic.
As we understand it, the Prefect is a top post of unusual powers in the central government filled in times of generational change of the bodies of government, in which the Prefect is a sort of czar representing the agencies of the central government toward the regions, special cities and provinces (the province level is expected to be phased out).
Perhaps the nearest equivalent in the American government is the Secretary of Homeland security, the czar who coordinates the CIA, FBI, and dozens of other security agencies.
Why is this significant in ensuring justice for Meredith?
Well, Dr Felice was the head of the Perugia police when Guede, Knox and Sollecito were arrested and he oversaw the investigations which began in November 2007 and were essentially concluded in summer 2008
Dr Felice was at that point promoted to more senior regional and central posts. Then in 2012 he was appointed as head of the national anti-mafia department.
At any one time Italian and American justice agencies are pursuing dozens and perhaps hundreds of matters of common interest and nobody in Italian justice oversees more dealings with the Federal Department of Justice or the FBI than the head of Italy’s anti-mafia department
We see no signs that the Federal government will buck the Italian government as a favor to the convicted felon and admitted drug user Amanda Knox, but Dr Felice’s past and future roles will help greatly to keep things politically on the straight and narrow.
3. Extradition To Mexico Of American
We have had 18 posts on how extradition law, politics and statistics are stacked against Knox (see category link in right column) with this post by James Raper and this post by TomM as must-reads.
Johnny Yen has picked up on the reports of the US Government extraditing an American to Mexico to face murder charges.
For his role Dylan Ryan Johnson has now been sentenced to 13 years in a Mexican prison.
Prosecutors allege that early on the morning of Sept. 7, 2003, when Johnson was 20, he drove his pickup truck into the small community of Empalme Escobedo in Guanajuato state and checked into a hotel with Hilario Garcia Rosales, who had worked for the American man. Johnson was intoxicated, according to witnesses.
Johnson departed about an hour later, but told the hotel staff that his friend would be staying longer. The boy’s body was discovered the next day by a maid. Garcia was strangled shortly after someone had anal sex with him, according to forensic reports. Authorities originally accused Johnson of rape and premeditated murder, but he was convicted only of the latter….
Johnson was on the Guanajuato prosecutor’s most wanted list for years until he was picked up on an international arrest warrant in 2012. A U.S. judge reviewed a summary of evidence against him before approving Mexico’s extradition request, and agreed that probable cause existed for the prosecution, applying American legal standards. In re Extradition of Dylan Ryan Johnson, No. 12-1832, U.S. Dist. Ct., W.D. Penn. (Opinion and Order Dismissing Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus, Mar. 11, 2013).
This was one of the few extraditions of American nationals to make headlines but numerous other cases are handled quietly. It is almost unheard-of for governments with firm bilateral extradition treaties to fail to respect them.
Posted by Our Main Posters on 10/04/14 at 03:40 PM in
Comments
Congratulations to Dr. Felice, the new Prefect of the Republic. That’s an honored promotion.
Not only is he familiar with Meredith’s case from his days in Perugia when she was killed, but now he’s a law and order czar and an extremely powerful man, somewhat like the US head of Homeland Security, with powers that reach wide.
Dr. Felice must have observed Mignini’s struggles with this case and then Nencini. No doubt Dr. Felice has read the headlines and seen the TV infotainment shows bashing the judges of Italy and questioning the guilty verdicts. If anyone knows the movers and shakers of Italy it is Dr. Felice. They have made him Prefect!
In April 2013 as head of DIA anti-Mafia he oversaw the arrest of a dirty businessman in Sicily who was running all kinds of solar and wind energy companies as a scam to hide Mafia money. Dr. Felice’s police seized multi-millions of dollars or more in assets, properties and 66 bank accounts. They shut down that haven of crime.
Dr. Felice is not only brave but well informed about Meredith’s murder from his personal connection when he was head of police in Perugia.
If FOA thought they might get lucky and pull a fast one on people unfamiliar with the case to confuse the extradition process they were mistaken. The Arturo de Felice promotion is great news for justice.
Posted by Hopeful on 10/04/14 at 07:39 PM | #
This is great news! Thank you for the update Jools. With RS in prison, the extradition request for Knox is guaranteed. Once that is filed, the US State Department and US criminal justice system will incarcerate Knox for a brief hearing and probably an expedited extradition. Aside from Cantwell’s contradictory statements about the Italian justice system, no other politicians have said anything at all. No Hollywood celebrities have came out for Knox and Ted Simon has wisely disappeared. Most Americans now feel that Knox is guilty or just don’t care at all. Basically, both political and popular majority support for Knox in the US is now non-existent.
In another extradition case which is now going on in Albany New York, American murder suspect Timothy Noah Kaufman is now in prison and waiting John Kerry’s signature for a one way flight back to the Philippines. He is wanted for the very brutal murder of two victims last year in Angeles City:
http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Tight-noose-of-evidence-in-Philippines-killings-4670904.php
and it should be noted that Kaufman is only a suspect, not a convict like Knox. Another American suspect, Joseph Tramontano, is still at large and wanted in that case.
Posted by Johnny Yen on 10/04/14 at 08:18 PM | #
Thanks to Jools for the update, this is very good news indeed. Also to Johnny Yen for the follow ups on extraditable individuals. If probable cause can be accepted for mere suspects, then a finalized conviction from a treaty country establishes probable cause right off the bat, and while I think it is good to see political changes at the Italian end, I hope there will be no political interference at the American end.
Until Ms Knox is bundled onto a flight at SeaTac and over the Atlantic, anything can happen 😊
Posted by Ergon on 10/05/14 at 01:25 AM | #
Recently, Pataz also previously summarized the extradition of American Alex Suyanoff a/k/a Amnon Mordahaev to Brazil here:
http://www.perugiamurderfile.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=611&hilit=golden&start=1900#p154931
And the original source link noted by Pat goes here:
were there is a very interesting and detailed case review of Suyanoff’s extradition proceedings and this paragraph that explains the US extradition process:
“In an extradition proceeding, the court’s role is only to determine whether: (1) the individual arrested is the individual sought; (2) the offenses charged are extraditable; (3) the requirement of “double criminality” is satisfied; (4) there is probable cause to believe the individual committed the offenses charged; (5) the required documents have been presented, translated and duly authenticated by the United States Consul; and (6) all other treaty procedures have been followed. In re Sacirbegovic, No. 03 CR Misc. 01, 2005 WL 107094, at *9-10 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 19, 2005) (quoting In re Extradition of Rabelbauer, 638 F.Supp. 1085 (S.D.N.Y. 1986)).”
Posted by Johnny Yen on 10/05/14 at 02:29 AM | #
Please circulate to the usual suspects, thanks 😊
http://www.perugiamurderfile.net/viewtopic.php?p=123286#p123286
Somewhere, the Universe is laughing at Amanda Knox.
Posted by Ergon on 10/05/14 at 05:15 AM | #
Then scroll down to Coincidence 2 😊
Posted by Ergon on 10/05/14 at 05:16 AM | #
@Ergon
“Somewhere, the Universe is laughing at Amanda Knox”
Frankly I think the Universe should be a little more wary of incurring Knoxian wrath 😛
Posted by Odysseus on 10/05/14 at 12:47 PM | #
She’s the one with the Somatic disturbances, Odysseus, but I don’t wish her ill. Karma is inexorable.
Posted by Ergon on 10/05/14 at 03:56 PM | #
@Ergon
Agreed (I was jesting of course, maybe in poor taste).
Perhaps we should just wish that she honestly faces the consequences of her actions, as a baby step towards the avoidance of more karma.
Posted by Odysseus on 10/05/14 at 04:19 PM | #
In the US news right now there are several dramatic developments pending to do with Casey Anthony and her own bid to win fame and fortune after being found not guilty of killing her baby girl.
1. A clear majority seem to think the jury got the verdict wrong. A lot of online efforts are being put into stopping Casey Anthony profiting from her (alleged) crime.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Casey-Anthony-Boycott-Information/172941139555655
2. Casey Anthony declares she is bankrupt. An investigation is going on. Also it will be decided in court starting in October whether Casey Anthony’s parents validily stopped paying thier rmortgage or are committing fraud.
There is already another bankruptcy case in the news (the reality TV stars Teresa and Joe Giudice) who falsely declared bankruptcy but must now serve time for fraud. Lets hope this isnt a preview of Ma & Pa Knox down the road.
3. The psychological take “Inside The Mind Of Casey Anthony” is online here for a $3 promotional fee expiring on the 6th (tomorrow).
http://www.downloadsparadise.com/en/checkout.html
4. And later this month the judgment will be issued on whether Casey Anthony defamed the babysitter Zenaida Gonzalez who she framed for the crime but hadnt even met.
5. Heres a report of a ghost writer for a Casey Anthony book who claims he bailed out when he concluded there was guilt.
http://radaronline.com/exclusives/2014/07/casey-anthony-ghost-writer-doesnt-believe-innocence/
6. And here is a seemingly accurate take on her current life, enablers and all.
http://www.people.com/article/casey-anthony-life-today-three-years-after-acquittal
Her lawyer claims she can no longer do what normal twentysomethings do. “She can’t go to a beauty parlor, she can’t go shopping to a department store, she can’t go to a restaurant, she can’t even go to McDonald’s,” Mason told CNN.
But every few months, Anthony is photographed doing the same things that other women her age do: shopping at Old Navy, eating at restaurants, even sunning herself at the beach.
“She has a few benefactors that are enamored with her and send her things,” says a source close to her. “They pay for everything.”
Adds a source close to the Anthony family: “She is surrounded by enablers. No one makes her pull her own weight. No one makes her accountable. That’s what got her into this mess in the first place. I, for one, don’t feel the least bit sorry for her.”
Posted by Peter Quennell on 10/05/14 at 06:43 PM | #
So Knox has her hooks into another patsy.
Excuse my paranoia but it seems to me that there are so many similarities between Sollecito and Colin Sutherland. (Apart from the mystical looking for ghosts etc there’s the money.) I don’t know if Sutherland senior keeps his kid on a tight rein financially (Shades of Sollecito senior) or if Colin Sutherland has his own cash flow? If that is the case and given that Knox must realize that the Italian court of appeal will confirm her guilt, then she will be looking for an escape route ie cash to move somewhere else.
Knox, given her predilection for gross selfishness, could care less about her immediate family anyway since she has used them all up. Casey Anthony did the same of course claiming abuse by her father.
So Knox is trying to figure out somewhere else to move to. Dominican Republic or perhaps North Korea. Knox has her enablers of course just like Casey Anthony.
Speaking of enablers I notice that David J Christ (I can’t get over such a stupid name) of Facebook fame has taken his page down so it’s inaccessible. He had all the Knox clan listed including Bruce Fischer, Michelle and Steve Moore who have been silent of late. Michelle’s rabid lunatic comments are always good for a laugh. Just as an afterthought though dear Steve checked up on me and found the name of my original Regiment in the UK, Kings Own Royal Border Regiment by name. From that he deduced my entire military history of over 45 years I was really underwhelmed and found it supremely laughable that some idiot threatened me on dear Steve behalf.
If you see photographs of him, given the fact that he’s fat and out of shape and could only do anything when backed up by some kind of SWAT team. The very idea elicits howls of laughter from the people I work with, all ex service or RCMP most of them with a backgrounds similar to mine.
Posted by Grahame Rhodes on 10/05/14 at 08:47 PM | #
It’s OK, Odysseus, I get you. Knox is the one pursued by Erinyes
http://www.ask.com/wiki/Erinyes?o=2801&qsrc=999&ad=doubleDown&an=apn&ap=ask.com , not us.
Posted by Ergon on 10/06/14 at 03:47 AM | #
As to the enablers who allowed her to get away with what she did, Dante expresses his take on it better than I could 😊
Posted by Ergon on 10/06/14 at 03:49 AM | #
@Grahame, maybe Steve Moore can check up on me, too, Bjorn Forkliftoperatorsson (not my real name, but hey, the guy was FBI, that shouldn’t be a problem for him, should it?), formerly with the Beer Drinking Brigade up in Upsala (not really, but again, FBI ...). Seriously, though, I think I can shoot a pistol better than Moore, and so can you, I bet 😊
Posted by Bjorn on 10/06/14 at 04:03 AM | #
Thanks for the link to the Erinyes, Ergon.
They must be the forces invoked by the person themselves when they persist in denial, false testimony (or lies) and outrageous cover-ups.
The arrogance or delusions in someone to imagine that there WOULDN’T be a reaction….to every action an equal and opposite reaction. The only query being when, - and even that is something that might be known about through study of cycles.
The surge for justice that cries out within oneself, when victimised, - even over a ‘mild’ episode of anti-social behaviour and bullying. There’s something about such behaviour that invokes something very basic, and the Erinyes is a good name.
@Odysseus. I knew what you meant too.
I have an image of Knox in front of a mirror - one of these days she might recognize what she is seeing in the mirror as herself…and until then the universe - or universal Law - will keep nudging her by signs and symbols. The mirror isn’t afraid of being broken by rage. The fear and agitation is within the perpetrator in their denial-induced blindness.
But anyone else who has been projected upon in order to avoid the truth of the mirror had better watch out!
Posted by SeekingUnderstanding on 10/06/14 at 09:46 AM | #
Speaking of being checked up on, I want to mention the sad case of Brenda Leyland, the Leicestershire woman who ended up on the wrong side of the McCann media machine.
“Concerned citizens” sent a “dossier” of all the different tweets to the police. Rupert Murdoch Sky News reporter Martin Brunt ambushed her and warned she was being “investigated” by Scotland Yard. She killed herself. The McCanns have run a PR campaign much like Knox’s parents did, right down to the commercialization of a crime.
On that note, I’d like to remind people that is why we keep a close eye on comments here and elsewhere. Not one known member of PMF has said or done anything beyond the level of free speech and permitted discourse that we know of, but the Knoxii made much about ‘investigating’ us and ‘reporting’ to the police, people like David Anderson, Bill Williams, Michael B., Karen Pruett, Steve Moore and Bruce Fischer.
There are many similarities I noted about the case of Madeleine McCann and Meredith Kercher, but right now, I just feel very sorry for the family of Brenda Leyland. May she rest in peace.
Posted by Ergon on 10/06/14 at 02:48 PM | #
My feeling too, Ergon…I am very saddened by what happened. I thought when I first read about it all (before the suicide), that here was a lady who needed help.
The internet’s free speech, extending to millions, is potentially a new good, and potentially a new horror too.
We need good manners, everywhere. Apart from anything else, they enable intelligent discussions.
Posted by SeekingUnderstanding on 10/06/14 at 03:42 PM | #
@ Ergon, I too feel great sympathy for the family of Brenda Leyland and agree that there are many parallels between the McCann and Knox case.
In the same way that there is a mass of evidence against Knox and Sollecito, there is also a mass of evidence against the McCanns as having participated in the removal of their daughter’s body. It is shocking to me that so many people think they were not involved considering 2 world class sniffer dogs put poor Madeleine in the boot of the McCanns rental car! Many of the police records can be found on-line at http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/TRANSLATIONS.htm
Posted by MHILL4 on 10/06/14 at 04:00 PM | #
The attacks against honest Portuguese investigator Goncalo Amaral mirrored that against prosecutor Giuliano Mignini, MHILL4, all following the same media template.
Yes, I’ve been following the same sources re McCann and how it mirrors our efforts, good people getting together to ensure justice is done.
And re good manners, SeekingUnderstanding, I agree totally. Sometimes our passions get the best of us, but we have not ever done what the FOA have done in this case, nor Sky News, Daily Mail and Mirror, Carol Malone and Martin Brunt did to Brenda Leyland. She didn’t deserve this, but maybe, her death will not be in vain. Gerald McCann wanted people like her to “be made an example of”, and now, people are beginning to wake up and ask the uncomfortable questions the McCanns have so far refused to answer.
Posted by Ergon on 10/06/14 at 07:08 PM | #
What happened when Martin Brunt of Sky News confronted Brenda Leyland https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/517558345738493953 Within days, she was dead. RIP.
Posted by Ergon on 10/06/14 at 07:50 PM | #
As I am sure everyone here is aware when March of next year rolls around and the verdict is confirmed then many people, particularly in the US, will want proof. (Again) Therefore, given the fact that the vast majority only deal in thirty second sound bites it would be obviously best to keep it short and sweet. Point in fact Sollecito’s footprint when over laid with Guede’s is obviously not the same person. Something along those lines.
That way the info can be disseminated to many people, in particular Nancy Grace et al. and the other crime shows.
As Peter has mentioned this is “a dam about to break” and I’m sure that the news programs are just waiting for this since they will have been working on it for several months if not years. So therefore ‘Less is More”
Posted by Grahame Rhodes on 10/06/14 at 10:47 PM | #
Another poor me piece. Not even an oblique reference to how she might have contributed to finding herself in this situation.
Posted by pensky on 10/07/14 at 09:16 AM | #
@pensky
Indeed.
Quite interesting to take this phrase:
“When you’re accused of an horrific act you didn’t do…” And substitute :
“When you’re accused of an horrific act you were unable to take responsibility for….”
...the rest of the piece reads quite differently.
We need to recognize better ( as a society) the event of a bully, or person without conscience, taking on the persona of ‘victim’.
Posted by SeekingUnderstanding on 10/07/14 at 12:17 PM | #
@pensky, if indeed Knox does experience any of the panic and stress she claims to experience then I am happy that she does so! Meredith has been robbed in the most horrific way of any chance of experiencing another emotion here on Earth, and Knox knows full well that she is responsible for this!!! How dare she expect any normal minded person to feel sympathy for her!
Posted by MHILL4 on 10/07/14 at 03:05 PM | #
Because she doesn’t have a normal mind.
As I believe someone else mentioned, the physiological affects she reports are not in fact those associated with an innocent wrongly accused. The usual reaction if that were to happen is the person is open and straightforward - protests their innocence immediately and usually with anger/outrage. There isn’t a pause before they speak, as they don’t have a need to calculate their responses.
As Ergon said, her karma is inexorable…and she is still furious (and self-pitying) that this is the case.
Posted by SeekingUnderstanding on 10/07/14 at 04:37 PM | #
Hi Pensky and SeekingUnderstanding
Also, imagine the Knox-as-victim piece having been written by Patrick Lumumba who really WAS falsely accused - by the writer of that article of course.
To its credit the Seattle Met has generally kept away from the case and in 2010 it posted a hard report critical of Tom Wright’s arm-twisting of the Seattle Prep school to provide support for Knox.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 10/07/14 at 04:48 PM | #
@ Ergon, Index?
I know you know, but some readers may not:
Copy Nencini into a Word Processor with a good Search function; most of them are OK.
Watch out for strict literalness; e.g. the word “Artery”, crucial to understanding what happened to Meredith, does not appear in the translation, “arterial” does appear.
You nave to search for “arter” to find it. If you do, the search-list will show about a dozen instances of “quarter”, but finally: “arterial”, shows up.
Posted by Cardiol MD on 10/09/14 at 05:36 PM | #
Commenting is not available in this channel entry.
Where next:
Click here to return to The Top Of The Front PageOr to next entry Knox Interrogation Hoax #14: Third Opportunity Knox Flunked: Requested Interrogation By Dr Mignini
Or to previous entry Analysis #2 Of Testimony Of Dr Chiacchiera, Organized Crime Section: Discounting Any Lone Wolf