Sollecito Asks for “Separate” Trial

With just a few months to go before their final appeals, Raffaele Sollecito drops a bomb on the Knox camp. Sollecito allegedly demanded that his and Knox’s cases be tried separately. Sollecito’s legal defense team is reportedly lobbying to Italy’s Supreme Court of Cassation to overrule his case and order a retrial.

Italian Horror House Gets Old, Yet, Familiar Visitor

The bizarre behavior exhibited by Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito throughout this tragic nightmare has been the source of much talk and controversy. Although it pales in comparison to other peculiar actions exhibited by the two throughout, Raffaele Sollectio added to that when he brought his new love to visit the home where he was convicted of brutally murdering Meredith Kercher.

Curse of Amanda Knox: Realtor says “Italian Horror House Hard to sell”

 

 

The Italian cottage where Amanda Knox, Raffaelle Sollecito, and Rudy Guede  have been convicted of butchering Meredith Kercher was put up for sale in December of 2013. Due to the infamous circumstances, said a Perugian agent for the Tecnocasa real estate agency, which is handling the sale, “…it has not been easy to find potential buyers who are willing to overlook the fact that a brutal murder took place there.”

Raffaele Sollecito now admits having questions about Knox’s behavior following Kercher’s murder

As if the Amanda Knox case could not get any more bizarre, Raffaele Sollecito has upped the ante. In a recent exclusive interview on an Italian TV news broadcast, Sollecito said he has several “unanswered questions” for his former girlfriend, Amanda Knox. This adds yet another waiver to the many different versions Sollecito provided over the years about the same details. In the official story, the part that remained consistent, at least, Knox and Sollecito both claimed that Knox left his flat the morning after Kercher’s murder and returned home, where she noticed the door left wide open and witnessed blood spots in the bathroom. Knox claimed that she found it odd and just assumed that one of her roommates was menstruating and left blood behind. She proceeded to take a shower and returned to Sollecito’s flat and ate breakfast. 

Knox & Sollecito: A Closer Look at the Footprint Evidence

If you have listen to anything from the American media about the Amanda Knox case you would likely believe that there was no physical evidence at the crime scene linking Knox and Raffaele Sollecito to the murder of Meredith Kercher. However, with just a simple cursory review of some of the official sources it is easy to see that there is actually an abundance of physical evidence against the two convicts. Perhaps the best place to start is Judge Massei’s Report on the conviction of Knox and Kercher. Furthermore, it is imperative to read the Italian Supreme Court’s Reasoning on the case. Aside from the obvious four spots of blood found at the cottage (3 spots in the bathroom and one in Filomena’s room) mixed with Knox and Kercher’s DNA, there are also several pieces of convincing footprint evidence that was used to help convict the three accused, which includes Rudy Guede. Putting the plethora of circumstantial evidence and the other physical evidence aside and simply focusing on the footprint evidence gives us a very clear picture of exactly what occurred that fateful night.

Italian Supreme Court Set to Rule on Amanda Knox Verdict

The Italian Supreme Court of Cassation is scheduled to rule on the prosecution’s appeal of the Amanda Knox appeal verdict tomorrow. In 2011, Knox and her Italian boyfriend at the time Raffaele Sollecito were released from an Italian prison, on appeal, after previously being convicted of participating in the murder of her British roommate Meredith Kercher in 2007. Based on the Galati-Costigliola Report (112-page final appeal document), the prosecution’s appeal attacks the approach of the appeals court and their handling of trial from both a procedural and a reasoning standpoint. 

Amanda Knox Dressed as Burglar for Halloween

Less than one month after her release from an Italian prison, Amanda Knox was spotted in Seattle heading to a Halloween party dressed as a cat burglar on the eve of Meredith Kercher’s murder. Meredith Kercher’s father, John, slammed the Knox saying, “I think it’s very insensitive of Amanda Knox, especially considering it is the fourth anniversary of Meredith’s death.” The reason for his comments is that Knox was originally convicted for the murder of his daughter, and the prosecution posed the theory that she and then boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito simulated a burglary at the cottage to throw police off and make it look as though someone had broken in rather than had the keys and walked casually through the front door to commit the murder.


Last Sunday Knox was seen walking arm-in-arm with new love, James Terrano, headed to Seattle’s Asian market Uwajimaja to pick up some food. Knox, 24, wore a black coat and light khaki pants, shooting a sullen look to photographers on the scene. Terrano, also 24, is studying classical guitar at the University of Washington; his brother William confirmed to Mirror News last week that they’re dating. The couple is also reportedly living together in an apartment in Seattle’s rundown Chinatown area. Knox’s new boyfriend is from a middle-class New York family. He is studying classical music, specializing in guitar, at Seattle’s University of Washington.


In his interview with Italian television (before Knox was seen with new boyfriend), Raffaele called his love with Amanda “a seed that had been planted in the earth.” He continued saying, “The problem is that someone took that seed and crushed it.” Interestingly enough, he never mentions who that someone is or who he thinks crushed it, per say, and he makes no reference there to Rudy Guede. Raffaele hinted that they could soon be reunited and that he can’t wait to “look into her eyes.” Raffaele also spoke about the chance of he and Knox rekindling their love affair: “It’s all over between us. I still have a great affection towards her but nothing else. I wish her all the happiness in the world.” Knox's slander trial in Italy has been postponed until 5 February 2013, because the judge was busy with another trial.

Spotlight on Raffaele Sollecito’s Different Versions of Events

Much of the talk about the Meredith Kercher case has been on Amanda Knox, with her boyfriend at the time, Raffaele Sollecito, getting a media pass. Aside from Knox’s voluntary spontaneous statement to police claiming that she may have been at the home during the murder and heard Meredith screaming while Patrick Lumumba was killing her; Raffaele’s versions of events on the evening of the murder are undeniably the more conspicuous of the two suspects. Perhaps that is why he decided not to testify!

Story # 1:

Just two days after the murder, Raffaele Sollecito gave an interview to Kate Mansey of the UK’s Sunday Mirror in which he explained his first version of the events.

“It was a normal night. Meredith had gone out with one of her English friends and Amanda and I went to party with one of my friends.”

Raffaele has never identified this imaginary friend or party since this interview, nor has he ever spoken of this version since.

Raffaele also claims in this interview that Knox was afraid when she noticed that spots of blood in her bathroom, and “she ran back” to his flat in fear. This is quite contrary to what Knox said on the witness stand during trial.

Amanda Knox Testimony (June 12, 2009):

“At first I thought they had come from my ears. But then when I scratched the drops a bit, I saw they were all dry, and I thought ‘That’s weird. Oh well, I'll take my shower.’”

After that, she dried her hair, got dressed and calmly returned to Raffaele’s apartment.

Amanda Knox Testimony (June 12, 2009):

“…Then he came out and we made breakfast, and while we were preparing it and drinking coffee, I explained to him what I had seen, and I asked him for advice, because when I went into my house, everything seemed in order, only there were these little weird things, and I couldn't figure out how to understand them.”

This is hardly the panicked girl that Raffaele described.

A few days after the interview, police intercepted a call between Raffaele and his father. During the call, according to police, Raffaele’s father said to him, “Raffaele, don’t walk about with a knife; if police find it on you who knows what they may think.” Raffaele responded by saying, “Well, they have already questioned me and they didn’t find it on me, those stupid policemen.” Raffaele was speaking of a small flick-knife that he was known to carry around. This conversation prompted police to call him in for further questioning, which ultimately led to his and Knox’s arrest. Coincidentally, experts for the defense argued that the Marietti knife that the prosecution offered up as the murder weapon was too big to have caused the wounds on Kercher’s neck, and that a smaller knife, such as a flick-knife probably caused the fatal wound.


Story # 2:

Raffaele told police that he and Knox stayed at his flat the entire night of November 1, 2007 (night of the murder).

Story # 3:

During his November 5, 2007 interrogation and subsequent arrest, Sollecito wanted to come clean, and he told police that his previous version to them was “un sacco di cazzate” (a load of rubbish). “In my former statement I told you a load of rubbish because I believed Amanda’s version of what happened and did not think about the inconsistencies.” (The Times, 7 November, 2007).

In this version, he told investigators that he and Knox returned to his flat at approximately 8:30pm, and that Knox left his apartment, while he stayed there, and she returned at around 1:00am. He claimed that he believed that she went to see if she had to work that evening. This was clearly an attempt to exonerate himself from any culpability, as Knox had received a text message from her then boss, Patrick Lumumba, at 8:19pm that evening informing Knox that it was slow at the bar and she would not be needed to work that evening.


Story # 4:

Some like to point the finger at police and say that they were forceful during their interrogations with Knox and Sollecito and that is why they both changed their stories so much. However, after his arrest, Raffaele wrote several letters to his father while in prison. One letter to his father explained in detail the version above. This was written under no duress. In the letter, Raffaele explains to his father that he and Knox had arrived at his flat at about 8 – 8:30pm on the night of the murder. “Amanda had [then] left for work,” he writes, but he could not remember how long she was gone—but he writes that he is “certain” that Knox had stayed with him the “entire night.”

Explaining Amanda to his father in the letters, Raffaele wrote of her:

“She lived her life like a dream, she was detached from reality, she couldn't distinguish dream from reality. Her life seemed to be pure pleasure; she had a contact with reality that was almost non-existent.”

Then, he shows uncertainty whether or not Knox had committed the murder (or knew something about it) and blatantly calls her a liar...Raffaele writes to his father:

“I try to understand what Amanda's role was in this event. The Amanda that I know is an Amanda who lives a carefree life. Her only thought is the pursuit of pleasure at all times. But even the thought that she could be a killer is impossible for me. I have read her version of events. Some of the things she said are not true, but I don't know why she said them.”

www.truejustice.org has compiled all of the unanswered questions pertaining to the case (SEE HERE) that have been asked over the years and featured them in one article. Please visit the link for a comprehensive look at all of these and many other questions still left unanswered.

Mentally Ill in Perugia: Amanda Knox

The Amanda Knox apologists will stop at nothing to try and convince the world that she is nothing more than a victim of an ‘archaic Italian Justice system’ and an unstable prosecutor. In the latest attempt to do so, a recent TIME magazine article headline actually asked, Could Amanda Knox Have an Autism Spectrum Disorder? Aside from the author’s clear ignorance of the case against Knox, she actually entertains the idea that Knox may have suffered from Asperger’s syndrome—a less severe form of autism—that caused both her unusual social behavior and a gullibility that triggered a false confession.

The author cites Valerie Gaus, a psychologist who has worked with hundreds of autistic people and is the author of Living Well on the Spectrum. “Everything I read would be consistent with it and it could be one alternative theory for the behavior that made her seem suspicious,” says Gaus. The author appears to base her assertions on the behavior of Knox at the police station the day that Meredith’s body was discovered. Somehow, this Knox apologist has attempted to spin the statements of Meredith’s friends—who said that they all suspected Knox after her odd behavior—into a mental disorder that somehow ‘proves’ her innocence. It is uncanny how far these Knox apologists will stretch their minds to believing in her innocence.


Let’s revisit what Meredith’s boyfriend at the time of her death, Giacomo Silenzi (who lived in the apartment below), told Nick Pisa of the daily mail in November 2007. Giacomo suspected Knox was the killer long before it was made public that she was a suspect. In fact, it seemed to be a unanimous decision of all those who witnessed Knox and Sollecito at the police station the day that Meredith’s body was discovered. Does Sollecito also have this disorder?

“I couldn't help thinking how cool and calm Amanda was. Meredith’s other English friends were devastated and I was upset, but Amanda was as cool as anything and completely emotionless,” Giacomo said. “Her eyes didn’t seem to show any sadness and I remember wondering if she could have been involved. I spoke with her English friends Robyn [Butterworth] and Sophie [Purton] afterwards, and they said the same thing. None of us could quite understand how she was taking it all so calmly. I knew that Amanda didn’t get on with Meredith, but I didn't think that would lead to Amanda killing her…If I could see Amanda, I would just ask her, 'Why? Why did she kill Meredith?'”

Were all of these witnesses in on the “so called” conspiracy to convict Knox, was Knox simply suffering from a mental disorder that made her look completely guilty to all who witnessed, or are these just excuses made up in order to justify abnormal, speculative behavior?


Dr. Coline Covington, an experienced psychotherapist who has studied at Princeton University, Cambridge University and the London School of Economics, seems to have a very different diagnosis of Amanda Knox. In a December 2009 article, Dr. Covington suggested that Knox showed signs of being a psychopath:

“Knox’s narcissistic pleasure at catching the eye of the media and her apparent nonchalant attitude during most of the proceedings show the signs of a psychopathic personality. Her behaviour is hauntingly reminiscent of Eichmann’s arrogance during his trial for war crimes in Jerusalem in 1961 and most recently of Karadzic’s preening before the International Criminal Court at the Hague.

The psychopath is someone who has no concern or empathy for others, no awareness of right and wrong, and who takes extreme pleasure in having power over others. The psychopath has no moral conscience and therefore does not experience guilt or remorse.

Most psychopaths are highly skilled at fooling those around them that they are normal by imitating the emotions that are expected of them in different circumstances. They are consummate at charming people and convincing them they are in the right. It is only when they reveal a discrepancy in their emotional response that they let slip that something may be wrong with them.

The psychopath is the conman, or in the case of Amanda Knox, the con-woman par excellence. Her nickname ‘Foxy Knoxy’, given to her as a young girl for her skills at football, takes on a new meaning.

Whether or not Knox, who is appealing her verdict, is ultimately found guilty, her chilling performance remains an indictment against her. Her family’s disbelief in the outcome of the trial can only be double-edged.”

Then there is the analysis of Professor David Wilson, one of Britain’s leading criminologists and is the author of ‘A History of British Serial Killing, 1888-2008’. Dr. Wilson analyzed Knox’s confiscated diary at one point and gave his analysis in a video on Sky News (The video has since been removed). Thankfully, I had transcribed his comments word for word more than a year ago. In his anaylsis, Dr. Wilson said:

“I have absolutely no doubt that Amanda Knox is guilty of murder. I know there’s a great deal of speculation in relation to the evidence that has been presented in the Italian courts; that it was circumstantial. But actually, it was DNA evidence that linked her, quite clearly—incontrovertibly, to the crime. I’d also say, having read her prison diaries, that this is a woman who was clearly involved with an older more experienced boyfriend who introduced her to a lifestyle—it would seem—that allowed her to bend the rules of morality that would guide her behavior, perhaps, in the United States, so that her behavior was different in Italy."

"Because this case has gone on for some two years, very early on, after Amanda Knox’s arrest and imprisonment in Perugia, I was sent her diaries that she had been keeping whilst in jail, to analyze. Having gone through those diaries quite carefully and repeatedly, I would say that a woman emerged (a picture of a young woman emerged) who was self-obsessed, who showed a lack of remorse, who was enjoying the fame and notoriety (the infamy) that had been attached to her as a result of this crime. She enjoyed the sense in which other men in the public were finding her ‘Hot’ as she [Knox] would say. There was a great deal of grandiosity in these diaries. In other words that she sees herself as a bigger personality than she had hitherto been, and she was rather enjoying that behavior. I can give you an example that talks about that grandiosity.”

“She says for example:

‘I know this sounds babyish, but if anything in the world that is unfair, this would have to be up there; not that martyrs and things don’t take the cake, but I’m innocent too. And even though I haven’t been killed, I’m not being allowed to live either.’

“So there’s: (A) the sense of self-obsession; this is all about her—the person who is missing in those statements is of course Meredith Kercher—and (B) there’s also this grandiosity; this sense in which she equates herself to that of a martyr and being martyred by this process. For me what again comes through the diaries in these early phases after her arrest is the sense in which she is still under the spell of her ex-boyfriend. And I have no doubt that his participation in creating a world in which murder could be committed, was the dominant participation.”

Knox Appeal: Guede & Two Other Inmates Provide Shocking Testimony

Today’s courtroom proceedings lived up to the hype, and once again provided a shocking new twist. Three more inmates took the stand today—one of them was Ivory Coast drifter, Rudy Guede, who has been convicted along with Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito in the murder of Meredith Kercher.

Guede was called as a witness to deny the story of convict, Mario Alessi, who told the last hearing that Guede had told him that Knox and Sollecito were not involved. Guede entered the courtroom in handcuffs and sat 15ft. away from Knox and Sollecito.


Guede denied that he had said Knox and her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were not involved in the killing, and he read aloud the letter that he had written back in 2010. In the letter, Guede also denied the claims of Alessi, writing that (convicted child killer) Alessi’s claims were “the ravings of a sick and twisted mind, his ravings are the dreamed-up, untrue declarations of a monster.” Guede ended the letter by writing that the murder was “…a horrible homicide of a splendid young girl, Meredith Kercher, by Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito.”

Defense lawyers said they did not know of the existence of the letter from the spring of 2010 before it was read in court today. This is quite shocking because it was something that I and TJMK had reported last week (TJMK has also posted this letter about a year ago as well). How could such high-profile defense teams not have known of this evidence?

Under cross-examination, Guede said he had written what he always believed. “The truth is what I wrote in that letter,” Guede said, but it “is not up to me to say who the killer was.”


Throughout Guede’s testimony today he was eyeballed by Knox and Sollecito. At one point Knox tried to interrupt his testimony and make a statement; but Judge Claudio Pratillo Hellman said she would have to wait until Guede was done and had left the courtroom. Judge Hellman denied Knox the right to confront Guede directly. He said that she would have to wait until Guede was done and had left the courtroom.

After Guede had been escorted out of the courtroom, Knox stood up and made a spontaneous statement in Italian. “I am shocked and anguished by these declarations....he knows we weren’t there,” she told the court. “He knows we had nothing to do with it,” Knox said. “The only time that Rudy Guede, Raffaele Sollecito and I were in one room together was in a court room...He knows what the truth is. I don’t know what happened that night,” she added.

Sollecito stood next and addressed the court. “I've never seen him, don't know him...don’t know how he indicates me with Amanda Knox,” asserted Sollecito. He said that he and Knox have been fighting “these shadows” for four years. “[Guede] has destroyed our lives," Sollecito said and asked, “What position am I meant to defend if this boy doesn't answer (questions)?”


Each hearing thus far has had moments of the bizarre and surreal. Today, this would be provided by the testimony of two other Inmates—Alexander Illicet and Cosimo Zaccari—called as witnesses for the prosecution. Both inmates claimed that, while in prison, they overheard other inmates speaking of a plot among to testify in exchange for money and benefits; those other inmates, they claim, were the ones who came forward to testify at the last hearing. The person they heard was arranging things, they said, was Sollecito’s attorney, Giulia Bongiorno, who heads up Italy's parliamentary justice committee.

Inmate Alexander Illicet from Serbia Montenegro said Luciano Aviello had agreed to pin the murder on his brother “in exchange for 158,000 Euros—money Aviello desperately needed to pay for a sex change he had been wanting.”

Inmate Cosimo Zaccari—who is in jail for fraud, libel, criminal conspiracy and receiving stolen goods—said Aviello had confided that he was “contacted to create confusion in the trial.” Zaccari testified that Aviello told him he had been offered €70,000 ($62,400) by Giulia Bongiorno.

When asked about these accusations by reporters after the session, Bongiorno adamantly denied them, vowing to take legal action against her accusers. Kercher family lawyer, Francesco Maresca, called the statements of the two inmates, “extremely credible.” Bongiorno responded by saying, “We are beyond the realms of the reasonable,” adding, “Not even the prosecutors appear to believe this story and I will be reporting this libel.”

On June 30, the forensic experts will submit a report to the court detailing their examination, and they will testify to these findings at the next hearing, which is scheduled for July 25. Closing arguments should begin in early September, with a verdict expected in October.

A Future Projection of Rudy Guede’s Highly Anticipated Testimony on 6/27/11

(Click HERE for all details on Monday's hearing)

The presiding judge in the Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito appeals trial, Judge Claudio Pratillo Hellman, has order Rudy Guede to testify on 27 June 2011. Judge Hellman ordered Guede’s testimony in response to the testimony of Mario Alessi at the last hearing. On the stand, Alessi told the court that Guede told him that Knox and Sollecito are innocent, when they allegedly spoke in a prison conversation back in November 2009.

Guede was sentenced to 30 years for his role in the murder of Meredith Kercher, and he took the stand at Knox and Sollecito’s original trial, but refused to testify, as his appeal was still pending. Subsequently, Guede’s sentence was reduced to 16 years upon appeal and Italy’s Supreme Court of Cassation upheld the verdict. So, since Guede no longer faces any further legal implications from any future statements, what will he say in his upcoming testimony?

It is clear that Guede was angered by Alessi’s statements, misquoting his involvement, if a conversation of this nature ever took place to begin with. Nonetheless, in a letter written by Guede on 3 July 2010—in response to Alessi’s claims—he wrote:

“It must be said that all I have heard in recent days in the media, about what has been falsely stated by this foul being by the name of Mario Alessi, whose conscience is nothing but stinking garbage, are purely and simply the ravings of a sick and twisted mind, his ravings are the dreamed-up, untrue declarations of a monster who sullied himself with a frightful murder in which he took the life of an angelic little human being…[Alessi] is telling lies about things that I never said to him…”

Guede closed the letter by writing:

“And finally I wish that sooner or later the judges will recognize my complete non-involvement in what was the horrible murder of the splendid, magnificent girl who was Meredith Kercher, by Raffaelle Sollecito and Amanda Knox.”

Back in 2009, Amanda Knox’s mother, Edda Mellas, claimed—on the Larry King Live Show—that:

“when he [Guede] was on the run and police were secretly wiretapping him, and he was talking to a friend of his, the friend said, ‘you know, they think Amanda was there,’ and he goes, ‘oh, I know who Amanda is and she was absolutely not there’” (Minute 3:28).

But this is a clearly false statement by Mellas, one of several she has made throughout this process. There were two calls made by Guede, both via Skype, which were recorded by police while he was on the run. In the first conversation, Guede claimed that he “wasn’t even there” at the cottage on the night of the murder. In the second conversation, Guede was reading a newspaper excerpt regarding the murder, which mentioned a rumor that Meredith’s clothes were put in the washing machine after she was murdered. In response to this, Guede says to his friend, “so if that really did happen, Amanda or Raffaele did it. Do you understand? That must have been them, if it really happened.” Guede explains to his friend that Meredith was “dressed” when he last saw her; “she had a pair of jeans on and a white shirt and a woolen thing.”


The calling of Alessi to the stand by the defense may have backfired on them in a major way. Now, Guede will take the stand, and there is a possibility that his unbridled testimony will be requested by Judge Hellman (i.e. his testimony on all facets of the story, not just a rebuttal to Alessi's accusations). This could spell disaster for the two defendants; however, it is very likely that if Guede sways from his original version, he may not be seen as a credible witness.

Out of the three suspects in the case—Knox, Guede, and Sollecito—Guede has told the most credible version of events. This is not to say that his version is credible, by any stretch of the imagination; but compared to Knox and Sollecito’s many versions, Guede’s comes off sounding the best, in my opinion. So, the question remains: what will Guede say on the stand come Monday?

Guede’s Version:

Aside from the one Skype conversation that Guede had with a friend, which was recorded by police (detailed above as the “first” conversation), Guede has always maintained the same story. In a nutshell, Guede has said that he had met Meredith on a few occasions prior to Halloween. According to Guede, it was on Halloween night that he and Meredith planned to meet up the next night at the cottage. Once there, Guede claims that he and Meredith got to talking and fooled around a bit. Guede claims that they both wanted to have sex, but had no condoms, so he resisted.

Also, Guede said that Meredith had been upset at some point when she checked her underwear drawer—where she normally hid her money—and found that her money had been missing, and she suspected that Amanda may have taken it. According to Guede, Meredith shouted, “The money is gone! The money is gone! When Amanda comes back, I have to talk to her.” Guede said that Meredith informed him that she and Amanda had been quarrelling a lot about issues that she had with Amanda.


Guede then said that he went to the bathroom for about five-minutes or so. In that time he claims that he heard the doorbell ring and then minutes later he heard a “really loud scream” (all while he was listening to music on his iPod). Guede then asserted that he got worried and rushed out of the bathroom to see what the fuss was, not even pulling his pants up all the way in his haste. When he got closer to Meredith’s room he saw a man, but didn’t get a good look at him because it was so dark.

Guede could tell that the man was Italian because he didn’t have an accent. Guede explained that he and the man wrestled a bit before the man fled, screaming, “Black man found guilty!” He tried to save her, but she was bleeding very badly. Fearing that the police would not believe his story and think that he did it, Guede fled into the night, leaving poor Meredith Kercher to drown in her own blood.

Prediction:

Guede will likely stick to this story, if he will even have a chance to get to it, or he risks losing credibility. This may all be premature, however, as the judge may only allow the avvocatos (lawyers) to question Guede in regard to Alessi’s testimony. It is unlikely that Judge Hellman will allow the testimony at length, but if he does; this might be a very big turning point in the outcome of this trial.


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Knox Appeal: Inmates Testify “Knox is Innocence”

Just as expected, five inmates testified to in an Italian court that Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito are innocent, to the best of their knowledge. According to Barbie Latza Nadeau, (author of the Beast Book Angel Face), security was tight in Perugia today, as a string of blue prison vans pulled into the back parking lot of the central courthouse carrying some of Italy’s most notorious convicts.

First to the stand was Mario Alessi, who is serving a life sentence in Italy for kidnapping and killing 17-month old, Tommaso Onofri, in 2006, called by Sollecito’s defense team. Almost immediately after taking the stand, Alessi turned pale, became ill, and had to step down. After nearly an hour he finally returned to tell his story.

Alessi, who is being held in the same prison as Rudy Guede, testified that the Guede told him that Knox and Sollecito are innocent, speaking in prison conversations in November 2009, a month before the Knox and Sollecito were convicted. Alessi said Guede approached him during recreation time at the Viterbo prison. “Rudy links arms with me, inviting me to take a walk with him, he has something important to tell me,” Alessi told the court. He quoted Guede as saying he was worried because “I don’t know whether to tell the truth or not,” and that the truth “is altogether different from what you hear on TV.”


Alessi then testified that Guede said he and a friend went over the house with the intent of having three-way sex with Meredith Kercher. When she refused, the scene turned violent. Alessi said Guede told him he had gone to the bathroom and upon coming back he had seen his friend holding Kercher to the ground. Eventually, “a knife appeared, almost out of nowhere,” Alessi said, quoting Guede as saying that it was pointed at Kercher’s throat. Kercher began fighting, according to Alessi, and her throat slit got slit in the process. Guede tried to rescue her, Alessi said, but his friend stopped him.

Alessi testified that…

"Guede asked me what benefits he would get if he told the truth. He then said that he had met Meredith in a bar with some friends of his – one was called The Fat One. He said that one had got drunk and that he had followed Meredith home to see where she lived. A few days later he said he and this drunk friend went back to the house to see Meredith. They asked her if she would like to have a threesome and she had told them to leave."

"Rudy said he then went to the bathroom and that when he came back the scene was very different. He said that Meredith was on the floor, back down, and that his friend was holding her down by the arms. He said that they swapped positions. Rudy then told me that he had put a small ivory handled knife to her throat and that it had cut her and his hands were full of blood. He said that his friend had said: ‘We need to finish her off or we will rot in jail.’”

Note: The bold statement above is a huge inconsistency, because, by all accounts (Knox as well as others who lived in the cottage), Guede already knew where Meredith was living—he had been to the cottage twice before that. According to Alessi, Guede did not reveal the identity of his alleged accomplice. Alessi said he and Guede had developed a friendship in prison but eventually Alessi broke it off as he realized that Guede “said two innocent people were in jail” but did nothing about it. Alessi then contacted the lawyers representing Sollecito. Of course, being the humanitarian that he is, Alessi claims that he tried to convince Guede to “tell the truth.” Upon cross-examination, Kercher family lawyer Francesco Maresca held up a photo of the child Alessi murdered (Tommaso Onofri) and asked him, “Do you know who this is?” “No,” Alessi replied, looking away.

Three more fellow Viterbo prison inmates were called to back up Alessi’s story, including police informant Marco Castelluccio, who took the stand behind a blue cover, guards around him. Castelluccio said he heard the story about Knox and Sollecito’s innocent mostly from Alessi. He said on one occasion, however, he heard Guede say from a separate cell that Knox and Sollecito were innocent.


Another inmate, Luciano Aviello [42]—who served 17 years in jail after being convicted of being a member of the Naples-based Camorra—testified today claiming that his brother Antonio and his colleague had killed Meredith while attempting to steal a “valuable painting.” Aviello said that the Albanian—who offered him “work” in the form of a robbery—had inadvertently jotted down the wrong address, and they instead went to the house where Kercher and Knox were living, and they were surprised by Meredith’s appearance. According to Aviello, his brother and the Albanian man then committed the murder and fled.

Aviello (pictured above as a teenager) is from Naples, but was living in Perugia at the time of the murder. He claims that his brother, who is currently on the run, was staying with him in late 2007 and that on the night of the murder he returned home with an injury to his right arm and his jacket covered in blood. Flanked by two prison guards, Aviello described how his brother had entered the house Meredith shared with Knox and had been looking for the painting when they were disturbed by a woman “wearing a dressing gown.” So many convicts, which one to believe, if any?

“My brother told me that he had put his hand to her mouth but she had struggled,” Aviello testified. “He said he got the knife and stabbed her before they had run off. He said he had also smashed a window to simulate a break in.” Aviello said his brother had hidden the knife, along with a set of keys his brother had used to enter the house. “Inside me I know that a miscarriage of justice has taken place,” he asserted. Consequently, Aviello had been in the same jail as Sollecito and had told him: “I believe in your innocence.”


Knox's lawyers, Carlo Dalla Vedova and Luciano Ghirga, visited Aviello in Ivrea prison near Turin back in May 2010 and videotaped his statement and included it in their appeal request. Under cross examination from the prosecution it emerged that Aviello had also been convicted seven times of defamation to which he angrily replied: "That's because all of you, the judiciary are a clan.” As Aviello testified, Knox—dressed in an ankle length floral pattern white dress and blue top—listened intently, occasionally making notes or discussing points with her lawyer.

Rudy Guede will now get a chance to rebut all of the above at the next appeal hearing on 27 June 2011. Will he drop the bomb on both defense teams?

This may be the worst-case scenario that the pussyfooting Knox and Sollecito defenses tried to avoid for three years. Did they realize?

Oh yes, it’s true! Judge Hellman has ordered Guede’s testimony to counter that of Mario Alessi. Guede will be heard alongside two fellow-detainees and two Perugia officers. June is shaping up to be a real “scorcher” in this appeals trial. Guede had refused to speak on the stand in the original trial of Knox and Sollecito, because his appeal was still ongoing. Now, with Guede’s final appeal completed with Italy’s Court of Cassation; a real surprise could be in store.

Today's hearing, if nothing else, proves that both defense teams have abandoned the lone wolf theory--or they are at least willing to strongly entertain the idea that more than one person committed the murder. Not a good sign for either defense team, because it sends a confusing message that they are not committed to their earlier theory: that Guede was the sole assailant (7th paragraph).

Stay tuned here for continuing coverage...

Also posted on TrueJustice.org

Tearful Beginning: Knox up to Old Tricks

Today was the first formal hearing in the appeal against conviction for Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito. No one is sure just how long the trial will be, but one thing is for sure; Amanda Knox has had enough of prison living. Knox, now 23, broke down several times as she delivered an emotional twenty-minute address to the court; her voice sometimes quavering as she claimed that she had nothing to do with Miss Kercher’s brutal death. Her nervous, rambling statement—reminiscent of the court address she made at her 4th preliminary hearing back on 18 October 2008—was once again a limited, evasive, non-explanation of an explanation. It was an “I didn’t do it but I am so sorry for Meredith and her family anyway” kind of address. The fragile yet defiant Knox insisted that she did not kill Kercher and pled with the judge and jury to give her back her “shattered life,” calling her conviction unjust and an “enormous mistake.”


On 2 December 2010, Meredith Kercher’s (the victim), father, John Kercher, wrote a letter in which he made a strong plea for the cruel, callous, and inaccurate PR games, of Knox’s family, to stop. The well informed Kercher family has remained singularly cool-headed, dignified, and truthful throughout. On the other hand, the Knox family has continued to lie about the basic facts of the case; and unlike Edda Mellas, Knox’s mother, they have read Judge Massei’s sentencing report.

During Knox’s address to the court, Kercher family lawyer, Francesco Maresca walked out of the courtroom. Maresca later said he left because he wasn’t interested in comments he felt were “inappropriate, out of place and untimely.”


She went on to apologize to the Congolese bar owner, Patrick Lumumba, who spent nearly three weeks in jail after Knox told police he had killed Kercher. Lumumba was later cleared of all connection to the crime.

“Patrick: I'm sorry,” she said, turning in the direction of the courtroom where he was sitting with his lawyers. “I was naive and not at all courageous because I should have put up with the pressure that pushed me to hurt you. You didn't deserve what you went through and I hope you are able to find your peace.”

In a break after Knox’s statement, Lumumba told reporters that he felt her apology lacked sincerity, however. “If she had said it to me in the first weeks, after I got out of isolation, and we were both going in front of the judge, well then I would have believed her. But now, three years later, well, it seems like strategy. It's as if she's playing a card game and she's losing, so she’s playing every card she's got.”

Knox’s lawyer, Carlo Dalla Vedova, in his formal requests later in the day, asked for a complete review of “dubious” forensics in the case, and criticized the first judge’s sentencing report as full of personal reflections and conjecture that resulted in “perhaps one of the biggest judicial errors to happen here in recent years.”


Lawyers for Knox and Sollecito requested the court hear testimony from two new witnesses, convicted child killer Mario Alessi, who was housed in a prison cell across from Rudy Guede and says he heard another version of what happened, and mafia snitch Luciano Aviello, who claims his own brother killed Kercher and asked him to hide the murder weapon. On Friday, Perugia police raided Aviello’s prison cell on the grounds that Aviello is slandering his brother with a false homicide accusation. Italian newspapers hinted that police had sequestered documents or letters from Aviello’s cell that show his story was fabricated, but the matter was not brought up in court.

The prosecution and civil parties give their arguments next Saturday (Dec. 18). Knox’s appellate trial is expected to last for several months, with hearings held only on Saturdays.

See video footage of today's hearing

Thanksgiving in Perugia: Knox’s Appeal Begins

Amanda Knox and Raffale Sollecito came face-to-face today (technically Wednesday) for the first time since they had been convicted of murdering Meredith Kercher back in December 2009.


Wearing a pale blue sweater against the damp autumn chill, Knox entered the court for her first appeal session looking more serious, as opposed to her carefree demeanor during her original trial.


Presiding judge Claudio Pratillo Hellman (with assistant judge Massimo Zanetti) swore in the jury of five women and one man, then promptly made his first decision: hearings just once a week—on Saturdays—to accommodate Sollecito’s high profile attorney Giulia Bongiorno (a key Italian parliamentarian and head of the justice commission who recently revealed she is several months pregnant).

Under Italian law, anything can happen in the appeals process, from complete acquittal, to conviction on lesser charge such as manslaughter, to an even harsher sentence if convicted again.

Knox’s appeal is built largely around a request for an independent review of forensic evidence (in particular the DNA evidence from the knife that prosecutors say was the murder weapon).

Prosecutors are also appealing the extenuating circumstances granted to Knox and Sollecito, in hopes that they’ll be handed down a life sentence.


This time, the trial stars “three” prosecutors: Giancarlo Costagliola, and the two from the trial, Giuliano Mignini and Manuela Comodi. Mr. Costagliola, the newest prosecutor, will lead the team.


The long awaited appeal is finally here, and the first session was over quite quickly: lasting only about 15 minutes. The defense asked for a postponement until Dec. 11, so “the trial could begin in an atmosphere of tranquility and serenity,” and the prosecution agreed. Judge Hellman granted the request, and fixed hearing dates for Dec. 11, 18 and Jan. 15, for now.

Knox Indicted for Slander

Well, the script may be written, but the story is far from over. 23-year-old Amanda Knox was indicted today on slander charges stemming from her allegations that she was struck by police during her 2007 interrogation/arrest. Police denied misconduct and filed charges saying Knox’s comments were slanderous.

Knox was driven to the courthouse in a police van with darkened windows. The hearing was closed to the public, but photographers were able to get a glimpse of her in the courtroom hallways. Looking thinner and drawn, Knox wore a dark green sweater and black pants, her hair is a jaw-length bob, and she looked to have gained weight.

Judge Claudia Matteini issued the indictment ruling after a hearing behind closed-doors today in Perugia. Judge Matteini scheduled the trial to begin on 17 May 2011. “I didn't mean to offend or slander anybody,” Knox said, as she broke out into tears. “I reiterate, I was only trying to defend myself. I was exercising a right.” If she is convicted, Knox could face an extra six years in prison.

Knox will be back in court in Perugia on 24 November for the first of two appeals against her sentence that she is permitted by Italian law, along with her former Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito; who was sentenced to 25 years for his role in the murder of Meredith Kercher. Knox’s lawyers are due to contest DNA evidence used to convict her.

Rudy Guede, who was also convicted for the killing, saw his sentence reduced from 30 to 16 years in his first appeal. Italy’s Supreme Court will hear his final appeal on 16 December.

From Heroes to Villain: Knox in the News

Actress, Hayden Panettiere, is all set to play the part of Amanda Knox (lead role) in an upcoming original Lifetime movie scheduled to air on February 21, 2011. “The Amanda Knox Story” is a TV movie based on the Barbie Nadeau's book Angel Face: the real story of student killer Amanda Knox; chronicling the sensational Italian murder trial over the brutal killing of Knox’s roommate, Meredith Kercher.

Panettiere had expressed her interest in meeting Knox before she portrays the exchange student in the project, which begins filming at the end of October in Rome.

The 21-year-old actress’ request to meet Knox—best known for her role on television show “Heroes,”—was denied, however, by Knox’s lawyers.


The family of the murdered British student slammed the movie's plans after it was announced:

“I don't like the idea of a film based on Meredith’s death. Seeing it graphically portrayed on the big screen is a horrible thought,” her father John Kercher told the Daily Mirror.


Commenting on her involvement Panettiere said,

“They called me up and asked me to do it,” she said. “I was completely floored and flattered. I was like, ‘Are you sure?’ I’m looking forward to it. I’m really excited about it. It’s going to be a really tough project to do but it will be good. It’s a really great story and a very controversial one. The script is written very well, in a way that I don’t think anyone is going to have a problem with. It only takes place up until she was convicted. I know her appeal is coming up pretty soon too so it should be interesting to see what is going to happen with that.”

Besides this new role, Hayden is also expected to play a part in the upcoming ‘Scream 4’ movie.

Amanda Knox Back in Court for Slander

Amanda Knox was back in court today facing slander charges. Knox originally testified that she was smacked in the head twice by a female police officer during her November 5, 2007, interrogation. If found guilty, Knox could face an additional six-years on top of her 26-year sentence for the murder of Meredith Kercher.

One of Knox’s lawyers, Luciano Ghirga, argued in court today that it is improper for the slander charge to be heard by Judge Claudia Matteini, because she had presided over one of the preliminary hearings for the murder charges. This objection by Ghirga prompted an adjournment until June 17th, at which time it is likely that a new judge will be assigned to hear the case.

The trail for the slander charge is scheduled to take place on October 1, 2010. Knox and her former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito’s, appeals are due to start around the same time. This means that Knox herself might well be involved in two trials at the same time. Worse case scenario for Knox, if she loses the slander case and the prosecution wins the appeal, she could actually be facing upwards of 40 years total.

As for Knox and Sollecito’s appeal, Prosecutor General, Giancarlo Costagliola, has been chosen to prosecute. Unfortunately for Knox and Sollecito, Costagliola was recommended by prosecutors of the last trial, Manuela Comodi and Giuliano Mignini. There is currently a problem deciding who the judge will be, as every judge has in some way contributed to prior hearings on the case in some way. Only the President of the Court of Appeal remains as a viable candidate, but he’s about to retire. So, currently there is no judge left for the appeal. What ever will they do? Most likely a judge from Rome will be assigned to preside over the appeal, at which time Knox and her team will probably ask for change of venue.

Alleged Prison Confession Casts Doubts

Last week the Italian court released a 427-page report detailing the reasons for Knox and Sollecito’s convictions. This week, however, an allegation from a prison-mate of Rudy Guede’s says that Knox and Sollecito are innocent, because Guede told him so. On Friday the lawyers for Sollecito deposited video-taped testimony from a fellow convict of Rudy Guede, Mario Alessi, in which he says Guede confided to him in prison that Knox and Sollecito were not at the house when Kercher was killed, but rather another man was present. Mario Alessi is a convicted child murderer who is serving a life sentence in Italy for kidnapping and killing 17-month old, Tommaso Onofri, in 2006. Alessi is currently serving time in the isolation wing of the Viterbo maximum security prison in Italy, where they keep the convicted sex offenders.

Last month, in a videotaped statement sent to Sollecito’s defense lawyer (Giulia Bongiorno), Alessi claimed that Guede told him and two other prisoners that Knox and Sollecito were never at the crime scene. Alessi also said that Guede wasn’t alone, but that a male friend of his was there with him. This “other friend,” who Guede refused to identify, was the one who slit Meredith’s throat, according to Alessi. What made him come forward with these allegations? Alessi says that “He came forward for the children.” This is coming from a man who when first questioned by police—about the murdered toddler—went on Italian television and declared his innocence saying, “You shall not touch children!” One month later Alessi was leading police to the shallow, riverside grave where he had buried the child. So why should we believe a man who confessed on tape to beating a toddler to death with a shovel, because the child “was crying?” Moreover, why would Guede cover for this so called “friend” if the friend is the one that did the killing? AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, why was no evidence of this friend found at the crime scene? (Remember, they found numerous signs of Guede's presence).

Rudy Guede heard about Alessi’s allegations two days ago while in prison and released a statement saying that he “never talked with Alessi about Meredith Kercher’s murder.” In previous testimony Guede heavily implicated Knox and Sollecito: “Those two [Knox and Sollecito] must be condemned, because they are murderers.” Guede’s lawyers, Walter Biscotti and Nicodemo Gentile, met with him in prison in Viterbo yesterday, where he released a statement. Guede “denied in the most absolute way” the allegations of Alessi. Guede’s lawyers informed the media that they were in possession of several wiretapped moments of Guede in prison and have never heard him speak of the murder. Guede and Alessi were not noted as friends in prison. “How can we think that he would confide in Alessi?” Guede’s lawyers asked. The lawyers announced legal action against Alessi for the false allegations in the report. Kercher family lawyer, Francesco Maresca, released a statement on the matter, calling Alessi “a lier.”

Meanwhile, Sollecito’s lawyer, Giulia Bongiorno—who is also a politician—holds a seat in the Italian Parliament. Her timing in releasing the Alessi tape comes just a couple of days after the 427-page court report on the Knox and Sollecito convictions; despite the fact that she's been holding it for about a month. Investigations of the statements made by Alessi will be carried out in the coming days. Indeed the report was filed yesterday by Bongiorno with the Public Prosecutor of the Republic of Perugia.

Rudy Guede’s Sentence Dramatically Reduced

On December 22, 2009—just three days before Christmas—Rudy Herman Guede’s sentence was reduced from 30 years to 16. Guede was originally convicted back in October 2008, for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher. He opted for a fast-track trial and was sentenced to 30 yrs. His appeal to the Corte d'Appello took only two days. An eight member jury took four hours, upholding his conviction; however, his sentence was dramatically reduced. As he left the courtroom after the appeal Guede said, “I'm not happy because I am innocent.” The Corte d'Appello reported that the ruling took into account some extenuating circumstances for Guede. However, we will have to wait for the court to officially publish their reasons for reaching this decision. This process is expected to take up to 90 days.

Meanwhile Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were also convicted in a separate trial that ended at the beginning of this month. Guede’s cohorts in the murder—Knox jailed for 26 years and Sollecito for 25—still await their appeals, which are scheduled to take place towards the end of 2010.

Looking forward: Guede's reduction is a shocking blow for the convicted couple, because it validates the courts theory that Knox and Sollecito were the masterminds behind this crime.

Looking back: I also suspect that Knox and Sollecito’s recent guilty verdict played a part in the appeal reduction.

During the appeal Prosecutors restated their original position that "Guede, Knox and Sollecito were high on drugs when they murdered Kercher after she refused to join in a sex game." Francesco Maresca, Kercher’s family lawyer, said that he was “Surprised” with the reduction in the sentence. “He could have saved her. He could have acted to save her, then he wouldn’t be here asking forgiveness,” replied Francesco Maresca at the appeal. Meanwhile, prosecutor Pietro Catalani said, “He [Guede] is not credible.” Adding that wounds on Meredith’s body suggest it took far longer for her to die than Guede’s testimony indicated.

Possible Reasons for Reduction

So, the question still remains at this point, what was the courts reduction based on? Until the detailed report is released, we will only be able to speculate. Below are a few reasons why the ruling may have been reduced:

Guede’s original story was that he met up with Kercher at the apartment where they had made a date for that night. He claims that he was “hooking-up” with Kercher when the burrito he had eaten earlier needed his immediate attention. He rushed into the bathroom and listened to his iPod as he sat on the toilet. "I heard Meredith's and Amanda's voices, arguing about some money missing," he told the appeal court. "I was listening to music but halfway through the third track I heard a piercing scream." When he came out of the bathroom he was confronted by an Italian man [Sollecito] with a knife, who he struggled with. Guede did report that his fingers were cut from the altercation. He then said that he heard a woman’s voice and saw a silhouette of what appeared to be Knox in the doorway. Before they rushed off, Guede claims that they screamed that they would pin the murder on the black guy.

Sollecito’s bank account was found empty when checked by police, while Knox was found with the exact same amount of money in her possession that Kercher had withdrawn from her account before the murder. Guede’s prints were found all over the crime scene, while Knox and Sollecito’s prints were not. However, an apparent clean-up had taken place after the murder, that much is confirmed. Moreover, Knox’s prints were not found anywhere in an apartment that she had lived-in for the previous two months; except for one latent print found on a cup in the kitchen. How could that be without a clean-up? There were also 19 prints found in Meredith's room that were unidentifyable, because they had been smeared as if wiped clean by someone.

Then there are the five barefoot, bloody prints in the house that were wiped clean, which were only found after using the chemical luminol. My book will give a detailed forensic analysis of these prints; providing evidence that two of the barefoot bloody prints belonged to Knox and two belonged to Sollecito. Hence, disproving the 'Lone-Wolf-Theory.'

Lets not forget the five traces of blood found throughout the apartment that had a mix between Knox and Kercher's genetic profiles. The relatively large sample left on the sink facet in the bathroom located next to Meredith's bedroom was only found to be Knox's blood.

Meredith’s boyfriend—who lived in the flat downstairs—had left her the keys to their flat so that she could water his Marijuana plant and tend to their disfigured cat. Those keys were never found, but were used to get into the flat and smear blood down there to make it look like the boys downstairs were involved. Guede simply did not have enough time to do the extensive cleaning that appears to have taken place; as he was witnessed at a disco just hours later.

There was no break-in on the night of the murder, as claimed by Knox and Sollecito. The window found broken in Filomena’s room (roommate of the girls), was clearly staged. The room had been ransacked before the window being broken, as indicated by the broken glass found ON TOP OF the clothes that had been thrown around the room. Undeniably there is no sign suggesting a different hypothesis. Moreover, in order to break into this window, one would have needed a very high ladder, and this window is in direct view of the open road, which is illuminated at night by the car park across the street. So, someone let Guede in the house willingly, and there is no medical sign that sexual violence occurred.

Italy’s trial of the century is far from concluded. In the meantime, we will need to wait for the courts explanation on the sentence reduction in order to give a more accurate account of the ruling. Guede, from Ivory Coast, is currently celebrating his 23rd birthday today behind bars. Since he has already served two-years, he will now only spend another fourteen-years in jail. Aside from the fact that 21-yr-old Meredith Kercher was violently murdered, we may never really know exactly what happened at Via della Pergola 7 on the night of November 1, 2007. But you can safely bet that all three were involved somehow.