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.”

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. 

Kercher Family Lawyer, Francesco Maresca: A Force to be Reckoned With

What has thus far been lost, or more like “ignored,” by the American media is the fact that Francesco Maresca—lawyer for the Kercher family—believes that Knox, Sollecito, and Guede were all involved in the murder of his client’s daughter. This is important because Maresca represents the interests of the victim and her family. Maresca has attended all hearings and has been an active member in this case; he has also been an outspoken source apart from the police and the prosecutors involved. So this also means that the Kercher family believes in the guilt of all three as well, which they have publically acknowledged apart from their attorney.

Francesco Maresca has always been a public voice throughout this entire process. After nearly every hearing on the case, Maresca has been the most significant voice, because he remains the most independent lawyer involved in the case. Among the many hats that Maresca had to wear, he was always concerned about the dignity of Meredith and her family. Maresca implored the judge in the original trial to have the media excluded from hearing evidence that involved graphic photos and or testimony to “preserve Meredith’s memory and dignity,” and because this would be “very traumatic” for the Kercher family. NOTE: Maresca also informed the court that he had no objection to journalists hearing the proceedings, but just without video. Judge Massei made the decision that neither would occur.

And then there were the days where Maresca showed the media his animated side. After one hearing, Maresca even used sarcasm to get his point across. Speaking in regard to whether or not more than one person was involved in the killing Maresca said, “If it was only one person then that person had more than two hands.” He later answered that question much more directly: “…the attack [on Kercher] was strong, and repeated, and carried out by more than one person.”


Maresca has always been outspoken in providing his, and the Kercher family’s, view on who was involved. In his closing argument in the original trial of Knox and Sollecito, Maresca told the court that the case against Knox and Sollecito was “crystal clear,” and sufficient enough for the judges and the jury to find them guilty.

Meredith Kercher’s family remained silent during the trial, except when called to testify, and they looked relieved when the verdict was read. The Kercher family also spoke at a press conference after the trial, but they spoke mostly about the memory of Meredith. They did, however, give a glimpse into their beliefs about who killed their daughter/sister. The family praised the efforts of police, prosecutors, and jurors, and Meredith’s brother, Lyle, said, “Ultimately we are pleased with the verdict.”

And then there was the article written by Meredith’s father, John Kercher, in the UK’s Daily mail at the start of the appeals trial in which he made a strong plea for the cruel, callous, and inaccurate PR games, of Knox’s family, to stop. In it, he makes it very clear his (and his family’s) feelings of Knox’s involvement in his daughter’s murder. “To many, she seems an unlikely killer. Yet to my family she is, unequivocally, culpable. As far as we are concerned, she has been convicted of taking our precious Meredith’s life in the most hideous and bloody way.”

Overall, they remained dignified throughout the entire process, letting Maresca do the talking for them. After the guilty verdict was handed down to Knox and Sollecito at the original trial, Maresca spoke on behalf of the family regarding the decision. “The Kercher family got the justice they were expecting,” Maresca told the press. “We got what we were hoping for.” He later added, “It is a good sentence that fills the Kercher family with satisfaction. Justice was given to the family for this tragedy. These are heavy convictions for very young kids. It is a tragedy on all sides.”


Then it was Mr. Maresca who led the charge against the Sollecito family for providing local Bari TV station, Telenorba, with a crime-scene video of Meredith, which showed her lying half-naked on her back on the floor, with the wounds to her throat clearly visible. And, without any shame, Telenorba committed the ultimate taboo televised the video.

“This is an example of gross journalistic misconduct, which evidently violates all the rules of how to report a story,” Maresca said. Spurred by complaints from Maresca, a full investigation into the Sollecito family ensued. Charges were soon announced, for this and other offenses allegedly committed by the Sollecito family, and that trial is ongoing.

In a recent interview with Umbria Left regarding the previous hearing and Rudy Guede’s testimony, Maresca said, “In my opinion Guede once again confirmed the presence of all three accused at the site of the murder that night. It seems to me the truth of a co-accused already found guilty. To me it appeared absolutely clear,” Maresca concluded.

Even more recently, the two court appointed experts submitted a 145-page report filed to a tribunal in Perugia explaining their results, after examining the only two pieces of DNA evidence that the court would allow to be contested by either defense team. The conclusion that they came up with was that the DNA evidence “might have been contaminated” (I will cover this report extensively in subsequent posts).

To this report, Maresca countered that “the word of the independent experts would not be the last word, and said he would raise his objections during the last week in July, when the report will be formally discussed during a week of hearings.” Maresca also asserted that the scientific police and the consultants, whose results the independent experts are reviewing, have “far more experience” than the independent experts. “I was surprised that these experts were so certain, and gave such strong, drastic opinions, given that they don’t have the same number of years of experience under their belt,” Mr. Maresca said.

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.


Get the complete details...Purchase your copy NOW through AMAZON

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

Knox Appeal: Homeless in Perugia

With the appeals on the verge of heating-up—in anticipation for the expected May 21st report from independent experts on crucial physical evidence in the case—today the court heard from witnesses disputing the testimony of homeless man, Antonio Curatolo. Mr. Curatolo testified that he saw Knox and Sollecito on the night of the murder several times in Piazaa Grimana, which overlooks the cottage (crime scene). Mr. Curatolo also testified that he was certain because he remembered seeing buses and other students in the piazza waiting to board buses to go to discos in town.

On this day, the fifth appeal hearing, six witnesses took the stand—including some operators of shuttle bus services that run from the piazza in question to discos on Perugia’s outskirts, as well as people doing work for two discos. In short, the witnesses said shuttle bus services were not running that night.

Roles of the seven defense witnesses (one hasn’t testified yet):

Rita Pucciarini, organizes events in Perugia
Giorgio Brugnini - owner, Disco Etoile 59
Mauo Mandarini - owner, Disco Gradisca
Arturo Liasullo, manager, SIAE
Massimiliano Bevilacqua - Bus company
Gaetano Ini- Bus company
Rosa Ini- Bus company

Rita Pucciarini, who at the time of the murder worked for the Red Zone disco, told the court “There were no buses [running that night]… I’m certain because discos focus on Halloween, which is a big draw. It’s like New Year’s Eve.”

Luciano Ghirga, a lawyer for Knox, said the testimony “removes the two from the scene of the crime.” Prosecutor Manuela Comodi said the testimony was “useless” as there are other discos in Perugia and other bus shuttle services whose operators had not been heard. Comodi also said, “If ever there is testimony that is completely useless…this is it.” Kercher family lawyer, Francesco Maresca, noted that he “remains convinced of the reliability of this witness [Curatolo].”

There has been no word yet whether the prosecution will be entering Rudy Guede’s Motivation Report into the record. Antonio Curatolo is expected to take the witness stand again during the next hearing, which is scheduled for 26 March 2011.

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

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.

Jailed Italian Mobster Says ‘Knox is Innocent.’

Another shocking and bizarre twist occurs in the Amanda Knox case. On 10 June, jailed Italian mobster, Luciano Aviello, claims that his brother killed Kercher during a botched burglary attempt. Last week, Knox’s defense team, Carlo Dalla Vedova and Luciano Ghirga, went to the Ivrea prison outside Turin where Aviello is serving 17 years for mob-related crimes. In a videotaped statement, Aviello told the lawyers that his brother, Antonio, went to his house the night Kercher was killed and asked him to hide a bloodstained knife and set of keys. The significance of that statement is that Kercher’s set of keys to the cottage have never been recovered, and the Mariette-knife that the prosecution claimed was the murder weapon was called ‘seriously flawed’ and ‘contaminated’ by several expert defense witnesses.

“It was my brother who killed Meredith on the night of November 1, 2007. Amanda, Raffaele and Guede are innocent,” Luciano Aviello, 41, told Knox's lawyers. "When he [Antonio] came to my house he had a bloodstained jacket," Aviello says in the statement. “He said he had broken into a house and killed a girl and then he had run away.” According to Aviello, his brother and a friend named Florio (an Albanian man) went into the cottage to steel paintings and found Kercher alone. Kercher began screaming loudly and Antonio says that he stabbed her and they ran off into the night. “My brother confessed the murder to me and gave me the blood-stained knife and a set of keys (to hide)." Aviello said that he hid the knife and keys under a wall behind the house in Perugia, Italy where he was living at the time. Antonio's whereabouts are unknown, but he is thought to be in Naples.

Aviello has come forward with this information several times in 2009, and it has been confirmed that Knox’s defense team has known about this information as early as March 2010. The lead Prosecutor in the case, Giuliano Mignini, said he was aware that Aviello wrote to the judge in the Knox case several times but the judge dismissed it. “There is nothing else to say,” Mignini told UK’s the Daily Mail. So now we will have to wait and see if Aviello can produce these two key pieces of evidence. Personally, I think that if this evidence existed they would have already been provided. Here we have another case of a convict trying to get in the news, much like the rantings on the case by another convict, Mario Alessi.

Questions:

Why would experienced/mob-related criminals rob a known college dorm house looking for expensive paintings? This just doesn’t hold water in my opinion. Where is the physical evidence in the house belonging to these new suspects? Then there is also the fact that Rudy Guede was there, by his own admittance, fingerprints and footprints (as well as his DNA found inside of Kercher’s vagina). Guede also said that he heard a woman’s voice by the door and saw her silhouette as she and the alleged perpetrated (who threatened him with a knife) fled into the night. Not sure how this will be explained. Did they then find Guede in the bathroom of the house and intimidated him into silence? Is Aviello’s statement fantastic or fantastical?

Knox’s appeal is supposed to begin sometime this fall, where Knox’s lawyers are expected to bring up these new claims. Now we must play the waiting game again to see what developments occur and if these key pieces of evidence will be produced.

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.

Foxy Knoxy: The Study Abroad Murder

The verdict came in on December 4, 2009, on what has been termed “The Study Abroad Murder.” More than two-years after the murder, foreign exchange student from the United States, Amanda Knox [22] was convicted Friday in an Italian court of being the ring leader in a “sex game gone bad” that led to the brutal murder of her British roommate, Meredith Kercher [21], on the night of November 1, 2007. This case had nearly fell off of the American media’s radar until the “stunning” decision that sent Knox to prison for 26 years and her boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, to jail for 25 years. Meanwhile Knox has become a tabloid celebrity in Italy the likes of Paris Hilton, and beyond. Knox was voted “person of the year” in 2008 in an online poll by a major Italian T.V. station. Knox nudged out her second place opponent—Italian-born French first lady, Carla Bruni—to get the honors.

Kercher’s lifeless body had been found by Italian police under a duvet in her room at Via Della Pergola 7, in Perugia, Italy on November 2, 2007. Kercher was found partially clothed with her throat cut and with multiple signs of bruising to her neck and body. The pathologist’s report indicates that she was stabbed at some time between 9.30 p.m., and 11.30 p.m., on the night of November 1, 2007 (and because her carotid artery was not hit she suffered a long, agonizing two-hour death). Meredith’s door had been locked from the inside and the window in her room on the ground floor had been broken; which appeared to police to be where the killer had exited. All in all, it looked like a typical sex crime to police. But soon that would all change!

Knox and Sollecito both told police that she was at his flat the night of the murder, and that Knox did not leave until 10:00 a.m., the next morning. She claimed that she returned home, saw the blood in the bathroom, and thought that one of her roommates may have had a menstrual accident and had forgotten to clean up. She claimed that she was scared and rushed back to Sollecito’s house, but not before taking a shower. Sollecito accompanied her back to the cottage where the police arrived unexpectedly, as they had found both of Meredith’s cell phones in a nearby neighbor’s garden.

At the murder scene, police and media swarmed the house. Knox and Sollecito—who had been dating less than two-weeks—had been photographed by Italian media kissing and acting odd. Later at the police station, many people were brought down for questioning. Knox and Sollecito continued their strange behavior according to Pisco Alessi, owner of Merlin’s pub. Pisco said that Knox and Sollecito were laughing, joking, and kissing. “It just seemed completely wrong in that situation,” he said. Others questioned at police headquarters confirmed that they had seen Knox and Sollecito making faces, joking around, and passing notes to each other as well.

On November 5th police decided to bug Raffaele’s phone. That night they recorded a conversation that he had with his father about a flick-knife that he carried with him in which he said, “Well they have already questioned me and they didn’t find it on me, those stupid policemen.” From this police called in Sollecito for questioning the next night. Although she was not called-in by police, Knox tagged along for support. Suddenly, Sollecito had changed his story, claiming that Knox was with him only until 9:00 p.m., on the night of the murder. After police notified Knox of Sollecito’s change of heart she then changed her story. Knox provided police with a handwritten statement which would be the most damaging pieces of circumstantial evidence against her.

Key points in Knox’s statement:

“This is very strange, I know, but really what happened is as confusing to me as it is to everyone else.”

Knox starts off claiming that she was at Sollecito’s flat smoking marijuana, having sex, and “might even have fallen asleep.”

“The next thing I remember was waking up the morning of Friday November 2nd around 10am and I took a plastic bag to take back my dirty cloths to go back to my house.”

As she goes on, she begins to tell a different story of what might have happened in which she claims her boss, Patrick Lumumba, was the probably the murder. Lumumba is a (black male) Congolese immigrant who owned the nightclub (Le Chic) where Knox had been a waitress. According to this version of events Knox met Patrick Lumumba at around 9:00pm on the night of the murder at a basketball court in Piazza Grimana in Perugia and then went to her house. This is significant, because a homeless man later testified that he saw Knox and a black man on that very basketball court at that time.

“In my mind I saw Patrik in flashes of blurred images. I saw him near the basketball court. I saw him at my front door. I saw myself cowering in the kitchen with my hands over my ears because in my head I could hear Meredith screaming…these things seem unreal to me, like a dream, and I am unsure if they are real things that happened or are just dreams my head has made to try to answer the questions in my head and the questions I am being asked.”

Knox then does not rule out the possibility that there is evidence against her at the crime scene.

"The police have told me that they have hard evidence that places me at the house, my house, at the time of Meredith's murder. I don't know what proof they are talking about, but if this is true, it means I am very confused and my dreams must be real.”

Knox then acknowledges that her story seems far fetched and stands by both of her stories.

“I also know that the fact that I can't fully recall the events that I claim took place at Raffaele's home during the time that Meredith was murdered is incriminating. And I stand by my statements that I made last night about events that could have taken place in my home with Patrik, but I want to make very clear that these events seem more unreal to me that what I said before, that I stayed at Raffaele's house.”

Knox reaffirms that she is not sure what she was doing the night before the murder.

“I'm very confused at this time. My head is full of contrasting ideas and I know I can be frustrating to work with for this reason. But I also want to tell the truth as best I can. Everything I have said in regards to my involvement in Meredith's death, even though it is contrasting, are the best truth that I have been able to think.”

Knox reaffirms that she is not sure what she was doing the night before the murder, and that Patrick may have been the killer.

“In these flashbacks that I'm having, I see Patrik as the murderer, but the way the truth feels in my mind, there is no way for me to have known because I don't remember FOR SURE if I was at my house that night.”

Knox then asks herself a very puzzling question, which is basically saying that she was not there unless they have proof that she was, and if so then she doesn’t remember.

“Is the evidence proving my pressance [sic] at the time and place of the crime reliable? If so, what does this say about my memory? Is it reliable?”

Raffaele Sollecito made a similar statement that Knox was with him from 1:30p.m., that day until around 8:30p.m., at which time she left and did not return until the next morning. Police arrested Lumumba, and searched his club. No evidence was found there and no evidence of Lumumba was ever found at the crime scene. He was released from prison three-weeks later after police tracked down people who could confirm that he was at the club until late on the night of the murder. Lumumba was obviously upset and claimed that Knox had probably killed Kercher because he had recently fired her and hired Kercher in her place. He eventually had to close down his club after the incident, and he sued Knox in a civil suit for “slander.”

Police turned their investigation to Raffaele Sollecito’s flat in Corso Garibaldi. There, police found a pair of Sollecito’s sneakers that they claimed were a perfect match with one of the footprints left at the crime scene. They also found a flick-knife that they would later claim had Knox’s DNA on the handle and Kercher’s DNA on the tip.

After the arrest a massive journalistic manhunt had begun trying to dig-up some dirt on the couple. Not long after someone discovered Amanda Knox’s MySpace page, which was titled "Foxy Knoxy." The name caught on like wildfire! On her page she had a blog that featured a story entitled Baby Brother, which described a young woman who was drugged and raped, that concluded with two roommates in a bloody confrontation. Sollecito also had an internet blog which featured a photograph of him dressed as a mummy and wielding a meat cleaver; while promulgating his desire to try “extreme experiences.” Security footage from a local clothing shop named “Bubble” soon surfaced. Knox and Sollecito were seen kissing and purchased sexy under wear just one day after Kercher’s body was discovered. The shop keeper told journalists that he overheard the two talking and giggling about the wild sex that they were going to have.

A YouTube video of Knox drunk soon surfaced. The media jumped all over these new findings, and began painting “Foxy Knoxy” as a drug crazed, sex crazed party girl. More strange behavior would be exhibited by Knox when she was seen several times laughing and smiling in court, and in her prison diaries; which when analyzed by a British psychologist showed multiple signs of narcissistic behavior and psychopathic tendencies.

Six weeks after the murder forensic tests confirmed the fingerprints and DNA of a local drug dealer, Rudy Hermann Guede, all over the crime scene. Soon after, Guede was arrested in Germany and extradited back to Italy to face charges. Guede admitted being at the house during the murder. He said that Meredith invited him back to her apartment, they flirted, kissed, and then he went to the bathroom. It was there he claimed he heard Meredith screaming. Guede then said he opened the bathroom door and saw a man, an Italian man (Sollecito), standing there with a knife in his hand. Guede also told cops the Italian man said he would try to pin the murder on him (“The black guy”). Guede claims that he left the house and went to a nightclub with friends. The next day he took a train to Germany. Police didn’t believe a word that Guede was saying. Their only intention was to connect Guede to Knox and Sollecito.

Right on cue, an Albanian immigrant appeared at the police station and claimed that he had seen the suspects lurking by a trash compactor just 50 meters from the house the night before the murder. He claims that he ran his car lightly into the dumpster by accident and that Knox, Sollecito and Guede jumped out of the dumpster and threatened him with a knife.

More evidence soon began coming in against young Amanda Knox. Allegedly Knox had been seen by two men washing some clothes and a pair of shoes at a laundry mat in Via Fabretti with an African man the day after the murder. CCTV cameras in a car-park across the way from her house had captured images of Knox entering the cottage just before Meredith arrived that fatal night. There were also reports from neighbors living in the flats overlooking the cottage had seen two people running away from the house at the time of the murder.

A Local Supermarket assistant testified that on the morning of November 2, 2007, he witnessed Amanda Knox come into his store at 7:45 a.m., the morning after the murder, and purchase cleaning products. This put a big hole in Knox’s story, because her and her lawyers have always maintained that she had stayed at Raffaele’s apartment until 10:00a.m.

Although Knox later claimed at her trial that she and Meredith were close, more than one of Meredith’s friends testified that they didn’t like each other. They claimed that Meredith didn’t like Knox because she was promiscuous and frequently brought home strange Italian men. Meredith’s father confirmed this, saying that his daughter had voiced these concerns to him as well. One girl testified that Knox had bragged to them when she first arrived that she had sex with a stranger on the train ride in.

Rudy Guede later opted for a ‘fast-track’ trail and was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the murder of Meredith Kercher. Guede told police that Meredith had gone to her room and opened a drawer and noticed that some money was missing. According to Guede, Meredith believed that Knox had taken the money to buy drugs. This may have been the only thing that Guede was telling the truth about, because later it was found that Meredith had withdrawn €250 to pay for her rent due on the November 1st. However, her landlord never received the money. Coincidentally the sum of €215 was found on Amanda Knox when she was searched.

Police held Knox and Sollecito for one year, the maximum under Italian law, before bringing them to trial. One year after the trial began, hoards of people stood outside the courthouse after the guilty verdict and watched as Knox and Sollecito were escorted to prison in armored vehicles. Crowds ran after the vehicles chanting “Assassins” as the couple were escorted to prison.

The American media has repeatedly painted the verdict as being brought down on Amanda from a corrupt, unjust, and primitive Italian justice system and a lack of any real physical evidence. However, most of these arguments come without any knowledge or respect for the field of forensics; along with other biases. Amanda Knox’s parents have been on a tireless campaign over the last two years, proclaiming their daughters innocence and damning the Italian justice system. The American media has bought their story lock-stock-and-barrel, without questioning them or doing any research. There have been numerous stories using Knox’s friends and family to protest the verdict and claiming that the young, pretty, and Caucasian Knox was a model citizen who is incapable of participating in such a vicious act.

However, there are some that believe that the Italian media’s obsession with branding Knox as some spoiled American swinger girl is an attempt to use her as a target for their anti-American sentiments. The American media have really made themselves the bad guy here. This is one of the most gravely misreported cases in recent history. The American media has done no digging, consulted no Italians, and have repeatedly recycled discredited sources and those with a vested interest in the outcome. Moreover, they have revealed no understanding of how the Italian judicial process works, and often depict the Italian professionals with contempt. So far no-one has held them accountable for this.

So what really happened that fatal night? How did the murder occur and who was involved? Did Guede know Knox and Sollecito, and did they conspire and kill Meredith Kercher? What transpired during the trial, who testified, and most importantly, was there enough physical evidence to convict the couple? My new book attempts to detail, examine, and answer these questions and many others.

Study Abroad Murder: The Mystery of Via Della Pergola 7 is the chronological story of the brutal murder of Meredith Kercher. I walk you through the days leading up to the murder and take you inside the house at the time of the murder; and everything that transpired afterwards.

I feel that it is my obligation as a writer, forensic specialist, and journalist to bring the real story to the world from a unique perspective. With the combination of trial transcripts, judge’s reports, news articles, interviews, and a detailed forensic evaluation of the physical evidence, this book is designed to be the quintessential book on this case.

This story is far from over as Knox’s appeal is expected in the third quarter of 2010. Through all of this, let us not forget Meredith Kercher, who was taken away from us so violently and unnecessarily. Also, let us remember the Kercher family, who lost a beautiful, vibrant young daughter so tragically that night.

http://www.willsavive.webs.com/