Summary of events and review of critical evidence
in the Amanda Knox case
January 15, 2009 Contact:
info@friendsofamanda.orgContents
I. Who is Amanda Knox and why is she charged with murder In Italy? 1
II. Summary of events 1
III. Evidence 3
IV. The current situation 6I. Who is Amanda Knox and why is she charged with murder in Italy?
Amanda Knox is a 21-year old exchange student from the University of Washington,
arrested in Perugia, Italy, on November 6, 2007 and charged with the murder of Meredith
Kercher, her British housemate.
Raffaele Sollecito, Knox's former boyfriend, is also charged with the murder.
Rudy Guede, a resident of Perugia, has already been tried, convicted, and sentenced for
Meredith Kercher’s murder.
Prosecutors allege that Knox, Sollecito, and Guede killed Kercher when she refused to
participate in a drug-induced group *** game. They have also suggested that robbery may
have been a motive, even though Knox had several thousand dollars in her checking
account, and that the murder may have been an occult ritual.
1
Knox maintains that she and Sollecito spent the night of the murder at Sollecito’s apartment.
The case has attracted media attention across Europe and North America. Tabloid
journalists have depicted Knox as a ***-crazed party girl whose quest for thrills drove her to
commit murder. Knox's friends and family, however, describe her as gentle and affable, a
good student with no tendency toward any kind of excessive behavior. They also point out
that she has no criminal record or history of violence.
II. Summary of events
Knox arrived in Perugia, Italy, in mid-September 2007 to attend the University for Foreigners.
She found a living situation in a cottage that she shared with two young Italian women and
Kercher, a British student also attending the University. In late October, Knox met Sollecito
at a classical music concert. They commenced a relationship. Knox began spending the
night at Sollecito’s apartment.
Thursday, November 1, 2007, was the start of a long weekend in Italy, as Italians celebrate
All Saints Day as a family holiday. The two Italian housemates were absent from the cottage
and Knox was staying at Sollecito's apartment. On that evening, Kercher watched a movie
at the home of a friend before returning to the cottage at 9:10 pm. At 9:30, she phoned her
mother in England.
2
The authorities believe she was murdered sometime in the next few
hours.
3
On November 2, 2007, Knox returned home at 10:30 am and found the front door to the
cottage ajar, which she attributed to the unreliable latch on the door. The door to Kercher's
room was closed, and Knox assumed she was still sleeping. Knox took a shower in the
small bathroom she shared with Kercher and noticed a few droplets of blood. After
showering, she dried her hair in the second, larger bathroom, where she noticed someone
had used the toilet without flushing.
4
It seemed an ordinary, quiet morning, so at first Knox was not alarmed by what she
encountered at the cottage. But the more she thought about it, the more concerned she
became. She returned to Sollecito’s apartment and told him about her concern. Then she
called one of her Italian roommates, and she tried to call Kercher. Cellular records show that
Knox made these calls a few minutes after noon on November 2.
1After having breakfast, she returned to the cottage with Sollecito, where they made a closer
inspection. They found a broken window and evidence that someone might have broken
into the cottage. They also discovered that Kercher's door was locked. Sollecito called his
sister, a police officer, and she told him to call the police. As he was doing so, the police
arrived on their own, because Kercher's cell phones had been found in the garden of a
nearby residence and had been traced to the cottage. A few minutes later, Kercher's locked
door was forced open in the presence of the police and her body was discovered. She was
on the floor, under a duvet, partially disrobed, with her throat cut.
The police questioned Knox and Sollecito repeatedly as witnesses over the next few days,
and they both gave the same account of their activities and whereabouts. But on the night of
November 5-6, the two were pulled into separate rooms and subjected to more aggressive
interrogations. Under intense pressure, they changed their accounts. Sollecito said that
Knox was gone from his apartment for a few hours, and Knox described a dream or a vision
of herself covering her ears to block out screams while the man she worked for, a bar owner
named Patrick Lumumba, was in Kercher’s room.
5
Knox signed two statements on the morning of November 6, one at 1:45 am and a second at
5:45 am. The Italian Supreme Court has ruled the second statement cannot be used as
evidence because at the time she signed it, Knox was a suspect rather than a witness.
6
Knox's supporters contend that her statements were made under duress and she ended up
telling the police what they wanted to hear even though it was not true.
7
She was kept up all
night, claims to have been hit, and was denied a lawyer and professional translator.
Knox, Sollecito, and Lumumba were arrested and jailed on the morning of November 6.
Lumumba was released after about two weeks because he had an unshakable alibi.
Around the time Lumumba was released, the authorities used forensic analysis to identify a
fourth suspect, an immigrant from Ivory Coast named Rudy Guede. Guede had left a hand
print, in the victim's blood, on a pillow found underneath her corpse. In addition, his DNA
was found inside her vagina, on her clothing, and on her handbag. DNA evidence also
linked him to the unflushed toilet.
8
Guede fled to Germany after the murder, but police tracked him down. He was arrested and
extradited back to Italy.
Following his arrest, Guede told police that he and Kercher had arranged to meet at the
cottage that evening, and they had consensual contact that stopped short of intercourse.
Guede claimed he suddenly needed to use the bathroom, and while he was sitting on the
toilet listening to his iPod, a stranger entered the cottage and attacked Kercher. Guede said
he emerged from the bathroom and grappled with the stranger, who ran off into the night
after shouting "a black man found is a black man condemned." He said he then tried to
comfort Kercher, but at some point he panicked and fled the scene. Witnesses saw him
dancing at a local nightclub at about 2:00 am on the morning of November 2, just a few
hours after the murder.
9
While Guede was in Germany, police monitored a phone call during which he explicitly
stated that Knox was not present when the murder took place.
10
A few months after his
arrest, however, Guede changed his story. In his revised account, the stranger with whom
he grappled became Sollecito. His initial story did not implicate Knox, but in the revised
version, he claimed she was present as well, albeit outside the room.
11
2III. Evidence
Under most circumstances, the arrest of Guede might have put an end to the investigation,
because the evidence against him was so conclusive. In this case, however, authorities
announced they had solved the crime before they even knew about Guede. On November
6, 2007, they held a news conference at which they asserted that the murder had been
committed by Knox, Sollecito, and Lumumba because Kercher refused to participate in a
group *** game.
12
Later, when a corroborated alibi forced the authorities to release Lumumba, they substituted
Guede as the third participant in the alleged *** game, even though he had no known
connection to either Knox or Sollecito. It seemed the authorities had committed themselves
to a specific theory, and they went to work developing evidence that would fit that theory.
Following is a summary of that evidence.
1. Statements made by the suspects
As noted above, the suspects changed their stories when interrogated from the evening of
November 5 into the morning of November 6. Sollecito claimed that Knox was out alone for
some time. After an arduous interrogation, Knox made two statements, the second of which
described a dream or vision of herself covering her ears to block out screams while
Lumumba was in Kercher's room.
Both Lumumba and Guede are black men. The defense believes the police who
interrogated Knox were aware, on the basis of hair they had recovered from the victim's
hand, that a black person was involved in the crime,
13
and so they steered her toward
Lumumba for that reason. Knox had exchanged text messages with Lumumba on the
evening of November 1. At 8:18 pm, Lumumba sent a message telling Knox that there
wasn't much business and she didn't need to come in to work. At 8:35 pm, she confirmed
receiving the message and said "See you later. Good night." Knox claims the police
insisted that her text message meant that she intended to meet Lumumba later, and they
continued to press her on this point, so she finally described this dream or vision under great
duress.
14
Judge Claudia Matteini's court order of November 9, 2007, confirms that the
authorities did in fact interpret the message exchange to mean that Knox and Lumumba
intended to meet later that evening.
15
Both Knox and Sollecito now claim their initial statements to police were truthful and
accurate.
2. The alleged murder weapon
Police seized a large kitchen knife from Sollecito’s apartment, which they claim has Knox’s
DNA on the handle and Kercher’s DNA on the blade.
There are three critical problems with the knife as evidence:
16
The alleged match to Kercher’s DNA -- or indeed to anyone's DNA -- is highly
dubious because the sample quality was so poor.
The knife does not match a knife-shaped blood stain left on the victim’s bed.
Experts have already testified that the knife could not have made at least two of the
three wounds found on Kercher’s throat.
33. Sollecito’s DNA on the victim’s bra fastener
Six weeks after the murder, police collected a bra fastener from the floor of Kercher's room.
Tests revealed a microscopic trace of Sollecito's DNA on this item. But, as with the knife,
there are substantial problems:
17
Tests also revealed the DNA of at least three other unidentified people on the bra
fastener.
Investigators made a mess of Kercher's room when they went through her
belongings. Police video shows that the fastener was kicked or swept to one side
and eventually became mixed with a pile of clutter, which exposed it to numerous
potential sources of contamination.
The police video shows that the item was handled extensively by two investigators
before it was bagged as evidence, further increasing the risk of contamination.
Forensic experts acknowledge that contamination has become a significant problem with
DNA testing, because the technology is highly sensitive.
18
Sollecito had been in the cottage
on multiple occasions, and he attempted to break down the door to the room on the day after
the murder, before the police arrived. His DNA would have been present on door handles
and other surfaces, available to be transferred to any other object.
19
4. Other physical evidence
Authorities say tests on blood stains in the bathroom show Kercher's DNA was mixed with
that of Knox. They also say a drop of blood found on a faucet is that of Knox.
20
Carlo Torre,
one of Italy's leading forensic scientists, is advising Knox's defense team and has examined
the lab reports. His conclusion is that the samples are Kercher's blood contaminated with
Knox's non-blood DNA, which would have been spread all over the bathroom, so these
stains prove nothing in relation to the murder.
21
Authorities used Luminol, a chemical that reacts with even tiny amounts of blood, to reveal
latent footprints in the hallway outside the victim's room, which is also the route between the
bathroom and Knox's room. They say these prints show that Knox stepped in Kercher's
blood and tracked it around. But everyone agrees that small amounts of blood were present
on the floor of the bathroom following the murder, and Knox claims to have taken a shower
on the morning of November 2. Moreover, Torre has pointed out that Luminol reacts with
other substances besides blood. And, like the "mixed DNA" in the bathroom, the footprints
are found only in the hallway, not in the room where the murder took place.
5. Witnesses
A man claimed to have seen the three suspects together on the night of the murder, but he
was utterly discredited in the pre-trial hearings.
22
A woman who lives in a nearby apartment
claims to have heard a scream followed by the footsteps of more than one person outside in
the street.
23
A homeless man claims to have seen Knox and Sollecito lurking in a public
area near the cottage on the night of the murder.
24
New witnesses have come forward
recently, more than a year after the crime. The defense believes all are either unreliable or
have no testimony incriminating to Knox or Sollecito.
6 Demeanor evidence
Authorities have described behavior on the part of Knox and Sollecito that they deem
suspicious. They observed Knox and Sollecito kissing outside the cottage when they were
brought back to the crime scene on the day after the murder. A man who runs a clothing
store told a British tabloid that Knox and Sollecito traded sexually explicit remarks when she
4purchased some underwear, and the security camera at the store shows them embracing
and kissing.
25
Other people who interacted with Knox after the murder have supposedly
described behavior they thought was unusual or inappropriate under the circumstances.
The defense contends the authorities and the media have distorted accounts of Knox’s
behavior after the murder to make her seem insensitive when in fact she was in a state of
shock. In the case of the underwear purchase, Amanda made this purchase because she
had no access to her clothing and other belongings, and the defense maintains that the
shopkeeper was paid by the tabloid to tell a good story.
7. Evidence that the crime scene was staged
Police have asserted that the shattered window is evidence that a break-in was staged, and
that only an insider -- someone known to have keys to the cottage -- would perform such
staging, in an effort to make it look like the murder was committed by a stranger. This
alleged staging is one of the crimes with which Knox and Sollecito have been formally
charged.
There is no evidence to support this charge. Investigators have merely assumed that the
window is too high off the ground to actually have been used as a point of access. The
defense believes, however, that an intruder might easily have gotten in through this window.
The house is perched on a steep hillside, so the window is adjacent to and within reach of a
walkway. The intruder could have entered through the window by using a planter box at the
edge of the walkway as a starting point. Alternatively, bars on a lower-story window could
have been used like a ladder to gain access.
8. Other circumstantial evidence
The authorities have mentioned other alleged evidence. The defense believes most is either
nonexistent or will be easy to demolish in court, but it has been useful in convincing the
public that Knox and Sollecito are guilty. At various times, officials have made the following
claims, among others:
The cottage was cleaned with a bleach solution following the murder.
26
In fact, police
video shows that traces of blood were found in many places in the cottage, and there
is no evidence that cleaning took place in the hours between the murder and the
discovery of the body.
Receipts show that Knox or Sollecito purchased bleach on the morning after the
murder.
27
These receipts simply do not exist.
Sollecito summoned the police after the police had already arrived. In fact, no one
has clearly established the exact timing of events on November 2, including the
arrival of the police.
Knox had an insider's knowledge of the crime because she knew the victim's throat
had been cut. In fact, Knox says she saw one of the police officers make a gesture
indicating that Kercher’s throat had been cut. Another officer verbally communicated
this information to Sollecito.
28
5IV. The current situation
In October 2008, Guede was convicted of Kercher’s murder and sentenced to 30 years in
prison. He had opted for a fast-track trial, which often results in a lighter sentence.
Knox's trial is expected to last through most of 2009.
Amanda Knox has now been in a prison for over a year, confined to her cell for 22 hours per
day. She is allowed two one-hour visits per week and her parents rotate trips to Italy to be
with her at each of these opportunities. All meetings with her attorneys and parents, as well
as phone calls and emails among her attorneys and supporters in Italy, are monitored by the
prosecution.
Knox continues to be maligned by certain elements in the international media, as well as
anonymously on Internet blogs and websites.
Her family is suffering great financial hardship, but they are willing to make the sacrifice
because they love her and are convinced of her innocence.
Knox also has a growing network of supporters around the world who see what is happening
in Perugia as an obvious case of wrongful prosecution, led by people who refuse to admit
they made a mistake.
The Curious Case of Amanda Marie Knox
Originally Posted by mr.a
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