The True Crime Weblog Message Board

Fast Pete wrote:

Guede and Sollecito - arent they locked up an hour or two's drive away?

I think Guede and Knox are in Capanne (Perugia) and Sollecito is in Terni (25 miles away or thereabouts?).

OT everyone - technical stuff - skip if you want:

Michael wrote:

Yes. That's a very good suggestion, thanks. Only problem with that, is Skep will have to make that change as I don't have access to those settings here, unless a) She promotes me up to Admin for our final days here (which, come to think of it, would be great as there'd be a whole number of things that could be done faster if I can have access to the settings..hint hint ), or; b) reads this post and can remember how to make that setting change and then does so. 'a)' is the optimum...if Skep needs me to write out technical instructions to make any required adjustments,

I will up your status Michael. But I do know how to change page length and have done so once. I think I set it to maximum but will check when I make you co-admin.

I just showed the pic above of Sollecito to my daughter (who is the same age as Knox) and asked her what she thought.
She said "he looks a right weed, who is it?"

LOL!! thats my girl!!

I wonder if Sollecito feels inferior now that he can't carry a knife on him anymore?

Regarding the colour coordination between the two of them - I don't think it is coincidence but in fact evidence of the collusion between the two of them that lawyers have said has been going on.
Why colour coordinated, I don't know.
Maybe Knox wanted to dress up for him in his favourite colour so that he would think she was "hot".
I still want to see her walk into the courtroom with pigtails and yellow ribbons, like Anne of Green Gables with red hair and freckles.
I do not think this is beyond her.

Hey, I just doubled the number of posts per page. I hope it helps. I also doubled PM capacity for everyone.

Hi DF2K!

I'm just a humble American so don't laugh, but I don't know what "a right weed" means! Help!

I also think their clothing was planned - to drive home the 'lone wolf" theory maybe?

Tara wrote:Hi DF2K!

I'm just a humble American so don't laugh, but I don't know what "a right weed" means! Help!

I also think their clothing was planned - to drive home the 'lone wolf" theory maybe?

LOL!!
A dork, a person of no strength, a weak character etc. etc...

DF2K,

Thanks for explaining - I'm in complete agreement with you and your daughter on that statement!!

He is no vampire. Reflection confirms it!

DeathFish 2000 wrote:I just showed the pic above of Sollecito to my daughter (who is the same age as Knox) and asked her what she thought.
She said "he looks a right weed, who is it?"

LOL!! thats my girl!!

DeathFish,

My daughter also same age as yours said the same thing more or less about Sollecito. LOL

More on the Papa/Raffaele phone tap(approx early April after Rudy made his statement and a face to face was mooted):

In the recordings made at Terni prison, south of Perugia where he is being held, Sollecito says: 'I have the desire to know how she is (Knox).'

His father Francesco, a urologist, says: 'They haven't got anything. They have got even less on her than on you.

'They have your DNA on her bra strap. For Amanda there is nothing, they have absolutely nothing.'

Sollecito replies: 'It's difficult to explain, I have remorse in my conscience, I feel bad.'

His father answers: 'Remorse must not exist. She thought she had left (the house before the killing), then she thought again and said she was with you, then she went out and then she thought about it again.'

The Daily Mail

ISTM that Raffaele is saying he feels remorse for dropping Amanda in it.

Papa wants Raffaele to say he was with Amanda because he considers there is less evidence against her than there is against him.

But read and try to parse the implications in this statement carefully(if the translation is good):

She thought she had left (the house before the killing), then she thought again and said she was with you, then she went out and then she thought about it again.'

DLW wrote:A link to an interview with one of the forensic experts for Amanda. Believes the knife got contaminated?
http://tinyurl.com/4gzmol

Predictable run-of-the-mill jabber from a paid "expert witness" brought out of retirement just for this case. The pay must have been good. So when you go fishing you cast your line out, wait, and see what bites. Sometimes you get a bite, sometimes you don't, but you can't catch a fish unless you throw your line out.

If he is innocent, why does he have remorse?

And yeah, Brian, what are the implications of what Daddy says? Could be read a lot of different ways, but it seems to me more like him telling his boy where he should go with his defense. Sounds to me like Dad either believes or knows his kid might have had something to do with the murder indeed and that Dad is willing to do *whatever it takes* to get the boy out of it. *Dad, get me out of this*

Corrina,
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that both sets of parents have been driving this whole sorry affair since their intervention, sometimes to their kids discomfort, fear and doubt (as they really know what happened)
I firmly believe Knox would have made a full and frank confession as to her involvement and guilt by now if it wasn't for her blubbering mother trying to save face.
Sollecito is slightly different, he has in my opinion an arrogance about him that suggests he has known from the start that papa will get him out of this.
The fear in both of their minds is that they haven't told their parents everything - most of it but not everything - and the fact that this dishonesty could very much so bite them on the ass very severely in court, due to their parents acting on a limited picture of what their kids have told them.

I've said before regarding Knox that I'm sure it would be very difficult telling your mother that you was holding a knife to your housemates throat while she was being sexually interfered with.

Suspects arrive at Court.

Sky News video link:

http://tinyurl.com/4qcxfg

DeathFish, I see where you are coming from. The only thing I'm not in agreement with really is Amanda. For me, I think she wouldn't tell the truth regardless of Edda. I think she feels she can blame this on everyone else, everyone but her. This child has an unbelievable sense of entitlement and is self-absorbed to the point of distraction. (I will follow up with this in all in my opinion, of course). But Raffaele? He almost looks pleased and smug, like it is all one big joke to him. Rudy, I can't read at all in the pictures, even the shot with his thumb up (last week) To me, it doesn't look like he is doing it to anyone in particular. I know sometimes when I jog, I look down and realize I have both my thumbs up, feel like I have to look like a complete dork like that, and fold them back down.

What do you get from looking at Guede being led in?

Thanks for that, Jools. That picture of Meredith, below the video. Has to be my favorite; she just looks so happy and silly and funny at the same time.

On the new forum:

Michael, yours at 10:26 above (on new page 36!!) is very much appreciated on my part and I am sure on the part of others who follow this stuff. You are going to feel great as you move closer to full technical control (using FTP is a real high!).

I'm glad you were the one to check out all the bunny rabbit themes, so that we did not have to. You deserved that promotion. The bunnies clearly got to Skep.

One other tip you might like to consider: Name your ongoing threads by month (like September) and start a new one on the 1st of each month?

And I hope the search function works correctly in BB3. I just searched Knox and still get only a dozen hits. Puzzled by that.

It's difficult to read Rudy.
I don't care what anyone says otherwise but he is the only one out the three who has told any semblence of truth - but truth all the same.
He said he was there - the other two haven't.

Apart from the fact he has been led into court handcuffed and the other two haven't (this possibly being a difference in procedure from each respective prison) I do see an air of confidence with him that you don't see in the other two.
Maybe this explains his thumbs up gesture.
Who he directed that at I don't know.

But it maybe a confidence born out of the fact he has at least told some truth and is confident that he wont be convicted of murder as he knows in his own mind he never struck the fatal blow.

I don't think Rudy struck the final blow either. I don't think he did any of the knife work. I'd have a better feel for him if he had been able to look at Arline, John and Stephanie, though. I take that as guilt with him. With Knox, I take it as contempt. I admit being puzzled by Rudy's shaved head and choice of shirt today. It looks almost like a T-shirt to me. Strange choice.

According to Amanda’s forensics expert:
‘For the medical and legal DNA found on the knife Raffaele urge is not a test because: "In a laboratory in which they were made hundreds of tests on the blood of Meredith, finding his profile on a sample does not mean anything. When there are so small amounts of DNA must repeat the test many times. "…tamtam

Are they implying that maybe Meredith’s DNA is on the knife, but it doesn’t mean anything because of faulty police or lab work? That sounds like their line of defense, if the court can prove the DNA is Meredith’s. Where is Joe T. when you really need him. Message to Joe: Check your answering machine, there‘s an urgent call.

DLW wrote:

Are they implying that maybe Meredith’s DNA is on the knife, but it doesn’t mean anything because of faulty police or lab work? That sounds like their line of defense, if the court can prove the DNA is Meredith’s. Where is Joe T. when you really need him. Message to Joe: Check your answering machine, there‘s an urgent call.

Joe has moved on, DLW, and left only a forwarding address in Roma. But he already told us that the prosecution would not be able to prove it is Meredith's DNA on the knife and that, even if it could, lab contamination and/or human error are great back-up arguments. Oh, yeah, he also told us he was present at the April 19 hearing as Knox's representative, that he is an unpaid consultant for the family, that Joran did not kill Nathalie Holloway -- oops! wrong case.

Corrina wrote:Thanks for that, Jools. That picture of Meredith, below the video. Has to be my favorite; she just looks so happy and silly and funny at the same time.

One of my favorites too. How old? About 16?

I have no idea. It could be that old but it could just as easily be from when she was older. She just looks pretty and full of joy. It makes me smile every time I see that photo, and sad that she doesn't get the chance to be that happy again. Even typing "when she was older" was tough and felt ridiculous. Her RIGHT to grow older was taken from her for no damn good reason.

Anyway, yep, that's such a cute photo.

DeathFish 2000 wrote:Apart from the fact (Rudy) has been led into court handcuffed and the other two haven't (this possibly being a difference in procedure from each respective prison)...

Wow! I think you just put your finger on it DeathFish.

Rudy's legal status is different - he is headed for trial. The other two are still back there.

Does it surprise anyone that the three are in the same hearing today? It seems to serve a different purpose in Rudy's process than in the other two's.

I guess the next time they all get to see one another, Rudy will be staring at the other two from the witness box.

Dressed like this.

Vertical is said to be more slimming, by the way.

According to Frank Shock..

"Kokomani, instead, showed up supercovered by a hook.
We'll see who's the real criminal."

Well, actually Kokomani is wearing a Hood. Just imagine if he was wearing a hook

Brian S. wrote:More on the Papa/Raffaele phone tap(approx early April after Rudy made his statement and a face to face was mooted):

In the recordings made at Terni prison, south of Perugia where he is being held, Sollecito says: 'I have the desire to know how she is (Knox).'

His father Francesco, a urologist, says: 'They haven't got anything. They have got even less on her than on you.

'They have your DNA on her bra strap. For Amanda there is nothing, they have absolutely nothing.'

Sollecito replies: 'It's difficult to explain, I have remorse in my conscience, I feel bad.'

His father answers: 'Remorse must not exist. She thought she had left (the house before the killing), then she thought again and said she was with you, then she went out and then she thought about it again.'

The Daily Mail

ISTM that Raffaele is saying he feels remorse for dropping Amanda in it.

Papa wants Raffaele to say he was with Amanda because he considers there is less evidence against her than there is against him.

But read and try to parse the implications in this statement carefully(if the translation is good):

She thought she had left (the house before the killing), then she thought again and said she was with you, then she went out and then she thought about it again.'

She thought she had left (the house before the killing) - After Raffaele said she went to Le Chic at 9:00??

then she thought again and said she was with you, then she went out - When she blamed Patrick??

then she thought about it again -" Raffaele lied in his statement, I don't know why, Whatever he might have said, I was with him all night."





ISTM that the decision to be made on whether Raffaele was or wasn't with Amanda had nothing to do with the truth:

Don't feel any remorse - she's just a tool to be used in your best interests. You'd be better off to say that you were with her. We need to push some water back upstream.

She made up one or two stories beforehand but in her last version Amanda maintains she was with you.

Don't feel guilty about dropping her in it back in November.

Just revert back to your original story and agree that you were with her. You'd better write her a nice letter and see if she's minded to be friendly towards you and maybe you could send her some flowers on her birthday.

Brian wrote:

Don't feel guilty about dropping her in it.
Just revert back to your original story and agree that you were with her. You'd better write her a nice letter and see if she's minded to be friendly towards you and maybe you could send her some flowers on her birthday.

This is a plausible interpretation. I was also thinking that maybe Doc S is telling RS, since he expressed concern for how AK was doing, not to feel any remorse whatsoever about anything. She changed her story more than once, so why shouldn't you go with the story that best serves your interest. You must decide based exclusively on what is best for you; not on the basis of Amanda's welfare and without any concern for the truth.

EDIT:
It is exactly what Knox claims to have told him on the night of Nov 1: "I told him that life is full of choices and that these choices are not necessarily between good and evil, but between what’s better and what’s worse, and that what we all must do is that which we believe is best.”

The prison conversation is between a lawyered-up suspect and his main spokesman. They just happen to be father and son. They are talking strategy. I would love to have at least one tapped conversation where father and son are talking about doing the right thing, about the importance of telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, and maybe even about what a terrible unspeakable tragedy it is that she died.

skeptical bystander wrote:The prison conversation is between a lawyered-up suspect and his main spokesman.

This was an official recording? Or are the media tuning in to the cell phone conversations?

Sollecitos might be able to use that outlet to their advantage, if so. Scripts are in the works already...

Can we help them along some?

in his testimony lasted more than 4 hours, has confirmed what had already reported to pm, that evening when he saw the 3 guys in front of the house via della Pergola, or the evening of October 31 or November 1 of , It was raining. ''He answered all the questions - explained the legal dell'albanese, the lawyer. Antonio Aiello - I had ever witnessed an honest, fair and socially useful having found itself in a difficult situation. "The law has to explain that his client has specified in the classroom that it never received money in return for participation in television broadcasts.


Google translation of Adnkronos

But no news on whether the Judge will accept his evidence into the trials.

How soon will he make that decision???

nicki wrote:

Jumpy wrote:

skeptical bystander wrote:Nekodesu quoted a google translation:

In its edition of 20, the Tg5 sent broadcast the audio of an interception that environmental concerns Raffaele urge, one of the 3 suspects for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher. The boy, at the time of registration already in jail 'by 5 months, asks the father of Amanda Knox, his former American girlfriend, also accused her of murder. "I desire to know how is - I call say - I have remorse of conscience, I feel bad." The father then reassures him: "Against you have nothing - say - the remorse does not exist

What do you make of this? RS called Curt Knox or the other father figure?

Not sure but I wonder if this is something else lost in translation? His/hers, just a mixup. I would think this was a conversation between Raffaele and Senor Sollecito, since their phones were tapped. If it is something else I would be very surprised.

Deathfish, Was it considered that the "tampon" has to do with a swab and not actual tampon?

Yes it was a conversation between Dr Sollecito and his son. I 've listened to it and I wish you all could do the same and understand slimy Dr.S.reassure his kid in such tone: "hey don't worry, you said you thought she was there, and then you said you thought she wasn't...and so? ...and then now you aren't sure if she was there or not ...so what? Remorse?..forget it...reemorse must not exist...by the way they have nothing against her"

Revolting.

As I have posted yesterday after listening to the phone call, Sollecito is not saying "she thought she was there" but "you thought she was there"

RS remorse appears to refer to the fact that he has screwed up Amanda's alibi.

Fast Pete wrote:

skeptical bystander wrote:The prison conversation is between a lawyered-up suspect and his main spokesman.

This was an official recording? Or are the media tuning in to the cell phone conversations?

Sollecitos might be able to use that outlet to their advantage, if so. Scripts are in the works already...

Can we help them along some?

Phone calls between Sollecito and "several" members of his family were tapped. Phone calls were also tapped between family members and others including politico's and attempts to get investigating officers off the case.

These are leaked phone taps, just like there have been leaked statements. The collected evidence and 10,000 pages are now in the hands of many following it's release to the suspects lawyers. It's leaking everywhere.

I don't think it will have any adverse impact on the trial because Italy doesn't operate a jury system as such where it could be argued it's members were tainted. The "jury" is in effect the judges who will be present at the trial. They won't be sat there as silent observers with a decision to make at the end. They are the process and can ask their own questions etc.

Rudy to present his argument against Kokomani's version tomorrow.

Does that mean the suspects lawyers cross examine him tomorrow??


Google translation - AGI

This what the Italian press is reporting on the conversation. I don't think it was a phone conversation. "Intercettazione ambientale" I think this may mean that they were being listened to while the father was visiting son in prison.

http://www.tgcom.mediaset.it/cronaca/ar ... 8295.shtml


"Raffaele was concerned about Amanda
It reveals the sound of an interception
At least until last March Raffaele Sollecito, after five months in prison, was concerned about Amanda Knox, the girl that with him is accused of the murder of Meredith Kercher. The sound reveals environment of an interception of a conversation in prison between his father and Raffaele and Francesco Sollecito, forwarded by Tg5.

"I desire to know how is she", says among other things Raffaele referring to Amanda.

The father reassured him, saying, among other things against Amanda investigators "have nothing, have less on her than you. In your comparisons they have invented the DNA on the hook. "Against Amanda - says - they do not have anything" .

'It is difficult to explain, I have remorse of conscience I feel bad, "says Raffaele. But the father assures him again:

"The remorse must not exist. YOU thought that she went out, (on night of killing) then YOU thought that she was always with YOU, then that she went out, then YOU do not remember".

I think the father is telling (ordering more like it) him to forget about whatever his conscious is telling him and to listen to him. He is the one doing the thinking here.

DLW

Are they implying that maybe Meredith’s DNA is on the knife, but it doesn’t mean anything because of faulty police or lab work? That sounds like their line of defense, if the court can prove the DNA is Meredith’s

Hi, Nicki. Can you answer a question for me regarding DNA? A week or so ago, someone posted the news that the ILE had recovered a rag that was believed to have been used to wipe the knife clean, and that it left a corresponding track in blood. Is it likely/possible that DNA could have been extracted from the blood on the rag? If so, could that possibly serve to prove that it was Meredith’s blood/DNA on the knife blade?

Or am I totally off on this?

Raffaele Sollecito is wearing the Sarah Palin glasses.

God help us.

Jumpy wrote:Raffaele Sollecito is wearing the Sarah Palin glasses.

God help us.

Yeah, but he still a pig

Anther DNA question for Nicki.

Raffaele's defence has asked for details of the peaks and something else which had three initials. I'll look that up later but I may have to go shortly.

could you explain

Corrina wrote:DeathFish, I see where you are coming from. The only thing I'm not in agreement with really is Amanda. For me, I think she wouldn't tell the truth regardless of Edda. I think she feels she can blame this on everyone else, everyone but her. This child has an unbelievable sense of entitlement and is self-absorbed to the point of distraction. (I will follow up with this in all in my opinion, of course). But Raffaele? He almost looks pleased and smug, like it is all one big joke to him. Rudy, I can't read at all in the pictures, even the shot with his thumb up (last week) To me, it doesn't look like he is doing it to anyone in particular. [font=Arial Black]I know sometimes when I jog, I look down and realize I have both my thumbs up, feel like I have to look like a complete dork like that, and fold them back down. [/font]What do you get from looking at Guede being led in?

Hi Corrina!

Your jogging statement got me thinking. I was one of the people who posted Rudy's picture with the thumbs up. I found it on that daylife.com site.

I decided to take a look at this video again. I was so shocked at the demure way that Knox smiled and glanced at the guard as she rounded the corner with her linebacker walk, that I'm afraid I didn't pay close enough attention to Rudy. Take a look. It looks to me like maybe walking with his thumbs up was a natural physical reaction to being led by the arms in handcuffs. Perhaps he WASN'T giving the thumbs up to anyone?

http://tinyurl.com/483cvn

Hi Tara!

Well, looking at that video, I am even less convinced he's giving a thumb's up at all. Watching the video though, instead of just seeing the still shots I've been seeing, Rudy doesn't seem to be enjoying himself. In contrast, Amanda has hints of a smile at times. Today's photos of Raffaele and Amanda again show almost pleasure at the attention whereas Rudy looks like he just wants to get the hell out of there but knows he can't. It's very disconcerting.

Thanks for posting that. I just hope I don't think of Rudy's thumbs every time I jog now...

Tara,
After watching that again just now, to me it seems as though it's a natural tensing of the hands (while being dragged around with handcuffs on) as opposed to a thumbs up.

Tara, I don't think he was giving the thumbs up to anyone either if you look he is looking down and carries on walking with thumb up into the actual Court room.

I think you are right, physical reaction to being led in handcuffs.

Corrina wrote:Hi Tara!

Well, looking at that video, I am even less convinced he's giving a thumb's up at all. Watching the video though, instead of just seeing the still shots I've been seeing, Rudy doesn't seem to be enjoying himself. In contrast, Amanda has hints of a smile at times. Today's photos of Raffaele and Amanda again show almost pleasure at the attention whereas Rudy looks like he just wants to get the hell out of there but knows he can't. It's very disconcerting.

Thanks for posting that. I just hope I don't think of Rudy's thumbs every time I jog now...

So true Corrina!

In this shot, it looks like he can hardly contain himself - smug indeed! IMO!

50 Ways to Leave Your Lover, by Doctor S


The problem is all inside your head
He said to me
The answer is easy
If you take it logically
I’d like to help you in your struggle
To be free
There must be fifty ways
To leave your lover

He said it’s really not my habit
To intrude
Furthermore, I hope my meaning
Won’t be lost or misconstrued
But I’ll repeat myself
At the risk of being crude
There must be fifty ways
To leave your lover
Fifty ways to leave your lover

CHORUS:
You just slip out the back, Jack
Make a new plan, Stan
You don’t need to be coy, Roy
Just get yourself free
Hop on the bus, Gus
You don’t need to discuss much
Just drop off the key, Lee
And get yourself free

He said it grieves me so
To see you in such pain
I wish there was something I could do
To make you smile again
I said I appreciate that
And would you please explain
About the fifty ways

He said why don’t we both
Just sleep on it tonight
And I believe in the morning
You’ll begin to see the light
And then he kissed me
And I realized he probably was right
There must be fifty ways
To leave your lover
Fifty ways to leave your lover

CHORUS

Great, Skep. That song always makes me laugh and Husband cringe; his name is Gus and his brother's name is Stan...

Anyway, I keep thinking of "Lawyers Guns and Money" for Harry, I mean, (urge) Sollecito

*Dad GET ME OUT OF THIS* HA!

Corinna wrote:

Great, Skep. That song always makes me laugh and Husband cringe; his name is Gus and his brother's name is Stan...

Anyway, I keep thinking of "Lawyers Guns and Money" for Harry, I mean, (urge) Sollecito

You asked for it, you got it:


I went home with the waitress
The way I always do
How was I to know
She was with the
Russians, too?

I was gambling in Havana
I took a little risk
Send lawyers, guns and money
Dad, get me out of this, hyeah

I'm the innocent bystander
Somehow I got stuck
Between the rock
and a hard place
And I'm down on my luck
Yes I'm down on my luck
Well I'm down on my luck

I'm hiding in Honduras
I'm a desperate man
Send lawyers, guns and money
The shit has hit the fan

All right
Send lawyers, guns and money
Huh!
Uh...
Send lawyers, guns and money
Uhh!
Send lawyers, guns and money
Hyah!
Send lawyers, guns and money
Ooh!
Yeah!
Yeah
Yeah...
Uh!

Some of the elements to the Albanian witness, and the defense lines of attack being used to try and disredit him.

http://tinyurl.com/3qokvy

Thanks DLW for posting that. So if I read that right there was a small amount of rain on October 31 but none on November 1 and it sounds like he was in the hospital a few days later because he drank too much whiskey?

I wonder...maybe he did see them the night before, but I'm not thinking premeditation for what happened to Meredith, more like a mischief thing, you know, scare the first person passing by, just for kicks or something.

The thing that struck me is that they are saying he said he's known AK and RS since July/August when in fact AK didn't arrive in Perugia until September etc?

Did I read that right?

I thought he said he knew Rudy but recognised the other two from their pictures in the newspapers?

DeathFish,

I missed that the first time, but, yes, you read that right. I wonder if that's a misprint and he meant he knew of Rudy and Raffaele since that time?

Good eye.

If you want to see 'em in detail, here are some shots posted that expand if you click on them:

Amanda Knox.

Raffaele Sollecito.

Rudy Guede.

The Perugia Court of Appeals.

Have a nice and safe weekend all. Will play catch-up on Monday.

Thanks to all of you for all you do!

Joe (T.) has moved on, DLW, and left only a forwarding address in Roma…SB

I‘m sorry to hear that. Maybe they can get Barry Scheck (from O.J. fame) as their DNA expert. They might need a little extra help. Amanda’s forensic expert has also said that even if Raffaele’s knife was taken to the flat it doesn’t prove anything. So let me get this, if the knife has Meredith’s DNA on it and was taken to the flat, no problem. I was starting to get a little worried until I finally remembered that Raf accidentally pricked Meredith’s finger.

Have a nice weekend Corrina.

DLW wrote:

Amanda’s forensic expert has also said that even if Raffaele’s knife was taken to the flat it doesn’t prove anything.

It proves that nobody knew about that suitcase full of knives under AK's bed (brought from America for use in Italy), or that they were such bad knives that something sharper was needed for whatever it was the knife had to be brought to the cottage for.

Slicing mushrooms?
Cutting a birthday cake?
Just because you never know when a kitchen knife might come in handy? (I always have one in my purse.)

I suppose it is also true that, even if the knife was taken to the flat, there is no way to prove that it was on the night of November 1.

So we might have the victim's DNA on a knife
Proof that the knife in question was taken to the flat
And still maintain that there is a possibility that this does not prove the knife in question was used to kill the victim.

Okay, I see. Who could argue with that?

When you get right down to it, reality truly is over-determined. There is always more than one explanation for anything that happens.

Does this mean that the defense is not contesting that the knife did in fact travel from RS's apartment to the cottage?

DLW wrote:Some of the elements to the Albanian witness, and the defense lines of attack being used to try and disredit him.

http://tinyurl.com/3qokvy

This article certainly does not paint Kokomani in a favorable light. He needs major witness rehabilitation by whomever needs him. Since Rudy's lawyers don't want him that leaves the prosecution lawyers and quite frankly he is not looking all that credible.

‘This article certainly does not paint Kokomani in a favorable light. He needs major witness rehabilitation by whomever needs him. Since Rudy's lawyers don't want him that leaves the prosecution lawyers and quite frankly he is not looking all that credible‘….indie

Yes I agree, but this is the latest from Frank.

‘Kokomani's testimony received a new confirmation today just from printouts. It's true that he was in Assisi at 6.30 pm of 31rst. But printouts place him in the cell of via della Pergola at 11 pm of 31st and at 8 pm of November 1rst.
So: in November 1rst he has two elements which may work as confirmations: his cellphone was there at 8 o'clock and he remembers to have seen the tow track, which was really there at 11.20 pm.’

.

Google translation of a story in RaiNews

Over four hours of testimony to confirm what was reported to investigators, namely that you have seen together urge Raffaele, Amanda Knox and Rudy Guédé, probably the night before all'omicidio of Meredith Kercher front of the house of the crime. Ma il racconto dell'albanese Hekuran Kokomani, secondo i difensori degli imputati, è stato segnato da tante contraddizioni. But the story dell'albanese Hekuran Kokomani, as the defenders of the accused, was marked by so many contradictions.....

Complete with pic of Kokomani arriving cap on his head, hood up and dark glasses.

I've scanned other stories and they all say much the same.


Kokomani has a problem with the rain: It only rained on the 31st Oct but the car breakdown Kokomani describes happened on the 1st Nov. I get the impression from one story in particular that the Judge asked a lot of questions and Kokomani answered with a lot of I don't knows.

The time when Kokomani says he knew Rudy from working in a bar, Rudy was living and working in Milan. Rudy says he doesn't know Kokomani

Kokomani says he recognised Amanda and Raffaele from being close up to them in a bar in August/September and that won't fly for obvious reasons.

Maresca says it doesn't matter when Kokomani may have seen Raffaele, Amanda and Rudy together. I think that is wishfull thinking in the context of this crime. There are plenty of more reliable people who will say that all three knew each other.

I think Kokomani's evidence is doomed as unreliable, but not because he drank too much whisky a few days later.

EDIT: I should have read this from DLW before I pressed submit:

But printouts place him in the cell of via della Pergola at 11 pm of 31st and at 8 pm of November 1rst

Is Kokomani's brain so addled with whisky that he's mixing up two events. In light of the above, take away the rain which may have occured on the 31st and then his evidence for the night of the 1st is transformed.

I've just allowed Kokomani's evidence back in agin agin.

More from Frank on Kokomani and the stage of Rudy's trial.

Micheli will decide if this testimony is valid. In the meanwhile we can start saying goodbye to him and wait for his official dismission on November 4th. That's the day when the pre-trial (for all defendants) will continue since it seems that the Scientifica didn't manage to provide the whole Dna study this week.

He seems to think that Micheli will disallow Kokomani's evidence.

He also makes a point that this is still the pre-trial stage for all defendants. I also thought that was the case despite what has been written in the UK and US press about Rudy actually being on trial.

He's not: The witnesses are being heard today and tomorrow to decide on whether their evidence can be admitted to his shortened trial next month.

Speaking on the subject of what will and what will not be allowed at any trial, it would appear that Micheli will also have to make his mind on whether to allow DNA evidence before any actual trial takes place.

Hi Brian and DLW,

Thanks for those links. Brian, from the rai story you gave us:

Here's a translated portion from the last paragraph:

[font=Arial Black]One of the tenants of the house Kercher, who has spoken to investigators of Attraction tried by Rudy for Amanda[/font], and a friend dell'ivoriano that Guédé became aggressive with the girls when smoked or drank.

http://tinyurl.com/4ry92u


Do you think this will be Filomena? Have we seen leaks of this information before besides in Rudy's diary? This should be interesting...

Tara wrote:

[font=Arial Black]One of the tenants of the house Kercher, who has spoken to investigators of Attraction tried by Rudy for Amanda[/font], and a friend dell'ivoriano that Guédé became aggressive with the girls when smoked or drank.

http://tinyurl.com/4ry92u


Do you think this will be Filomena? Have we seen leaks of this information before besides in Rudy's diary? This should be interesting...

Hi Tara,

No it's not Filomena, it's Stefano Bonassi from the flat downstairs.

I guess he's likely to confirm what Rudy said in his diary about Amanda from the night Rudy slept on the sofa. But maybe he also knows much more than this. Maybe he knows Rudy did chase after Amanda in the following days. Maybe they came to know each other well. Maybe they became friends or even maybe they had a date??

It's got to be additional to what Rudy said in his diary. The fact that he knew Amanda is admitted by Rudy also in his tapped telephone calls. Bonassi has been called by the prosecution, its just got to be new information we haven't heard of yet.

His evidence has got to be the most interesting.




The other witnesses which have been called by the prosecution appear to be an attempt to counter Rudy's character witnesses of today. Momi knew him from the basketball court and says that Rudy could pester girls when he was drunk. Julia Devis will say that Rudy kept on dancing when a minute of silence was called for Meredith during a disco on the night following her murder. If it was silent I'm not sure what he was dancing too. Maybe he was jigging like Amanda was in court.

.

Because jw asked me earlier today and I've just found it:

skeptical bystander wrote:Quick and dirty translation of DLW's find (thanks, DLW!):

It is easier for them to point the finger at me than against their own kind because in their world, accusing someone else is more natural than admitting their own responsibility. So begins the letter that Rudy Guede, the young Ivorian national accused - along with Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito - of the murder of Meredith Kercher sent to his lawyers on the eve of the preliminary hearing. Guede will request that the GUP (presiding judge Micheli) grant him the abridged proceeding (rite abrégé). In this letter, which was entrusted to lawyers Biscotti and Gentile, Rudy expresses his bitterness against people he depicts, respectively, as a dealer and a druggie. He recalls his childhood with an absent father and a mother he never had. His life, until the day he was arrested, was peaceful and calm. I believed - writes Rudy- in health with people who transmitted the value of life to me. Too many lies told about me - this is the reflection of the young Ivoirian - lies told by certain individuals who have led me to understand to what extent they want to hide the truth, and don't want it to surface (ndlt: not sure here). In closing, Guede [here I can't understand exactly what is being said, something about guilt for not saving Meredith?]: Nelle ultime righe Guede si assume la colpa di non aver salvato la vita a Meredith e scrive: ho colpa di non aver fatto ciò che andava fatto per salvarla e prego dio che giustizia avvenga nei suoi confronti.

Could Bonassi also throw some light on any possible "drug connection" between Amanda and Rudy?

.

Oh, I see! Thanks Brian.

The Daily Mail article I cited a couple days ago about Patrick's interview (I know, it's the Daily Mail, so go easy on me here!), had some comments by him about Knox's behavior at the bar. Maybe some of them had an element of truth about her flirting ways. What's to stop her from flirting with Rudy when Sollecito's not around? Like you say, maybe they had a little rendevous. Indeed, the testimony from Stefano might just crush Knox's lie about not knowing Rudy or, as her parents proclaim, she only "knew of him"!

Also, are they done with HK? I sure agree with Indie that his testimony did not look favorable for the prosecution. Indie - I loved your term, "witness rehabilitation"!

Rudy, Amanda and Raffaele united for perhaps the only time:

"All three stood up and made very short statements, informing the judge of the complete falsity of Kokomani's statements," said Walter Biscotti, a lawyer representing Guede.

The Guardian

Brian wrote:

Could Bonassi also throw some light on any possible "drug connection" between Amanda and Rudy?

Really good point - what a perfect job at Le Chic she had for earning some extra money, and at the rate Sollecito smoked dope, he'd be Knox's #1 customer! In Rudy's diary, didn't he say that she smoked like a pro?

Tara wrote:Oh, I see! Thanks Brian.

Also, are they done with HK? I sure agree with Indie that his testimony did not look favorable for the prosecution. Indie - I loved your term, "witness rehabilitation"!

Well with HK we have an Amy Whinehouse situation so Brian's still working on him Tara!

They tried to make me go to rehab but I said 'no, no, no'
Yes I've been black but when I come back you'll know know know...

Now here's a thing as I understand it:

Rudy's pretrial will finish tomorrow. The judge will make his mind up on todays/tomorrows wtinesses and then the paperwork for his trail is completed. What's in is in and what's out is out.

No witnesses will be heard in his case from tomorrow onwards. The judge decides the charge on the indictment and then it's down to paperwork, prosecution lawyers, defense lawyers and himself. Then he himself will decide the verdict.

Last week Guilia Bongiorno wanted the judge to say what charges he was laying against each defendant. He refused. She also contested the DNA evidence, demanded retests and the prosecution DNA expert was supposed to appear tomorrow. Biscotti also took a great deal of interest in Meredith's DNA on the knife. He has his own expert who says the DNA evidence is good.

Kokomani is a witness who will affect all the defendants. Thats why everyone had a go at him today. Without him there is no evidence to link all three as cooperating murderers.

It was obvious why Bongiorno wanted have the DNA witness heard this week. If she could successfully dispute Merediths DNA on the knife it would change the circumstance of Rudy's pretrial. Without the knife entered in evidence as the murder weapon it would be much easier for the Judge to indict Rudy on a charge of murder since no murder weapon has been identified.

So what has happened??

Guilia requested the expert not be called this week. Can we believe her reasons? Will the judge put off Rudy's indictment until after Raffaele's pretrial which I believe is next week and will consist of argument between expert witnesses on his DNA on Meredith's bra clasp and Meredith's DNA on the knife.

Will the Judge postpone Rudy's indictment until after Raffaele's pre-trial or have Raffaele's team given up disputing Meredith's DNA on the knife?

Will the Judge postpone Rudy's indictment until after Raffaele's pre-trial or have Raffaele's team given up disputing Meredith's DNA on the knife?

Kermit wrote:

Michael wrote:The importance of this cannot be underestimated. What are the odds of the suspects possessing a knife that has Amanda's dna on the handle, Meredith's on the tip and it matching dimensionally perfectly a bloody knife imprint on Meredith's sheet? How likely is it that Meredith was attacked with a 'different' knife that 'just so happens' to be the exact same length and width of a dna laden knife in RS's kitchen? This not only puts them in the house, it puts them in the so-called 'Murder Room' (or at least one of them) and puts the knife and the murder with it right in their laps!

Michael, that's pretty much what I think.

One important clarification: the "overlay" of the form of Raffaele's kitchen knife (with Amanda's and the victim's DNA on it) on the bloodstained sheet is not my work, but rather an ILE photo.

Answering my own question above:

Has this piece of evidence found by Kermit and which I think was part of the new evidence presented by the prosecution just last week thrown a spanner in Guilia's plans. Even if there is a dispute over Meredith's DNA on the knife it is still to be entered as the murder weapon using other forensic evidence. Bloody knife prints on sheet. Raffaele you need a bloody knife print on sheet expert to come to your aid. I wonder how much he will cost. Papa must be good for it.

If the knife is entered as the murder weapon regardless of the outcome of any dispute about Meredith's DNA, and Kokomani's evidence is disallowed, I don't think the Judge has enough to find Rudy guilty of murder beyond reasonable doubt.

However, I think he'll come up with some other charge which relates to leaving Meredith to die. Maresca is giving a pointer to that outcome when he said today that had Rudy called the emergency services in the 10 minutes she took to die she could have been saved.

Brian S. wrote:.

Because jw asked me earlier today and I've just found it:

skeptical bystander wrote:Quick and dirty translation of DLW's find (thanks, DLW!):

It is easier for them to point the finger at me than against their own kind because in their world, accusing someone else is more natural than admitting their own responsibility. So begins the letter that Rudy Guede, the young Ivorian national accused - along with Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito - of the murder of Meredith Kercher sent to his lawyers on the eve of the preliminary hearing. Guede will request that the GUP (presiding judge Micheli) grant him the abridged proceeding (rite abrégé). In this letter, which was entrusted to lawyers Biscotti and Gentile, Rudy expresses his bitterness against people he depicts, respectively, as a dealer and a druggie. He recalls his childhood with an absent father and a mother he never had. His life, until the day he was arrested, was peaceful and calm. I believed - writes Rudy- in health with people who transmitted the value of life to me. Too many lies told about me - this is the reflection of the young Ivoirian - lies told by certain individuals who have led me to understand to what extent they want to hide the truth, and don't want it to surface (ndlt: not sure here). [/b]

Could Bonassi also throw some light on any possible "drug connection" between Amanda and Rudy?

.

Thank you, Brian - I'd been trying to find that original quote because I wanted to see whether it would indicate which person RG described as "dealer" and which as "druggie".

AK seems to me more likely to have been "dealer", and RS more likely to be the "druggie". In the quote above, the order of mention is first AK, then RS - and then Rudy's description is qualified with "respectively" which would suggest that it follows the order of prior mention. In other words, AK = dealer, RS = druggie.

Back in the early days after the murder, there was mention on some Seattle blog (perhaps "The Stranger's 'Slog'") that there was local Seattle law enforcement knowledge (Univ Washington police) of AK having dealt whilst at UW. Who knows whether this is true, but even unverified information can give rise to questions to be investigated or considered in the larger picture.

AK seems much more the gregarious and social personality than RS, who gives me the impression of someone who would prefer to sit and smoke/use in solitude with his computer. (Think of the various accounts of the night of crime, where RS reports AK says that she is going off to Le Chic to meet friends, and RS stays at home alone and smokes).

Isn't there also some discrepancy in reports of how much money AK had saved prior to her trip to Italy? At first we heard something like "$5 000" and then after reports emerged that at the time of the crime her bank account still held around $4.5 K , the story changed to AK having saved more than $5k to go to Italy. No assertions here other than that this might be worthy of investigating. Perhaps she was living mostly off of the cash she brought in.

Does anyone recall a discrepancy in reports of AK's savings?

This drug dealing angle might be a huge impediment to the prosecution. If other people in the house (say someone from the boys' flat downstairs) were involved in some small-time dealing, then perhaps no one would want to implicate AK lest they end up implicating themselves. Remember Rudy's description of visiting the boys' downstairs and smoking with them? He reported asking whether he would have to pay to smoke. Is this a hint that the boys may have been dealing? Again, nothing definitive here, just questions.

Simiilarly, the mention of the white car of a known drug dealer outside on night of the murder. Brian, I think it was your hypothetical that perhaps AK (and RS? RG?) could have used MK's rent money in a drug deal, with AK intending to replenish the funds after she was able to go to the bank. Given the holiday, and rent therefore being due later than usual, this seems plausible.

Murder might be one of many things covered up in this tragedy.

Thanks again for finding that, Brian.

jw

Brian S. wrote:If the knife is entered as the murder weapon regardless of the outcome of any dispute about Meredith's DNA, and Kokomani's evidence is disallowed, I don't think the Judge has enough to find Rudy guilty of murder beyond reasonable doubt.

However, I think he'll come up with some other charge which relates to leaving Meredith to die. Maresca is giving a pointer to that outcome when he said today that had Rudy called the emergency services in the 10 minutes she took to die she could have been saved.

I agree with this. Awesome work and analysis today, as usual, Brian. Thanks again.

jw wrote:Murder might be one of many things covered up in this tragedy.

Absolutely, jw. People don't necessarily get into drug dealing to make money. There can be purely social and lifestyle reasons for being involved in the drug trade, where any profit a dealer makes is absorbed by their own habits and lifestyle. People who are into dealing solely for the money don't tend to be big users. I don't think any of these 3 were "professional" dealers, though a significant amount of dope could have passed through their hands.

FBN, Brian, and all,

Do you think that there could be any mitigating effect of Rudy's trial? I'm wondering whether by going first, airing of evidence, and conviction and sentencing if that occurs, there'd be some lessening of pressure for justice when RS and AK have their days in court.

Certainly I do not mean in any formal sense for the Italian judiciary system, nor even in any conscious sense. I trust that the Italian judiciary will strive for fairness and thoroughness in their treatment of each suspect.

I'm wondering about effects on the subconscious level, though. Could there be some lessening of animus towards RS and AK that could work to their benefit? Might the judiciary, press, and public opinion be more inclined to 'cut them some slack' once there has been some degree of satifsfaction of justice felt through Rudy's process?

I guess that I see Papa S's team (legal and others) as willing to exploit any small chance of benefit for his son, like rock climbers searching for toe holds, so I question everything in light of that. I hope that there is nothing to consider here.

The ILE did well to fit that knife to the print on the sheet.

jw

Fly by Night wrote: I don't think any of these 3 were "professional" dealers, though a significant amount of dope could have passed through their hands.

Thanks, FBN. "Social and lifestyle" is exactly what I was guessing at. It would fit the Queen Bee lifestyle - being the "go to girl".

jw

a2 wrote:DLW

Are they implying that maybe Meredith’s DNA is on the knife, but it doesn’t mean anything because of faulty police or lab work? That sounds like their line of defense, if the court can prove the DNA is Meredith’s

Hi, Nicki. Can you answer a question for me regarding DNA? A week or so ago, someone posted the news that the ILE had recovered a rag that was believed to have been used to wipe the knife clean, and that it left a corresponding track in blood. Is it likely/possible that DNA could have been extracted from the blood on the rag? If so, could that possibly serve to prove that it was Meredith’s blood/DNA on the knife blade?

Or am I totally off on this?

Hi Ann,

Yes it is possible to compare the genetic profiles from the rag and the knife.Actually,if they had enough material available on the rag, I think they did it.

No handcuffs for Rudy Guede today.

http://tinyurl.com/3kwv5e

Jools wrote:No handcuffs for Rudy Guede today.

http://tinyurl.com/3kwv5e

Is that really Amanda in the white hoodie? Maybe she liked Koko's look yesterday or maybe the label is wrong. And Raffaele to me looks like he is on some sort of medication, his affect just looks "off".

Since these pretrial/indictment proceedings have started this September we have not heard ONE word about Amanda's family. Are they there? Are her parents allowed to attend the court sessions? I just think it is odd that there has not been one picture of them entering the courtroom.

It would appear that Rudy's team have complained that he is the only one seen arriving in court in handcuffs.

They say it is discrimination because he is black and poor and suggests he is more guilty than the other two, They suggest that this happens because the other two are white, good looking and rich.

The paper suggests the other two may well be handcuffed on the drive from prison but they are taken off for the walk into court.

Corriere Dell'Umbria

Biscotti doesn't miss a chance.

Kokomani puts the time of his confrontation with three at sometime between 7:00pm and 9:00pm.

The problem with the rain continues regardless of the date.

On the 31st there was a light shower in Perugia but that was during the afternoon. On the 1st there was no rain at all.

But his timing also gives him a problem with the breakdown. That didn't happen until late, around 10:30/11:00pm.

His meeting with Raffaele and Amanda apparently happened in July.

Some more detail in here about his evidence if your Italian is good.

Corriere Dell'Umbria

I don't see how the Judge can possibly allow this evidence.

It is said the lawyer Walter Biscotti of the College of defensive Guédé Rudy, one of the accused of murder of Meredith Kercher, at the end of today in which the testimony of one of the texts of Public Prosecutions was interrupted by GUP who called the acts the prosecution as being unreliable. "The Somali (Abuker Barro, called 'Momi') introduced reflecting the personality of Rudy - explained the lawyer Biscuits - since December 2007 had made statements to a national newspaper, before being moved by the carabinieri, after he had tried to 'Sell' his testimony to a tg. "....


Biscuits - "Our primary duty is certainly not the elegance case, to which we still so much, but to defend Rudy absolutely unfounded accusations."

Google translation - La Repubblica


PS I posted some days ago I recalled seeing the name Abuker Barro but I couldn't remember where from.

indie wrote:

Jools wrote:No handcuffs for Rudy Guede today.

http://tinyurl.com/3kwv5e

Is that really Amanda in the white hoodie? Maybe she liked Koko's look yesterday or maybe the label is wrong. And Raffaele to me looks like he is on some sort of medication, his affect just looks "off".

Since these pretrial/indictment proceedings have started this September we have not heard ONE word about Amanda's family. Are they there? Are her parents allowed to attend the court sessions? I just think it is odd that there has not been one picture of them entering the courtroom.

Hi Indie,

They got the caption wrong on the hooded person. It's probably one of the witnesses set to testify today. Here's Amanda.
I too have wondered if her parents are there - maybe the press are leaving them alone?

From today’s trial

‘Previously it was heard for about an hour, the other heads: Stefano Benassi who knew the Guédé, inhabitant on the lower deck of his house, which reports he learned from friends that Rudy had to fall and that Amanda Knox on the evening of the crime had gone into Sant'Antonio-Viale Via della Pergola in the hope to meet. Li' invece, incontro' casualmente Meredith Kercher. Li 'instead, encounter' randomly Meredith Kercher.’

http://tinyurl.com/5ylxnn

Another news report about Stefano's testimony: (Google translation)

Shortly before the coup scene was heard for about an hour the other heads, Stefano Benassi, who lives upstairs of the house where he lives in the African region. Benassi ha dichiarato di aver saputo da amici che Rudy si era innamorato di Amanda Knox, e che la sera dell'omicidio di Meredith era andato in viale Sant'Antonio-via della Pergola sperando di incontrare la studentessa americana, ma incontrò invece casualmente Meredith. Benassi said they had learned from friends that Rudy had fallen in love with Amanda Knox, and that evening the murder of Meredith went into Sant'Antonio-lane road to Pergola hoping to meet the American student, but instead accidentally met Meredith. I pm Comodi e Mignini descrivono Guede come un giovane dedito ad alcool e sostanze stupefacente, incline anche a gesti di violenza. I am comfortable and Mignini Guédé describe as a young man dedicated to alcohol and narcotic substances, prone to acts of violence. Alla base della richiesta del rinvio a giudizio dei tre, resta il movente sessuale. The basis of the request of the trial of the three, remains the sexual motive. [

http://tinyurl.com/3kywhx

The video shows the witness
"Two thousand euros to speak"

"Third hearing in the trial for the murder of Meredith Kercher one year ago in Perugia.

The first witness Stefano Bonassi was to reveal Rudy's infatuation of Meredith but merely said that he had heard from mutual friends that his friend had just called Mez "a beautiful girl."

The statements of the second young man Abukar Mohamed Barrow (Momi who was to describe the defendant's Rudy Guede violent nature) were cut off (interrupted) after Rudy's defense showed a videotape showing the Somali while he is selling his first interview before he was heard in court."

http://www.repubblica.it/2008/04/sezion ... imoni.html

Hi Ann,

Yes it is possible to compare the genetic profiles from the rag and the knife.Actually,if they had enough material available on the rag, I think they did it.

I'm happy to hear that. Thanks for the information, Nicki...

Tara,
Your shot of Knox smiling as she walks into her murder trial is just disgusting to me.
A disgrace - and it speaks volumes of this twisted individual.

Brian wrote:

Has this piece of evidence found by Kermit and which I think was part of the new evidence presented by the prosecution just last week thrown a spanner in Guilia's plans. Even if there is a dispute over Meredith's DNA on the knife it is still to be entered as the murder weapon using other forensic evidence. Bloody knife prints on sheet. Raffaele you need a bloody knife print on sheet expert to come to your aid. I wonder how much he will cost. Papa must be good for it.

jw wrote:

Murder might be one of many things covered up in this tragedy.

FBN wrote:

Absolutely, jw. People don't necessarily get into drug dealing to make money. There can be purely social and lifestyle reasons for being involved in the drug trade, where any profit a dealer makes is absorbed by their own habits and lifestyle. People who are into dealing solely for the money don't tend to be big users. I don't think any of these 3 were "professional" dealers, though a significant amount of dope could have passed through their hands.

This may seem or be totally off the wall, but I fell asleep with these various statements running through my mind, and had a dream in which I was driving somewhere and heard on the radio that one of the keys to cracking this case was the fact that Raffaele Sollecito had only 40 euros in his bank account at the end of October/beginning of November.

Obviously, that piece of circumstantial evidence would never crack a case, but it is interesting to think about it in light of the above. What was the knife from Raffaele's kitchen doing at the cottage (now that a defense expert has told us that it could have traveled there but that this in itself proves nothing)? Raffaele himself has written about the frequency of his drug use; perhaps he paid for at least part of his habit by doing occasional deals and keeping a cut not of the profit but of the drugs for his own use. Knox had just discovered she didn't have to work that night; maybe Raffaele had just discovered he was out of dope (and money, as it turns out). Knox apparently had not been paid by Patrick; at least this is what she is said to have told the other roommates to explain why she didn't have her share of the rent money.

Knox is reported to have had 4,500 US dollars in her bank account: if that was the full extent of her savings for a year in Italy - especially in light of the exchange rate versus the euro at the time - she was probably not feeling flush with cash. If we take her monthly rent of 250 euros (is that right?) as representative of what she would have paid for lodging over nine months in Europe (regardless of whether or not she stayed in Perugia) and multiply that by 9, we get 2250 euros, which would be more than 3,300 dollars at more or less current exchange rates. This is not counting food, travel, books, drinks, recreation, entertainment, clothing, etc. For all of that, she had a total of 1,200 dollars for the year abroad, assuming she had no other source of income (i.e., forgetting about her job at Le Chic). 1,200 US dollars spread over nine months = about 133 dollars per month of disposable income.

I don't know if or how this adds up (including my figures, which I haven't checked), but I think it is safe to say that Amanda Knox had legitimate reasons to worry about money - unless she had more money available if needed or her parents had agreed to bail her out (no joke intended) if she ran low. Also, and finally, she had left an internship in Germany after three days on the job. Was it meant to be a paid internship?

[font=Comic Sans MS]Some shots of Sollecito leaving court today - does he look pleased with the procedings?[/font]

“I got home when she was still asleep, but after having a shower, while I was in the kitchen, she came out of her room with the blood of her costume (a vampire’s) dripping from her chin,” Knox writes in the Italian police translation.
The graphic way Knox describes Kercher’s bloody chin echoes a story she wrote as part of a creative writing course about one woman raping another which included the passage: “She fell on the floor, she felt the blood on her mouth and swallowed it. She couldn’t move her jaw and felt as if someone was moving a razor on the left side of her face.” …

‘Knox writes that she has decided to send the e-mail, against police orders, because she needs to let off steam.’

‘The unpublished account obtained by The Sunday Times is a confidential e-mail Knox sent to friends three days after the murder.’

This doesn’t help her case much, but ‘Knox e-mail tells of Meredith’s ‘vampire blood’ has a catchy title to it.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/w ... 837665.ece

From DLW's link:

Knox writes that she has decided to send the e-mail, against police orders, because she needs to let off steam. The last time she saw Kercher – “English, beautiful, fun” – was on November 1 when she returned to their cottage after spending the night at Sollecito’s home.

“I got home when she was still asleep.....she came out of her room with the blood of her costume (a vampire’s) dripping from her chin,” Knox writes in the Italian police translation...Meredith...said goodbye and went out. It was the last time I saw her alive,” Knox adds.

This I understand:

"Meredith was fun, she had a good night on Haloween and was still in bed when I got home the next day. She still had her vampire makeup on when she got up late. The last time I saw her alive was when she left that afternoon"


But why this redundant detail said in the way it is:

...but after having a shower, while I was in the kitchen...."Later Kercher entered the kitchen again. “She came out of the shower and she grabbed some underwear, or she put it somewhere, one thing or the other, and she went back to her room after greeting Raffaele.

“After lunch, I started playing the guitar with Raffaele; Meredith came out of the room, went to the door...

Practicing her lines???

I get the impression that these people think it's gone on for so long that they think they have got away with it.
Sometimes I think they're right.

Thank you, Soozie. That was very graciously stated.
kb

Judge halts proceedings over video of attempted deal with TV journalists

Abuker Barro, known as Momi, a Somalian acquaintance of Guede, was due in court in Perugia yesterday to repeat claims....But the judge, Paolo Micheli, blocked him from completing his testimony after lawyers for Guede showed a video of Barro meeting journalists to allegedly negotiate payment of €2,000 (£1,588)for revealing his testimony on Italian television. Micheli will ask magistrates to decide whether Barro should be prosecuted for abusing his role as a witness, which could exclude his testimony.

The incident, described by Guede's lawyer, Walter Biscotti, as 'an assault by the media'....

Before Barro's testimony was blocked, the court heard witness Stefano Bonassi, who had lived in a flat next door to Kercher, report that he had been told of Guede's 'physical attraction' to Knox....

Witnesses were summoned for yesterday's session at the last minute after a crucial showdown over the DNA evidence, which allegedly ties Knox and Sollecito to the crime, was postponed to 4 October. Lawyers had asked for more time to study extra information requested from forensic expert Patrizia Stefanoni, whose work they have described as shoddy and 'illogical'....One senior investigator claimed that the 'constant' demands by the lawyers for more information about the forensic work amounted to 'madness', suggesting that the DNA hearing next Saturday will be fiercely contested.



The Observer

Soozie wrote:

Please bear that in mind when you flame me afterwards. I'm here because I don't want to be the cause of Meredith's board shutting down, that's all.

If anyone flames you, I'll delete their ass.
Thank you. You are a hero. And I apologize for the inevitable but regrettable role that misunderstanding played in amplifying the crisis. I am sorry I let my frustration and fatigue get the better of me; I don't usually snap at people no matter how mad I am.

I just sent you an email and will reiterate here that, since you have met Steve Huff's condition, the board stays open and you are free to remain among us in any capacity you choose.

SB

On a related note, Michael has been working around the clock to prepare a new board to move to in the event of a shutdown here. I'd like to thank him for that extraordinary effort. It is nice to know that an emergency back-up plan is now in place or soon will be -- he was working towards a midnight Sunday deadline.

The Italian Media asks itself questions about the treatment which has been given to Rudy:

Rudy, the black man

You see to get high, thin, black mesh, the look elusive. Some tales have their 'black man' for incutere fear, who knows if this damned real story in which a British girl was murdered still does not know by whom, his' black man 'has found or not. Two days ago at the hearing was the only defendants to have the handcuffs, as if someone had decided to impose a brand of guilt on him. And, instead, who knows if it was him, Rudy Guédé, almost 22 years, to have sunk the knife into the body of Meredith Kercher.During the hearing yesterday in court had to come out with decisive evidence against her and, instead, the more stories the more the doubts.

Certainly, one can not say that a child and family studies. It would be very surprising if it were given the plot of the film of his life. Rudy arrives in Italy in the early nineties is a bimbetto few years. His mother abandoned him, the father decided to tackle the journey from Abidjian where they lived. Settle in Ponte San Giovanni, near Perugia, he will arrange as a mason, the little Rudy starts to attend primary schools.

Nobody would define its even a childhood happy. His father often change girlfriend, Rudy grows more or less alone.At some point the school teachers understand that something not right. Resolve to help him......

La Stampa

Hey Soozie,

Come on back.

Half the board erupted and you didn't start it, you were late to join in the war. The board was already in total turmoil before you got carried away. IMHO TC would have destroyed itself even without your faux pas.

Brian

I've just read the Sunday Times article by John Follain. He's the journalist who allowed Amanda Knox's parents to give a very distorted version of what happened. He's trying hard to be objective in this article:

"Knox, known as “Foxy Knoxy” since childhood..."

I don't doubt that Amanda Knox was given the nickname because of her prowess on the football pitch when she was younger, however, as an adult she would have been aware that foxy means sexy. She obviously liked the nickname and its sexual connotations. She won't convince the judge that her reputation as as maneater isn't justified when her account of having sex with a complete stranger on a train is in the public domain and she admitted having several one night stands in her prison diary. Dressing like Anne of Green Gables won't change the judge's opinion.

Amanda's lack of sadness or shock at Meredith's brutal and shocking murder has been a recurring theme in the case. I don't think anyone who saw the footage of her and Raffaele kissing outside the cottage when Meredith was lying dead in a pool of her own blood could not have been struck by how inappropriate and strange their behaviour was. Nick Pisa commented on it in the recent ITV documentary. Edda Mellas claims Amanda was in shock, but she didn't look too shocked when she was laughing and kissing Raffaele when she was buying underwear so they could have "wild sex" that evening. Then there are the accounts of Amanda French kissing Raffaele at the police station and boasting about finding Meredith's body despite the fact that she was outisde the cottage at the time. I'm not surprised that Amanda expressed no sadness over Meredith's horrific murder in her e-mail to her friends. It has been a recurring theme in the case from the very beginning.

"Knox, also 21, expresses no sadness at the fate of Kercher, who was found half-naked on her bed with her throat slashed."

From Brian's article:

On his facebook page, Rudy wrote: "Love is the only solution, no more war, no more killing, no more racism, no more hating our brothers." The author notes that, read in hindsight, this message seems paradoxical to say the least.

Mediaset and La Nazione caught up in the "story for cash" scandal.

The Gup Paolo Micheli has interrupted the deposition of a witness - of Somali origin but resident in Perugia - which had been cited by Pm Giuliano Mignini. Micheli sent to the Prosecutor's video, the transcript of an sms and statements of the heads.

In the video the Somali would have required two thousand euro to a television journalist for a broadcaster Mediaset, reiterating that they are not willing to issue statements for free. To justify the claim, the alien in the video refers to another interview, he said a fee, to "La Nazione". But this is false, as stated by the director of the newspaper, Francesco Carrassi.

''The statement of the witness of Somali nationality, on the sidelines of the ongoing process in Perugia, that months ago would have received two thousand euro to release an interview to ''La Nazione - explained the director wagons - not even deserve a denial That is absurd and mendacious. If I do is just to underline that journalists of writing umbra, which for nearly a year after commitment and professionalism with the story of the young English killed, can not even be touched by the idea of using methods like those given by a witness who, for this, is absolutely unreliable''......

Google translation of the story in La Nazione

.

New post at Perugia Shock:

Super Walter strikes again

Another witness gets destroyed by Biscotti & Gentile


The judge stops a hostile witness and gets him arrested for false testimony. This is one of the favorite dreams for any defence attorney. Most of them can only see it in the movies, though....And it's the second witness dismissed....

Stefano Bonassi actually was not that bad, for what we know. He referred to the judge that someone referred to him that Rudy was attracted by Amanda. A grave clue of guiltiness, of course... And how did the first one come to know? Did Rudy tell him? Or he maybe read it on his diary? It's indeed Rudy himself that describes in that document how he --and everyone else-- was attracted by Amanda. It seems that all Bonassi's testimony was about the relations between Rudy and the cottage people, with particular attention to Meredith and Amanda. Bonassi recalled when Rudy went visiting downstairs, the time when he fell asleep on the toilet, etc....

And then was Momi's time. The somalian guy had just started spitting out his kindnesses but Super Walter, took the ace out of his sleeve (as we here were, after all, expecting since yesterday). Biscotti produced a video tape recorded on September 17 in the van of Studio Aperto (Mediaset Group). The video, according to Biscotti, shows Momi negotiating with Anna Boiardi (right) the price of his interview in which he would have said his opinions about Rudy and reaching an agreement for 2.000 €.
This was enough for Micheli to decide that this witness wasn't reliable. He interrupted his deposition and sent the acts to the prosecutor, who will decide whether proceeding against him (or the journalist) for any crime.
Boiardi today denies to have payed those money and to have reached that agrement. She indeed explains me that Momi sued her for having entered his house. A little revenge or what?


By the way, how did Super Walter got in possession of that information and of that video? Things that may happen when you give all yourself for your client, even if he's not the rich one. Nothing escapes to Super Walter and Big Nico. Even the disparity on handcuffs. Amanda, as we know, didn't wear handcuffs anymore. And, since yesterday, not even Raffaele. Only Rudy kept wearing them. But Biscotti & Gentile notice everything, Biscotti & Gentile don't sleep, and they got today Rudy too without handcuffs.
And then, out of the court, you could see Super Walter again, answering questions for more than one hour, teasing the journalists, inviting them ironically to make jokes about the toilet, criticizing the ones who had written 'bullshits' about Rudy.... Irrepressible! Frankly I've never seen such an enthusiasm, such a strength, such a youth in a lawyer.....

Perugia Shock

Soozie,

Welcome back. I never got the chance to tell you that I agreed with your sentiments about the IW and Charlies Wilkes. What they are trying to achieve makes me feel ill. When I posted on the IW's blog I didn't ask for or expect any quarter from the pair of them, and as you probably know, they attacked me with gusto and sneered at my posts. Their contempt didn't bother me at all and I took it as a compliment. However, no-one can expect me to feel sorry for the IW or Charlie Wilkes because I don't. As far as I'm concerned, every insult that comes their way is deserved.

You know too much about the Meredith Kercher case to stay silent. You have a voice, use it. The IW and Charlie Wilkes would just love it, if you disappeared without a trace. Don't give them the satisfaction.

From Perugia Shock:

Biscotti produced a video tape recorded on September 17 in the van of Studio Aperto (Mediaset Group). The video, according to Biscotti, shows Momi negotiating with Anna Boiardi (right) the price of his interview...


Studio Aperto are the people who released the CCTV video from the car park camera claiming it showed images of Rudy and Meredith arriving at the cottage.

In view of the earlier "incident" involving the Telenorba showing of the forensic video and Meredith's body, it's fair to ask a question.

That video was obtained from somewhere within the Sollecito camp.

Are the Studio Aperto indiscretions another example of Papa's money and influence attempting to make water go back upstream?