April 12, 2008
A Long Way From Home
48 Hours Investigates The U.S. Student Jailed In Italy For Her Roommate's Murder
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Play CBS Video
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Van Sant's Reporter's Notebook
Peter Van Sant talks about his upcoming report on Amanda Knox, an American student who is jailed in Italy for her roommate's murder. Van Sant's report airs Saturday, April 12, at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
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Video
Is Amanda Knox Innocent?
American student Amanda Knox is being held in Italy for the murder of her roommate. A private investigator calls it a "railroad job from hell." He and "48 Hours'" Peter Van Sant speak with Julie Chen.
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Amanda Knox (AP Photo/Stefano Medici)
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Amanda and her Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito. (AP (file))
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Meredith Kercher (AP Photo/Stefano Medici)
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Rudy Guede (AP Photo/Italian Police)
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Within days of the November 2007 murder, Amanda and her boyfriend were arrested as suspects in the killing and found themselves at the center of a media frenzy.
Do Italian investigators have a solid case against Amanda, as they claim? Or is she being "railroaded" - as one American private investigator put in - in a blind pursuit of justice?
Growing up in Seattle, Wash., Amanda Knox was an all-American girl. She excelled in athletics and academics, as her father Curt remembers: "Dean's list in high school, dean's list in college, soccer player since she's been five…all the way to the premiere level."
Amanda's parents, Curt Knox and Edda Mellas, divorced when she was three, but family bonds remained tight. "She loves her family. She talks about that in her blogs, and in her MySpace. That what's most important to her is her family, her close friends," Edda tells correspondent Peter Van Sant.
After graduating with honors from an elite Jesuit high school, Amanda went on to the University of Washington where she discovered her passion. "She loved going to other cultures and learning about them. And she's really drawn to languages. She really knew she wanted to study abroad," Edda explains.
Amanda worked three jobs to get to Perugia, a medieval hill town north of Rome. She rented a room in a house and began taking classes.
Amanda's years of dedicated study and hard work were paying off. Just a few weeks after arriving in Perugia, she e-mailed some of her friends back home, writing "I’m actually at one of my happiest places right now."
Amanda's good fortune also included a new romance. She'd met a young, handsome Italian engineering student named Raffaele Sollecito, the 23-year-old son of a doctor from Southern Italy.
Amanda had three roommates: two Italian girls and Meredith Kercher, a 20-year-old student from England.
Amanda even got a job in a local bar. "She told me she must work because she need the money," says bar owner Patrick Lumumba, who hired her. Lumumba is well known around town for his music and generous spirit.
Asked what he thought when he first saw Amanda, Lumumba tells Van Sant, "Good person…and friendly."
But just six weeks into Amanda's Italian adventure, everything changed. It was Nov. 2, 2007.
"I got a phone call early in the morning and it was Amanda. And the first thing she said was, 'I'm at home and I'm all right. But, I think somebody's been in my house," Edda remembers.
Amanda told her mother she had spent the night with Raffaele. That morning, when she came home to take a shower and change clothes, she found the front door was open. No one was home.
"When she got out of the shower she noticed some blood. She thought maybe somebody had gotten injured and left quickly and that's why the door was open," Edda explains.
Amanda started phoning her roommates; she found the Italian girls, but according to Edda couldn't track down Meredith, even after calling her several times.
Asked how she learned that something terrible had happened in that house, Edda says, "She called me back and told me that the police had come. Because one of the things she said was 'We can’t find Meredith and her door is locked.'"
Two officers arrived at the house to investigate and found Amanda and Raffaele standing outside.
"Police enter the house, start searching it," explains Paolo Sfriso, an Italian investigator who 48 Hours hired to examine this case. "Meredith's door is locked. They knock on the door, nobody answers. Nobody knows where she is. They decide to break in her door."
Inside, there was blood everywhere. And on the floor, covered by the blanket from her bed, was Meredith's body.
The last time anyone had seen Meredith alive was 9 p.m. the night before, when she walked home alone after leaving friends.
Produced by Joe Halderman, Douglas Longhini, and Chris Young
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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See all 56 CommentsI mean, you have a guy that is known at best as a person that harrasses people, he has no job yet has money to spend, has a history of robbing people at knifepoint, was put at the scene of the crime and then fled right afterward. Are you seriously kidding me!!! And they are holding these two kids because they are too embarrassed to admit that their original theory about the case was wrong!?!?!?
If the Italian police are looking to walk away without shame, too *** late!!!!! This is police work 101 and they are failing miserably at the expense of two innocent kids!!!!!! It is criminal! AND it''s injustice is growing exponentially on a daily basis with these two kids sitting in prison falsely accused!!
Someone, PLEASE, do something! When I think that that could happen to any one of our kids it''s all I can do to sleep at night!!
According to the show, Amanda worked hard for years to save money to go to Italy and, in fact, got a job at a bar in Italy in order to continue to earn money to live there. She certainly didn''t strike me as someone that was afraid to work for her money. Further, even if she didn''t have enough money for rent, wouldn''t there be other options available to her like, for example, moving in with her boyfriend? But no, she resorted to murder!!!
While I type this I realize that I could go on forever but it is so incredibly ludicrous to almost be pointless. I am just saddened beyond belief for these kids and their families!!
Is it not against the law for them to not give have a lawyer with her when they were asking her questions? Did she request one when they were asking one? Did she request for her embassy to be contacted? Or even a priest to help her.?
I feel so sorry for her and want to write her and let her know some cares and is praying for her and supports her while she is there. It must be so lonely, & what is the address also for her boy friend Raffaele, to get mail.
Thank you.
Ellen Davis
Because white, educated people NEVER commit crimes, right?
And that fat, ridiculous PI- this show was a platform for him to sway public opinion. This was completely one sided. He simply trashed the Italian police and this 20 year old black kid. He never once refuted the police''s evidence with anything credible.
I''ve read about this case and it''s obvious CBS chose to leave out key pieces of information that are pretty damaging to Amanda Knox and her boyfriend.
Because white, educated people NEVER commit crimes, right?
And that fat, ridiculous PI- this show was a platform for him to sway public opinion. This was completely one sided. He simply trashed the Italian police and this 20 year old black kid. He never once refuted the police''s evidence with anything credible.
I''ve read about this case and it''s obvious CBS chose to leave out key pieces of information that are pretty damaging to Amanda Knox and her boyfriend.
I have no idea who is guilty or innocent in this case. However, there are two things that bother me:
1) Amanda shopping for lingerie with her boyfriend the day after her roommate is murdered?
2) Blaming the poor cafe owner for something that he did not do. Why would she do that?
CBS presents him as a top PI, implying impartiality. Of course if CBS were to present Paul Ciolino as a lawyer than viewers might suspect that his opinion could be favourable towards Knox.
Manufacturing Consent is book published by Noam Chomsky(?). what we see here is the manufacturing of opinion and heavy lobbing by Knox & Co.
The most interesting part is that coincidentally Knox and Sollecito on the night of the murder did a fantastic job cleaning both of their residences.
Sollecito''s place was regularly cleaned by a cleaning lady hence there was no reason for him to clean his place.
Did I mention that this was the night of the murder.
In regards to Knox, her flat mates complained about Knox''s hygiene and her refusal to participate in the cleaning roaster of the share house.
In other words Knox used her flat mates as her personal cleaning servants without compensation much to the dismay of the other flat mates.
Did I mention that Knox cleaned her place coincidentally on the night of the murder.
Double coincidentally that this was the same night Sollecito cleaned his place.
Then Knox falsely accused an innocent person of the murder to deflect the suspicion from herself.
Considering all the other overwhelming coincidences I can not see how a jury would let Knox and the other two off.
What next, a book deal and interview deals?I can imagine the head lines "We made millions and got away with it. We plan on doing it again because it pays!"
Coincidentally just hours before the murder the trio threatened someone in the car park with a knife.
With the US media omitting highly relevant incriminating details and presenting the prime suspect completely differently to what the people in Perugia have to say about Amanda Knox. Someone who lives in the US and only reads the stories publish by the US media, which might be heavily influenced by the hired PR firm could come to the conclusion that Knox is innocent.
I do not live in the US or in Europe for that matter and it is obvious how differently Knox is presented and how the bad information about Knox is either minimised or completely omitted. My advice, if you want the truth use a search engine and read about this case in the media in other countries and see the difference in reporting and make up your own mind.
What about the consequences resulting from Amanda Knox falsely accusing the bar owner?
Yet, Amanda Knox''s supporters whether paid for their support or not still maintain that she did not lie, or have they changed their stance?
The bar owner was subsequently arrested and jailed for weeks.
Not only that, he was deprived of his income to support his family and even when he was released he was not allowed to open his business for several month. The cost of business leases is a multiple of that for residential space. The result for the bar owner is that he had not been earning an income, while at the same time incurring very high liabilities as a result of having to continue to make lease payments while not having any revenue from his business.
Furthermore, incurring other expenses (loses) such as having food going off in his kitchen and no doubt there would be more cost factors for him. The damage done to the innocent person''s reputation will not doubt have an effect on the success of his business, it could even be fatal for his business and negatively effect future endeavors to get his live back together.
If Amanda Knox did lie once would it be likely that she might have lied more than once?
To anyone who believes in justice please make your thoughts publicly known.
The worst thing that could happen is that we see history repeat itself and letting a murderer go free.
Not another O. J. Simpson case, please.
Perhaps someone might remind him that, 30 years ago, a young man who was also a honors student, a promising young legal mind whom many thought might one day be the governor of Washington State, was accused of multiple murders. One of those who, initially, felt that there was no way this former student could have done the things of which he''d been accused, was his friend, the late political reporter, Richard Larson.
However, a jury felt differently, after looking at all the evidence. The looked at the evidence and concluded that indeed, Ted Bundy was a murderer, despite his fine education, high intellect and good connections. Of course, Mr. Bundy showed what sort of lawyer he might have been, by acting as his own attorney - after other resigned - and holding off his own death sentence, for 10 years.
Perhaps, if it goes to trial, a jury will conclude that Amanda Knox was an accessory to murder. There are all sorts of seeming anomalies, in connection with murder and ***, in the human race. People are oftentimes as sick as the secrets they hold. Amanda Knox may not be the "little girl" that her mother believes she still is. The face she presented to her mother, and the face she presented to others, were perhaps quite different.
Why?
They know Amanda is not innocent. Why do you firmly believe Guede is "the one"? Because he left fingerprints? So did Amanda! Amanda really did a great job to clean up the crime scene---she left not a single fingerprint in her own room. (Remember, she was living there.) However, Italian forensic still found one of Amanda''s bloody fingerprint at the crime scene, and one stain of her blood blended with Kercher''s blood at the scence.
You also know about electronic marketing, marketing in general, publicity, PR, market segmentation and niche marketing.
Just enter your name into a search engine and it becomes evident that you are using Brand Marketing techniques.
Someone who needs a lawyer is catered for by your lawyer brand, someone who needs a lawyer which can be presented as private investigator can utilise your private investigator brand and avail themselves of your impression management and image management know how as a bonus.
In addition, this has the added advantage that a person who does not have any back ground information will have a different assessment of the information you provide based on whether you are a lawyer or a private investigator.
Some people might think that it is beyond reasonable doubt that Amanda Knox is involved in this murder.
What is not known yet, though they believe, is the extend of her involvement.
I would like the Court system to deal with the case, not Knox''s private army.
The message is that Amanda Knox is innocent and had no involvement in this case which is contrary to circumstantial evidence.
I am looking at the case objectively and I do not want to see all these promotional efforts to pervert the cause of justice.
Knox''s promotion effectively lobbies for citizens to contact their congressperson to exert pressure on Italy to prevent or at least interfere with due processes in favour of the suspect.
Do you want that someone who might or might not have had any involvement in a murder walk free, even though they might actually be guilty? Let the Court decide!
The more you lobby, the more others who believe in justice will counter lobby!
As I said, I would like the Court to decide.
I do not want that this case is decided due to the financial capacity of the murder suspect.
Something else I am quite sure of is that, no matter what, certain people will insist on the innocence of those convicted. Those may include the members of the ''Cult of Amanda Knox.'' Perhaps it was that brief, charmingly intoxicated video performance that cast a spell, or the freckle-faced freshness of her girl-next-door look (would you feel the same if she was a 300-lb ogre with bad teeth?), or is it hometown loyalty? Maybe it is simply too unpleasant to accept that a young, successful and seemingly happy student could possibly be involved in such a sordid mess.
[part one of two]
Personally, I hope that something is terribly amiss and that Knox had nothing to do with the death of Ms. Kercher. Intellectually, I find this highly unlikely. That is not to say that I believe Knox stuck that knife in Ms. Kercher''s neck. On that specific point, who can say? It may be true or it may not be. That opinion does not extend to the question of whether she was in the house. She admitted that she was present, though of course, she later retracted that admission.
Paul are you hoping for genuine justice, or hoping someone goes free who may actually be guilty? And have you given any thought to what the Kercher family has gone through? Or have all your sympathies been used up on Ms. Knox?
Speak out, make your views known, demand honest news and name those who engage in dishonest, manipulated, one sided reporting.
I want the truth, not disguised commercials and misrepresentions.
Speak out, make your views known, demand honest news and name those who engage in dishonest, manipulated, one sided reporting.
I want the truth, not disguised commercials and misrepresentions.
Speak out, make your views known, demand honest news and name those who engage in dishonest, manipulated, one sided reporting.
I want the truth, not disguised commercials and misrepresentions.
Are we not forgetting the real issue here?
A person has been brutally murdered.
Meredith had her existence cut short.
Some one did this.
Let justice take its course.
I do not want to see the propaganda by the suspect''s mother, at least wait until after the judgement.
Who actually believes that Amanda Knox was not involved?
"Look it is quite simple, only a moron thinks Amanda Knox killed Ms Kercher, the Brit media are a disgrace. There was never a shred of evidence against Ms Knox."
Let me ask you straight are you Paul Ciolino the private investigator who was on the CBS show?
Please answer this Tazia."
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To the site administrator of yourlocalguardian.co.uk.
The above post which is addressed to "Tazia" is aimed at identifying the identity of the above poster.
The post might have been made by Mr. Paul Ciolino who might be involved in or who might not be involved in a media campaign.
He holds a law degree but presents himself as private investigator.
In case yourlocalguardian.co.uk receives a request to remove this post, it might be useful to find out who makes that request.
Apparently user generated contend critical of Mr. Paul Ciolino''s theories do disappear form some US sites despite compliance with local laws.
This is a restriction on peoples'' freedom of speech.
"He is a regular contributor To CBS & FOX News."
The quote is taken from his self promotion material, see below:
IN THE COMPANY OF GIANTS by Paul J. Ciolino - February 14, 2006 - The Ultimate Investigation Guide for Legal Professionals, Activists, Journalists & the Wrongfully Convicted (Paperback)
"About the Author - Paul Ciolino is a life long resident of Chicago. His investigations have resulted in the full pardons of five death row inmates, and three more serving life sentences. His investigations resulted in the historical emptying of the entire death row population of Illinois in 2003. He is a regular contributor To CBS & FOX News. He is a U.S. Army Veteran and has been a private investigator since 1981."
Is there going to be a S100000 dollar fee for getting Knox off?
According to google that is what he charged in one case.
However, considering the minimal possibility of getting her case derailed his fee might be much higher.
Does anyone know how much O. J. Simpson paid?
That would be a good guide considering that the two cases are very similar in regards to the chances of obtaining a not guilty verdict.
Some readers here maintained that we should wait for the law to take its course, but it seems the Knox campaign manager decided the put the cart in front of the horse and run a public relations campaign, cyclically releasing the message "Amanda Knox is innocent".
Never mind that the indicators show a very different picture.
Is Knox certain that by trying to pull the wool over everyone''s eyes more sympathies are won than antipathies?
The victim is Meredith Kercher and not Amanda Knox.
Amanda Knox is the person who might be found guilty or not guilty. Stop interfering with due processes. Stop defrauding the public of honest news.
Why was the fact that the girl had *** (scientific evidence) prior to her death not brought out? Signs of trama? Skin under fingernails? All of these show DNA. The knife was shared by the roomates. Obviously DNA of various people will be on it. What was the length of the murder weapon?
I also want to point out that this was a roommate. A roommate that shared the rent every month. Sharing an apartment does not imply that you are "best of friends" or not. It is a living arrangement. Amanda Knox is a 20 year old studying & with her first serious boyfriend. Everything in her world revolved aroung these two things. This is why you saw them "shopping" the next day. They wanted to get back to "them" rather tan someone with whom she didn''t even stay under the same roof with. They are 20 year olds in love... you can see it in the photos & video. Why would she risk all of that?
She''s an American girl who did what was "the right thing to do" in the States & is now trapped by authorities who don''t know what to do without embarrassing themselves for lack of proper procedure & knowledge. Where is the US Embassy in all this? Poor girl is taking the "fall" for being American.
How can we help?
http://blogs.chicagotribune.com/news_columnists_ezorn/2006/01/simon_says.html
%u201C12. On information and belief Rimland and Ciolino had a close personal and professional relationship which included Rimland representing Ciolino on a criminal charge of Assault filed in case #00-5-005307 in the Fifth District Circuit Court of Cook County.%u201D
Interesting, %u201CCiolino on a criminal charge of Assault%u201D it says
%u201C14. In 1999 Jack Rimland was the President of the Illinois Attorneys for Criminal Justice. On May 7, 1999, while purporting to be representing Alstory Simon, he presented awards to David Protess, Paul Ciolino and five (5) students for their actions in freeing Anthony Porter and developing evidence against his client. Rimland, in presenting these awards stated: %u201CDavid Protess and his students utilized their talents as investigative journalists and successfully uncovered crucial evidence resulting in the freeing of Anthony Porter%u201D. (See May 21, 1999 Inside Medill News attached as Exhibit 43).%u201D
Interesting, it says %u201CDavid Protess and his students utilized their talents as investigative journalists and successfully uncovered crucial evidence resulting in the freeing of Anthony Porter%u201D.
http://blogs.chicagotribune.com/news_columnists_ezorn/2006/01/simon_says.html
%u201C12. On information and belief Rimland and Ciolino had a close personal and professional relationship which included Rimland representing Ciolino on a criminal charge of Assault filed in case #00-5-005307 in the Fifth District Circuit Court of Cook County.%u201D
Interesting, %u201CCiolino on a criminal charge of Assault%u201D it says
%u201C14. In 1999 Jack Rimland was the President of the Illinois Attorneys for Criminal Justice. On May 7, 1999, while purporting to be representing Alstory Simon, he presented awards to David Protess, Paul Ciolino and five (5) students for their actions in freeing Anthony Porter and developing evidence against his client. Rimland, in presenting these awards stated: %u201CDavid Protess and his students utilized their talents as investigative journalists and successfully uncovered crucial evidence resulting in the freeing of Anthony Porter%u201D. (See May 21, 1999 Inside Medill News attached as Exhibit 43).%u201D
Interesting, it says %u201CDavid Protess and his students utilized their talents as investigative journalists and successfully uncovered crucial evidence resulting in the freeing of Anthony Porter%u201D.
This is bothersome... According to Guede''s account, Knox was not in the house, though in at least one of her many confused and contradictory statements she has admitted that she was. Police say mobile phone records show that Guede and Knox talked to each other "several times" before the murder and after it.
Interesting.
In other words, has his experience with the law affected the way he perceives prosecutors and police officer?
Would it be possible that he may have diminished differentiation and thus simply categorically discounts any assertions made by police and/or prosecutors?
Hence, might it be necessary to consider Ciolino''s statements with judicious caution?
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"12. On information and belief Rimland and Ciolino had a close personal and professional relationship which included Rimland representing Ciolino on a criminal charge of Assault filed in case #00-5-005307 in the Fifth District Circuit Court of Cook County."
Interesting, "Ciolino on a criminal charge of Assault" it says.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22332240/page/5/
Clint Van Zandt: The significance was going to be she alleged that she had spent the night at her boyfriend''s house. And if you think about a drop of blood is normally going to dry from the outside in.
Dennis Murphy: So blood from two days ago would look different than--
Clint Van Zandt: Entirely different. That refutes Amanda%u2019s story that she wasn''t there that night.
Dennis Murphy: They seem to think it was a pretty good piece of evidence.
Clint Van Zandt: They do. They think that''s a very good piece of evidence. We have fingerprints. We have footprints. We have basically fresh blood. We have DNA evidence, all of that places two and probably three people in the apartment, in the murder room with the victim at the time it happened. This is someone who was a victim from the get go and all the way through.
And Clint thinks Amanda, with the forensic evidence, her shifting stories -- yes I was there, no I wasn''t -- coupled with her false accusation of Lumumba has put her in a perilous situation.
Therefore everything he says must be considered in that light.
In other words if he does not get Amanda Knox of the hook, Paul Ciolino does not get a big payout.
Therefore, what would you expect him to say regarding Amanda Knox?
graphic(mental viz) nothing shown
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=
/news/2007/11/12/wkercher412.xml
This mentions the clothes she was wearing in the CCTV,
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=
/news/2007/11/12/wkercher312.xml
This one has some interesting facts on cell phone whereabouts and other facts,
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/eur
ope/article2852819.ece
Here is a liberal site, and American, for the "source mongers" :)
www.newsweek.com/id/70610
Here are a few excerpts from the same, Newsweek.com. site, written by Barbie Nadeau, Nov 15th 2007.
" A 19-page report, released by investigating judge Claudia Matteini, tells a squalid tale of dangerous *** games and a disturbing tale about Knox, the blond, blue-eyed student from Seattle who adopted the online name "Foxy Knoxy."
In Perugia, the judge''s report records a pattern of inconsistent statements by Knox and Sollecito, who had been dating less than a month. (Sollecito''s Facebook page included a photo of himself wrapped in bandages and brandishing a meat cleaver; his Oct. 19 blog post expressed a desire for "extreme ***" to break up the monotony of a regular relationship.
But it is not just Knox''s inconsistencies and fingerprints that Italian authorities are using to build the case against her. The judge''s report includes cell phone records indicating that Knox sent a message to Lumumba earlier that evening, telling him her roommate was home and "see you later."
Why are there so many pages wasted on this sorry storey. why do you believe she would be innocent? because she is an American? Ever hear of Americans going wild when they are away from home? Many GI''s have gotten charged with serious assault-one guy stabbed his girlfriend 20 times-and murder.
Most parents think their child is so pure and innocent. It is a real wake up to discover their child is active and wild.
Almost as sad as the murder is this self-serving program and the blindness of Ms. Knox''s parents and those who believe that an innocent little American girl is caught up in some third world police state.
Fingerprints? Blood? DNA? How can science dare to challenge our twice-dean''s listed premiere soccer player elite Jesuit school educated darling? Our little darling''s past of drugs and *** on the train? How mean! She is taking the fall for being American! Of course, whenever there is a murder in Italy they round up Americans! Raffaele isn''t American. Millions of Americans visit Italy and don''t leave their blood at a murder scene.
Has anyone stopped to wonder ... Amanda said she found the door open, and saw blood in bathroom...and then she went and took a shower? (the story doesn''t point out that she admitted seeing blood before getting in the shower). Maybe she hasn''t seen Psycho.
"If you could throw someone in prison for what they put on My Space we would all be sitting there"? 1) She is there because of physical evidence and lying, and 2) speak for yourself!
Yes, when you leave the USA, you are subject to the laws of the country you are visiting. I don''t think we''d like it much if an Italian were in jail in the USA accused of murder and the Italian government swooped in and overrode our laws.
Even after 14 hours I would accuse an innocent person of murder.
Now, I believe that Americans are hated by other Countries and it seems no different here from the Italians.
Amanda''s DNA is on the knife and also on the victim''s bra. But, weren''t they roommates? Don''t roommates share things? Plus, the boyfriend''s shoe print was stepped in blood, but it isn''t from his actual shoe. Where''s the real evidence?
The second man arrested didn''t even know the accused couple. Then the investigators changed their story from Rape to Robbery after they charged the wrong black man. The girl is being railroaded by the British and Italian press. They formed an opinion, like when they went to buy her underwear and she was supposedly going to have freak *** with her boyfriend because the murder turned her on! Puuuuhhhllleeeez!
If Amanda didn''t confess. This wouldn''t be a Mystery.
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