Amanda Knox "Really Scared," Mom Says

(CBS)  This will be the third holiday season Edda Mellas has had to visit her daughter Amanda Knox in the sprawling jail in Perugia, Italy - and the first since Knox was of British roommate Meredity Kercher earlier this month.

Families are allowed six visits a month and those from outside Italy generally get two extra.

But Christmas doesn't fall on a visiting day so Knox will attend mass in the prison with fellow inmates, reports CBS News correspondent Allen Pizzey.

"She had her tough moments. There were some tears just because she wants out of there and she's just really scared that this mess is not going to get fixed," Mellas said.

Mellas said the family has been "devastated" by the conviction but Knox is "trying very hard to make the best of it."

Since the conviction, which resulted in a 26-year sentence, Knox has received a surprising amount of support. A merchant from nearby Assisi has collected Christmas gifts for her.

She's also received what her family says are hundreds of letters, nearly all of which are supportive.

"It's really been amazing … to see that so many people realize that this is kind of a big mistake and they're all just telling us to hang in there," Mellas told CBS' "The Early Show Monday.

Mellas said Knox has found prison life "boring" and spends a lot of time reading and writing.

Knox and her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, who was sentenced to 25 years for his part in Kercher's murder, reportedly exchange letters along the lines of "Hang in there, the truth will come out eventually."

Knox recently told a visitor she was "scared" of being in jail but her appeal can only begin when the judge releases the written motivation for the guilty verdict, which is expected to happen by March 5.

"That was one of the things that she expressed a fear today of having to stay in there and I really truly believe that this mistake will get fixed," Mellas said. "It's taking way longer than we thought, but we believe that."

[Rory2000]

Amanda knox is GUILTY! End of!! LET THE ***** ROT!!!

[Alyssa1982]

?The average prison sentence for females in the U.S. is only about 70% that of males for most violent crimes. A man convicted of murder is 20 times more likely to receive the death penalty than a woman.?




?there are a large number of motives for Amanda to have committed this crime, without anything in her background indicating prior violence (or a criminal record) these would be extremely unlikely reasons to cause her to break from this pattern of non-violence and commit murder. There was nothing in Amanda's life or background that would have prefaced such violence against her roommate. Amanda Knox was a good student with no criminal record and no history of violence.?



It is very common for many convicted murderers to have no prior convictions, law infractions, or even history of family violence; ?So and so was a good student with no criminal record and no history of violence? is extremely common when shocking and violent crimes are committed, particularly by young men and women. Philip Markoff, (for a recent case) was a medical student and came from a fortunate family. ?His former English teacher and neighbor described him as "a good student and just a really nice kid. Smart, wanting to succeed, nothing strange, nothing out of the ordinary.? Is a quote taken directly from his wiki page.

?Since then, the story of the Witch Trials has become synonymous with paranoia and injustice which this current case in Perugia is full of.?



The Witch trials, in particular the Salem Witch trials (to remain exclusively American in perspective, though I must remind you this should not be used to compare a non-American case thus reiterating its mootness) was a mostly crime against women, and is an illustrative case of misogyny, religious discrimination and women?s rights. I fail again to see its relevancy in this discussion.


?Amanda Knox was never fired by Patrick Lumumba. Why did Patrick call Amanda to tell her she didn't need to work that night if she?d been fired?????



Patrick Lumumba has maintained in his interviews that he had fired Amanda from bartending allowing her to hand out flyers prior to the murder. It is Amanda?s testimony against Mr. Lumumba?s that she was still employed, and as there are no transcripts of the actual phone calls other than the text Patrick Lumumba sent at 8:18 p.m. on November 1, 2007?the night of the murder?to Amanda Knox telling her not to show up that night as ?business was slow.?



?In regards to the inconclusive statements that Amanda made to police, she was interrogated for 14 hours without sleep or food in a foreign country (where she didn't speak the language) while being verbally and physically taunted by police and investigators. She was interrogated until she gave the police the story they wanted to hear and then recanted when she recovered. It's not reported whether the others suspects were interrogated for this length of time and in this manner but irregardless, this type of interrogation produces false confessions just like this all the time.?



Interrogations of this type are normal and are a widespread practice in the USA particularly in time-sensitive cases such as murders, child abductions, or hostage situations, where valuable time can be wasting allowing other perpetrators to escape or flee or even hide or destroy evidence.



In the USA, the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution protects witnesses from being forced to incriminate themselves, and allows refusal to answer a question because the response could form self incriminating evidence



In essence, a paid lawyer can advise you what not to say, with holding information that could assist in solving a case, simply because it can or will incriminate you. There are even laws in place in the USA protecting suspects even after conviction from the requirement of revealing self-incriminating information such as locations of their victims' bodies and/or property. The adversarial nature of the USA court system is not in the interest of the crime or the victim, but rather the party with the strongest lawyer, not necessarily the strongest evidence.



In Italy, which does not use adversarial law, you do not have this right, as the purpose of the questioning is to uncover the truth.



Finally, the most frightening part of this case is that still, to this day, Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito still have no alibi, and the only loose alibi they have both provided ? that they were in the boyfriend?s apartment until 10am - has been disproven by a witness who let her into his store at 7:45. Though allowed to immediately challenge this evidence in court which contradicts her only alibi, she remained silent.



To invoke feelings of sympathy for Ms. Knox, as the PR parties are trying to do, is not only discriminatory, but unethical. Witch hunt comparisons, defamation claims and character assassination allegations are not evidence and are inadmissible, and the facts and evidence remain.

[killahagan]

wrong amanda and rafaelle played no part in merrideth murder.the police refused to act on four reports of breaking and entry by rudy guede carring a knife,his fifth break in lead to murder,this may explain why the police are so desprate to pin the muder on this innocent couple to cover for their shameful act of leaving a dangerous man free to comit murder

[lucca2004]

Alyssa1982,


You wrote: "In terms of lacking a motive, there are many motives for Ms. Knox: Sexual competition; friction between her and her roommate; Drugs and alcohol or other illicit substances; A transgression related to her then-boyfriend; There are literally dozens of reason as to why. Aside from this, there are thousands of cases where there were no motives for murderers to kill their victims, just the desire to kill. I don't believe Karla and Paul had any motive, aside from sexual motives, which is a very likely scenario in this case and very intrinsic in terms of basic human nature."

I reply: Though you claim that there are a large number of motives for Amanda to have committed this crime, without anything in her background indicating prior violence (or a criminal record) these would be extremely unlikely reasons to cause her to break from this pattern of non-violence and commit murder. There was nothing in Amanda's life or background that would have prefaced such violence against her roommate. Amanda Knox was a good student with no criminal record and no history of violence. For her to turn into a crazy maniac one night is very far fetched.

Rudy Guede, on the other hand, was a known drug dealer and thief who?d already been arrested for breaking into a house and a church with a knife. He'd come from a background of crime and violence and would be more likely to commit a crime of violence in any given situation than someone with no history of violence like Amanda.

In regards to Paul Bernardo, he was a violent serial rapist before he started torturing and killing women. He had a very violent background before he committed the most heinous of crimes.


You wrote: "Referring to witch hunts/trials, your comments are not only muddled and unclear, but moot and unrelated to this discussion. Are you inferring that witch trials are American only? Which two girls? There is history of female persecution world wide, and comparing a murder case to a witch trial is not only obtuse, but incomparable to this and, quite frankly, offensive. How can you compare the masse ethnocide/gendercide and murder of women and men to an affluent woman who receive a fair trial, access to a lawyer, and incredible amounts of media access (which is still occurring!)??! You may as well compare the trail to the Holocaust."

I reply: I'm referring to the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 which are one of the most well known series of events in American history and the most outrageous travesty of justice to befall the English Colonies. The "two girls" in this case that I'm referring to were 2 young cousins who began having fits of pain and epileptic-like seizures. When the doctor found no physical cause for their strange behavior, he concluded that the girls were bewitched and they began accusing different women of being witches. The accusations and hysteria only ended after 24 victims had been killed.
Since then, the story of the Witch Trials has become synonymous with paranoia and injustice which this current case in Perugia is full of. Additionally, just like the Prosecutors in the Witch Trials who came up with crazy and ridiculous stories and theories to explain why someone was a witch, the crazy lead Prosecutor Giuliano Mignini (in this current case) came up with a bizarre motive for this crime which included a satanic cult and a sexual orgy which had no basis at all.

You wrote: "As for Mr. Patrick Lumumba, the man fired Ms Knox from her duties at Le Chic where she worked for improper conduct. If you seek motives, I suspect this would be a reasonable one for Ms. Knox to implicate Mr. Lumumba. The argument that she was under stress is inadmissible ? all parties were interrogated, and all failed to provide a cohesive story. I also suspect that Guede, in light of his conviction, may provide further admissions that will clarify the case, further implicate himself, and also the other two."

I reply: Amanda Knox was never fired by Patrick Lumumba. Why did Patrick call Amanda to tell her she didn't need to work that night if she?d been fired????

In regards to the inconclusive statements that Amanda made to police, she was interrogated for 14 hours without sleep or food in a foreign country (where she didn't speak the language) while being verbally and physically taunted by police and investigators. She was interrogated until she gave the police the story they wanted to hear and then recanted when she recovered. It's not reported whether the others suspects were interrogated for this length of time and in this manner but irregardless, this type of interrogation produces false confessions just like this all the time.

[Alyssa1982]

?The average prison sentence for females in the U.S. is only about 70% that of males for most violent crimes. A man convicted of murder is 20 times more likely to receive the death penalty than a woman.?




?there are a large number of motives for Amanda to have committed this crime, without anything in her background indicating prior violence (or a criminal record) these would be extremely unlikely reasons to cause her to break from this pattern of non-violence and commit murder. There was nothing in Amanda's life or background that would have prefaced such violence against her roommate. Amanda Knox was a good student with no criminal record and no history of violence.?



It is very common for many convicted murderers to have no prior convictions, law infractions, or even history of family violence; ?So and so was a good student with no criminal record and no history of violence? is extremely common when shocking and violent crimes are committed, particularly by young men and women. Philip Markoff, (for a recent case) was a medical student and came from a fortunate family. ?His former English teacher and neighbor described him as "a good student and just a really nice kid. Smart, wanting to succeed, nothing strange, nothing out of the ordinary.? Is a quote taken directly from his wiki page.

?Since then, the story of the Witch Trials has become synonymous with paranoia and injustice which this current case in Perugia is full of.?



The Witch trials, in particular the Salem Witch trials (to remain exclusively American in perspective, though I must remind you this should not be used to compare a non-American case thus reiterating its mootness) was a mostly crime against women, and is an illustrative case of misogyny, religious discrimination and women?s rights. I fail again to see its relevancy in this discussion.


?Amanda Knox was never fired by Patrick Lumumba. Why did Patrick call Amanda to tell her she didn't need to work that night if she?d been fired?????



Patrick Lumumba has maintained in his interviews that he had fired Amanda from bartending allowing her to hand out flyers prior to the murder. It is Amanda?s testimony against Mr. Lumumba?s that she was still employed, and as there are no transcripts of the actual phone calls other than the text Patrick Lumumba sent at 8:18 p.m. on November 1, 2007?the night of the murder?to Amanda Knox telling her not to show up that night as ?business was slow.?



?In regards to the inconclusive statements that Amanda made to police, she was interrogated for 14 hours without sleep or food in a foreign country (where she didn't speak the language) while being verbally and physically taunted by police and investigators. She was interrogated until she gave the police the story they wanted to hear and then recanted when she recovered. It's not reported whether the others suspects were interrogated for this length of time and in this manner but irregardless, this type of interrogation produces false confessions just like this all the time.?



Interrogations of this type are normal and are a widespread practice in the USA particularly in time-sensitive cases such as murders, child abductions, or hostage situations, where valuable time can be wasting allowing other perpetrators to escape or flee or even hide or destroy evidence.



In the USA, the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution protects witnesses from being forced to incriminate themselves, and allows refusal to answer a question because the response could form self incriminating evidence



In essence, a paid lawyer can advise you what not to say, with holding information that could assist in solving a case, simply because it can or will incriminate you. There are even laws in place in the USA protecting suspects even after conviction from the requirement of revealing self-incriminating information such as locations of their victims' bodies and/or property. The adversarial nature of the USA court system is not in the interest of the crime or the victim, but rather the party with the strongest lawyer, not necessarily the strongest evidence.



In Italy, which does not use adversarial law, you do not have this right, as the purpose of the questioning is to uncover the truth.



Finally, the most frightening part of this case is that still, to this day, Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito still have no alibi, and the only loose alibi they have both provided ? that they were in the boyfriend?s apartment until 10am - has been disproven by a witness who let her into his store at 7:45. Though allowed to immediately challenge this evidence in court which contradicts her only alibi, she remained silent.



To invoke feelings of sympathy for Ms. Knox, as the PR parties are trying to do, is not only discriminatory, but unethical. Witch hunt comparisons, defamation claims and character assassination allegations are not evidence and are inadmissible, and the facts and evidence remain.

[lucca2004]

Alyssa1982,


You wrote: "In terms of lacking a motive, there are many motives for Ms. Knox: Sexual competition; friction between her and her roommate; Drugs and alcohol or other illicit substances; A transgression related to her then-boyfriend; There are literally dozens of reason as to why. Aside from this, there are thousands of cases where there were no motives for murderers to kill their victims, just the desire to kill. I don't believe Karla and Paul had any motive, aside from sexual motives, which is a very likely scenario in this case and very intrinsic in terms of basic human nature."

Though you claim that there are a large number of motives for Amanda to have committed this crime, without anything in her background indicating prior violence (or a criminal record) these would be extremely unlikely reasons to cause her to break from this pattern of non-violence and commit murder. There was nothing in Amanda's life or background that would have prefaced such violence against her roommate. Amanda Knox was a good student with no criminal record and no history of violence. For her to turn into a crazy maniac one night is very far fetched.

Rudy Guede, on the other hand, was a known drug dealer and thief who?d already been arrested for breaking into a house and a church with a knife. He'd come from a background of crime and violence and would be more likely to commit a crime of violence in any given situation than someone with no history of violence like Amanda.

In regards to Paul Bernardo, he was a violent serial rapist before he started torturing and killing women. He had a very violent background before he committed the most heinous of crimes.


You wrote: "Referring to witch hunts/trials, your comments are not only muddled and unclear, but moot and unrelated to this discussion. Are you inferring that witch trials are American only? Which two girls? There is history of female persecution world wide, and comparing a murder case to a witch trial is not only obtuse, but incomparable to this and, quite frankly, offensive. How can you compare the masse ethnocide/gendercide and murder of women and men to an affluent woman who receive a fair trial, access to a lawyer, and incredible amounts of media access (which is still occurring!)??! You may as well compare the trail to the Holocaust."

I'm referring to the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 which are one of the most well known series of events in American history and the most outrageous travesty of justice to befall the English Colonies. The "two girls" in this case that I'm referring to were 2 young cousins who began having fits of pain and epileptic-like seizures. When the doctor found no physical cause for their strange behavior, he concluded that the girls were bewitched and they began accusing different women of being witches. The accusations and hysteria only ended after 24 victims had been killed.
Since then, the story of the Witch Trials has become synonymous with paranoia and injustice which this current case in Perugia is full of. Additionally, just like the Prosecutors in the Witch Trials who came up with crazy and ridiculous stories and theories to explain why someone was a witch, the crazy lead Prosecutor Giuliano Mignini (in this current case) came up with a bizarre motive for this crime which included a satanic cult and a sexual orgy which had no basis at all.

You wrote: "As for Mr. Patrick Lumumba, the man fired Ms Knox from her duties at Le Chic where she worked for improper conduct. If you seek motives, I suspect this would be a reasonable one for Ms. Knox to implicate Mr. Lumumba. The argument that she was under stress is inadmissible ? all parties were interrogated, and all failed to provide a cohesive story. I also suspect that Guede, in light of his conviction, may provide further admissions that will clarify the case, further implicate himself, and also the other two."

Amanda Knox was never fired by Patrick Lumumba. Why did Patrick call Amanda to tell her she didn't need to work that night if she?d been fired????

In regards to the inconclusive statements that Amanda made to police, she was interrogated for 14 hours without sleep or food in a foreign country (where she didn't speak the language) while being verbally and physically taunted by police and investigators. She was interrogated until she gave the police the story they wanted to hear and then recanted when she recovered. It's not reported whether the others suspects were interrogated for this length of time and in this manner but irregardless, this type of interrogation produces false confessions just like this all the time.

[Alyssa1982]

?The average prison sentence for females in the U.S. is only about 70% that of males for most violent crimes. A man convicted of murder is 20 times more likely to receive the death penalty than a woman.?




?there are a large number of motives for Amanda to have committed this crime, without anything in her background indicating prior violence (or a criminal record) these would be extremely unlikely reasons to cause her to break from this pattern of non-violence and commit murder. There was nothing in Amanda's life or background that would have prefaced such violence against her roommate. Amanda Knox was a good student with no criminal record and no history of violence.?



It is very common for many convicted murderers to have no prior convictions, law infractions, or even history of family violence; ?So and so was a good student with no criminal record and no history of violence? is extremely common when shocking and violent crimes are committed, particularly by young men and women. Philip Markoff, (for a recent case) was a medical student and came from a fortunate family. ?His former English teacher and neighbor described him as "a good student and just a really nice kid. Smart, wanting to succeed, nothing strange, nothing out of the ordinary.? Is a quote taken directly from his wiki page.

?Since then, the story of the Witch Trials has become synonymous with paranoia and injustice which this current case in Perugia is full of.?



The Witch trials, in particular the Salem Witch trials (to remain exclusively American in perspective, though I must remind you this should not be used to compare a non-American case thus reiterating its mootness) was a mostly crime against women, and is an illustrative case of misogyny, religious discrimination and women?s rights. I fail again to see its relevancy in this discussion.


?Amanda Knox was never fired by Patrick Lumumba. Why did Patrick call Amanda to tell her she didn't need to work that night if she?d been fired?????



Patrick Lumumba has maintained in his interviews that he had fired Amanda from bartending allowing her to hand out flyers prior to the murder. It is Amanda?s testimony against Mr. Lumumba?s that she was still employed, and as there are no transcripts of the actual phone calls other than the text Patrick Lumumba sent at 8:18 p.m. on November 1, 2007?the night of the murder?to Amanda Knox telling her not to show up that night as ?business was slow.?



?In regards to the inconclusive statements that Amanda made to police, she was interrogated for 14 hours without sleep or food in a foreign country (where she didn't speak the language) while being verbally and physically taunted by police and investigators. She was interrogated until she gave the police the story they wanted to hear and then recanted when she recovered. It's not reported whether the others suspects were interrogated for this length of time and in this manner but irregardless, this type of interrogation produces false confessions just like this all the time.?



Interrogations of this type are normal and are a widespread practice in the USA particularly in time-sensitive cases such as murders, child abductions, or hostage situations, where valuable time can be wasting allowing other perpetrators to escape or flee or even hide or destroy evidence.



In the USA, the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution protects witnesses from being forced to incriminate themselves, and allows refusal to answer a question because the response could form self incriminating evidence



In essence, a paid lawyer can advise you what not to say, with holding information that could assist in solving a case, simply because it can or will incriminate you. There are even laws in place in the USA protecting suspects even after conviction from the requirement of revealing self-incriminating information such as locations of their victims' bodies and/or property. The adversarial nature of the USA court system is not in the interest of the crime or the victim, but rather the party with the strongest lawyer, not necessarily the strongest evidence.



In Italy, which does not use adversarial law, you do not have this right, as the purpose of the questioning is to uncover the truth.



Finally, the most frightening part of this case is that still, to this day, Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito still have no alibi, and the only loose alibi they have both provided ? that they were in the boyfriend?s apartment until 10am - has been disproven by a witness who let her into his store at 7:45. Though allowed to immediately challenge this evidence in court which contradicts her only alibi, she remained silent.



To invoke feelings of sympathy for Ms. Knox, as the PR parties are trying to do, is not only discriminatory, but unethical. Witch hunt comparisons, defamation claims and character assassination allegations are not evidence and are inadmissible, and the facts and evidence remain.

[lucca2004]

Alyssa1982,


You wrote: ?In terms of lacking a motive, there are many motives for Ms. Knox: Sexual competition; friction between her and her roommate; Drugs and alcohol or other illicit substances; A transgression related to her then-boyfriend; There are literally dozens of reason as to why. Aside from this, there are thousands of cases where there were no motives for murderers to kill their victims, just the desire to kill. I don?t believe Karla and Paul had any motive, aside from sexual motives, which is a very likely scenario in this case and very intrinsic in terms of basic human nature.?

Though you claim that there are a large number of motives for Amanda to have committed this crime, without anything in her background indicating prior violence (or a criminal record) these would be extremely unlikely reasons to cause her to break from this pattern of non-violence and commit murder. There was nothing in Amanda?s life or background that would have prefaced such violence against her roommate. Amanda Knox was a good student with no criminal record and no history of violence. For her to turn into a crazy maniac one night is very far fetched.

Rudy Guede, on the other hand, was a known drug dealer and thief who?d already been arrested for breaking into a house and a church with a knife. He?d come from a background of crime and violence and would be more likely to commit a crime of violence in any given situation than someone with no history of violence like Amanda.

In regards to Paul Bernardo, he was a violent serial rapist before he started torturing and killing women. He had a very violent background before he committed the most heinous of crimes.
________________________________________________________________________________________

You wrote: ?Referring to witch hunts/trials, your comments are not only muddled and unclear, but moot and unrelated to this discussion. Are you inferring that witch trials are American only? Which two girls? There is history of female persecution world wide, and comparing a murder case to a witch trial is not only obtuse, but incomparable to this and, quite frankly, offensive. How can you compare the masse ethnocide/gendercide and murder of women and men to an affluent woman who receive a fair trial, access to a lawyer, and incredible amounts of media access (which is still occurring!)??! You may as well compare the trail to the Holocaust.?

I?m referring to the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 which are one of the most well known series of events in American history and the most outrageous travesty of justice to befall the English Colonies. The ?two girls? in this case that I?m referring to were 2 young cousins who began having fits of pain and epileptic-like seizures. When the doctor found no physical cause for their strange behavior, he concluded that the girls were bewitched and they began accusing different women of being witches. The accusations and hysteria only ended after 24 victims had been killed.

Since then, the story of the Witch Trials has become synonymous with paranoia and injustice which this current case in Perugia is full of. Additionally, just like the Prosecutors in the Witch Trials who came up with crazy and ridiculous stories and theories to explain why someone was a witch, the crazy lead Prosecutor Giuliano Mignini (in this current case) came up with a bizarre motive for this crime which included a satanic cult and a sexual orgy which had no basis at all.

You wrote: ?As for Mr. Patrick Lumumba, the man fired Ms Knox from her duties at Le Chic where she worked for improper conduct. If you seek motives, I suspect this would be a reasonable one for Ms. Knox to implicate Mr. Lumumba. The argument that she was under stress is inadmissible ? all parties were interrogated, and all failed to provide a cohesive story. I also suspect that Guede, in light of his conviction, may provide further admissions that will clarify the case, further implicate himself, and also the other two.?

Amanda Knox was never fired by Patrick Lumumba. Why did Patrick call Amanda to tell her she didn?t need to work that night if she?d been fired????

In regards to the inconclusive statements that Amanda made to police, she was interrogated for 14 hours without sleep or food in a foreign country (where she didn?t speak the language) while being verbally and physically taunted by police and investigators. She was interrogated until she gave the police the story they wanted to hear and then recanted when she recovered. It?s not reported whether the others suspects were interrogated for this length of time and in this manner but irregardless, this type of interrogation produces false confessions just like this all the time.

[Alyssa1982]

?The average prison sentence for females in the U.S. is only about 70% that of males for most violent crimes. A man convicted of murder is 20 times more likely to receive the death penalty than a woman.?




?there are a large number of motives for Amanda to have committed this crime, without anything in her background indicating prior violence (or a criminal record) these would be extremely unlikely reasons to cause her to break from this pattern of non-violence and commit murder. There was nothing in Amanda's life or background that would have prefaced such violence against her roommate. Amanda Knox was a good student with no criminal record and no history of violence.?



It is very common for many convicted murderers to have no prior convictions, law infractions, or even history of family violence; ?So and so was a good student with no criminal record and no history of violence? is extremely common when shocking and violent crimes are committed, particularly by young men and women. Philip Markoff, (for a recent case) was a medical student and came from a fortunate family. ?His former English teacher and neighbor described him as "a good student and just a really nice kid. Smart, wanting to succeed, nothing strange, nothing out of the ordinary.? Is a quote taken directly from his wiki page.

?Since then, the story of the Witch Trials has become synonymous with paranoia and injustice which this current case in Perugia is full of.?



The Witch trials, in particular the Salem Witch trials (to remain exclusively American in perspective, though I must remind you this should not be used to compare a non-American case thus reiterating its mootness) was a mostly crime against women, and is an illustrative case of misogyny, religious discrimination and women?s rights. I fail again to see its relevancy in this discussion.


?Amanda Knox was never fired by Patrick Lumumba. Why did Patrick call Amanda to tell her she didn't need to work that night if she?d been fired?????



Patrick Lumumba has maintained in his interviews that he had fired Amanda from bartending allowing her to hand out flyers prior to the murder. It is Amanda?s testimony against Mr. Lumumba?s that she was still employed, and as there are no transcripts of the actual phone calls other than the text Patrick Lumumba sent at 8:18 p.m. on November 1, 2007?the night of the murder?to Amanda Knox telling her not to show up that night as ?business was slow.?



?In regards to the inconclusive statements that Amanda made to police, she was interrogated for 14 hours without sleep or food in a foreign country (where she didn't speak the language) while being verbally and physically taunted by police and investigators. She was interrogated until she gave the police the story they wanted to hear and then recanted when she recovered. It's not reported whether the others suspects were interrogated for this length of time and in this manner but irregardless, this type of interrogation produces false confessions just like this all the time.?



Interrogations of this type are normal and are a widespread practice in the USA particularly in time-sensitive cases such as murders, child abductions, or hostage situations, where valuable time can be wasting allowing other perpetrators to escape or flee or even hide or destroy evidence.



In the USA, the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution protects witnesses from being forced to incriminate themselves, and allows refusal to answer a question because the response could form self incriminating evidence



In essence, a paid lawyer can advise you what not to say, with holding information that could assist in solving a case, simply because it can or will incriminate you. There are even laws in place in the USA protecting suspects even after conviction from the requirement of revealing self-incriminating information such as locations of their victims' bodies and/or property. The adversarial nature of the USA court system is not in the interest of the crime or the victim, but rather the party with the strongest lawyer, not necessarily the strongest evidence.



In Italy, which does not use adversarial law, you do not have this right, as the purpose of the questioning is to uncover the truth.



Finally, the most frightening part of this case is that still, to this day, Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito still have no alibi, and the only loose alibi they have both provided ? that they were in the boyfriend?s apartment until 10am - has been disproven by a witness who let her into his store at 7:45. Though allowed to immediately challenge this evidence in court which contradicts her only alibi, she remained silent.



To invoke feelings of sympathy for Ms. Knox, as the PR parties are trying to do, is not only discriminatory, but unethical. Witch hunt comparisons, defamation claims and character assassination allegations are not evidence and are inadmissible, and the facts and evidence remain.

[Law_Lord]

In a haze of illicit narcotics, Amanda set Raffaele & Rudy loose on poor Meredith. The LIES and the DNA of ALL 3 prove it. When will CBS start educating Americans about the EVIDENCE submitted at trial?

I am tired of the "Curt & Edda Show" - They are in deep denial and have become Seattle's answer to George & Cindy Anthony.

[lucca2004]

Alyssa1982,

You wrote: "By your own words, has Amanda Knox not caused "the most injustice of all" towards Mr. Patrick Lumumba? He has already been awarded the 7000 pounds. It won't be long until the family of Meredith will receive the 20 million pounds from Ms. Knox, which will be nothing on the money she makes selling her story."

In regards to Patrick Lumumba, at the time that Amanda was interrogated, the police believed that Patrick Lumumba was either the murderer or one of them. The Police had seen a text message from Amanda to Patrick saying ?See you later? and thought that this message meant that they would be meeting later to kill Amanda?s roommate Meredith. The police had also found hair from an African at the crime scene and they thought that it must have been from Patrick because Rudy hadn?t been apprehended yet and all the forensics tests weren?t in yet either. During the 14 hour interrogation (in which Amanda was denied sleep, food or water), the Police kept telling Amanda that they knew that Patrick was the murderer and they demanded that she confess this fact to them or she would be locked up in prison for life. She was taunted both mentally and physically during this interrogation and though the Police (and investigators) had tapes of everything else in this case, they claimed that they?d lost the tape of the interrogation when questioned about the abuse. Amanda stated that she was scared for her life and dazed from fatigue and stress and that she finally agreed with the Police that Patrick Lumumba had been the murderer of Meredith. Shortly after, Amanda recanted this ?confession? that was coerced from her by the Italian Police during the 14 hour interrogation.

You wrote: "And lastly, the two cases are quite similar - a young woman raped, tortured and murdered by a group of despicable killers."

The difference between these 2 cases is that there?s actual proof (from a video/audiotape) and admission that Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo raped, tortured and murdered their victims while there is NO forensic evidence linking Amanda to the crime scene and absolutely NO motive either.

I always wondered how a "civilized" society could let innocent people be put to death as during the Salem Witch Trials (of the 1600's) based on fantastical stories of 2 young girls. I learned from this case though that there are still today many in our modern societies who have great ignorance and little common sense who form their opinions based not on facts or actual evidence but on the fairy tales of a few.

[babsbabs80]

lucca 2004 - I completely agree!!!!
Amanda's DNA was not found in the crime scene!!! Ridiculous!!!

[Alyssa1982]

I agree with you, there are indeed ?many in our modern societies who have great ignorance and little common sense who form their opinions based not on facts or actual evidence?, and I believe this is quite clearly illustrated by individuals such as yourself and your ilk who support this woman.
Your faith in this woman is not only deluded, but misguided.

In terms of lacking a motive, there are many motives for Ms. Knox: Sexual competition; friction between her and her roommate; Drugs and alcohol or other illicit substances; A transgression related to her then-boyfriend; There are literally dozens of reason as to why. Aside from this, there are thousands of cases where there were no motives for murderers to kill their victims, just the desire to kill. I don?t believe Karla and Paul had any motive, aside from sexual motives, which is a very likely scenario in this case and very intrinsic in terms of basic human nature.

Referring to witch hunts/trials, your comments are not only muddled and unclear, but moot and unrelated to this discussion. Are you inferring that witch trials are American only? Which two girls? There is history of female persecution world wide, and comparing a murder case to a witch trial is not only obtuse, but incomparable to this and, quite frankly, offensive. How can you compare the masse ethnocide/gendercide and murder of women and men to an affluent woman who receive a fair trial, access to a lawyer, and incredible amounts of media access (which is still occurring!)??! You may as well compare the trail to the Holocaust.

As for Mr. Patrick Lumumba, the man fired Ms Knox from her duties at Le Chic where she worked for improper conduct. If you seek motives, I suspect this would be a reasonable one for Ms. Knox to implicate Mr. Lumumba. The argument that she was under stress is inadmissible ? all parties were interrogated, and all failed to provide a cohesive story. I also suspect that Guede, in light of his conviction, may provide further admissions that will clarify the case, further implicate himself, and also the other two.

[lucca2004]

Alyssa1982,

You wrote: ?By your own words, has Amanda Knox not caused "the most injustice of all" towards Mr. Patrick Lumumba? He has already been awarded the 7000 pounds. It won't be long until the family of Meredith will receive the 20 million pounds from Ms. Knox, which will be nothing on the money she makes selling her story.?

In regards to Patrick Lumumba, at the time that Amanda was interrogated, the police believed that Patrick Lumumba was either the murderer or one of them. The Police had seen a text message from Amanda to Patrick saying ?See you later? and thought that this message meant that they would be meeting later to kill Amanda?s roommate Meredith. The police had also found hair from an African at the crime scene and they thought that it must have been from Patrick because Rudy hadn?t been apprehended yet and all the forensics tests weren?t in yet either. During the 14 hour interrogation (in which Amanda was denied sleep, food or water), the Police kept telling Amanda that they knew that Patrick was the murderer and they demanded that she confess this fact to them or she would be locked up in prison for life. She was taunted both mentally and physically during this interrogation and though the Police (and investigators) had tapes of everything else in this case, they claimed that they?d lost the tape of the interrogation when questioned about the abuse. Amanda stated that she was scared for her life and dazed from fatigue and stress and that she finally agreed with the Police that Patrick Lumumba had been the murderer of Meredith. Shortly after, Amanda recanted this ?confession? that was coerced from her by the Italian Police during the 14 hour interrogation.

You wrote: ?And lastly, the two cases are quite similar - a young woman raped, tortured and murdered by a group of despicable killers.?

The difference between these 2 cases is that there?s actual proof (from a video/audiotape) and admission that Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo raped, tortured and murdered their victims while there is NO forensic evidence linking Amanda to the crime scene and absolutely NO motive either.

I always wondered how a ?civilized? society could let innocent people be put to death as during the Salem Witch Trials (of the 1600?s) based on fantastical stories of 2 young girls. I learned from this case though that there are still today many in our modern societies who have great ignorance and little common sense who form their opinions based not on facts or actual evidence but on the fairy tales of a few.

[Alyssa1982]

I agree with you, there are indeed ?many in our modern societies who have great ignorance and little common sense who form their opinions based not on facts or actual evidence?, and I believe this is quite clearly illustrated by individuals such as yourself and your ilk who support this woman.
Your faith in this woman is not only deluded, but misguided.

In terms of lacking a motive, there are many motives for Ms. Knox: Sexual competition; friction between her and her roommate; Drugs and alcohol or other illicit substances; A transgression related to her then-boyfriend; There are literally dozens of reason as to why. Aside from this, there are thousands of cases where there were no motives for murderers to kill their victims, just the desire to kill. I don?t believe Karla and Paul had any motive, aside from sexual motives, which is a very likely scenario in this case and very intrinsic in terms of basic human nature.

Referring to witch hunts/trials, your comments are not only muddled and unclear, but moot and unrelated to this discussion. Are you inferring that witch trials are American only? Which two girls? There is history of female persecution world wide, and comparing a murder case to a witch trial is not only obtuse, but incomparable to this and, quite frankly, offensive. How can you compare the masse ethnocide/gendercide and murder of women and men to an affluent woman who receive a fair trial, access to a lawyer, and incredible amounts of media access (which is still occurring!)??! You may as well compare the trail to the Holocaust.

As for Mr. Patrick Lumumba, the man fired Ms Knox from her duties at Le Chic where she worked for improper conduct. If you seek motives, I suspect this would be a reasonable one for Ms. Knox to implicate Mr. Lumumba. The argument that she was under stress is inadmissible ? all parties were interrogated, and all failed to provide a cohesive story. I also suspect that Guede, in light of his conviction, may provide further admissions that will clarify the case, further implicate himself, and also the other two.

[Justice4All1210]

I am sorry do you understand that Miss Knox has been convicted pending appeal therefore, much of what you say is irrelevant as the only course of action available is the appeal process, it doesn't matter what web page state or indeed whether people accept the prosecutions case. I would say this Xenophobic comments about Italy and it?s judicial process doesn?t seem the best course of action from Miss Knox?s point of view.

[Alangar2009]

Happy Holidays. May God bring justice to the victims-Meredith, Amanda and Rafael. I don't think anyone can condemn the latter two for the murder of the first one except unless they have been brainwashed by tabloid newspapers, the prosecutor's fantasized depiction, and total disregard for justice.Please refer to the following website for an Italian perspective without any of such fantasy. It does not firt civilized people to blame innocent people. It is almost criminal to do that(Worse than so called allegation by Amanda on Lumumba.)
http://perugia-shock.blogspot.com/