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Amanda Knox Trial: the Unanswered Questions

Verdict leaves troubling issues, from lack of motive to weak evidence

By Caroline Miller,  Newser Staff

Posted Dec 5, 2009 7:30 AM CST

(Newser) – The verdict was swift, but the 11-month-long trial of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito, convicted of murdering British student Meredith Kercher, failed to answer these nagging questions, the Telegraph reports:

  • What was the motive? Prosecutors said it was a four-way sex game, but the perpetrators barely knew each other. The notion of virtual strangers getting together for a brutal slaying still strains credulity.

  • What about the 'she-devil' theory? After the orgy-gone wrong theory, prosecutors charged that Knox murdered Kercher in rage over criticism that she was a bad flat-mate. Does that really stack up against the alternative—that Rudy Guede, drug dealer and suspected thief, raped and murdered Kercher on his own?
  • Wasn't the DNA evidence sketchy? The Sollecito DNA on the bra clasp was tiny, and it was found on the floor, 7 weeks after the murder, leading to a high risk of contamination.
  • Did they have the wrong murder weapon? The knife didn't match the wounds, or a bloody smear on the bedclothes, and Knox's DNA on it could have come from paring an apple. Kercher's DNA was so iffy it wouldn't have been admissible in many courts.
  • Why did Guede change his story? In a cell-phone call when he was on the run, he told a friend that Knox was not in the apartment the night of the murder. It was months after his arrest that he said she and Kercher had argued.

This photo released by Italian Police shows 22-year-old British student  Meredith Kercher, found dead in the apartment she shared with American Amanda Knox, in Perugia, where they were both studying.
This photo released by Italian Police shows 22-year-old British student Meredith Kercher, found dead in the apartment she shared with American Amanda Knox, in Perugia, where they were both studying.   (AP Photo/Police, h.o.)
U.S. murder suspect Amanda Knox shares a word with her Italian lawyer Carlo Dalla Vedova, left, prior to a final hearing before the verdict, at the court in Perugia, Italy, Friday, Dec. 4, 2009.
U.S. murder suspect Amanda Knox shares a word with her Italian lawyer Carlo Dalla Vedova, left, prior to a final hearing before the verdict, at the court in Perugia, Italy, Friday, Dec. 4, 2009.   (AP Photo/Stefano Medici)
U.S. murder suspect Amanda Knox is accompanied by a penitentiary police officer prior to a final hearing before the verdict, at the court in Perugia, Italy, Friday, Dec. 4, 2009.
U.S. murder suspect Amanda Knox is accompanied by a penitentiary police officer prior to a final hearing before the verdict, at the court in Perugia, Italy, Friday, Dec. 4, 2009.   (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)
U.S. murder suspect Amanda Knox is accompanied by a paramilitary police officer prior to a final hearing before the verdict, at the court in Perugia, Italy, Friday, Dec. 4, 2009.
U.S. murder suspect Amanda Knox is accompanied by a paramilitary police officer prior to a final hearing before the verdict, at the court in Perugia, Italy, Friday, Dec. 4, 2009.   (AP Photo/Stefano Medici)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 15 comments
Tank
Dec 8, 2009 7:43 AM CST
I don't get the impression that Amanda Knox is naive by any stretch. Just what method of extracting confessions do you think was utilized citygirl? Amanda Knox wasn't interrogated for 14 straight hours until she forgot how to tell the truth. That tale is still floating around along with the one that she was hit in the back of the head. Try reading here for additional tidbits of information that CBS, NBC, and Amanda's PR firm isn't telling anyone: http://truejustice.org/ee/inde...
newsrmandan
Dec 7, 2009 11:06 AM CST
lesson learned in italy: 1. Don't send your young naive girls to Italy alone. 2. so much for the touted "sex" education.
citygirl
Dec 7, 2009 4:02 AM CST
I did. And It it does sound fishy. And accusations of local police brutality, confirmed by Patrick, who is very anti-Amanda, in this article http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new..., make it even more fishy. Whatever the truth is, the methods of extracting confessions by the local police are making it harder to find it.

More Newser Stories

Amanda Knox Judge: She Could Have Killed Meredith

In Knox Verdict, a Victory for Reality

Knox Plans Final 'Plea for Her Life'

Amanda Knox Innocent, Verdict 'Absurd': Ex

Italian Courts Face Growing Knox Backlash


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