The case of University of Washington student Amanda Knox, who is standing on trial in Italy for the murder of her British roommate Meredith Kercher , is full of mysteries, contradictions, and general chaos. Knox, 20, went abroad to study Italian at the University for Foreigners in Perugia, Italy and wound up at the center of a bizarre tale of rape, drugs, and murder.
Just how much was conjectured by Italian police and prosecutors is unclear. But the facts do not seem to add up; not the least because an Italian man - known to be a drifter and drug dealer - has already been convicted of break-in, robbery, rape and murder of the British student. Also standing trial for the crime is Knox's boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, who looks something like Harry Potter. It seems unlikely that such a pair would commit sexual assault and murder, in the midst of their student activities, especially since a conviction for the crime has already occurred. I have researched extensively, and cannot seem to grasp exactly why police believe the two aided and abetted the convicted murderer.
There are discrepancies in their accounts of the night, but hard evidence seems lacking. Perugian police described Amanda's odd behavior the night she was questioned, but it seems a weak platform on which to stand sex assault and murder charges. The trial began January 2009. Knox has repeatedly claimed that she made her statement to Perugian police under duress, after being kept up all night and receiving slaps to the back of her head.
It is a shame that Italian police do not videotape their interrogations. I have read an interesting analysis on a foreign blog, in which the author feels that Americans do not seem to grasp the risks entailed in students going abroad. If they are living "wildly" - drinking, using drugs, coming in at all hours of the night, and experimenting with sex - they will be highly suspect if disaster suddenly occurs in their proximity. Students should be warned, cautioned the blogger, to adhere to community standards where they are residing. Otherwise, one's credibility may be reduced, which certainly seems to be the case with Amanda Knox.
addendum: Just read a press release for March 21. It seems they have proven - through an eye witness and a receipt - that Amanda was buying cleaning supplies hours after the murders; and that police say there had been an attempt to wipe up blood. Perhaps there was more darkness in these two sweet looking youths than was immediately apparent.
