Knox Sentenced, Clinton to Intervene
This past Friday, American student Amanda Knox was sentenced to 26 years in a Perugia, Italy prison for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher. Knox’s boyfriend, Italian Raffaele Sollecito, received 25 years. The extra year for Knox was for defamation of bar owner Patrick Diya Lumumba, who during questioning Knox claimed committed the cry. She has since explained that it was done mistakenly as a result of police brainwashing during hours of intense questioning.
Since the verdict was read, Italian citizens and the family of murder victim Kercher have expressed relief. The majority of U.S. citizens–not to mention the young woman’s family and friends–have not. They feel as though there was not only shoddy police work and improper collections of evidence, but that prosecutors had waged a campaign against the acused’s character in the press, wherein no Italian juror would be able to decide fairly.
A support group for Miss. Knox stationed in Seattle, has continued to stand by her. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has announced that she will provide consular support.
Kercher was murdered November 1, 2007. The trial for Know and Sollecito began two years later, on January 16, 2009, and culminated in the guilty verdit December 4. Critics of the investigation into the murder and the resulting verdict suspect that there was no proper DNA evidence linking Knox to the murder.
The only DNA evidence linking anyone conclusively to the night of the murder was to that of Rudy Hermann Guede, an Ivorian and long-time resident of Perugia. His DNA was found around and on the victim.
Here are some of the facts:
- No conclusive murder weapon was found.
- A knife found by the investigators and considered the murder weapon does not fit blood stains found on bedding.
- Some forensic critics also claim that the DNA evidence found on the knife could have been contaminated, or was in such a small amount, it is not realistic that it was used to cut the victim’s throat.
- The only DNA found on or near Kercher that could explain the murderer’s presence was that of Guede.
- Guede was not an an acquaintance of Knox or Kercher, but of the residence living in the apartment downstairs.
- The police who initially came to investigate, found the door locked from the inside and a broken window. The initial investigation supposed that Kercher’s throat had been cut by a shard of glass or pen knife.
