Read Online The Murder of Meredith Kercher by Gary C. King - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Gary C. King
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they would say, to make the attack appear as if it had been carried out by a burglar.
By this point in the investigation another pathologist, Dr Mauro Bacci, concurred with earlier findings that Meredith’s killers had attempted to strangle her before stabbing her in the throat. There seemed to be some disparity of opinion, however,regarding the size of the knife used in the slaying. The postmortem examination revealed that the fatal wound to her throat had possibly been caused by a penknife and that judging by the depth of the wound, was likely to have been made by a man.
Meanwhile, the flick knife taken from Raffaele, who admitted he was a knife collector, had been found inside a pocket of his jeans. He told detectives that he always carried the knife with him. Investigators early on had decided that the flick knife was probably not the murder weapon, but a second knife, the type and size of which was not described, was found outside, in the garden of Raffaele’s apartment. Yet another knife was recovered from Raffaele’s kitchen. Forensic testing, including examination for fingerprints and DNA, was carried out on all of the knives, and it was determined that both Meredith and Amanda’s DNA was found on the knife from Raffaele’s kitchen.
When questioned about how this could be possible, Raffaele reportedly said that he had accidentally cut Meredith with the knife when he, Amanda and Meredith had been cooking together at the cottage. When pressed for more information about the knives and why he carried such weapons with him, Raffaele repeated that he was a collector and had a longstanding fascination with knives and weaponry.
When police searched Raffaele’s apartment they had smelt bleach, leading them to believe that he had attempted to clean a knife or knives, as well as otheritems. Police also claimed that someone had made a Google search for ‘bleach’ and ‘blood’ on Raffaele’s computer the morning after the murder, and under the circumstances had considered such a search highly suspicious. When combined with the earlier statement from store owner Marco Quintavalle, who had identified Amanda Knox as having come into his store to make purchases on the morning of November 2, and Raffaele’s supposed fascination with extreme sex and the explicit Japanese manga comics, the evidence, albeit circumstantial, was becoming more damning.
A footprint made in blood found earlier in Meredith’s bedroom was not helping Raffaele’s case, either. One of a pair of sneakers owned by Raffaele seemed to match the bloody imprint.
Despite the evidence that apparently pointed to Raffaele’s involvement in Meredith’s murder, the Italian and English media, however, seemed intent on focusing their attention on Amanda by insinuating, if not outright stating, that Raffaele was merely an unwitting dupe being unscrupulously ‘played’ by the attractive and manipulative Amanda. Amanda’s family, however, including her sister, Deanna, insisted that Amanda was getting a raw deal and was being unjustly and unfairly vilified. They stated forcibly that she was not at all like she was being portrayed in the media.
‘Amanda is the nicest person in the world,’ Deanna said. ‘She always puts others before herself, and I feel like I am involved with her drama… she was at thewrong place at the wrong time.’ Deanna told reporters that she and her family had assisted Amanda in finding the cottage in Perugia.
‘When we went to see the place, Amanda fell in love with it right away,’ Deanna said. ‘She especially loved the garden. Everyone thinks Amanda is some kind of praying mantis, but she is not like that. She has the ability to light up a room with her smile. She has a great heart.’
However, there was another side to Amanda that was being explored. While attending the University of Washington, Amanda, the young honors student, had been fined the equivalent of approximately £135 for involvement in a ‘residential
By this point in the investigation another pathologist, Dr Mauro Bacci, concurred with earlier findings that Meredith’s killers had attempted to strangle her before stabbing her in the throat. There seemed to be some disparity of opinion, however,regarding the size of the knife used in the slaying. The postmortem examination revealed that the fatal wound to her throat had possibly been caused by a penknife and that judging by the depth of the wound, was likely to have been made by a man.
Meanwhile, the flick knife taken from Raffaele, who admitted he was a knife collector, had been found inside a pocket of his jeans. He told detectives that he always carried the knife with him. Investigators early on had decided that the flick knife was probably not the murder weapon, but a second knife, the type and size of which was not described, was found outside, in the garden of Raffaele’s apartment. Yet another knife was recovered from Raffaele’s kitchen. Forensic testing, including examination for fingerprints and DNA, was carried out on all of the knives, and it was determined that both Meredith and Amanda’s DNA was found on the knife from Raffaele’s kitchen.
When questioned about how this could be possible, Raffaele reportedly said that he had accidentally cut Meredith with the knife when he, Amanda and Meredith had been cooking together at the cottage. When pressed for more information about the knives and why he carried such weapons with him, Raffaele repeated that he was a collector and had a longstanding fascination with knives and weaponry.
When police searched Raffaele’s apartment they had smelt bleach, leading them to believe that he had attempted to clean a knife or knives, as well as otheritems. Police also claimed that someone had made a Google search for ‘bleach’ and ‘blood’ on Raffaele’s computer the morning after the murder, and under the circumstances had considered such a search highly suspicious. When combined with the earlier statement from store owner Marco Quintavalle, who had identified Amanda Knox as having come into his store to make purchases on the morning of November 2, and Raffaele’s supposed fascination with extreme sex and the explicit Japanese manga comics, the evidence, albeit circumstantial, was becoming more damning.
A footprint made in blood found earlier in Meredith’s bedroom was not helping Raffaele’s case, either. One of a pair of sneakers owned by Raffaele seemed to match the bloody imprint.
Despite the evidence that apparently pointed to Raffaele’s involvement in Meredith’s murder, the Italian and English media, however, seemed intent on focusing their attention on Amanda by insinuating, if not outright stating, that Raffaele was merely an unwitting dupe being unscrupulously ‘played’ by the attractive and manipulative Amanda. Amanda’s family, however, including her sister, Deanna, insisted that Amanda was getting a raw deal and was being unjustly and unfairly vilified. They stated forcibly that she was not at all like she was being portrayed in the media.
‘Amanda is the nicest person in the world,’ Deanna said. ‘She always puts others before herself, and I feel like I am involved with her drama… she was at thewrong place at the wrong time.’ Deanna told reporters that she and her family had assisted Amanda in finding the cottage in Perugia.
‘When we went to see the place, Amanda fell in love with it right away,’ Deanna said. ‘She especially loved the garden. Everyone thinks Amanda is some kind of praying mantis, but she is not like that. She has the ability to light up a room with her smile. She has a great heart.’
However, there was another side to Amanda that was being explored. While attending the University of Washington, Amanda, the young honors student, had been fined the equivalent of approximately £135 for involvement in a ‘residential
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