VIRGINIA CALCAGNI — Staff Writer
In an age where shows like Law and Order and NCIS are some of the most addictive television programs, for someone like Amanda Knox, these types of shows became a chilling reality when she became a suspect of murder in November of 2007 for the death of her roommate: Meredith Kercher.
After four years in an Italian jail, Amanda Knox was acquitted of the crime she said she never committed, and she has been paying with her life for the last four years.
An Italian jury overturned Knox and her ex-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, of murder on Oct. 3, 2011 due to a lack of evidence and the lack of a motive.
The case has been one that is full of contradictions and, what some will say, false accusations. There was no solid DNA evidence that could link Knox to the crime.
The main piece of evidence that “linked” Knox to the crime was a knife found at Sollecito’s apartment that had both Knox’s and Kercher’s DNA on it. The only issue with this piece of evidence is that there were less than five cells of Kercher’s on the knife, and it is thought that there was possibly contamination in the lab.
However, what really convicted Knox was the letter she wrote that placed her at the crime scene that night. This was also her first confession, and the reason for her charge of the defamation of Patrick Lumumba.
Knox has said that the only reason she said the things that she said in her confession was because she was being pressured by Italian police. The police were allegedly calling her a stupid liar and telling her she would get 30 years in jail if she didn’t say anything, and she was eventually getting hit in the head.
The ironic thing about this, however, is that Knox’s interrogation was not taped, nor was it recorded, and no one knows why. And oddly, no one has ever really seemed to question it.
Giuliano Mignini, the prosecutor in the Knox case, said he suspected her from the beginning; that she is a killer with an angel’s face. But he has said he thought from the beginning, why? There is no motive; no evidence. There is nothing there to convict her, but Mignini is sure there is.
After the verdict was overturned, he was outraged and vowed that the case would be taken to the Supreme Court in Italy, after the reasoning for the overturn of Knox and Sollectio’s conviction would be released in 90 days.
After being convicted in 2009, both Knox and Sollecito took their cases back to court, never once retracting their pleas of innocence. There was no DNA placing Knox at the crime. There was no motive. She was a naïve American girl that was far too willing to help the Italian police when their only motive was to convict her.
The fact that she is American seems to play a large part in this because her way of coping was different and awkward to them. Yes, Sollectio is Italian and was convicted, but he was connected with Knox, who Mignini placed as being the master mind of the murder.
In Sollecito’s case his DNA was found on a bra clasp that belonged to Kercher, but the clasp was not collected until 47 days after the crime scene was sealed. None was found belonging to Knox.
When the case went to appeal the evidence used in the first trial went in for reexamination.
Knox had a few verdicts that could have come up, and only one of them was in her favor, which was to be cleared. If she wasn’t she could have served life in prison, or she could have gotten a reduced sentence.
If I was part of the family of the murder victim, I would be more angered and upset with the Italian justice system rushing the case, using evidence that held no weight (because if they did they wouldn’t have thrown it out.) Accusing an innocent girl of murder would not ease my conscience. What is important is to know what really happened, and not to put a naïve, seemingly innocent American girl and her ex-lover behind bars for no solid reason. How would that bring any closure? However, no one knows the truth, and that is the worst part of the whole ordeal.
Knox said many times that her and Kercher were close, and that she lost a friend that night; that she doesn’t know what happened, and if she had been at the flat that night, it would have been her who was dead.
This case is complex and will have people talking for years. No one but who was involved knows what really happened. Hopefully, Amanda Knox can enjoy her freedom and her life, which was so terribly altered by a justice system that seems to have been completely against her from the start.
