The Amanda Knox Case

[Whisper]

http://news.yahoo.com/experts-contes...115551629.html

I was just watching ABC nightly news and the experts over there for the trial fully expect she will be released in Sept and the conviction will be overturned b/c they have disputed almost everything that put her there
and they said 20/20 Friday will outline more
Too bad they dont make decision until Sept though that blows to sit there but I guess 4 years already

[Dakota Valkyrie]

The appeals case of Amanda Knox, the American student convicted of killing her British roommate during a study abroad program, enters its final stretch when it resumes Monday.

The 24-year-old from Seattle who has been behind bars since Nov. 2007 was relieved to be back in court after the summer break but anxious as the trial draws to a close, her family said. The sister of victim Meredith Kercher issued a letter asking the appeals court to assess "every single (piece) of evidence" so that justice can be done.
[...]

The hearings continue through the week, with the parties expected to sum up their cases. After rebuttals later in September, an appeals verdict is expected by month-end.

Knox's defense received a boost after the independent experts questioned much of the evidence that was collected in the original investigation, saying procedures to obtain it fell below international standards and may have led to contamination. They especially focused on some traces of DNA linking the defendants to the crime, and concluded that due to the risk of contamination and the low amounts of DNA used for the testing it was impossible to extract a genetic profile with any certainty.
[...]

Prosecutors have questioned some of the independent experts' findings, and maintain the evidence should stand. The Kercher family insisted they still had faith in the Perugia police, investigators and the court.

"We ask that the Court of Appeal assess every single (piece) of evidence, both scientific and circumstantial, as well as any witnesses who have taken the stand independently of any other information or media," Stephanie Kercher said in the letter.

The Kercher family has kept a low profile throughout the media-hyped case. The letter, released through the family's lawyer Francesco Maresca, represented a rare break in their silence.

Pointing her finger to the "media frenzy" surrounding the case, Stephanie Kercher lamented that "Meredith has been forgotten because she is no longer with us, yet this should be about her and what really happened on that tragic evening."
[...]

http://www.newarkadvocate.com/usatoday/article/50260022

[Whisper]

was thinking about her lastnight,hope they dont dick around making decision

[Whisper]

Prosecutors fight to keep Amanda Knox behind bars
The judge must decide whether to admit records that could strengthen prosecutors' case

PERUGIA, ITALY— Prosecutors fighting to keep American student Amanda Knox behind bars for murder in Italy defended on Monday the DNA tests that linked her to the killing of British student Meredith Kercher.
Knox is appealing her conviction and 26-year sentence for the murder of her housemate in 2007, with her defense team arguing that DNA evidence used in her original trial is not conclusive.

This summer two new forensic experts, professors Carla Vecchiotti and Stefano Conti, cast doubt on the DNA evidence that played a role in the convictions of Knox and ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito.

"I think the prosecution is trying to take the independent experts' testimony away and frankly, I don't see that happening," Knox's father, Curt, told reporters after court adjourned Monday. "I mean, I think the independent experts have done a very good job in evaluating the information ... and I don't see it breaking down at this point. I see that it has been good for Amanda."

Patrizia Stefanoni, the Italian state police forensic expert who conducted the initial DNA examination presented at Knox's trial, testified Monday regarding the methods and equipment she used.

Stefanoni told prosecutor Manuela Comodi she was using older equipment at the time. While police now have better equipment that can analyze smaller amounts of DNA, she said the testing methods remain the same.

Authorities testified in 2009 that a knife found in Sollecito's home had traces of Knox's genetic material on the handle and Kercher's in a tiny groove on the blade. DNA on Kercher's bra was also traced to Sollecito.
Vecchiotti testified that the knife tested negative for blood and the amount of DNA said to be Kercher's was so low, it could not be examined again with any conclusions. Vecchiotti and Conti also said there was no evidence the knife had been "thoroughly washed," as prosecutors argued during the trial.

Stefanoni said according to the protocol she used, the amount of DNA on the knife was sufficient and clearly attributable to Kercher. She said the new experts have equipment capable of examining very small DNA samples and that testing should have been done.

"Stefanoni has thoroughly and calmly clarified the principal elements of the work she carried out -- in a clear manner, given the complex subject ... during the examination at the time," Francesco Maresca, attorney for the Kercher family, said Monday. "I think she managed to get the court's full attention and to have damaged the independent forensic work."

Vecchiotti and Conti also said the clasp from Kercher's bloodied bra, which allegedly contained Sollecito's DNA, was "dirty" and had been allowed to rust, making further testing futile. The evidence, the two argued, should be "inadmissible."

Stefanoni is expected to testify about the bra clasp Tuesday. She testified Monday that she wore anti-contamination equipment when examining the DNA evidence.

"The appeals trial is very different from the first trial, obviously," Curt Knox said Monday. "And I see that, especially with the appeals trial asking for an independent review ... with the way the information came back from the independent experts, I see that this is turning (in) Raffaele and Amanda's direction."

Asked about his daughter, he said, "I got to hug her for a few seconds. She is anxious. She is happy that court is back in session again. It has been a long summer for her, knowing that she is innocent. ... She is anxious, she is hopeful and she is looking forward to a decision hopefully by the end of this month."

As the appeal heads into its final weeks, Kercher's sister on Sunday urged people not to get caught up in the details but to "please remember our beautiful Meredith."

"Amongst the media frenzy that has developed throughout, Meredith has been forgotten because she is no longer with us, yet this should be about her and what really happened on that tragic evening," Stephanie Kercher said in a statement distributed by Maresca, the family attorney.

http://www.q13fox.com/news/kcpq-pros...,4983970.story

Amanda Knox speaks to her lawyer, Carlo Della Vedova, in the courtroom before the appeal hearing begins Monday.

[biteme]

Is there anything or anyone money, national newspaper and local government pressure can't buy
Murder is OK if you can get your state Newspaper, local government officials and money behind you, nothing like State pressure, publicity and money to get a murderer off
Wonder if they'd all jumped on her bandwagon had she been uglier than shit. bet knot :-)
Probably not and she would have gotten her just punishment. The proof of her guilt would not have been disallowed had it not been for USA government, newspaper pressure and money

[Dakota Valkyrie]

Amanda Knox likely to be acquitted, says prosecutor
An Italian court has rejected a request for new testing of crucial DNA evidence in the Amanda Knox appeal, as a prosecutor predicted the American will be acquitted of the Meredith Kercher murder.

Court appointed experts have criticised the way the original forensic investigation was carried out by police, raising hopes 24-year-old Knox and her former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, 27, will be cleared.
[...]

Prosecutor Manuela Comodi said: "There is an ill wind blowing in this case. The judge and his assistant are clearly against us. I can see both Knox and Sollecito being freed which will be a shame as they are both involved."

Key to the case is a 12in kitchen knife found at Sollecito's apartment on which DNA from Knox was on the handle and Meredith's was on the blade.

However an independent report by forensic experts has questioned the reliability of the findings by forensic scientists.

The review found much of the evidence was unreliable and possibly contaminated.

Although they do not doubt Knox's DNA is on the handle, they questioned the findings related to Meredith, insisting that the level is so low it should not have been admitted as evidence in the first trial.

Prosecutors asked for a further review, saying a fresh examination was necessary because the original court appointed one provided by experts was "inadequate" and "unreliable and flawed," but the judge ruled against the rule. The case will now move forward to the summing up and final conclusions which will begin on September 23, with a verdict expected a week later.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...rosecutor.html

I bet every knife in my house has a small amount of my DNA on it. Hope no one gets stabby with one of 'em.

[biteme]

Wonder what kind of donations were made for that evidence
sounds like any court case, prosecutor has evidence, defense tries to get it thrown out, doesn't the defense always buy everything was contaminated experts?
Funny thing is Foxy Knoxie as she's called owned the knife, so pretty good chance the blood was hers, even if it didn't get on the blade during the murder, but it was a stronger case for the defense to buy an outright inadmissible, because can't be retested
so they don't have to argue how the blood got on the blade
The court faced a lot of pressure from USA newspapers and politicians to retest and disallow the DNA evidence
Maybe money can't buy you love, but it can sure buy a murder a get out of jail free card

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/6736...upporters.html

As exasperation turned to anger and defiance, a powerful group of supporters set up Friends of Amanda. The team headed by Anne Bremner, a Seattle attorney and well-known television legal analyst, David Marriott, a public relations advisor, and Mike Heavey, a superior court judge and Knox family friend.
The group held fundraisers for her defence fund, lobbied lawmakers and ran a sophisticated media operation, turning the focus on the conduct of the prosecution, and particularly the controversial chief prosecutor Giuliano Mignini, as well as press coverage in Europe.

http://news.yahoo.com/knox-trial-jur...112638398.html
The experts — Stefano Conti and Carla Vecchiotti from Rome's Sapienza University — maintained the DNA quantity on the blade was insufficient for a retest. In other parts of their 145-page report, they alleged glaring errors in evidence-gathering, below-standard testing which they said raised doubts about the attribution of DNA traces, and possible contamination of the evidence.
Prosecutors in the appeals trial of Amanda Knox asked the court Wednesday to permit further testing of DNA evidence, seen as key to their case that the American student and her ex-boyfriend killed her British roommate.
The prosecutors' move came after a highly controversial review of DNA evidence ordered by the appeals court. The review by two independent experts found that much of the evidence used in the first trial to convict Knox and Raffaele Sollecito was unreliable and possibly contaminated.

[Dakota Valkyrie]

Funny thing is Foxy Knoxie as she's called owned the knife, so pretty good chance the blood was hers, even if it didn't get on the blade during the murder, but it was a stronger case for the defense to buy an outright inadmissible, because can't be retested

That alone tells me you haven't followed the case well enough and are caught up in yet another "power trip conspiracy theory".

[biteme]

That alone tells me you haven't followed the case well enough and are caught up in yet another "power trip conspiracy theory".

when it come to power trips, you should know

[Dakota Valkyrie]

when it come to power trips, you should know

If you have a problem with the way I act as a member of this forum or as a mod, I suggest you report it to Morbid.

[biteme]

That alone tells me you haven't followed the case well enough and are caught up in yet another "power trip conspiracy theory".

when it come to power trips, you should know

If you have a problem with the way I act as a member of this forum or as a mod, I suggest you report it to Morbid.

Don't understand your issue?
but hey, another time another place, this isn't it

[gee]

I have always had my doubts that she did this. If it was such low levels of DNA on that knife that is scary that one could be convicted like that. I with you@Dakota Valkyrie I hope no one gets stabby with my knives either!

[biteme]

My mistake
not her knife, she had previously used the knife

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Meredith_Kercher

During her trial, Knox's lawyers argued that she had used knives for cooking at Sollecito's apartment

[penelopejo]

My mistake
not her knife, she had previously used the knife

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Meredith_Kercher

During her trial, Knox's lawyers argued that she had used knives for cooking at Sollecito's apartment

If it's in the kitchen and I need to use it to cut anything from meat to veggies, I'd use it, even if it were the knife of my roommate.

The kitchen is considered communal space, just like the living room and dining room. If you can't share a knife with your roommate, then maybe you guys shouldn't be roommates.

On topic, I have never believed she killed Meredith Kercher.

[biteme]

If it's in the kitchen and I need to use it to cut anything from meat to veggies, I'd use it, even if it were the knife of my roommate.

The kitchen is considered communal space, just like the living room and dining room. If you can't share a knife with your roommate, then maybe you guys shouldn't be roommates.

On topic, I have never believed she killed Meredith Kercher.

Actually I was just saying that it was better for the defense to have the DNA excluded, than having to explain how/when the blood got there and as far as you all thinking she's innocent, well you all thought Casey was guilty


my post

Funny thing is Foxy Knoxie as she's called owned the knife, so pretty good chance the blood was hers, even if it didn't get on the blade during the murder, but it was a stronger case for the defense to buy an outright inadmissible, because can't be retested
so they don't have to argue how the blood got on the blade

[penelopejo]

as far as you all thinking she's innocent, well you all thought Casey was guilty

Right back at cha. I can think someone is guilty of something and them found to be not guilty, just like I can think that someone is innocent even though they have been found guilty.

*shrugs*

[biteme]

Defense reminds me of the BS OJ trial
"If it doesn't fit you must acquit" and all the DNA samples were compromised, police made mistakes
Truth is they did fit, and the jury let a murder go free
hope it doesn't happen in this case
No matter how much money and pressure her politically connected family puts out

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44651714...ope/?gt1=43001
Earlier Saturday, Comodi defended the forensic evidence that had been used to convict Knox, firing back at an independent review that criticized the investigation and the work of police in the case.

The DNA is crucial in the case, where no clear motive for the brutal killing has emerged.

Prosecutors maintain that Knox's DNA was found on the handle of a kitchen knife believed to be the murder weapon, and that Kercher's DNA was found on the blade. They said Sollecito's DNA was on the clasp of Kercher's bra as part of a mix of evidence that also included the victim's genetic profile.

But those findings were always disputed by the defense, and the appeals court decided to appoint two independent experts to review the evidence.
The independent experts challenged both findings. They said police had made glaring errors in evidence-collecting and that below-standard testing and possible contamination raised doubts over the attribution of DNA traces, both on the blade and on the bra clasp, which was collected from the crime scene several weeks after the murder.

The review significantly weakened the prosecution case, giving Knox and her supporters hope that she might be freed after four years behind bars.

Sensing dangers, prosecutors have fought hard to try to undermine the review's results. They described it as superficial and sketchy. In several hearings in past weeks, and then again during summations Friday and Saturday, the prosecutors challenged the review point by point.

Francesco Maresca, a lawyer for the Kercher family, supported the prosecution's stance on the review. Speaking after the court proceedings, he said: "They deserve the just penalty. Killing a girl — or anybody else — is punished by Italian law with life in prison, so they deserve life in prison, if they are found guilty."

[biteme]

Thought we should hear from someone besides, Knox's family political propaganda machine

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...ark-place.html
n an exclusive interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Natalie Hayward described how a series of incidents in the run-up to Miss Kercher's death have convinced her that Knox - sentenced to 26 years for the brutal murder - should not be freed as a result of the appeal now nearing its conclusion in an Italian court.

Now 25, she cited Knox's strange behaviour and apparent inside knowledge of the details of the murder in the hours after it was revealed, as well as her false accusations against a local bar-owner, as reasons for her belief.

In addition, she said tensions between the two women, who shared a flat, had been building up for weeks.

Miss Kercher was "frustrated" with the University of Washington student's refusal to do her share of the cleaning, and felt uncomfortable that Knox kept a vibrator in a transparent wash bag in their shared bathroom. Relations were not improved by Knox's insistence on strumming her guitar all the time, Miss Hayward added.
Miss Hayward and the other British girls were suspicious that Knox seemed to have knowledge of the crime scene, despite police saying she had not seen inside the bedroom, where Miss Kercher lay in a pool of blood with her throat cut. The horrific scene was only revealed when police directed that the door be kicked in.

Knox's family have said that she knew some of the details of the murder because they were openly discussed by people at the crime scene.

Miss Hayward said: "I remember her talking to her stepfather on the phone and saying that she had found the body and it was in the cupboard and it was in a blanket. It was odd because she hadn't been in the room. We were so traumatised we didn't take it in at the time."
Miss Hayward, deeply upset and trying to comfort her grief-stricken friends, said she hoped that her friend had not suffered too much. Knox allegedly replied: "What do you think? She f****** bled to death."

[biteme]

foxy knoxy or demonic, satanic, diabolical she-devil?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44668677.../#.ToCVM64wTOg

Early in the probe, Knox accused Diya "Patrick" Lumumba of killing Kercher, a Briton who shared an apartment with Knox at the time of the murder. As a result of that claim, Lumumba was briefly jailed. He was later cleared.
Lumumba has sued Knox for defamation and is also a civil party to the criminal appeal. Defense lawyers are expected to sum up their case later this week, when Knox will apparently address the court.

"Who is Amanda Knox? Is she the mild-looking, fresh-faced person you see here, or the one devoted to lust, drugs and alcohol that emerges from the court documents?" Lumumba's attorney Carlo Pacelli asked the appeals court.
"Amanda is one and the other, in her a double soul coexists," he said. "Both a (saint) and a demonic, satanic, diabolical she-devil, which leads her toward borderline behavior. This was the Amanda of Nov. 1, 2007," the night of the murder.
Knox maintains police pressure led her to accuse Lumumba. Pacelli said in court that his client is the "second victim" of the crime.

Knox has won support from many in the United States, where her family has helped keep attention on her case by appearing regularly on talk shows. Many Americans see her as an innocent American who got trapped in a byzantine legal system thousands of miles from home.

[biteme]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...ed-barman.html

Knox, 24, is serving 26 years for the brutal killing of student Meredith Kercher, 21, who was found semi-naked and with her throat cut in her bedroom of the house they shared with two other women.
Initially she had blamed the murder on bar owner Patrick Lumumba, 39, who was arrested in a dawn raid in front of his stunned wife and baby.
Knox said that she "remembered Patrick killing Meredith" and that she had stayed in the kitchen covering her "ears to drown out the screams."
Congolese born Lumumba was kept in custody for two weeks before being released and under Italian law is entitled to sue Knox and Sollecito for slander because her false statement put him in jail.

[Dakota Valkyrie]

Very interesting video of evidence collection actually used in court. Put together by http://www.injusticeinperugia.org/

Keep in mind that it's not only the makers of this video who have found major faults with the way investigators collected, stored, and analyzed evidence, it's also an independent panel of scientists appointed by the court who released an excoriating report essentially saying that a third grader could have collected evidence better than these clowns.

http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/daily...nox_invest.php

Court appointed independent forensic experts, Stefano Conti and Carla Vecchiotti, from Rome's Sapienza University, have released a scathing report detailing gross negligence on the part of lead forensic scientist, Patricia Stefanoni.

Full translation of the report made earlier this year: http://www.injusticeinperugia.org/Conti-Vecchiotti.html

[gee]

Very interesting video! They have someone else but have yet to release knox? WTF

[Whisper]

Really good video of the evidence
I personally dont think she did it and I never have once evidence began coming out you could tell it was fucked up

[EAGLE LEAF]

http://news.yahoo.com/defense-knox-c...114637080.html

Defense: Knox 'crucified' in the media


Amanda Knox, right, is escorted to the Perugia court, Italy, central Italy, Thursday, …


PERUGIA, Italy (AP) — A defense lawyer argued Thursday that Amanda Knox was an innocent girl "crucified" in the media, as a judge said the highly anticipated verdict in the appeals trial of the American student convicted of murdering her roommate would come Monday.
Carlo Dalla Vedova told the appeals court in his closing arguments that Knox has been the victim of a "tragic judicial case" and has spent over 1,000 days behind bars as a result.
Knox was convicted of murdering Meredith Kercher, a British student in Perugia, and sentenced to 26 years in prison, while co-defendant Raffaele Sollecito was sentenced to 25 years. They deny wrongdoing and have appealed the 2009 verdicts.
Hundreds of reporters, cameramen and photographers have descended on the central Italian town in anticipation of the verdict.
Knox was arrested on Nov. 6, 2007 — four days after Kercher's body was found in the apartment they shared in Perugia. Her case quickly became a media sensation and she was depicted either as a manipulative girl-gone-wild or as a naive young woman caught in a judicial nightmare.
The role of the media in the four-year-long case has been a theme of closing arguments of all parties. Prosecutor Giuliano Mignini has lamented what he said was media interference and an increasingly strong campaign in support of Knox. Defense lawyers said Knox had been unfairly portrayed.


Amanda Knox looks on during a hearing at the Perugia court, Italy, central Italy, …

The role of the media in the four-year-long case has been a theme of closing arguments of all parties. Prosecutor Giuliano Mignini has lamented what he said was media interference and an increasingly strong campaign in support of Knox. Defense lawyers said Knox had been unfairly portrayed.
"Knox has been crucified in a public square, subjected to the most sinister of speculations," Dalla Vedova said. "All, regardless of their nationalities, have offended Amanda Knox."
Dalla Vedova said Knox was a "girl who has had a tsunami, a tornado hit her. This has swept away her life."
He urged the court not to be afraid to recognize that the lower court that had convicted the two had made a mistake. "That's exactly why we have appeals — courts can make mistakes," he said. "Nobody is infallible."
Kercher, 21, was brutally stabbed to death in what prosecutors say had begun as a sexual assault. Prosecutors say that a fourth person was present the night of the murder, Rudy Hermann Guede from Ivory Coast, who has also been convicted. Italy's highest criminal court has upheld Guede's conviction and his 16-year prison sentence. Guede also denies wrongdoing.
Knox and Sollecito, who was the American's boyfriend at the time of the crime, insist they spent the night at his house.

[EAGLE LEAF]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...th-horror.html

CRIME SCENE PHOTOS

Chilling pictures of Meredith murder scene reveal apartment bloodbath horror
By NIALL FIRTH
Last updated at 13:56 16 January 2008

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This is the grim, blood-soaked scene inside the Italian apartment where British student Meredith Kercher was sexually assaulted and brutally murdered.
In chilling new photographs released by Italian police today, the full scale of the horror that confronted police when they entered the apartment in Perugia becomes clear.
In one shocking image, pools of blood lie at the foot of a wardrobe on which photographs of Meredith and friends have been pinned.
Scroll down for more...


The bathroom (left) and the corner of Meredith's bedroom are covered in blood
The images also show the apartment's bathroom sink and walls smeared with blood.
DNA belonging to Amanda Knox, Meredith's American flatmate and one of the prime suspects in her murder, has allegedly been found in the bathroom.
Tests have shown that her DNA was found in a splash of blood on a tap, and on the plug in the sink, suggesting she may have washed her hands after the crime.
Scroll down for more...


Police mark out key pices of evidence in Merdith's room. Her body was found beneath the duvet marked '7'

A bloody footprint, that allegedly matches shoes belonging to Sollecito


According to Italian police, DNA belonging to Knox's lover Raffaele Sollecito has allegedly been discovered on a bra clasp belonging to Meredith

Meredith Kercher was found with her throat slit in November

However, DNA belonging to Rudy Guede, who is being held in Capanne prison near Perugia along with Knox and Sollecito, was also allegedly found on the bloody bra that is seen at the foot of one of the new photos.
Computer studies student Sollecito, 24, who was Meredith's flatmate, had always denied being at the crime.
Knox, who has the nickname Foxy Knoxy, has repeatedly changed her story as the investigation into Meredith's murder has progressed.
She has claimed that she was at Sollecito's apartment on the night that the murder took place.
Last month, Knox reportedly broke down under intensive questioning by Italian police.
Meredith, 20, was found semi-naked and with her throat cut in the bedroom of the apartment she shared with Knox in Perugia on November 2.
Police are said to be working on the theory that Meredith was murdered after stumbling across Guede and Knox as they stole money she kept in her underwear drawer.



Amanda Knox and her boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito are prime suspects in Meredith's murder

[Whisper]

Well todays the day I wish they would hurry up and announce this already
Its 7:36 pm there but they said Saturday they would announce decision

[Dakota Valkyrie]

Well todays the day I wish they would hurry up and announce this already
Its 7:36 pm there but they said Saturday they would announce decision

Not today. She's supposed to speak to the court on Monday as the final thing before they decide.

The appeal trial of Amanda Knox is expected to conclude Monday, with a verdict following soon after, probably on the same day, experts say.
[...]

It's widely anticipated that Knox will address the court Monday, and when she does, "The expectation is she'll deliver a heartfelt, impassioned plea, first, providing her sincere condolences for the loss of Meredith and to her family, but at the same time, explaining very clearly and very factually why this has been a monumental wrongful conviction," her U.S. attorney, Theodore Simon, told "Early Show on Saturday Morning" co-anchor Russ Mitchell.
[...]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/...20114302.shtml

[Whisper]

Not today. She's supposed to speak to the court on Monday as the final thing before they decide.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/...20114302.shtml

Figures Detr news had it screwed up,they said today and Ive been waiting,k thanks

[Angelinfl]

I don't believe she is guilty. I believe the evidence was compromised. I think the Prosecutor has his own reputation to redeem for fraudly presenting a case... was found guilty (I forgot his name) .. heavy set Italian man.... and HIS case is on appeal and he should not be prosecuting anything.

The Italian system of justice is very different. There is a butcher of women in another town I saw something about it on tv the other day but can't remember. It was about a serial killer of women who mutiliated them.

I also heard on the knife RYE bread was found ... DUH.

I hope Amanda is freed and goes home. I believe she is innocent. To me there is no OBJECTIVE evidence to substantiate her as the murderer.

[Dakota Valkyrie]

This is what Angel is referring to:

Giuliano Mignini has become known for his dogged, controversial prosecution of Amanda Knox, the young American exchange student accused of killing her British roommate in their cottage in the university town of Perugia, Italy. But years before Mignini began making his case against Knox, the Italian prosecutor was involved in another high-profile murder case. His work on that case, some say, raises serious questions about his methods and his judgment.

The case revolved around murders in the 1970s and 80s, when 16 bodies were found in the hillsides outside Florence, Italy. The killer was nicknamed the Monster of Florence. He killed young lovers often as they made love in the Tuscan foothills at night -- murders that included horrific, ritualistic mutilations.

Arrests were made in the murders but the killings continued while the suspects were in custody.

American author Douglas Preston, who co-authored a book on the case with Italian journalist Mario Spezi, said the killer's profile was clear.

"Every single forensic examination of the evidence, every single psychological profile, everything said that this was a lone psychopathic sexual killer who worked by himself," he said.

Decades passed with no resolution and then, in 2002, Mignini re-opened the case. He didn't buy into the lone psychopathic killer theory. Instead, he claimed, the murders were the work of a satanic sect, dating back to the Middle Ages, that needed female body parts for their black masses, to serve as the blasphemous wafer.
[...]

Preston and Spezi were investigating the Monster on their own. They pursued a lone killer theory which entirely undermined Mignini's. In short order, they found themselves in Mignini's crosshairs.

The prosecutor brought Preston in for an interview which, Preston said, quickly became an interrogation.

"He accused me of planting evidence and demanded that I confess to these crimes," he said. "I was accused of knowing all about Satanism and so on and so forth. And it was completely insane. It was like something out of a nightmare."

When Preston refused to confess, Mignini indicted him on perjury. Preston said the prosecutor then recommended that Preston and his family leave the country. They did just that the following morning.

Mignini was even tougher on Spezi, the Italian journalist. Spezi's home was raided twice and he spent weeks in prison after Mignini accused him of being part of the satanic sect responsible for the murders.

Spezi cleared his name and Mignini's investigation led nowhere.

"Everything was thrown out of court," Preston said, "and Mignini was humiliated."

Mignini was more than humiliated. He was criminally indicted for prosecutorial misconduct -- specifically, the illegal wiretapping of journalists' phones. Though Mignini claimed the tapping was properly authorized, that charge was still hanging over him in 2007, when Meredith Kercher was murdered in Perugia.

When the Knox case fell into Mignini's lap, Preston said the prosecutor saw it as a God-send.

"Here was a case that could redeem him," he said. "Here was a case that could save his career."

As he'd done in the Monster of Florence case, Mignini developed an elaborate theory of the crime. Kercher, he believed, had been stabbed during a bizarre sex game gone wrong. It was a game, he claimed, played by Knox, her then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito and Diya "Patrick" Lumumba, who ran a Perugia bar where Knox worked part time.

Mignini had to release Lumumba because he had an airtight alibi, and he soon abandoned his sex orgy gone wrong theory. Instead, he argued that Knox killed Kercher in a rage because the roommates had fought over Knox's hygiene and her alleged habit of bringing boys home to cottage late at night. At one point, the prosecution added the allegation that Kercher accused Knox of stealing her rent money. By the end of the initial murder case, the prosecution abandoned all of their shifting motives and said Kercher was killed for no reason at all.

But when police analyzed the crime scene, they found no DNA from Knox. Instead, they found DNA from someone else, a local drifter named Rudy Guede who had a criminal history of break-ins in Perguia and Milan.

"Rudy Guede is all over that room. He's on the victim, he's in the victim's body," said DNA expert Greg Hampikian.

Interpol tracked down Guede, who had fled to Germany. But before he was arrested, Perugia police recorded Guede's Skype conversation with a friend in an Internet cafe. At the time, Guede told his friend, Knox and Sollecito weren't there the night of Kercher's murder.

At some point after Guede met with Mignini, he changed his story. Guede began to claim that Knox and Sollecito were involved in the murder and wanted Kercher dead.

Guede was convicted of murder and sentenced to 30 years in prison. He appealed and received a lighter sentence of 16 years.

"The prosecutor is being very kind to Rudy Guede because Rudy Guede did what the prosecutor wanted," said Judy Bachrach, who covered the case for Vanity Fair. "Amanda Knox -- she says, 'I'm innocent.' Raffaele says, 'I'm innocent.' Therefore, the prosecutor is out for revenge. He wants them to rot in prison forever."

Though Knox and Sollecito were convicted, as they sought an appeal, the DNA evidence against them began to unravel.

Experts found that the bra clasp believed to contain Sollecito's DNA was mishandled by a police investigator. A video showed the clasp was picked up from the floor, handed around and then put back on the floor.

"Anybody who watched CSI knows better what to do," Bachrach said.

Experts also found that the kitchen knife said to be the murder weapon contained such a small sample of Knox's DNA that it should never have been introduced into evidence. As for Kercher's DNA that was supposedly found on the knife, testing revealed it was not actually human DNA but a speck of flour and starch that likely came from rye bread.

In his closing arguments this week, Mignini said there were other reasons to convict Knox, including her lack of an airtight alibi, odd behavior -- she and Sollecito were seen kissing outside the crime scene -- and the fact that Knox at one point stated to police that she had a "vision" that Lumumba was at the cottage on the night of the murder. (Knox, who was interrogated without an attorney present (for 14 hours!), tried to retract her statement in the morning, saying the police had confused her with their extended grilling and tough tactics.)

Mignini is asking for Knox and Sollecito to be given life sentences. Knox was originally sentenced to 26 years in prison while Sollecito received a 25-year term.

"We made our arguments because we believe in them," Mignini told "20/20" this week. "Now we'll see what the jury decides."

Mignini continues to fight his own, personal legal battle. In January, 2010 he was convicted of abuse of power for impromper wiretaps in the Monster of Florence case. Mignini's lawyer said the wiretapping was authorized and is appealing the conviction.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/...ry?id=14623904