Murder in Perugia

1
Murder in Perugia
Can Water Go Upstream?
Abridged version
The Break-In Applying More Spin
2
This presentation examines the disturbing
break-in at the sealed cottage where Meredith
Kercher was brutally murdered, and which was
discovered by Italian police on Wednesday, 18
February 2009, when they entered the cottage with
authorisation in order to fetch personal items of
the Italian flatmates. Supporters of the two
remaining suspects (Raffaeles legal team and
Amandas home town blog) were quick to use the
detection of this break-in as representative of
either the shoddy police custody of the cottage,
or - more importantly for those who still believe
in the lone-wolf theory - how the cottage
actually may have been entered by a single
murderous thief through Filomenas window on the
evening of 1 November 2007. This presentation
shows that these suppositions, in particular the
latter, are rubbish. The situations presented
here are related to ideas or event relationships
which have arisen from the in-depth
multi-point-of-view, multi-timezone, and
multi-cultural discussions and information found
on the following excellent discussion
boards http//truejustice.org/ee/index.php http/
/perugiamurderfile.freeforums.org/index.php Any
irony or sarcasm which may be encountered in the
presentation or our discussions is not meant by
any means to trivialise the pain and suffering,
and butal senseless murder of Meredith, nor to
reduce her memory. (Since she has no means to
reply to any comments herein or scenarios
described in other presentations, and the
repeated use of her name in this context would
only further hurt anyone close to her, in some
circumstances I sometimes refer to Meredith
simply as the victim.) As we go through the
scenarios of what may have happened in the crime,
the only moment which is truly important is the
day when the evidence is presented in court, like
in any other serious crime case. I can only hope
that there will be one single ending, that
justice is served to those responsible for each
of the crimes which have been determined by the
Italian judiciary. I am buoyed by the fact that
the victims family has continued to express
confidence in the Italian justice system. Special
thanks to discussion board posters Catnip and
Nicki for translation and language support. -
Kermit (25 February 2009) email
krmt123_at_gmail.com
3
The News La Nazione reports on the break-in
The Mystery of Via della Pergola - Forensic
Police Detect Trespassing Clues - Postal Police
Check YouTube Whoever got into the house may
have betrayed themselves. There is at one least
clue, left behind during their departure, that
could give the Flying Squad an answer. It was an
item, perhaps a leaflet or object found by the
Rome scientific police which - according to the
leading hypothesis - was dropped by one of the
trespassers of the house, and related to Meredith
Kercher, the English student murdered on 1
November 2007 and for which the trial against her
friend Amanda Knox and boyfriend Raffaele
Sollecito is under way. Perugia, 20 February
2009 - The intruders may have betrayed
themselves. They left at least one clue, during
their escape, that might help the flying squad
track them down. It was an item, perhaps a
leaflet found by the Rome scientific police that
- according to the main hypothesis - was dropped
by one of the trespassers of the house, and is
related to Meredith Kercher, the English student
murdered on 1 November 2007 and for which the
trial against her friend Amanda Knox and
boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito is under way. The
day after the discovery of the raid on the
cottage at via della Pergola 7 - still under seal
- investigators are already at work. The forensic
police laboratories are analysing the three
cigarette butts found in Laura Mezzettis room,
the four knives positioned as if to convey a
worrying message, the plastic envelope with the
state police logo, and also the plastic flowerpot
which was used to break the glass of the window
at the rear of the villette. All to find one
print or one genetic trace that could give a name
and a face to the intruders. Even if the
examining judges are inclined to exclude the
trail of idiots and macabre fetish collectors,
the postal police have started checking the
Internet - and, in particular, YouTube - to see
if a stupid filming of the breached crime scene
took place. It is almost impossible to verify
whether anything was taken away. The Flying Squad
agents found the house ransacked. Even Merediths
suitcase. Where the victims clothes and
underwear were kept, even that had been rifled
through. The same thing happened to the things
which Amanda had under her bed from there came
at least two of the four knives spread through
the cottage in a fine display. Those knives of
the American were still in their original
wrapping and for this reason had never been
bagged for analysis. It is impossible that they
could be the murder weapon. Meanwhile the Flying
Squad has acquired - and is viewing - the
pictures recorded by the San Antonio parking lot
CCTV security camera, in front of the cottage.
The same fine-toothed combing as after the
murder. As for the motive, nothing obviously
stands out, but to the examining judges it looks
like yet another staging. - Erika Pontini
4
(No Transcript)
5
The Reaction of the Suspects Entourages Supporter
s of both Raffaele and Amanda were quick to use
the break-in to highlight supposed problems in
the police investigation or management of
evidence. Nick Pisa reported on the
break-in "Sollecito's lawyer, Marco Brusco,
said "This break-in just shows what we have
always said - anyone could get into the house. It
proves how easy it is to get into the house and
tamper with the crime scene .... it proves what
we have always said that a thief broke into the
house and murdered poor Meredith Kercher."
6
The iron balcony handrail aids scrambling onto
the balcony. From there an intruder can take his
time to break into the kitchen.
The iron bars of the boys outer security gate
provide a handy ladder to climb up to the
triangular eave in the corner of the old and new
wings.
Meredith case break-in at house, police view
film footage (AGI) - Perugia, 19 Feb - The
Perugia Flying Squad investigation continues
after the break-in by unknown persons which was
discovered yesterday morning in the cottage in
via della Pergola where, during the night of
01-02 November 2007, English student Meredith
Kercher was killed. According to the
investigators reconstruction, whoever entered
into the murder house (on which there were still
seals) did so by climbing onto the terrace
looking over the rear of the property, then by
breaking the glass of the kitchen window and
thereby getting themselves inside.
About a hundred yards down Via SantAntonio, the
road is at the same height as the hillside
terrain. An intruder could start a discrete walk
towards the lower level of the cottage from there.
7
The Reaction of the Suspects Entourages
(contd) Marco Brusco is right about his first
point the cottage is easy for someone to break
into through the kitchen window. And if someone
breaks into it, then it is easy to tamper with
the crime scene. You dont have to go to the
Daisyhill Detective Academy to understand that.
However, for me its a non sequitur to state that
the intrusion proves that a (lone) thief broke
into the house and carried out the murder. I
wouldnt even call that Spin. Just silly.
Meanwhile, thousands of miles away in Seattle, on
Amandas Home Town Blog, we saw the reaction of
Ms. Dempsey, a Food Blogger converted to author
of a true crime book about the story behind the
murder of Meredith Kercher, the case against
Amanda Knox. (I dont want to ruin the book for
you, but my bet is that it will conclude that
Amanda was a peripheral figure in the events of
the night of 1 November 2007 and the morning of 2
November 2007.)
So much for the theory that nobody would enter
through a window visible to car) or that the
neighbors would surely spot anybody coming in
through a window Its surprising that Blogger
Dempsey makes this erroneous statement,
especially since she has travelled on more than
one occasion to Perugia. Lets all analyse
together who can see what from where
8
The location of the balcony and the kitchen on
the other side of the house excludes any of the
neighbours being able to see anything. The only
nearby building with a window which may offer a
view of the oblique angle where the cottage
kitchen window is situated, is a science and
technical institute at the west end of the San
Tommaso convent. Let's assume the break-in was at
night. No one in that building would have been
looking out, across the brightly lit road, and
into the contrasting darkness beyond. Perhaps if
someone parked his/her car in the far right part
of the parking lot, on the edge overlooking Via
Sant'Antonio, they may have seen something.
However, this parking lot wouldn't have any
movement in the wee hours of the morning.
The angles of the old and new wings of the
cottage block the view of anybody to the left of
the blue line. Nobody on this side of the blue
line can see the balcony or the kitchen window.
Balcony
Kitchen window
High window of San Tommaso convent / science
institute
Sra. Naras flat
Last flat of neighbours overlooking the cottage
9
This high window of the convent / science and
technical institute is possibly the only nearby
building which has a view of the kitchen window.
(The kitchen window itself is on the other side
of the cottage. This image depicts the front door)
West end of the San Tommaso convent / science and
technical institute
10
Beyond the convent / institute, there is just the
long old city wall, and the empty space of the
Bulagaio ravine.
Cottage hidden by these trees
11
What did Amandas Home Town Blog say? "So much
for the theory that nobody would enter through a
window visible to cars) or that the neighbors
would surely spot anybody coming in through a
window.
Well, we have seen that the second part of her
comment is irrelevant, as there aren't any
neighbours to see anything happening at the
kitchen window, because it isnt in view of the
nearby flats. What about the first part of her
comment ... is the kitchen window very visible to
cars? Let's take a drive along Via SantAntonio,
approaching from the east (only the first 20
seconds of this video are relevant)
http//www.youtube.com/watch?vVsbq7T8Tn4M
We see that the iron railing prevents a driver or
a passenger in a car from seeing the kitchen
window of the cottage through the blur. Also, in
the case of a single person in a car, we can
conclude that in the middle of the night, on the
winding Via Sant'Antonio, a driver would be
concentrating on driving and not having an
accident. No. No one in a car would be capable
of shouting out, "Hey, look! There's a burglary
going on over in yonder cottage!" This is not a
walking route, so you wouldn't find stargazers on
a midnight stroll either.
12

• The kitchen window is easy to break into for
  three reasons
• It is on the north side of the cottage away from
  the view of neighbours (or drivers on the Via
  SantAntonio)
• It does not receive illumination at night
• It is easy to climb up to. You dont have to be
  Spiderman. From the balcony a burglar can pry
  open the kitchen window from a comfortable
  standing position

• Filomenas window is just a few metres from the
  roadway, under the view of many neighbours on the
  west side of the carpark
• It receives night-time illumination from the
  carpark and streetlamps
• It is not easily accessible for a thief. Call
  Spiderman or a gymnast

13
Now that we've dispatched The Entourage's
perspective in Seattle, lets return to
Raffaeles legal team. What did Marco Brusco
say? "It proves how easy it is to get into the
house and tamper with the crime scene ... it
proves what we have always said that a thief
broke into the house and murdered poor Meredith
Kercher. Weve seen that the first part is true.
It is easy to get into the house ... BUT NOT
THROUGH FILOMENA's WINDOW!!! And tamper with the
crime scene? Of course, someone could have taken
a pneumatic jack hammer to the house too ... but
in both cases, the police would detect the
intrusion. And in fact, on 18 February 2009,
police found that seals on the kitchen window
were broken and the window itself was broken .
I would ask the defence teams is there any
evidence in the days and weeks following 2
November 2007 that seals were broken on the doors
or windows, and that doors or windows were broken
when the main forensic work was being carried
out? Raffaele's Team is not going to convince
many persons if this is their demonstrative
argument for DNA contamination. I dont think I
have to add that the recent intrusion in the
cottage does not prove that Meredith died at the
hands of a lone-wolf thief. In fact, everything
points to more than one wolf. Defence teams get
back to work!!
14
Final Conclusions The Impact of the Break-in at
the Cottage I must admit that when news broke
about the break-in at the cottage on 18 February
2009, I was angry and concerned that somehow it
could impact in the trial (for example, by
planting doubt about the Italian polices
protection of evidence, or by damaging evidence
which could still lay in the cottage). However,
upon examining how and where the intruders broke
in, my concern about the impact in the trial has
dissipated. We have seen that short of stationing
armed guards there 24 x 7 x 365, there isnt much
more that the police can do. Indeed, it was the
police who discovered the break-in, and who took
immediate measures to analyse the new crime scene
within a crime scene. We can assume that after
over one year since Merediths brutal and
senseless murder, and over six months since the
end of the investigation, the principal forensic
and reconstructive evidence has been gathered
from the cottage. Why maintain the seals on the
cottage, then? I believe that Prosecutor Mignini
- in addition to the evidence which he gathered
in the investigation - is still hoping for some
sort of confession from Amanda, Raffaele or maybe
even Rudy. That possibility is not too
far-fetched Raffaele has lately been
conspicuously non-supportive of Amanda. If a
confession were to occur, then its of great
interest to apply the data from the confession to
the crime scene, hence the desire to maintain it
in its state from the time of the crime. One
could speculate, perhaps, that one of the
suspects teams arranged the break-in to ensure
that a future partial confession would only
bring minor and not major legal inconveniences.
However, thats just speculation. While my
concern for the trial has dissipated, I am still
angry about the desecration of the site. For the
Kerchers and Meredith's friends, having some
intruders walk over her blood, drip wax around,
stir up her belongings, must be a like a punch in
the stomach. The possible spoiling of the state
of the cottage interior, however, doesnt impact
in the inexorable and unstoppable advance of the
the trial as it is progressing today, nor on the
quality of the evidence upon which this legal
process is based. While I fully respect the right
of the suspects to silence, and also their right
to lie, I desperately hope they they invoke
neither of these rights, but rather that they
finally open up and reply honestly, completely
and truthfully to all inquiries in the trial.