nataleeholloway

Perugia Murder – Amanda’s Version
She was with Patrick yesterday and she was screaming. I was scared and covered my ears”
PERUGIA – “Patrick and Meredith were in Meredith’s bedroom while I must have stayed in the kitchen. I can’t remember how long they were together in the bedroom but the only thing I can say is that at a certain point I heard Meredith screaming. I was scared and put my hands over my ears. I can’t remember anything else. I’m so confused. I can’t remember if Meredith was screaming or if I heard any thuds because I was in shock but I could imagine what was going on”.
 
It was early yesterday morning when Amanda Knox, Meredith’s American friend and flatmate, revealed that she had been present at the murder. She broke down after police officers accused her of lying when she claimed to have left the flat at 5 pm on 1 November and come back the following morning, when Meredith’s brutally murdered body was found. Amanda’s boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, had been interviewed a few hours earlier. He admitted that the alibi was false while denying he had taken part in the crime. Amanda realised she had no way out but she claimed her role was marginal, accusing Patrick Lumumba Diya of being the murderer. Nevertheless, her story was confused and it was clear she was not telling the whole truth. It was enough for the public prosecutor, however, who signed warrants for the arrest of the two men.
 
“I CAN’T REMEMBER” – Amanda Knox’s story begins at 5.45 am yesterday morning. “I want to tell you what happened because it’s left me really shocked and I’m terrified of Patrick, the African boy who owns the Le Chic pub where I work sometimes. I saw him on the evening of 1 November after I replied ‘see you’ to his text message. We met at about 9 pm on the basketball court in Piazza Grimana and went to my place. I can’t remember if Meredith was already there or if she turned up later. What I can say is that they went into the bedroom”. Amanda goes into detail and describes the assault. Then she adds, “I met Patrick this morning [5 November – Ed.] outside the University for Foreigners and he asked me questions. He wanted to know what questions the police had asked me. I think he also asked me if I wanted to speak to journalists, perhaps because he was trying to find out if I knew anything about Meredith’s death”.
 
Amanda then talks about her boyfriend: “I’m not sure if Raffaele was there that evening but I clearly remember waking up at his place, in his bed. I went back home in the morning and found the door open”. Officers from the flying squad and special operational centre (SCO) say that after making her statement, Amanda put her hands on her head and shook it several times. In the warrant, the public prosecutor writes: “The sexual intercourse involving Meredith and Patrick must be regarded as violent, given the particularly threatening context in which it took place, and to which Ms Knox must have contributed with Diya”.
 
BOYFRIEND’S LIES – The printouts of telephone calls examined by the post office police proved crucial to establishing the movements of those involved. They were also incompatible with earlier statements. The first to admit to talking “a whole lot of rubbish” was Raffaele Sollecito. He was questioned at the police station at 10.40 pm on 5 November, two days ago. He had already been interviewed after Meredith’s body was discovered but claimed he did not know what had happened. “I was out with Amanda”, he had said. Then he realised that the situation had changed and decided to change his version of events.
 
Raffaele Sollecito’s statement begins at 10.40 pm on Tuesday. “I’ve known Amanda for a fortnight. She’s been sleeping at my flat since the evening we met. On 1 November, I woke up at about 11 am. I had breakfast with Amanda and then she left. I went back to bed. I got to her place at 1 or 2 pm. Meredith was there but she left in a hurry about 4 pm without saying where she was going. Amanda and I went into town at 6 pm or so but I can’t remember what we did. We were in the town centre until 8.30 or 9 pm. At 9 pm, I went home on my own while Amanda said she was going to Le Chic because she wanted to see some friends. That’s when we said goodbye. I went home, smoked a joint and had dinner but I can’t remember what I ate. At about 11 pm, my dad called on the landline. I remember that Amanda hadn’t come back yet. I surfed the net for another two hours after dad called and only stopped when Amanda got back, at about 1 am, I suppose. I can’t remember what she was wearing or if she was wearing the same clothes she had on when she said goodbye before dinner. I can’t remember if we had sex that night. The following morning, we got up at about 10 am and she told me she wanted to go home, have a shower and change. She left at around 10.30 and I went back to sleep. When Amanda left, she took an empty carrier bag, saying she needed it for her dirty washing. She came back about 11.30 and I remember she had changed her clothes. She had her usual bag with her”.
 
According to Sollecito, this was when Amanda told him she was worried. “She told me that when she got home, she found the door wide open and blood stains in the small bathroom. She asked me whether I thought it was strange. I said I did and advised her to phone her friends. She told me she’d phoned Filomena [another woman living in the murder house – Ed.] and that Meredith wasn’t answering”.
 
GOING HOME – The pair went back to the flat together. This is Raffaele Sollecito’s version of next few moments: “She unlocked the door and I went in. I noticed that Filomena’s door was open. There was glass on the floor and the room was a mess. Amanda’s door was open but the room was tidy. Then I went to Meredith’s door and saw it was locked. First, I checked to see if what Amanda had told me about the blood in the bathroom was true. I noticed there were drops of blood in the sink and there was something strange on the bathmat, a mixture of blood and water, while the rest of the bathroom was clean. Nothing else was out of place. Just then, Amanda went into the big bathroom and came out looking scared. She clung to me and said that when she was showering earlier, there had been stools in the lavatory bowl but now it was clean. I wondered what was going on and went out to see if I could climb up to Meredith’s window. I tried to force the door but I couldn’t open it. Then I decided to call my sister for advice because she’s a lieutenant in the carabinieri. She told me to call 112 but by this time the postal police had arrived. In my earlier statement, I told you a whole lot of rubbish because Amanda convinced me about her version and I didn’t think about the contradictions”.
 
 
Fiorenza Sarzanini

http://www.corriere.it/english/articoli/2007/11_Novembre/07/perudia_murder.shtml

Transcript of Amanda Knox's handwritten statement to police on the evening of November 6, the day she was arrested:

This is very strange, I know, but really what happened is as confusing to me as it is to everyone else. I have been told there is hard evidence saying that I was at the place of the murder of my friend when it happened. This, I want to confirm, is something that to me, if asked a few days ago, would be impossible.

I know that Raffaele has placed evidence against me, saying that I was not with him on the night of Meredith's murder, but let me tell you this. In my mind there are things I remember and things that are confused. My account of this story goes as follows, despite the evidence stacked against me:

On Thursday November 1 I saw Meredith the last time at my house when she left around 3 or 4 in the afternoon. Raffaele was with me at the time. We, Raffaele and I, stayed at my house for a little while longer and around 5 in the evening we left to watch the movie Amelie at his house. After the movie I received a message from Patrik [sic], for whom I work at the pub "Le Chic". He told me in this message that it wasn't necessary for me to come into work for the evening because there was no one at my work.

Now I remember to have also replied with the message: "See you later. Have a good evening!" and this for me does not mean that I wanted to meet him immediately. In particular because I said: "Good evening!" What happened after I know does not match up with what Raffaele was saying, but this is what I remember. I told Raffaele that I didn't have to work and that I could remain at home for the evening. After that I believe we relaxed in his room together, perhaps I checked my email. Perhaps I read or studied or perhaps I made love to Raffaele. In fact, I think I did make love with him.

However, I admit that this period of time is rather strange because I am not quite sure. I smoked marijuana with him and I might even have fallen asleep. These things I am not sure about and I know they are important to the case and to help myself, but in reality, I don't think I did much. One thing I do remember is that I took a shower with Raffaele and this might explain how we passed the time. In truth, I do not remember exactly what day it was, but I do remember that we had a shower and we washed ourselves for a long time. He cleaned my ears, he dried and combed my hair.

One of the things I am sure that definitely happened the night on which Meredith was murdered was that Raffaele and I ate fairly late, I think around 11 in the evening, although I can't be sure because I didn't look at the clock. After dinner I noticed there was blood on Raffaele's hand, but I was under the impression that it was blood from the fish. After we ate Raffaele washed the dishes but the pipes under his sink broke and water flooded the floor. But because he didn't have a mop I said we could clean it up tomorrow because we (Meredith, Laura, Filomena and I) have a mop at home. I remember it was quite late because we were both very tired (though I can't say the time).

The next thing I remember was waking up the morning of Friday November 2nd around 10am and I took a plastic bag to take back my dirty cloths to go back to my house. It was then that I arrived home alone that I found the door to my house was wide open and this all began. In regards to this "confession" that I made last night, I want to make clear that I'm very doubtful of the verity of my statements because they were made under the pressures of stress, shock and extreme exhaustion. Not only was I told I would be arrested and put in jail for 30 years, but I was also hit in the head when I didn't remember a fact correctly. I understand that the police are under a lot of stress, so I understand the treatment I received.

However, it was under this pressure and after many hours of confusion that my mind came up with these answers. In my mind I saw Patrik in flashes of blurred images. I saw him near the basketball court. I saw him at my front door. I saw myself cowering in the kitchen with my hands over my ears because in my head I could hear Meredith screaming. But I've said this many times so as to make myself clear: these things seem unreal to me, like a dream, and I am unsure if they are real things that happened or are just dreams my head has made to try to answer the questions in my head and the questions I am being asked.

But the truth is, I am unsure about the truth and here's why:

1. The police have told me that they have hard evidence that places me at the house, my house, at the time of Meredith's murder. I don't know what proof they are talking about, but if this is true, it means I am very confused and my dreams must be real.

2. My boyfriend has claimed that I have said things that I know are not true. I KNOW I told him I didn't have to work that night. I remember that moment very clearly. I also NEVER asked him to lie for me. This is absolutely a lie. What I don't understand is why Raffaele, who has always been so caring and gentle with me, would lie about this. What does he have to hide? I don't think he killed Meredith, but I do think he is scared, like me. He walked into a situation that he has never had to be in, and perhaps he is trying to find a way out by disassociating himself with me.

Honestly, I understand because this is a very scary situation. I also know that the police don't believe things of me that I know I can explain, such as:

1. I know the police are confused as to why it took me so long to call someone after I found the door to my house open and blood in the bathroom. The truth is, I wasn't sure what to think, but I definitely didn't think the worst, that someone was murdered. I thought a lot of things, mainly that perhaps someone got hurt and left quickly to take care of it. I also thought that maybe one of my roommates was having menstral [sic] problems and hadn't cleaned up. Perhaps I was in shock, but at the time I didn't know what to think and that's the truth. That is why I talked to Raffaele about it in the morning, because I was worried and wanted advice.

2. I also know that the fact that I can't fully recall the events that I claim took place at Raffaele's home during the time that Meredith was murdered is incriminating. And I stand by my statements that I made last night about events that could have taken place in my home with Patrik, but I want to make very clear that these events seem more unreal to me that what I said before, that I stayed at Raffaele's house.

3. I'm very confused at this time. My head is full of contrasting ideas and I know I can be frustrating to work with for this reason. But I also want to tell the truth as best I can. Everything I have said in regards to my involvement in Meredith's death, even though it is contrasting, are the best truth that I have been able to think.

[illegible section]

I'm trying, I really am, because I'm scared for myself. I know I didn't kill Meredith. That's all I know for sure. In these flashbacks that I'm having, I see Patrik as the murderer, but the way the truth feels in my mind, there is no way for me to have known because I don't remember FOR SURE if I was at my house that night. The questions that need answering, at least for how I'm thinking are:

1. Why did Raffaele lie? (or for you) Did Raffaele lie?
2. Why did I think of Patrik?
3. Is the evidence proving my pressance [sic] at the time and place of the crime reliable? If so, what does this say about my memory? Is it reliable?
4. Is there any other evidence condemning Patrik or any other person?
3. Who is the REAL murder [sic]? This is particularly important because I don't feel I can be used as condemning testimone [sic] in this instance.

I have a clearer mind that I've had before, but I'm still missing parts, which I know is bad for me. But this is the truth and this is what I'm thinking at this time. Please don't yell at me because it only makes me more confused, which doesn't help anyone. I understand how serious this situation is, and as such, I want to give you this information as soon and as clearly as possible.

If there are still parts that don't make sense, please ask me. I'm doing the best I can, just like you are. Please believe me at least in that, although I understand if you don't. All I know is that I didn't kill Meredith, and so I have nothing but lies to be afraid of.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1570225/Transcript-of-Amanda-Knoxs-note.html

minister for Administrative Simplification 

Italy is busy with clearing the Italian Laws &Code. It is crucial and it is therefore rigorously addressed. Thursday, the Italian Government decided, in fact once as 29,095 unnecessary laws and regulations to remove, reports the Italian news agency ANSA.

Italy has some 120,000 different laws and regulations. No European country has more. They are so many that it is almost impossible to know them and apply. And finding the right law is also a huge task. There are already far outdated. The laws now in one blow from the statute are removed, there are already deployed in 1948.

The comprehensive legislation in Italy gives big problems. So great that it even has a minister for Administrative Simplification: Roberto Calderoli. He was also the initiative for the cleanup.

Besides the cut in the Code, the Government also decided a free online archive laws, so that people can easily look up laws.

Johan,

Do you think Knox and her boyfriend were really involved in this girl's murder?