By
Arla Shephard
November 13, 2007
UW study abroad student Amanda Knox, held in custody in Italy for her possible role in the death of her British roommate Meredith Kercher in Perugia, may be detained for up to a year while police sort through the investigation.
Judge Claudia Matteini said in a ruling Friday that there were "serious indications of guilt" on the part of the three suspects, warranting detainment for up to a year while police continue to investigate, according to a Nov. 9 article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer ("Italy judge says 3 to remain in jail over British student's death").
Matteini claimed the suspects all posed a flight-risk.
Knox, along with Italian student Raffaele Sollecito and Congolese immigrant Diya 'Patrick' Lumumba, are said to have all been present at Kercher's apartment at the time of her death, according to a Nov. 9 article in BBC News ("Meredith suspects await decision"). Kercher was found in her bedroom half-clothed with her throat slit.
According to a Nov. 11 article in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica (Amanda Knox alla madre "Non c'ero"), Knox told her mother Nov. 10 that she wasn't at the house when Kercher was killed. This contradicts a previous testimony Knox made to police saying that she was in the next room when Lumumba entered Kercher's bedroom and she heard her roommate scream, according to the article.
Both Sollecito and Lumumba's lawyers have also maintained that their clients were not present when Kercher died.
Police do not believe the murder was premeditated, but say they have solid evidence to link all of the suspects to the crime, according to the BBC News article.
Next Monday a formal examination of Knox and Kercher's house is expected to begin, according to the article in La Repubblica. A forensics team in Rome will examine the findings.
Knox, 20, was studying abroad at the University for Foreigners, while Kercher, 21, was a student at Leeds University in England.
[Reach reporter Arla Shephard at news@thedaily.washington.edu.]
5 Comments
#1 johnny cochrane
on November 13, 2007 at 4:41 p.m.(San Diego, CA | Unverified Name)
not guilty!
#2 flawed italian justice system
on November 13, 2007 at 5:01 p.m.(San Diego, CA | Unverified Name)
"How any of the three suspects so far arrested in Perugia can expect a fair trial, should a case against them ever be brought, is almost impossible to imagine. Furthermore, the clear-headed analysis of evidence has already been polluted. As each new discovery is publicised and every new theory widely aired, the public pressure for action grows, and the hand of the investigating authorities is forced. Although the judge is meant to be wholly independent, with the task of weighing the police evidence against the claims of defence counsel, even he cannot expect to remain immune to the overwrought atmosphere in which his inquiries are held. Trial by press conference is not the best means of ensuring that justice is done - but that is what we are witnessing."
AMEN
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comm...
#3 Sarah
on November 13, 2007 at 8:37 p.m.(Olympia, WA | Unverified Name)
The differences between our legal system and Italy's is interesting. In America, the attorney-client privilege would preclude an attorney from making comments about his client like Knox's Italian attorney did -- telling the media that his client needed to come clean and tell the true story. Moreover, the priest who saw her in the jail told the media what they discussed, which without her permission would violate the priest-penitent privilege.
#4 Miapocca
on November 18, 2007 at 12:21 p.m.(Washington, DC | Unverified Name)
Obviously if she was clean, she wouldnt be lying at any given opportunity..she disgusts me
#5 she's screwed
on November 19, 2007 at 9 a.m.(Renton, WA | Unverified Name)
What a nutso...i agree she is disgusting and i hope she gets what she deserves. those poor parents :(
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