Saturday, April 12, 2008

Mystery Man - Peter Van Sant (2 of 2 parts)

by Peter Van Sant
CBS Correspondent
and Author

Note to readers: What follows is a continuation of yesterday's Mystery Man post. If you missed it, visit here first. The introduction to our Mystery Man can be read here.

Amanda Knox was questioned by police. She was later taken back to the crime scene with her boyfriend. Police wanted to see how they would react. They held each other and kissed several times, quick pecking-style kisses. Since her house was now a crime scene, she didn't have access to her clothes. Later, the two went to buy underwear for Amanda. The clerk claimed they were talking about having steamy sex that night. Authorities thought the behavior was cold and insensitive.

Four days after the murder, Amanda and her boyfriend were brought back to the police station for questioning. After an all-night, 14-hour session in which Amanda was denied sleep, food, or an attorney, she agreed to sign a statement saying she HAD been at the house that night and that she thought she remembered her boss, Patrick Lumumba, killing Meredith Kercher. You should read
her statement. It's written in bizarre English, clearly not dictated by Amanda.

Amanda, Patrick Lumumba, and Raffaele Sollecito were all arrested. Police develo
ped a theory of the crime. They claimed that Amanda, Patrick, and Raffaele wanted Meredith to participate in kinky four-way sex. When Meredith refused, she was assaulted and murdered. The theory was fed to the news media in Italy and Great Britain. For weeks, tabloid newspapers gave the case sensational front page coverage. Italian television also did extensive coverage. Much of the country saw Amanda as "The Dark Angel of Seattle." That coverage made its way to the U.S. as well.

Through her parents, Amanda has proclaimed her innocence. 48 Hours Mystery hired a renowned
private detective, Paul Ciolino of Chicago. The investigator went to Italy to examine the case against Amanda. Ciolino has spoken with witnesses, key investigators, and people who knew all the suspects involved. He has come up with a startling conclusion.

"This is a railroad job from hell," says Ciolino, a cigar chomping, pug-faced detective, who specializes in wrongful arrest cases. "There's not a shred of evidence putting this girl at that murder scene. But they've gotta convict her now, or they look like fools."

48 Hours Mystery has learned disturbing new details of what happened during Amanda's 14-hour interrogation that led to her "confession," which was not recorded or witnessed by a third party. Paul Ciolino also questioned one of the most important witnesses in the case, a woman whose story helped form the police theory. What the woman tells Ciolino, while a 48 Hours Mystery camera is rolling, turns the case upside down.

In Italy, a person can be held without charges for up to one year. Amanda has still not been charged with any crime. She sits today in a maximum-security prison, allowed to see her parents twice a week for a brief time. Her parents say she is frightened. This is as disturbing a case as I've ever covered.

Don't miss "A Long Way from Home" tonight at 10:00 EDT on CBS's 48 Hours Mystery.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Amanda Knox was questioned by police. She was later taken back to the crime scene with her boyfriend. Police wanted to see how they would react. They held each other and kissed several times, quick pecking-style kisses. Since her house was now a crime scene, she didn't have access to her clothes. Later, the two went to buy underwear for Amanda. The clerk claimed they were talking about having steamy sex that night. Authorities thought the behavior was cold and insensitive."


Well, it is cold and insensitive. To be honest those very pics of the two of them pecking bothered me too. She acts like she is making her acting debut rather than standing only a few feet away from a gruesme murder scene which happens to be in her own home. I would be absolutely horrified.

But, knowing someone comitted murder and proving it are two different things. I wouldn't automatically deem her guilty based on this but it certainly makes one want to focus in that direction.

Anonymous said...

My question would be, when did this clerk make his/her statement? Before or after the news about the case became public? If it was after, then my next question would be, is this a truthful statement...or is the clerk looking for their 15 minutes of fame? It wouldn't be the first time a witness made a false statement just for the titillation of the attention it would bring them.

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