The Murder of Meredith Kercher by Gary C. King Read Free Book Online Page B

summer 2007 and arrived in Italy in August via a trip through Germany, where she visited relatives. Once in Perugia she settled into the villa with the three other girls, started her college courses, and found the part-time job at Le Chic.
    Many people close to Amanda, and who were supporting her through the ordeal involving Meredith’s murder, said that she was a kind and caring girl and that the type of crime she had been charged with was totally out of character, and that she was not capable of murder. However, the picture being portrayed of her by investigators, the judiciary, and the media in Italy was markedly different.
    For example, while friends and acquaintances of Meredith, many of whom also knew Amanda and Raffaele, had been visibly upset during questioning by police, Amanda and Raffaele behaved affectionatelytoward one another during police questioning, which seemed unusual considering the circumstances. And according to Monica Napoleoni, head of homicide in Perugia, Amanda had remained quiet and calm during questioning, while at one point had been seen doing cartwheels and splits at the police station. However, when taken in for fingerprinting, according to D’Astolto, she had paced back and forth and had hit herself on the head – possibly in the realisation of the significant role that such evidence might play in her future.
    Another occurrence that did not serve to help Amanda’s case early on was when police interpreter Aida Colontane, and a roommate from the villa, reported seeing a red welt on Amanda’s neck, that some would speculate could have been caused during a struggle with Meredith. Police would also report that despite earlier suggestions that Amanda’s fingerprints had been found inside Meredith’s bedroom, only one fingerprint belonging to Amanda had been found inside the cottage – strange considering she lived there. This led the police to deduce that the cottage had been cleaned after Meredith’s death. The police also said that a hand impression possibly made by Amanda had been found on Meredith’s head. As information continued to be revealed slowly, forensic investigators would report that they had identified fresh blood – both Meredith’s and Amanda’s – in the bathroom sink that they shared. 
    It seemed evident that even early on in the investigation, nearly everyone – with the exception of Amanda’s friends, relatives and staunchest supporters – including the police and the press in the UK and Italy, suspected Amanda might be responsible for Meredith’s murder. Newspapers and magazines were being sold on lurid, negative stories of the innocent-looking girl from Seattle who had been caught up in the elements of sex, drugs and murder, and insinuated – when they did not say it outright – that Amanda had all of her friends and family hoodwinked and that she had been leading a double life. Whether or not this was accurate, of course, remained to be seen, but one has to pause and wonder how much of the negativity that surrounded Amanda had been brought on by herself through her own behaviour and actions.
    Take, for instance, a shopping trip that occurred on November 3, the day after Meredith’s body had been found. According to information that was reported to the police and made its way into the international press, Amanda and Raffaele were seen at a popular discount store in Perugia called Bubbles, purchasing women’s undergarments. The store’s owner later said that he had heard Raffaele whisper to Amanda, ‘We can have wild sex tonight. Sesso selvaggio .’
    Amanda’s father, Curt Knox, who works as a manager at Macy’s store in Seattle, later told Radar magazine that the underwear story was ridiculous. He said that he travelled to Perugia to retrace hermovements that day, and found that the only reason Amanda had gone into the store to buy underwear was because she had no clothing to wear – the cottage where she had resided had been sealed off by the