Perugia is a city in central Italy, a city of approximately 160,000 citizens, including about 40,000 students of various types, most of whom attend a variety of universities. One of its most famous is the Universita Stranieri or University for Foreigners. An odd name, but makes sense to Italians. For many years, especially beginning with the post war era, many American college students came to Perugia to spend a 'year abroad'. Most often, these undergrads were leaving home for the first time, a time to learn how to function on their own. Most parents smile, kiss their offspring, and hope they don't get "that phone call" at 6am.
In early November 2007, the Knox family of Seattle,Washington got that call from their 20 year daughter, Amanda, who was living in Perugia while attending Univ. Stranieri. With that call, the beginning of a 4 year nightmare unfolded, entangling British, American, and Italian families in a legal entanglement worthy of Kafka.
Author Bruce Fischer, an American, took an interest in the case along with a number of legal experts, writers, scientists, and law enforcement professionals. After extensive reading and following the verdict, he and others decided that something must be done to reverse this miscarriage of justice-Injustice!
Bare essentials of the case
Amanda lived in a small cottage with 3 other young women like herself. One of the 3, Meredith Kercher, was a Brit. Her family lives in Leeds,UK. On the night of 2 November 2007, a burglar broke into the cottage looking for cash and other valuables. No one was home at the time, but Meredith arrived shortly afterward, surprising the man in the act. Within minutes, he assaulted the young woman, murdering her using a large knife. He then made minimal efforts to clean himself up and left the scene. That was the first crime related to these young women. The second began the following day when Amanda returned home with her boyfriend, Raffaele, and realized something was amiss. They called the police which began the 2nd crime: the framing and convicting of 2 innocent students for a crime they clearly did not commit.
Amanda and Raffaele spent nearly 4 years in prison, even though the actual murderer, Rudy Guede, had also been convicted and sentenced to 30 years for the crime!
Fischer's first book explains the details of the investigation by Italian police, their inept attempt to gather evidence, and the incompetence and corrupt behavior of Italian authorities including the prosecutor Giuliano Mignini, the judge Massei, and the lab technician and DNA "expert" Stefanoni.
Fischer assembles the facts from a broadside of flak and chaff put out/leaked to the media by Mignini. With the help of other professionals, he laid the groundwork for an effective appeal. The appeal was successful, and Amanda and Raffaele were set free in October,2011, after 4 years in prison.
More to follow in his 2nd book: Finding Justice in Perugia
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