An Italian jury found Amanda Marie Knox guilty of sexual assaulting
and murdering Meredith Susanna Cara Kercher. The two girls were
studying abroad in Italy and lived together in an apartment. The
prosecution alleged that Knox and another accomplice attempted to lure
Kercher into a sex orgy. When Kercher protested, they allegedly
sexually assaulted and murdered her by repeatedly stabbing her body
and slitting her throat. Knox her accomplice then staged a break in
to cover their tracks. The prosecutions evidence is tenuous at best.
Mixed samples of Knox’s DNA and Kercher’s blood were found on the
apartment’s bathroom sink. Not surprising considering the two women
lived together and shared common living spaces. The prosecution also
lacked the murder weapon. Although, Knox’s DNA was found on the
handle of a knife found in the girl’s kitchen drawer, which the
prosecution alleged was the murder weapon, it is questionable whether
that knife was actually the murder weapon. The knife found was a 6.5
inch knife, which did not match two out of three of the wounds on
Kercher’s body that were made by a 3 to 3.5 inch knife. Apart from
this knife, there was no other forensic evidence directly indicating
that Knox was present at Kercher’s murder. The defense claims that it
is impossible for Knox to have sexually assaulted and violently
murdered Kercher without leaving DNA or other trace of herself in the
bedroom or on the victim’s body.
So why did a jury convict Knox to 26 years in jail? Her story may be
more of a cautionary tale of how a stranger in a strange land can
easily fail the reasonable person test on the basis of idiosyncratic
behavior.
Knox spent the night at her boyfriend Raffaele’s house the night of
the murder. Knox returned to her house in the morning and discovered
the bathroom she shared with Kercher to be covered with blood.
Kercher’s door was locked and Knox attempted to unsuccessfully reach
her on her cell phone. Despite the ominous signs Knox did not call
the police. Instead, Knox returned to her boyfriend’s apartment and
informed him of her morning’s events over breakfast. Then the police
were called. A reasonable person would have immediately called the
police after finding their bathroom covered in blood. Equally damning
is Knox and Raffaele’s behavior the day after the murder. Store
cameras captured Knox and her boyfriend shopping for thong underwear
and engaging in public displays of affections. The store owner claims
Raffaele was excited about having wild sex with Knox that evening.
The store’s video was released to the public and televisions and
websites replayed their strange behavior ad nauseam. Knox’s further
morally incriminated herself by doing cartwheels during her
interrogation by police. Italian newspapers coined her “Foxy Knoxy”
and described her as “Luciferina with the face of an angel.”
Is Knox a little crazy? Extravagant? Idiosyncratic? I think so. An
Italian public and jury also thought so for those were the only
reasons they needed to sentence Knox.
- Laura Alos
