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Death in Perugia: The Definitive Account of the Meredith Kercher Case from her Murder to the Acquittal of Raffaele Sollecito and Amanda Knox
John Follain, who covers Italy for the Sunday Times, tells the definitive inside story of this extraordinary case.
Shortly after 12:30 pm on 2 November 2007, Italian police were called to the Perugia home of 21-year-old British student, Meredith Kercher. They found her body on the floor under a beige quilt. Her throat had been cut.
Four days later, the prosecutor jailed Meredith's flatmate, American student, Amanda Knox, and Raffaele Sollecito, her Italian boyfriend. He also jailed Rudy Guede, an Ivory Coast drifter. Four years later Knox and Sollecito were acquitted amid chaotic scenes in front of the world's media.
Uniquely based on four years of reporting and access to the complete case files, Death in Perugia takes readers on a riveting journey behind the scenes of the investigation, as John Follain shares the drama of the trials and appeal hearings he lived through.
Including exclusive interviews with Meredith's friends and other key sources, Death in Perugia reveals how the Italian dream turned into a nightmare.
Shortly after 12:30 pm on 2 November 2007, Italian police were called to the Perugia home of 21-year-old British student, Meredith Kercher. They found her body on the floor under a beige quilt. Her throat had been cut.
Four days later, the prosecutor jailed Meredith's flatmate, American student, Amanda Knox, and Raffaele Sollecito, her Italian boyfriend. He also jailed Rudy Guede, an Ivory Coast drifter. Four years later Knox and Sollecito were acquitted amid chaotic scenes in front of the world's media.
Uniquely based on four years of reporting and access to the complete case files, Death in Perugia takes readers on a riveting journey behind the scenes of the investigation, as John Follain shares the drama of the trials and appeal hearings he lived through.
Including exclusive interviews with Meredith's friends and other key sources, Death in Perugia reveals how the Italian dream turned into a nightmare.
435 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
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September 20, 2019
This is the first book I have read about the Meredith Kercher murder. The author makes an effort to be unbiased, but in doing so, he often leaves things out. I agree with Mark Saha's review where he states, "Many things his participants say are now known to be false or at least not what they seem, but Follain is too objective to tell the reader this. Even worse, many official "facts" are also known to be untrue, or at the least poorly understood due to conflicting accounts and questionable witnesses. Follain "cures" all such ambiguity by simply omitting it, giving us a simple, unambiguous, but arbitrary and selective account." His review is very interesting, and he explains, in detail, exactly why he made the above statement.
The book ends in 2011, after Amanda's first trial. As most of us know, the case did not end there.
If you are interested in the Kercher murder case, you'll probably want to read this book, as it was written by a journalist who sat through the trial, and interviewed many folks.
3 Stars = I liked the book. I'm glad I read it.
The book ends in 2011, after Amanda's first trial. As most of us know, the case did not end there.
If you are interested in the Kercher murder case, you'll probably want to read this book, as it was written by a journalist who sat through the trial, and interviewed many folks.
3 Stars = I liked the book. I'm glad I read it.
November 20, 2015
For the curious, here is what is wrong with this book ...
The premise is admirable. John Follian, a London Times journalist who covered this case from the day of the murder, lays out an unbiased account of the bare facts. He has interviewed most of the key participants and witnesses, and quotes them at length. They tell us exactly what they saw and how they felt.
The reader, armed with this information, should now be in a position to judge for himself what really happened.
Says Follain, "I have done my best to give a voice to as many of those involved as possible, with the help of both case files and author interviews, and with the aim of writing an objective, chronological account". We do indeed get the impression, turning these pages, that Follian is objective. He neither judges nor insinuates, and presents facts in crisp, clear, unambiguous prose.
And herein lies the problem.
Many things his participants say are now known to be false or at least not what they seem, but Follain is too objective to tell the reader this. Even worse, many official "facts" are also known to be untrue, or at the least poorly understood due to conflicting accounts and questionable witnesses. Follain "cures" all such ambiguity by simply omitting it, giving us a simple, unambiguous, but arbitrary and selective account.
This problem is fatal and best illustrated by specific examples:
(1) AMANDA'S VIBRATOR AND CONDOMS
Follain - p. 29
Sophie Purdon tells Follain "... when Amanda first arrived at the cottage, Meredith said, she'd put a beauty case in the bathroom, with a vibrator and some condoms clearly visible. `How's it possible, you arrive and ... I can't believe it, she left it on display. It's a transparent beauty case and it's there for all to see!' Meredith said with a laugh."
* *
The above may indeed by an accurate account of what Sophie said, and even of what Meredith told her. But out of fairness here is how Robyn Butterworth testifies about it in court --
* *
Candace Dempsey (Murder in Italy): pp 278-79
Although all four flatmates were sexually active and smoked marijuana, [Mignini] now portrayed Amanda as the depraved girl in an otherwise conventlike household who had exposed her British roommate to sexually explicit materials. The shocking news was that Amanda had kept a clear plastic bag on the floor under the sink... filled with her own personal toiletries. ... Meredith had once shown it to Robyn.
"What were the contents?" Mignini asked her.
"Meredith pointed out a beauty case with condoms and I think a vibrator," Robyn said ...
So why were the two British girls checking out Amanda's toiletries, stored in a clear plastic bag in the American girl's own bathroom? Robyn didn't want to explain.
"Did you see the condoms? Did you see the vibrator?" Mignini kept pressuring her.
"I did not look inside the bag," Robyn finally said, adding that she was only in the bathroom to brush her hair.... No, she finally admitted, she could not see the objects inside. Nor did Mignini explain why seeing a condom would shock anyone since condoms with devilish names were displayed in Italian drug stores and could be purchased on street corner machines, even right across from the University for foreigners.
Nonetheless, Amanda's condoms and vibrators lit up that day's coverage.
* * *
Although Follain quotes from Amanda's diary a lot, he neglects to quote the passage about Meredith bumming condoms from her.
(2) A SCREAM IN THE NIGHT
Follain, pp 56-57
Nara Capezzali, a short, stout widow in her late sixties... went to bed at 9:30 pm. ... She slept for two hours or a little more - she wasn't sure precisely how long... [she]...walked towards the bathroom. As she passed the large window in the dining room... she said later: "I heard a scream... such a scream ... an agonizing scream which gave me gooseflesh." The scream went on for a long time and she heard it very clearly. It was a woman's scream, and she thought it came from the cottage. ... "Two seconds, maybe a minute after the scream ... she heard the sound of someone running on the iron staircase. Almost at the same time, she heard a "scurrying" sound, as if someone was running along the cottage's drive of stones and dry leaves.... She went back to bed... Capezzala lay awake for some time, still shocked by what she'd heard.
* * *
What Follain neglects here is that, obviously, the next morning the cottage across from Capezzala's apartment was a major crime scene with police everywhere. The story of the murder made newspaper headlines and was the lead story on TV news. But Capezzala did not come forward with her story for an entire month -- until Amanda was in jail and the story had become the sensation of Europe, the U.K., and America.
Capezzala did not call the police. She called a local TV station, which sent out a camera crew to interview her. She gave them a tour of her apartment and showed them her view of the cottage. Her story appeared on local TV news. The police saw the story on television, and got her to repeat it in court at trial. It was convenient for Mignini that she was unsure of the exact time, because his theory was constantly changing. Capezzala need merely testify to what she "heard," and they supplied her with the time.
* *
Bruce Fischer (Injustice in Perugia) pp 181-82
The scream was allegedly so "blood curdling" that Nara did not bother to look at the time or call the police. Her daughter, who was in bed, did not even wake up... The next morning, Nara mentioned this alleged scream to no one. Three other witnesses testified to having been near the cottage at the time Nara claims she heard a scream. These three witnesses were dealing with a broken down vehicle in front of the cottage, yet none of them heard a scream.
(3) AMANDA BUYS G-STRING UNDERWEAR
Follain: p. 113
At about 7 p.m., Carlo Scotto di Rinaldi, owner of the Babbol clothes shop off Perugia's main square opposite the cathedral, noticed a young couple walking around in his store, caressing, kissing, and embracing each other in such a way that customers kept looking at them. The young woman chose a thong and a pullover and, as they neared the till to pay for them, the owner overheard the young man tell her in English: "Later you'll put them on at home and we'll have hot sex..."
A few days later, the shop-owner recognized the couple as Amanda and Raffael. He called the police, thinking that what he'd seen might be of use, and handed over footage from the shop's CCTV.
* *
Nina Burleigh (The Fatal Gift of Beauty) - p 181
When the police sent them home early Saturday evening, Amanda and Raffaele went shopping. Amanda needed some clean underwear. She had her period and was still wearing the clothes she'd put on the morning before Meredith's body was found. She and Raffaele went to Bubbles, one of the cheaper of the overpriced clothing shops in the Perugia centro... The underwear, lots of thongs, were laid out on a table. The loss-prevention camera captured Amanda and Rafaele together at that table at 7 pm, picking through the lingerie, stopping to hug and kiss.
After they were arrested, the video was valuable and the owner sold it and his own narration, including his memory of Raffaele saying, "Now we'll go home and have wild sex," to the Italian television networks, which looped it alongside the tape of the couple hugging outside the murder house. Raffaele's father sued Bubbles for releasing it.
* *
(4) AMANDA'S FALSE ACCUSATION OF PATRICK
Follain clearly does not believe the defense claim that 20 year old Amanda was interrogated by angry adults for up to 14 hours without sleep, bathroom break, or refreshments. The police insisted she was not pressured, nor did they make suggestions. She was treated well and given plenty of refreshments.
Police suspected Meredith's killer was black because black hairs were found in the murder room. There were few blacks in Perugia. Suspicion fell on Patrick because he knew both Meredith and Amanda. They believed Amanda must have had a grudge against Meredith, and used her key to let him in the house. They say Amanda's confession came about like this: At one point in the interrogation they looked through her phone and found a text message sent to Patrick the night of the murder, saying "See you later". When confronted with it, she realized the game was up, "collapsed," and "spontaneously" confessed everything.
Follain buys this story completely -- pp 135-36:
During the questioning, detectives repeatedly went to fetch her a snack, water and hot drinks including chamomile tea.
Asked why she hadn't gone to work at la Chic on the evening of Thursday, 1 November, Amanda replied that she'd received a message from Patrick at 8:18 p.m. telling her that the bar wouldn't open that evening because there were no customers...
Amanda said she hadn't replied to the message, but a detective showed her that her reply was still on the display on her mobile phone. "Sure. See you later. Have a good evening!" the message read. ...
When the message was shown to her, Amanda suffered what the interpreter described as an "emotional shock". She lifted her hands up to her head and put them over her ears, hunched her shoulders forward and started crying.
"It's him! It's him! He did it! I can hear it," she burst out. Shaking her head, she added: "He's bad, he's bad."
* * *
Based on this confession police arrested Patrick, Raffael, and Amanda, and famously declared "case closed".
But Patrick had an alibi and had to be released.
Follain neglects to tell us -- as Judge Hellman would later point out -- that if Patrick is innocent the police version no longer makes sense. If anything, Hellman writes, naming Patrick suggests Amanda was innocent.
From the Hellman Report:
"Now, since Lumumba was in fact uninvolved in the murder, the emotional shock cannot be considered to have arisen from her having been caught (doing what, exchanging a message with a person who had nothing to do with the crime?), but rather from having reached the limit of emotional tension.
"It is indeed totally illogical to suppose that Amanda Knox, if she actually had been a participant [concorrente] in the crime, could have hoped that naming Patrick Lumumba -- whom in such a case she would have known to be entirely uninvolved and far, even physically, from where the crime took place -- would have helped her position in any way; it would, if anything, have been easier for her to indicate the real perpetrator, even while stressing her own absolute innocence: after all, she lived in that house, and for her to have been in her own room at the time of the crime, perhaps actually entertaining Raffaele Sollecito as held by the first-level Corte di Assise, would have been entirely normal, and would certainly not have entailed responsibility for a crime committed by others in the next room.
"Thus for Amanda Knox, in the event that she had been inside the house on Via Della Pergola at the time of the murder, the easiest way to defend herself would have been to indicate the true author of the crime, [who would have been] present in any case inside the house, because this would have made her credible; and not to instead indicate a totally innocent individual, whom she had no reason to hope would be without an alibi, and who might have been able to refute the account she had provided to the police."
"To determine the real significance [per valutare la reale portata] of the "spontaneous" statements and the note written practically right afterward, we must take into account the context in which the former were given and the latter was written. The obsessive length of the interrogations, carried out during [both] day and night, by more than one person, on a young and foreign girl who at the time did not speak Italian at all well, was unaware of her own rights, did not have the assistance of an attorney (which she should have been entitled to, being at this point suspected of very serious crimes), and was moreover being assisted by an interpreter who -- as shown by Ms. Bongiorno -- did not limit herself to translating, but induced her to force herself to remember, explaining that she [Amanda] was confused in her memories, perhaps because of the trauma she experienced, makes it wholly understandable that she was in a situation of considerable psychological pressure (to call it stress seems an understatement [appare riduttivo]), enough to raise doubts about the actual spontaneity of her statements; a spontaneity which would have strangely [singolarmente] arisen in the middle of the night, after hours and hours of interrogation: the so-called spontaneous statements were made at 1:45 am (middle of the night) on 11-6-2007 (the day after the interrogation had started) and again at 5:45 am afterward, and the note was written a few hours later."
(5) THE BRITISH GIRLS
Follian gives the British girls a disproportionate amount of space when you consider they were not involved and only knew Meredith and Amanda for about six weeks. He not only quotes them in dialogue but even tells us what they were thinking:
"Just then, Amanda walked into the waiting room. `God, what she's gone through...' Sophie thought to herself and quickly went up to her. `Oh Amanda, I'm so sorry!' Sophie exclaimed as she instinctively put her arms around her and gave her a bear hug. Amanda didn't hug Sophie back. Instead she stiffened, holding her arms down by her sides. Amanda said nothing. Surprised, Sophie let go of her after a couple of seconds and stepped back. There was no trace of emotion on Amanda's face." (pp. 90-91)
Follian presents the above as objective fact based on his interviews long after the murder. Burleigh suggests such interviews represent hindsight in a scramble to distance themselves after Amanda was crucified in the press:
Nina Burleigh (The Fatal Gift of Beauty) p. 233
"Based on records of the Kercher murder investigation, from police witness conversations that took place at the questra, and later, after Amanda's statement and arrest ... Amanda's chief accusers - the British girls - shared different memories before and after the arrest. In their first conversations at the questra, none told police that Meredith disliked Amanda. ... Six weeks later, interviewed in Bergamo in northern Italy, with Amanda's confession widely disseminated, the British girls first began recalling Meredith's unease about Amanda's bathroom habits and her weird boy friends. They also talked about their own impressions of Amanda in the questura, hours after poor Meredith was murdered, about watching her making out with Raffael at the questura, her curious callousness."
Burleigh, p. 256:
"The `British girls' arrived at the Tribunale together on February 13, 2009, tweedy, peaches-and-cream-complected sylphs who moved as a pack. Their testimony was so similar that observers thought they seemed robotic or coached. They repeated exactly what they had shared with police in Bergamo in 2008, when they described Meredith's annoyance with Amanda's strange male visitors, guitar playing, and hygiene, and Amanda's callous behavior at the police station...
"Amanda Knox reportedly turned to her lawyers and said, `Wow, it didn't take long for them to hate me.'"
(6) POLICE MANIPULATION OF MEDIA & THE TABLOID FRENZY
Nina Burleigh wrote in the Los Angeles Times:
"When I went to Perugia in 2009, as Knox's testimony began, to research a book on the case, I didn't know whether she was guilty as charged, but I was certainly willing to believe it. ... After a few weeks in Perugia, I saw that there was something very wrong with the narrative of the murder that the authorities and the media were presenting. There was almost no material evidence linking Knox or her boyfriend to the murder, and no motive, while there was voluminous evidence -- material and circumstantial -- implicating a third person, a man, whose name one almost never read in accounts of the case. It became clear that it wasn't facts but Knox -- her femaleness, her Americaness, her beauty -- that was driving the case."
A few others such as Candice Dempsey and the blogger Frank Sfarzo came to the same conclusion. As for the rest, Bruce Fischer writes (Injustice in Perugia, pp 53-55):
"Amanda was mistreated horribly by the media ... headlines about [her] were ... seen around the world, long before any evidence was even collected. With the help of the media, prosecutor Giuliano Mignini's fictional character - the satanic, ritualistic c sex-crazed killer Foxy Knoxy - was born. ... The press declared [her] "a devil with an angel's face." She was called a she-devil: a diabolical person focused on sex, drugs, and alcohol. Her MySpace page was dissected. Photos that would normally be found on any twenty year old's MySpace account were perceived as sexual. ... The prosecution successfully used the media to assassinate Amanda's character. ...She was found guilty in the court of public opinion long before her trial began."
This is no small omission in Follain's "objective" account. The above helps to explain, for example, why the British girls later remembered things differently. And why witnesses -- like the woman who heard a scream in the night, and the grocer who reported sold her bleach -- were unearthed not by the police but the media.
Follain modestly omits his role in this saga as a reporter of the many false stories and salacious lies about Amanda released by the police.Headlines which appeared under his name include:
AMANDA KNOX, `FOXY KNOXY', REVEALS HER LESBIAN TRAUMA
AMANDA KNOX SNARED BY HER LUST AND HER LIES
FOXY KNOXY THE `SHE-DEVIL' WAITS SERENE
DIARY REVEALS FOXY KNOXY'S SEX SECRETS
December 18, 2015
Maybe you've noticed I have an obsession with this case. I've read some books and I'd always thought Amanda and Raffaelle were innocent. Well, maybe I doubted a couple of times.
BUT, this book made me question everything I've ever read/though/decided about the case. I'm not sure yet if that's ok or not, but one thing I'm sure of is that this book was amazing. It's pretty detailed and has tons of information I haven't found before (or have forgotten along the way).
So now I'm confused about this whole thing. I know you haven't come here to read my specific opinion on this case, so Ijust promise you, this book will make you wonder, hesitate, and make a cloud of confusion appear over your head.
BUT, this book made me question everything I've ever read/though/decided about the case. I'm not sure yet if that's ok or not, but one thing I'm sure of is that this book was amazing. It's pretty detailed and has tons of information I haven't found before (or have forgotten along the way).
So now I'm confused about this whole thing. I know you haven't come here to read my specific opinion on this case, so Ijust promise you, this book will make you wonder, hesitate, and make a cloud of confusion appear over your head.
February 13, 2012
Okay, I'm fascinated by the Meredith Kercher/Amanda Knox story, embarrassing as that is to admit. The recent acquittal in Italy of two of Meredith's accused murderers has not really put the media speculation to rest- many commentators are utterly convinced that two killers have now managed to evade justice, while others believe the convictions should never have happened in the first place.
Unsurprisingly, there are a great many books about this case on the market, but this appears to be one of the less sensational ones and is about the only one to include the most recent developments.
Death in Perugia feels thorough and for the most part balanced. I would question, though the amount of weight given to the victims' friends opinions regarding the personality of accused killer Amanda Knox, and the book also does seem to lean fairly heavily on some now discredited prosecutorial theories about the crime. Still worth reading for it's lack of hysteria, a refreshing change from the shrill takes on this case that focussed more on the titillating notion of a beautiful wanton murderess than on actual provable fact.
Frankly, reading this has made me even more devoutly glad not to be in the suspects' shoes, if the effects of failing to have the "correct" emotional response to a crime can be so catastrophic and long reaching. I was left wondering what the future now holds for all the players in this tragedy, that like it or not is probably not over yet, at least in the eyes of a thrill hungry media.
Unsurprisingly, there are a great many books about this case on the market, but this appears to be one of the less sensational ones and is about the only one to include the most recent developments.
Death in Perugia feels thorough and for the most part balanced. I would question, though the amount of weight given to the victims' friends opinions regarding the personality of accused killer Amanda Knox, and the book also does seem to lean fairly heavily on some now discredited prosecutorial theories about the crime. Still worth reading for it's lack of hysteria, a refreshing change from the shrill takes on this case that focussed more on the titillating notion of a beautiful wanton murderess than on actual provable fact.
Frankly, reading this has made me even more devoutly glad not to be in the suspects' shoes, if the effects of failing to have the "correct" emotional response to a crime can be so catastrophic and long reaching. I was left wondering what the future now holds for all the players in this tragedy, that like it or not is probably not over yet, at least in the eyes of a thrill hungry media.
August 12, 2016
3.5 STARS
So I have recently discovered that the second appeal of this case is currently being heard in Italy and so my selection of this title is timely.
I must confess that prior to reading this book, I had little knowledge of the case. American reporting of this crime and the criticism levelled at the Italian Justice System turned me off. Essentially this book tells the story of the murder of Meredith Kercher, a 21 year old British exchange student studying International Politics in Perugia Italy. Sadly, from my recollection, the identity and fate of Kercher seemed to be lost amidst the sensationalist reporting that followed the murder. The Prosecution's theory of the case is that American exchange student, Amanda Knox, her Italian boyfriend, Raphael Sollecito, and African National Rudy Guede killed Kercher during some kinky sex game gone awry.
After reading this account by Mr. Follain, I have come to the following conclusions: 1) the Prosecution's theory of this case is completely fabricated and not in anyway founded in factual evidence; 2) The investigators really botched the gathering and collection of evidence; 3) the witnesses were in large part unreliable due to the fact that this case was covered extensively in the media prior to many witnesses coming forward; and 4) there are lot of questions about this case that will likely remain unanswered unless Rudy Guede decides to talk candidly about what did in fact happen that evening of the murder.
All in all, this is a well researched book and the information is relayed to the reader by what appears to be an informed, neutral, and objective third party.I would recommend this book to anyone interested in understanding this case.
So I have recently discovered that the second appeal of this case is currently being heard in Italy and so my selection of this title is timely.
I must confess that prior to reading this book, I had little knowledge of the case. American reporting of this crime and the criticism levelled at the Italian Justice System turned me off. Essentially this book tells the story of the murder of Meredith Kercher, a 21 year old British exchange student studying International Politics in Perugia Italy. Sadly, from my recollection, the identity and fate of Kercher seemed to be lost amidst the sensationalist reporting that followed the murder. The Prosecution's theory of the case is that American exchange student, Amanda Knox, her Italian boyfriend, Raphael Sollecito, and African National Rudy Guede killed Kercher during some kinky sex game gone awry.
After reading this account by Mr. Follain, I have come to the following conclusions: 1) the Prosecution's theory of this case is completely fabricated and not in anyway founded in factual evidence; 2) The investigators really botched the gathering and collection of evidence; 3) the witnesses were in large part unreliable due to the fact that this case was covered extensively in the media prior to many witnesses coming forward; and 4) there are lot of questions about this case that will likely remain unanswered unless Rudy Guede decides to talk candidly about what did in fact happen that evening of the murder.
All in all, this is a well researched book and the information is relayed to the reader by what appears to be an informed, neutral, and objective third party.I would recommend this book to anyone interested in understanding this case.
December 3, 2014
This case and investigation is a complete cluster. I don't think we will ever know the truth about what happened to Meredith Kercher, which is an awful shame for her family. My personal opinion about Amanda Knox given the thorough evidence stated in the book is that she wasn't involved (and my guess as to why her recollection of the night of the murder is so poor is a mixture of stress and drugs). But hey.
She was convicted again earlier this year. A weird, maybe kind of unlikeable or attention-seeking person does not a murderess make.
She was convicted again earlier this year. A weird, maybe kind of unlikeable or attention-seeking person does not a murderess make.
October 17, 2012
This an absolutely atrocious book by a writer with a shocking disregard for fairness and accuracy. The author is a close friend of the prosecutor's and presents his fairy tale with scant reference to the overwhelmingly powerful defense rebuttal that ultimately led to Knox and Sollecito's comprehensive acquittal. Two books you must read about the case are Raffaele Sollecito's "Honor Bound" and Candace Dempsey's "Murder in Italy".
October 7, 2012
Such a complicated story...Amanda Knox and Rafaele Sollecito never seemed totally innocent to me.
January 10, 2013
A detailed and balanced account of the murder and the subsequent trial.
Don't believe any of the nonsense that this book is slanted to the prosecution side. The fact is, there is an abundance of evidence against the accused. Btw, the Supreme Court has yet to rule on the legitimacy of the appeal.
Don't believe any of the nonsense that this book is slanted to the prosecution side. The fact is, there is an abundance of evidence against the accused. Btw, the Supreme Court has yet to rule on the legitimacy of the appeal.
May 11, 2013
The Amanda Knox story gripped Americans with its perplexing heroine (or anti-heroine, if you believe her to be guilty) locked in the grip of the slow-moving Italian judicial system, and the book borrows these traits. At times "A Death in Italy" was both perplexing and slow-moving -- yet I couldn't quite put it down.
The reason stems from Amanda's mysterious personality. I came to the book hoping to get a better understanding of her character, as well as the events of the murder, and the book didn't entirely clarify either issue. Why did Amanda perform cartwheels and yoga moves while she was questioned by police? Why did she engage in inappropriate PDAs with her Italian boyfriend? It's not clear whether these odd behaviors were expressions of her guilt or extreme naivete, so a heads-up to readers seeking illumination: You won't find it here. The author apparently wasn't given an interview with Knox (as far as I can tell), so the account uses Knox's trial statements, journals and remarks retold by other people.
What you will find is a meticulously detailed account of the days leading up to Meredith Kercher's murder and its aftermath, including an explanation of the Italian legal system. The author knows his stuff and the characters involved, but the book would have benefitted from tighter editing. Some of the details left me scratching my head, wondering why exactly the writer thought his readers needed to know every banal comment that left the prosecutor's mouth, for example.
Take this line:
"Staring out at the rain, a calm, even genial, Mignini told a visitor: 'I like the rain. It's clean.'"
I'm guessing the writer included to this comment -- which doesn't further the story at all or have any bearing on any element of the crime or trial -- to show that he was at some point standing next to Mignini and within earshot of the prosecutor with a reporter's notebook. But for a reader, this kind of kitchen-sink reporting grows tiresome.
Otherwise, the writer delivers a comprehensive overview of the murder, with useful insights into the Italian legal system.
The reason stems from Amanda's mysterious personality. I came to the book hoping to get a better understanding of her character, as well as the events of the murder, and the book didn't entirely clarify either issue. Why did Amanda perform cartwheels and yoga moves while she was questioned by police? Why did she engage in inappropriate PDAs with her Italian boyfriend? It's not clear whether these odd behaviors were expressions of her guilt or extreme naivete, so a heads-up to readers seeking illumination: You won't find it here. The author apparently wasn't given an interview with Knox (as far as I can tell), so the account uses Knox's trial statements, journals and remarks retold by other people.
What you will find is a meticulously detailed account of the days leading up to Meredith Kercher's murder and its aftermath, including an explanation of the Italian legal system. The author knows his stuff and the characters involved, but the book would have benefitted from tighter editing. Some of the details left me scratching my head, wondering why exactly the writer thought his readers needed to know every banal comment that left the prosecutor's mouth, for example.
Take this line:
"Staring out at the rain, a calm, even genial, Mignini told a visitor: 'I like the rain. It's clean.'"
I'm guessing the writer included to this comment -- which doesn't further the story at all or have any bearing on any element of the crime or trial -- to show that he was at some point standing next to Mignini and within earshot of the prosecutor with a reporter's notebook. But for a reader, this kind of kitchen-sink reporting grows tiresome.
Otherwise, the writer delivers a comprehensive overview of the murder, with useful insights into the Italian legal system.
September 26, 2012
I was fascinated by the Knox trial from the start and read just about everything I could get my hands on (however , google translate was not sufficient for reading court transcripts!)
I read this in 3 days and despite already knowing everything that it contained, it was a great read. the title is accurate: it is the definitive account of the amanda knox case. that being said, it obviously is not the definitive account of the murder of meredith kercher, because there are still so many unanswered questions at the end of the book. I don't think anyone should go into this book thinking that having the facts of the trial will show them what really happened, or who is really guilty.
I've always thought Amanda was involved and knew much more than she let on, but never thought she was the one actually inflicting the wounds..for a few chapters, I thought this book may actually convince me she was innocent, but it didn't. I still know Rudy was part of it, but I still think that Amanda and Raffaele know the full truth--and their books probably won't shed any more light on that truth than this one.
Of course, it glosses over lots of aspects of the four year saga, but I think it touched on most of the key points, and is *fairly* neutral...It focused a lot on Merediths friends who were convinced Amanda is the killer, which was biased, and I laughed out loud when the prosecutor currently being investigated for his own crime is described as "respected", but so be it, it could've been an accurate description of how people in Italy viewed him despite his trial..
That being said, read it because you're interested in the case and it's a great read. Don't come into it with high expectations to get a clear cut verdict or the absolute truth. All we have is the evidence presented, and that's what Follain gives you.
I read this in 3 days and despite already knowing everything that it contained, it was a great read. the title is accurate: it is the definitive account of the amanda knox case. that being said, it obviously is not the definitive account of the murder of meredith kercher, because there are still so many unanswered questions at the end of the book. I don't think anyone should go into this book thinking that having the facts of the trial will show them what really happened, or who is really guilty.
I've always thought Amanda was involved and knew much more than she let on, but never thought she was the one actually inflicting the wounds..for a few chapters, I thought this book may actually convince me she was innocent, but it didn't. I still know Rudy was part of it, but I still think that Amanda and Raffaele know the full truth--and their books probably won't shed any more light on that truth than this one.
Of course, it glosses over lots of aspects of the four year saga, but I think it touched on most of the key points, and is *fairly* neutral...It focused a lot on Merediths friends who were convinced Amanda is the killer, which was biased, and I laughed out loud when the prosecutor currently being investigated for his own crime is described as "respected", but so be it, it could've been an accurate description of how people in Italy viewed him despite his trial..
That being said, read it because you're interested in the case and it's a great read. Don't come into it with high expectations to get a clear cut verdict or the absolute truth. All we have is the evidence presented, and that's what Follain gives you.
September 13, 2012
Did not follow the current news about the case before. The book was helpful in telling what happened with the case. My opinion was that Amanda Knox and her two male friends were involved. Many young lives were ruined epecially Meredith who lost her life in violent way and apparently among people she knew. This part of the story really made an impact with me...a neigbhor heard the girl screaming the night she was killed and that poor neighor will never forget hearing Meredith's voice as she was dying. That is heartbreaking.
did-not-finish
September 21, 2016Bought this eBook because it was only a couple of dollars, and now I can see why! Having followed the case and read other books on the topic, this is a biased account that is definitely not "definitive" by any means. If you don't know anything about the case, I would recommend starting with Murder in Italy: Amanda Knox, Meredith Kercher and the Murder Trial that Shocked the World, by Candace Dempsey.
May 13, 2018
For people looking for a culprit for the tragic murder of Meredith Kercher , look elsewhere. Unfortunately no one was charged with her murder even though a man was indirectly linked to it. This book is basically a transcript of the court case which indicted Amanda Knox and her boyfriend. It includes e short appeal case that followed. A lot of Meredith 's family and friends felt let down by the acquittal but when there's a lot involved people will always want a scapegoat. A complex case from start to finish
April 5, 2014
A shockingly biased account by a hack tabloid writer. The use of the word "journalist" anywhere in the description of this book is farcical. I doubt this author had much success with connect the dots books as a child. A more useful exercise might have been a catalogue of the prosecution's press releases. This book is a disgrace. The journalistic equivalent of the Nancy Grace show.
April 28, 2016
Bought this in a pound shop, now I know why it was only a pound.
November 2, 2015
Posted originally on my blog:
The Writer's Inkwell
I knew a bit about the murder of Meredith Kercher and even some about Amanda Knox before reading this book. But I was always curious to see if the media buzz blew things out of proportion in regards to Knox's bizarre behavior afterwards. After all, I remember watching Nancy Grace and seeing the same two or three clips of Amanda and her boyfriend kissing, replay over and over again during the one hour show.
Trust me, I don't let the Nancy Grace show or actually most news coverage dictate my views on a case like this. But as I delve into this book, one thing became very clear to me: Amanda Knox is guilty. I can't definitively say what her part in all of this is, but everything about this girl and her behavior act as clear signs that something is truly not right.
From the get go, it's clear Amanda is a strange young woman, whose need for attention is so pathetic and desperate, I'd be surprised if she had any real female friends in her life. From the accounts of their roommates, Meredith and Amanda could not be any more different. Meredith was kind, funny, considerate and even sweet. And though she tended to get along with everyone, the one person she couldn't stand was Amanda. She complained about Amanda's constant need for attention, how Amanda tried to belittle her affections for a boy who lived downstairs by claiming he liked her (Amanda), not Meredith and had odd boundary issues (i.e. leaving out dildos, refusing to flush the toilet, constantly playing the same few chords on a guitar no matter what everyone else was doing around her, etc).
However, the biggest red flag doesn't stem from their relationship, but from Amanda herself. For example, the day Meredith's body was found, Amanda returns home to find the front door open, blood all over the bathroom and what does she do? Does she call her room mates? No. Does she call the cops? No. Instead, she proceeds to take a shower? I don't know about you, but her parent's excuse that she was naive doesn't fly. I remember being five years old when a motorcyclist wrecked in front of our house. I called 911 right away. And yet, when it looks like someone may have broken into her cottage, she just hops in the shower like nothing is wrong.
It is only when she finds someone's feces in the other bathroom that she "freaks out" and returns to her boyfriend's house. Yet again, never calling the cops. When she finally makes a phone call, who does she call? Her parents, in Washington... Why?
There are also several witnesses that say she never reacts when Meredith's body is found. She simply stands at the end of the hall as if the whole situation is keeping her from something. As if that isn't odd enough, she is outside making out with her boyfriend while the police are in the cottage processing the crime scene. She continues her odd behavior in the police station, randomly alternating between making funny faces with her boyfriend, making out with him and blurting out how she could have been murdered as well. She never once even shows any sign of emotion towards Meredith's death, only in regards to needing to be center of attention.
As if her behavior isn't weird enough, she claims not to remember where she was the night before and none of the specifics of what she did. I'm sorry, but most people can tell you one thing they did the evening before. But not Amanda. I was eventually so convinced of her guilt, that I couldn't bear the thought of reading how her conviction was overturned. Yes, I agree, there was not physical evidence. That being said, at every turn, Amanda told lie after lie after lie in order to stall and misdirect the prosecution. She accused an innocent man of murdering Meredith and subsequently ruined his life. Say what you will, but none of these actions are those of an innocent woman. No one suspected her of any wrong doing until she opened her mouth and said she was there. She even put herself into the middle of the investigation. The night she first confessed, they hadn't even called her in for questioning. She showed up on her own.
There is nothing naive or innocent about Amanda Knox. Somehow, someway, she is responsible for Meredith's murder and I just hope someone else doesn't have to die because the Italian justice system couldn't prove it.
The Writer's Inkwell
I knew a bit about the murder of Meredith Kercher and even some about Amanda Knox before reading this book. But I was always curious to see if the media buzz blew things out of proportion in regards to Knox's bizarre behavior afterwards. After all, I remember watching Nancy Grace and seeing the same two or three clips of Amanda and her boyfriend kissing, replay over and over again during the one hour show.
Trust me, I don't let the Nancy Grace show or actually most news coverage dictate my views on a case like this. But as I delve into this book, one thing became very clear to me: Amanda Knox is guilty. I can't definitively say what her part in all of this is, but everything about this girl and her behavior act as clear signs that something is truly not right.
From the get go, it's clear Amanda is a strange young woman, whose need for attention is so pathetic and desperate, I'd be surprised if she had any real female friends in her life. From the accounts of their roommates, Meredith and Amanda could not be any more different. Meredith was kind, funny, considerate and even sweet. And though she tended to get along with everyone, the one person she couldn't stand was Amanda. She complained about Amanda's constant need for attention, how Amanda tried to belittle her affections for a boy who lived downstairs by claiming he liked her (Amanda), not Meredith and had odd boundary issues (i.e. leaving out dildos, refusing to flush the toilet, constantly playing the same few chords on a guitar no matter what everyone else was doing around her, etc).
However, the biggest red flag doesn't stem from their relationship, but from Amanda herself. For example, the day Meredith's body was found, Amanda returns home to find the front door open, blood all over the bathroom and what does she do? Does she call her room mates? No. Does she call the cops? No. Instead, she proceeds to take a shower? I don't know about you, but her parent's excuse that she was naive doesn't fly. I remember being five years old when a motorcyclist wrecked in front of our house. I called 911 right away. And yet, when it looks like someone may have broken into her cottage, she just hops in the shower like nothing is wrong.
It is only when she finds someone's feces in the other bathroom that she "freaks out" and returns to her boyfriend's house. Yet again, never calling the cops. When she finally makes a phone call, who does she call? Her parents, in Washington... Why?
There are also several witnesses that say she never reacts when Meredith's body is found. She simply stands at the end of the hall as if the whole situation is keeping her from something. As if that isn't odd enough, she is outside making out with her boyfriend while the police are in the cottage processing the crime scene. She continues her odd behavior in the police station, randomly alternating between making funny faces with her boyfriend, making out with him and blurting out how she could have been murdered as well. She never once even shows any sign of emotion towards Meredith's death, only in regards to needing to be center of attention.
As if her behavior isn't weird enough, she claims not to remember where she was the night before and none of the specifics of what she did. I'm sorry, but most people can tell you one thing they did the evening before. But not Amanda. I was eventually so convinced of her guilt, that I couldn't bear the thought of reading how her conviction was overturned. Yes, I agree, there was not physical evidence. That being said, at every turn, Amanda told lie after lie after lie in order to stall and misdirect the prosecution. She accused an innocent man of murdering Meredith and subsequently ruined his life. Say what you will, but none of these actions are those of an innocent woman. No one suspected her of any wrong doing until she opened her mouth and said she was there. She even put herself into the middle of the investigation. The night she first confessed, they hadn't even called her in for questioning. She showed up on her own.
There is nothing naive or innocent about Amanda Knox. Somehow, someway, she is responsible for Meredith's murder and I just hope someone else doesn't have to die because the Italian justice system couldn't prove it.
February 8, 2014
I have finished the book, I was stunned by the fact that the important evidences was missing !
With reference on page 101 - paragraph 3 :
From Meredith's bedroom, Stefanino would later take thirty objects, three blood-soaked towels, samples from blood on the floor, on the walls and on the door handle, bloodstained fragments she cut from the undersheet, and two blonde hairs - not Merediths's - from her left hand and from her v****a.
Where was those TWO BLONDE HAIRS? It did not mention on DNA report anywhere else other than page 101.
I have searched on the internet, apparently the two blonde hairs was missing and were never tested.
See the comment on from the following links :
http://www.truejustice.org/ee/index.p...
Posted by Marcello on 10/20/13 at 09:11 PM | #
mollythecat:
The presence of the blonde hair was reported by Barbie Nadeau in Angel Face and also that it was lost. The photograph we posted is from the original crime scene photographs and yes, Meredith’s hand was bagged; the hair, including one found in her vagina, was still lost. Since they were never listed in the official list of evidence samples collected at the crime scene, they were not discussed in court.
I was also able to independently confirm when I was in Italy that those hairs had been lost during the rush to collect samples as soon as possible.
=====================
Page 381 - paragraph 4: "Prisoners didn't talk about the reason that, rightly or wrongly, got them into jail. 'Most of us don't talk about their crimes. The worse the crimes are, the less people admit they're guilty,' one of them said."
Page 367 - Napoleoni : For her, the most terrible thing about it was that there was no motive for Meredith's death. 'The only motive was the emptiness inside these kids, their lack of humanity. Meredith died for nothing and she was killed by people who should have been their friends.'
If there was one thing the case had taught her, it was that a young woman could die 'for no reason at all'.
My deepest condolence to Mez's family and beloved once.
Rest in Peace Mez ...
With reference on page 101 - paragraph 3 :
From Meredith's bedroom, Stefanino would later take thirty objects, three blood-soaked towels, samples from blood on the floor, on the walls and on the door handle, bloodstained fragments she cut from the undersheet, and two blonde hairs - not Merediths's - from her left hand and from her v****a.
Where was those TWO BLONDE HAIRS? It did not mention on DNA report anywhere else other than page 101.
I have searched on the internet, apparently the two blonde hairs was missing and were never tested.
See the comment on from the following links :
http://www.truejustice.org/ee/index.p...
Posted by Marcello on 10/20/13 at 09:11 PM | #
mollythecat:
The presence of the blonde hair was reported by Barbie Nadeau in Angel Face and also that it was lost. The photograph we posted is from the original crime scene photographs and yes, Meredith’s hand was bagged; the hair, including one found in her vagina, was still lost. Since they were never listed in the official list of evidence samples collected at the crime scene, they were not discussed in court.
I was also able to independently confirm when I was in Italy that those hairs had been lost during the rush to collect samples as soon as possible.
=====================
Page 381 - paragraph 4: "Prisoners didn't talk about the reason that, rightly or wrongly, got them into jail. 'Most of us don't talk about their crimes. The worse the crimes are, the less people admit they're guilty,' one of them said."
Page 367 - Napoleoni : For her, the most terrible thing about it was that there was no motive for Meredith's death. 'The only motive was the emptiness inside these kids, their lack of humanity. Meredith died for nothing and she was killed by people who should have been their friends.'
If there was one thing the case had taught her, it was that a young woman could die 'for no reason at all'.
My deepest condolence to Mez's family and beloved once.
Rest in Peace Mez ...
February 17, 2015
The book is very solid, based on facts. It presents the investigation and the trial that followed in an objective manner. The crime itself was a horrible, unhuman act. There was no clear motive behind it. No reason why it happened. It is really difficult to accept.
Quote from the book: ''...the most terrible thing about it was that there was no motive for Meredith's death. 'The only motive was the emptiness inside these kids, their lack of humanity. Meredith died for nothing, and she was killed by people who should have been her friends...''
Quote from the book: ''...the most terrible thing about it was that there was no motive for Meredith's death. 'The only motive was the emptiness inside these kids, their lack of humanity. Meredith died for nothing, and she was killed by people who should have been her friends...''
September 19, 2013
Very detailed account of both trials and the evidence leading up to them. I had hoped to find a definitive answer as to guilt or innocence, but didn't. I actually started reading the book with the idea they were completely innocent. I didn't end it believing they were guilty, but definitely had some questions.
March 15, 2018
This case is intriguing but this author clearly had a bias.
November 24, 2023
Time taken to read - 4 days
Pages - 435
Publisher - Hodder & Stoughton
Source - Bought
Blurb from Goodreads
John Follain, who covers Italy for the Sunday Times, tells the definitive inside story of this extraordinary case.
Shortly after 12:30 pm on 2 November 2007, Italian police were called to the Perugia home of 21-year-old British student, Meredith Kercher. They found her body on the floor under a beige quilt. Her throat had been cut.
Four days later, the prosecutor jailed Meredith's flatmate, American student, Amanda Knox, and Raffaele Sollecito, her Italian boyfriend. He also jailed Rudy Guede, an Ivory Coast drifter. Four years later Knox and Sollecito were acquitted amid chaotic scenes in front of the world's media.
Uniquely based on four years of reporting and access to the complete case files, Death in Perugia takes readers on a riveting journey behind the scenes of the investigation, as John Follain shares the drama of the trials and appeal hearings he lived through.
Including exclusive interviews with Meredith's friends and other key sources, Death in Perugia reveals how the Italian dream turned into a nightmare.
My Review
I don't think there is a person on earth who hasn't heard about this case and so much has been written/debated/argued about on it. This is actually the first book I have read on it. A chunky read that includes coverage by the news, stuff from the courts and excerpts/chat from actual witnesses and people who knew Meredith and Amanda.
Whilst I had heard about the case I didn't know a whole lot about it nor that others were accused, just how badly some aspects of the case where and the bias from some parties. I would say go into this with an open mind and don't take everything as gospel as looking at other reviews on the books some folk call out some misrepresentations of some of the things both reported and say from the witness statements.
I think this is one of those cases that will remain split, some people believe in their innocence and some convinced of their guilt. The way the couple reacted and behaved that morning, finding the blood in the flat and everything that followed afterwards has been heavily criticised.
The book has left me with probably as many questions if not more than before I went into it. It is an interesting read, my first reading anything by this author/journalist. I no doubt will read about the case again if I come across other books, either way 3/5 from us.
Pages - 435
Publisher - Hodder & Stoughton
Source - Bought
Blurb from Goodreads
John Follain, who covers Italy for the Sunday Times, tells the definitive inside story of this extraordinary case.
Shortly after 12:30 pm on 2 November 2007, Italian police were called to the Perugia home of 21-year-old British student, Meredith Kercher. They found her body on the floor under a beige quilt. Her throat had been cut.
Four days later, the prosecutor jailed Meredith's flatmate, American student, Amanda Knox, and Raffaele Sollecito, her Italian boyfriend. He also jailed Rudy Guede, an Ivory Coast drifter. Four years later Knox and Sollecito were acquitted amid chaotic scenes in front of the world's media.
Uniquely based on four years of reporting and access to the complete case files, Death in Perugia takes readers on a riveting journey behind the scenes of the investigation, as John Follain shares the drama of the trials and appeal hearings he lived through.
Including exclusive interviews with Meredith's friends and other key sources, Death in Perugia reveals how the Italian dream turned into a nightmare.
My Review
I don't think there is a person on earth who hasn't heard about this case and so much has been written/debated/argued about on it. This is actually the first book I have read on it. A chunky read that includes coverage by the news, stuff from the courts and excerpts/chat from actual witnesses and people who knew Meredith and Amanda.
Whilst I had heard about the case I didn't know a whole lot about it nor that others were accused, just how badly some aspects of the case where and the bias from some parties. I would say go into this with an open mind and don't take everything as gospel as looking at other reviews on the books some folk call out some misrepresentations of some of the things both reported and say from the witness statements.
I think this is one of those cases that will remain split, some people believe in their innocence and some convinced of their guilt. The way the couple reacted and behaved that morning, finding the blood in the flat and everything that followed afterwards has been heavily criticised.
The book has left me with probably as many questions if not more than before I went into it. It is an interesting read, my first reading anything by this author/journalist. I no doubt will read about the case again if I come across other books, either way 3/5 from us.
October 2, 2012
This is an exhaustive chronological account of the Kercher murder, investigation, and two subsequent trials (along with preliminary hearings) as told by a reporter from The Sunday Times. It is culled from documents related to the investigation, Knox's personal diaries seized by police, court proceedings, and interviews he conducted with Kercher's family and friends, Knox's family, and many of the lawyers, prosecutors, and detectives involved in the case (but not, it should be noted, with Amanda, or her co-defendent Rudy Guede, the only person currently convicted of the crime).
This is, for sure, an Amanda-centric book (as you can tell from the subtitle). Despite the fact she was not the only defendant, and despite the constant complaints from Kercher's family that the person who seems most forgotten is their daughter Meredith, this book continues on with the endless fascination the world has with Amanda.
What it does not do is report on that fascination--much, anyway. There is a little taste of it during the trial, especially as the author describes Amanda's daily wardrobe choices and hair styles at almost every court appearance. But the near-constant din in the Italian, UK, and US press and their subsequent slants that helped divide the populations of those countries into pro- and anti- Amanda camps, is mostly ignored.
Instead what we get is a basic true-crime book, told with journalistic integrity. A little of the author's biases come through: it's clear he doesn't think much of her quondam boyfriend and co-defendent Raffaele Sollecito, given that in the second sentence after he introduces him, he describes him as having been "mollycoddled by his parents like many sons of Italian families." He seems to have a soft spot for the prosecutors, who in the US press were demonized as over-zealous and possibly compromised--but the author is a British journalist and of course their take on this case was different. Overall though the treatment seems even-handed, fair, fact-based, and free of both sensationalistic language and conjecture.
What emerges then is an exhausting mind-pounding of the case. The key question has always been: did they or didn't they? What you believe probably depends on which country's papers you read. This should be your chance to finally form an unbiased opinion.
What I found by story's end was that I just didn't know. It seems unlikely that she and Sollecito were murderers. The idea that it was some drug-and-sex orgy gone wrong seems pure fantasy on the part of police and prosecutors, who in Italy are are apparently allowed to let their imaginations run free and then present as "probable" the fantastic tales they imagine (going so-far as to actually make a 20-minute animated movie of their version of the crime, and then show it to jurors as part of the closing arguments!) In terms of hard evidence, there is almost none, which is ultimately why they were acquitted.
The most damning part has always been, and still is, the bizarre behavior of Amanda in the days afterwards. What emerges of her is a picture of a naive narcissist. But, that describes most people at the age of 20. Being self-absorbed is not a crime, no matter how much people might wish it was. However, it's easy to imagine that she knows more than she's said, and that she's able to easily compartmentalize. Especially as children, which the sheltered Amanda basically was then, we can convince ourselves that our lies are the truth, in an effort to save ourselves. So it's easy to believe that that's what she did. But, this too is pure speculation. It makes for great dinner debates, but I would think has absolutely no place in hard police work or a court of law.
Yet that's what seemed to drive both of those areas in this case--conjecture, passionate opinions, and a dire desire to make this story stick, with or without facts to back them up. As such, like most badly prosecuted cases, it's likely the real truth of what happened to Meredith Kercher will never be known. And also as such, it's unlikely that your own views of "did they or didn't they" will have changed by book's end.
I do have a few stylistic complaints about this book. First, I find it very hard to believe that Amanda or her American parents ever called where she lived a "flat" or the people she lived with "flatmates." These terms are completely and utterly non-existant in American English, and it suggests to me the author took some liberties in his transcribing of conversations (most of which come from tapes made in prison of Amanda's visits with her parents and the prison priest). Second, there seem to be some gaps here and there that I found a little confusing--for example, only in the closing pages do we learn that Sollecito had more than one computer in his home, and that the Italian police had destroyed their hard drives after initially examining them. This is important because much of the prosecution's case was based on tearing down the alibi that Sollectio and Knox were at his apartment the night of the murder, based in part on computer forensics that showed he was not using his laptop the entire night as he'd said. Clearly if had more than one computer he could have been using those, instead, and it makes no sense to me why the police would have destroyed potential evidence they'd seized. But, perhaps the book only mentions this at the very end because maybe the courts only mentioned it at the very end (specifically, in the Hellmann report, which this book summarizes in the last chapter).
On the plus side, the background on Amanda, Meredith, and their lives before coming to Perugia and their time together before the murder is interesting and helps set the stage before the bludgeoning we as readers receive for the rest of the book with what might as well be called a modern retelling of Rashomon , set in the Italian hills.
This is, for sure, an Amanda-centric book (as you can tell from the subtitle). Despite the fact she was not the only defendant, and despite the constant complaints from Kercher's family that the person who seems most forgotten is their daughter Meredith, this book continues on with the endless fascination the world has with Amanda.
What it does not do is report on that fascination--much, anyway. There is a little taste of it during the trial, especially as the author describes Amanda's daily wardrobe choices and hair styles at almost every court appearance. But the near-constant din in the Italian, UK, and US press and their subsequent slants that helped divide the populations of those countries into pro- and anti- Amanda camps, is mostly ignored.
Instead what we get is a basic true-crime book, told with journalistic integrity. A little of the author's biases come through: it's clear he doesn't think much of her quondam boyfriend and co-defendent Raffaele Sollecito, given that in the second sentence after he introduces him, he describes him as having been "mollycoddled by his parents like many sons of Italian families." He seems to have a soft spot for the prosecutors, who in the US press were demonized as over-zealous and possibly compromised--but the author is a British journalist and of course their take on this case was different. Overall though the treatment seems even-handed, fair, fact-based, and free of both sensationalistic language and conjecture.
What emerges then is an exhausting mind-pounding of the case. The key question has always been: did they or didn't they? What you believe probably depends on which country's papers you read. This should be your chance to finally form an unbiased opinion.
What I found by story's end was that I just didn't know. It seems unlikely that she and Sollecito were murderers. The idea that it was some drug-and-sex orgy gone wrong seems pure fantasy on the part of police and prosecutors, who in Italy are are apparently allowed to let their imaginations run free and then present as "probable" the fantastic tales they imagine (going so-far as to actually make a 20-minute animated movie of their version of the crime, and then show it to jurors as part of the closing arguments!) In terms of hard evidence, there is almost none, which is ultimately why they were acquitted.
The most damning part has always been, and still is, the bizarre behavior of Amanda in the days afterwards. What emerges of her is a picture of a naive narcissist. But, that describes most people at the age of 20. Being self-absorbed is not a crime, no matter how much people might wish it was. However, it's easy to imagine that she knows more than she's said, and that she's able to easily compartmentalize. Especially as children, which the sheltered Amanda basically was then, we can convince ourselves that our lies are the truth, in an effort to save ourselves. So it's easy to believe that that's what she did. But, this too is pure speculation. It makes for great dinner debates, but I would think has absolutely no place in hard police work or a court of law.
Yet that's what seemed to drive both of those areas in this case--conjecture, passionate opinions, and a dire desire to make this story stick, with or without facts to back them up. As such, like most badly prosecuted cases, it's likely the real truth of what happened to Meredith Kercher will never be known. And also as such, it's unlikely that your own views of "did they or didn't they" will have changed by book's end.
I do have a few stylistic complaints about this book. First, I find it very hard to believe that Amanda or her American parents ever called where she lived a "flat" or the people she lived with "flatmates." These terms are completely and utterly non-existant in American English, and it suggests to me the author took some liberties in his transcribing of conversations (most of which come from tapes made in prison of Amanda's visits with her parents and the prison priest). Second, there seem to be some gaps here and there that I found a little confusing--for example, only in the closing pages do we learn that Sollecito had more than one computer in his home, and that the Italian police had destroyed their hard drives after initially examining them. This is important because much of the prosecution's case was based on tearing down the alibi that Sollectio and Knox were at his apartment the night of the murder, based in part on computer forensics that showed he was not using his laptop the entire night as he'd said. Clearly if had more than one computer he could have been using those, instead, and it makes no sense to me why the police would have destroyed potential evidence they'd seized. But, perhaps the book only mentions this at the very end because maybe the courts only mentioned it at the very end (specifically, in the Hellmann report, which this book summarizes in the last chapter).
On the plus side, the background on Amanda, Meredith, and their lives before coming to Perugia and their time together before the murder is interesting and helps set the stage before the bludgeoning we as readers receive for the rest of the book with what might as well be called a modern retelling of Rashomon , set in the Italian hills.
October 13, 2020
A shocking murder in an idyllic setting, an international media storm, a drawn-out trial and conviction followed by an even more sensational acquittal is all told with the respectful eye of a dispassionate journalist, who uniquely benefits in reporting on this case from being a British citizen who has lived in Italy for years. True crime tends to be an underloved genre, but this thankfully avoids the sensational luridness that has become a cliche of the genre.
November 28, 2020
I was fascinated with the books that were published about the Amanda Knox case and trial.
This is the second book I read about the subject and is phenomenal and is well researched.
After reading this book I believe Knox and her boyfriend were wrongly convicted though Knox and Rafaelle made some pretty stupid decisions (as many teenage college students d0) I don't believe they committed this murder.
I highly recommend this book.
This is the second book I read about the subject and is phenomenal and is well researched.
After reading this book I believe Knox and her boyfriend were wrongly convicted though Knox and Rafaelle made some pretty stupid decisions (as many teenage college students d0) I don't believe they committed this murder.
I highly recommend this book.
May 30, 2014
Meredith Kercher was a smart, witty, fun loving, focused, memorable, aboslutely beloved, very pretty young woman. She was brutally raped and murdered, she suffered and died a horrible death, knowing what was done to her and by whom. But after reading this book I have no idea why.
The author lays this very complex story out from beginning to end and from all viewpoints. It is very readable and for me, a real page turner. I admired the Italian legal teams and their committment, patience and extreme dedication either defending Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito or prosecuting them.
I admired the Kercher family for their grace and incredible composure throughout their horrendous ordeal from Meredith's death to Amanda Knox's eventual acquittal.
There were times that I was utterly convinced of Amanda Knox's guilt and yet I couldn't be sure. I guess I find it very likely, based on all evidence, that she was involved. Yet many many people for the very same reasons say no, she is totally innocent.
If you live in Britain, where Meredith was from, I suspect you are more likely to believe Amanda is a cunning psychopath, but in the USA where Amanda is from, her brash 'American-ness" is disliked.
The Italians and the British people were not impressed by Amanda's disregard for propriety and her parents badmouthing the Italian system and using the press to attack the police, question the DNA evidence, and so on. Of course the Knox's were desperate to save their daughter. But they really did give off the vibe of, "if it isn't American, it can't be any good."
Interesting though that they have never contacted the Kercher family to offer condolences or any kind of sympathy. Very very insensitive in my opinion and insightful.
Certainly Amanda is hard to like, I am sure it's true she is a narcassist. Her rejection of many social 'norms' is no reason in the slightest to assume her guilt, but it is totally bizarre that she and her boyfriend Raffaele were basically necking at every opportunity after Meredith's body was discovered, and totally uncaring about who saw them. And everyone did see them and everyone had the same reaction - wow, that's so totally inappropriate and disrepectful.
The man, Rudy, who is still in jail and admits to being there when Meredith was killed and who also places Amanda and Raffaele at the scene, has never told the whole story.
Amanda's explanation of how shocked, tired and berated she was by the police during her interrogations that she eventually gave them an innocent man's name, who went to prison for a time, is totally unbelievable to me. If you are innocent and know exactly what you did on the night in question you should be able to explain that clearly. To me, she is either the world's worst communicator or she was so confused with her lies it never became totally clear. And I am well aware that many innocent people have been basically tortured by police to give a name, but I don't believe this was the situation in Amanda's case at all. It was just her excuse. She is a far stronger person as we come to realize than she let on at her police interrogations. She held fast even though she went to prison for four years!
A strange, self absorbed woman - yes. A murderer - maybe. The evidence strongly suggests there were two or three people involved. Who were the others besides Rudy if not her and Raffaelle? Sadly the Kercher family will likely never know for sure as it seems unlikely Amanda will ever have to go back to Italy to stand trial a third time. I have not read her book and am not likely too. Rest in peace Meredith Kercher, what a sad end to a short life where she brought much love and light to her many friends and family.
The author lays this very complex story out from beginning to end and from all viewpoints. It is very readable and for me, a real page turner. I admired the Italian legal teams and their committment, patience and extreme dedication either defending Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito or prosecuting them.
I admired the Kercher family for their grace and incredible composure throughout their horrendous ordeal from Meredith's death to Amanda Knox's eventual acquittal.
There were times that I was utterly convinced of Amanda Knox's guilt and yet I couldn't be sure. I guess I find it very likely, based on all evidence, that she was involved. Yet many many people for the very same reasons say no, she is totally innocent.
If you live in Britain, where Meredith was from, I suspect you are more likely to believe Amanda is a cunning psychopath, but in the USA where Amanda is from, her brash 'American-ness" is disliked.
The Italians and the British people were not impressed by Amanda's disregard for propriety and her parents badmouthing the Italian system and using the press to attack the police, question the DNA evidence, and so on. Of course the Knox's were desperate to save their daughter. But they really did give off the vibe of, "if it isn't American, it can't be any good."
Interesting though that they have never contacted the Kercher family to offer condolences or any kind of sympathy. Very very insensitive in my opinion and insightful.
Certainly Amanda is hard to like, I am sure it's true she is a narcassist. Her rejection of many social 'norms' is no reason in the slightest to assume her guilt, but it is totally bizarre that she and her boyfriend Raffaele were basically necking at every opportunity after Meredith's body was discovered, and totally uncaring about who saw them. And everyone did see them and everyone had the same reaction - wow, that's so totally inappropriate and disrepectful.
The man, Rudy, who is still in jail and admits to being there when Meredith was killed and who also places Amanda and Raffaele at the scene, has never told the whole story.
Amanda's explanation of how shocked, tired and berated she was by the police during her interrogations that she eventually gave them an innocent man's name, who went to prison for a time, is totally unbelievable to me. If you are innocent and know exactly what you did on the night in question you should be able to explain that clearly. To me, she is either the world's worst communicator or she was so confused with her lies it never became totally clear. And I am well aware that many innocent people have been basically tortured by police to give a name, but I don't believe this was the situation in Amanda's case at all. It was just her excuse. She is a far stronger person as we come to realize than she let on at her police interrogations. She held fast even though she went to prison for four years!
A strange, self absorbed woman - yes. A murderer - maybe. The evidence strongly suggests there were two or three people involved. Who were the others besides Rudy if not her and Raffaelle? Sadly the Kercher family will likely never know for sure as it seems unlikely Amanda will ever have to go back to Italy to stand trial a third time. I have not read her book and am not likely too. Rest in peace Meredith Kercher, what a sad end to a short life where she brought much love and light to her many friends and family.
November 10, 2020
It is impossible to know how true a piece of journalism is -- only falsehoods can really be proven. Even then, it usually takes a very knowledgeable reader to detect them. Most of us have little more to go on than a kind of professional instinct: does it feel right? Does it follow the rules we've learned to follow ourselves?
That said, John Follain's book on the Meredith Kercher murder feels just about perfect. It it one of the rare and special works of true-crime journalism that rises above simply feeding our curiosity, and confronts readers with the unfathomable of complexity that dogs any attempt to unravel the past. Follain approaches his subjects with an enviable mix of detachment and compassion. Readers can see the effort he devotes to present the facts simply, but in context, to describe the participants both as they saw themselves and as they appeared to others.
Follain's background serves him well: a British journalist who has been based in Italy for years, and who covered the case from beginning to end, he feels like exactly the right person to write this story. He presents his story chronologically, and as the investigation, then the court case, proceed, we see both why so many investigators were completely convinced not only that Amanda Knox had murdered Meredith Kercher, but that her guilt was proven ... and why others saw deep and fundamental flaws in that case, and were passionately certain a great miscarriage of justice was being wrought against an innocent girl. The more facts he presents, the more complex, confusing and obscure the events of the crime itself become. There is no conclusion.
I would call this book a must-read for any fan of true-crime or fictional mystery, or for any one who has seen human justice a little too close to their own lives.
That said, John Follain's book on the Meredith Kercher murder feels just about perfect. It it one of the rare and special works of true-crime journalism that rises above simply feeding our curiosity, and confronts readers with the unfathomable of complexity that dogs any attempt to unravel the past. Follain approaches his subjects with an enviable mix of detachment and compassion. Readers can see the effort he devotes to present the facts simply, but in context, to describe the participants both as they saw themselves and as they appeared to others.
Follain's background serves him well: a British journalist who has been based in Italy for years, and who covered the case from beginning to end, he feels like exactly the right person to write this story. He presents his story chronologically, and as the investigation, then the court case, proceed, we see both why so many investigators were completely convinced not only that Amanda Knox had murdered Meredith Kercher, but that her guilt was proven ... and why others saw deep and fundamental flaws in that case, and were passionately certain a great miscarriage of justice was being wrought against an innocent girl. The more facts he presents, the more complex, confusing and obscure the events of the crime itself become. There is no conclusion.
I would call this book a must-read for any fan of true-crime or fictional mystery, or for any one who has seen human justice a little too close to their own lives.
April 11, 2015
I was one of those people who was initially taken in by the media version of events and who assumed that Amanda Knox and Raffaele Solecito were probably guilty of the murder of Meredith Kercher. However, the more the British media pushed the idea of Amanda Knox as an evil sex-crazed woman down our throats the more I began to doubt her conviction. After the Italian Supreme Court's decision this year I decided to read an account of the evidence presented in court. This book isn't perfect by any means. The attention to detail is admirable but can sometimes be a little irritating. Nevertheless, the author is fair to all parties and presents a balanced version of the arguments presented in court. He leaves it to you to decide where you stand on the issue. It's clear to me that the media rarely touched on the questionable behaviour of the Italian police and the leading prosecutor in the case. Nor did they ever really question the sequence of dangerous, and quite frankly sexist, assumptions and biases that led to both these individuals being put on trial. I can't find any evidence here to put either of them at the scene of the crime. It has all the hallmarks of a terrible miscarriage of justice and one where, if there was any true justice in the world, those responsible would be brought to book themselves.
February 3, 2015
Given the circumstances it isn't the sort of book you glorify. However, the author, John Follain, did very well in putting all this together. From reading up on current news it seems there is another re-trial this March 2015. I don't think we will ever know the truth! There are many unanswered questions starting with Rudy. Why has he only been jailed if they were more than one attacker? In order for her not to have fought back, Meredith must have been restrained by at least one other person. They say the room was very small yet they amount of officers who went in proved evidentially it was do able. Amanda and Raffaele sure seem the guilty. I don't know many people who use a police station to keep up on their yoga diary or passionate affairs. If she was such a good friend why was she so...absent? There was no remorse given during the trial and photographs displaying Meredith's injuries. It is a book that expresses well but with no ending it leaves you questioning more than ever!
January 18, 2015
I have read this book twice now. The first time when they were all sentenced and then again when the appeal came through and Know was released.
This seems to be an unbiased, extremely factual but very interesting layout of events that start before the girls are living together until after all the sentencing has been given. John Follain was there first hand in the thick of the story and therefore gives a detailed account of this horrific case.
I would read this again as I am fascinated by this true story and am always searching for an answer. I will probably read it again when the re-trial verdict is announced.
If you want to know the details of this case from an unbiased perspective I think this book is a great option.
This seems to be an unbiased, extremely factual but very interesting layout of events that start before the girls are living together until after all the sentencing has been given. John Follain was there first hand in the thick of the story and therefore gives a detailed account of this horrific case.
I would read this again as I am fascinated by this true story and am always searching for an answer. I will probably read it again when the re-trial verdict is announced.
If you want to know the details of this case from an unbiased perspective I think this book is a great option.
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