Witnesses during the murder discovery

These are all the files related to witnesses involved in the discovery of the murder or who lived at the cottage.

Romanelli and Mezzetti

Filomena Romanelli and Laura Mezzetti were roommates of Meredith Kercher and Amanda Knox. They all lived in the upper apartment of the cottage. Each roommate had their own bedroom. Romanelli and Mezzetti shared a larger bathroom with the laundry appliances. Meredith and Knox shared a separate, smaller bathroom at the other end of the cottage. See the floor plan on this page.
Mezzetti was away at her family's home in Montefiascone, a town about 100 kilometers from Rome, during the holiday weekend on which the murder occurred. Romanelli instead spent the night of the murder at her boyfriend's house in Perugia (Marco Zaroli, see below). Romanelli's depositions and court testimony about the sequence of phone calls and events that led up to the discovery of the murder are particularly interesting. There are a number of details she notes and describes which are at odds with Knox's depositions and writings about the murder discovery sequence. Romanelli's comments about Knox and Sollecito's behavior at police headquarters after the murder discovery are also notable. Both Romanelli and Mezzetti confirmed they never saw the kitchen knife found at Sollecito's apartment and considered to be the murder weapon.

Grande, Altieri and Zaroli

Paola Grande, Luca Altieri and Marco Zaroli, along with Filomena Romanelli, were all involved in the discovery of the murder. Grande was a friend of Romanelli's. Zaroli was Romanelli's boyfriend and Altieri was Grande's boyfriend. Altieri and Zaroli were also friends, and from testimony it seems they all had known each other and had been friends for a while. The general sequence of events from the depositions and courtoom testimony is like this:
Grande was with Romanelli at the "Fiera dei Morti" when Knox called Romanelli to report the break-in at the upper apartment. Each of the girls contacted their respective boyfriends and they all drove to the cottage. Altieri and Zaroli arrived first, with Knox, Sollecito and the Postal Police already present. Zaroli checked Romanelli's room and found that nothing of value seemed to have been stolen. They noted Meredith's room was closed and locked. Altieri tried to see through the keyhole if anything was amiss. Soon afterwards, Romanelli arrived with Grande also by car. Romanelli checked her room and noted nothing of value stolen. When the Postal Police showed her they had Meredith's cellphone numbers and cellphones and that her bedroom door was closed and locked, Romanelli became agitated and asked the Postal Police to break down the Meredith's bedroom door. They refused so Romanelli asked the boyfriends to knock down the door. Altieri kicked the door down and they all discovered Meredith dead under the duvet.

Knox and Sollecito

Knox and Sollecito were also present during the murder discovery. Postal Police squad found them outside the cottage at the moment of their arrival. Their depositions on November 2, 2007, and Knox's email of November 4, have a number of varying details with respect to the depositions by the other witnesses, including when the 112 calls were made. The photos of Knox and Sollecito just outside the cottage as other police forces arrived are also notable, as they both seem exhausted. 

112 Phone calls

112 calls by Sollecito to the Carabinieri to report the break-in. Knox and Sollecito claimed these calls happened before the arrival of the Postal Police. However the timing of the police depositions, CCTV and Carabinieri call logs says differently. 

Postal police

Notices and courtroom testimony by the Postal Police concerning the sequence of events leading up to the murder discovery. The Postal Police had arrived at the cottage to find Romanelli. She was the registered owner of one of the phones found in the garden of a villa less than a kilometer away. The Postal Police did not know that Romanelli had lent to Meredith her Italian cellphone. So the discovery of the murder was a surprise for them as it was for the others.

Roommates of the lower apartment

Bonassi, Luciani, Marzan and Silenzi were four roommates who lived in the lower apartment. They were friends or relatives (Bonassi was a cousin of Marzan) and they all came from Porto San Giorgio, a town on the east coast of Italy and a few hours of Perugia. All four rommates were in their hometown the day and evening of the murder. Silenzi had recently started going out with Meredith.

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