There are thousands of documents and files in the file library of this murder case. To help the newcomer navigate the case and acquire a better overall understanding of the case, I have listed here a number of key documents. The files are
organized principally by subject matter.
- 2003-03-01-Permit-cottage-revisions-plans-elevations.pdf This file provides plans and elevations of the cottage. The murder occurred in the upper apartment "Primo Piano", accessed from the entrance drive. Note the two bathrooms.
- 2014-perugia-kercher-map.jpg This jpeg shows the immediate context around the cottage, with the locations of where some of the witnesses lived.
- cottage-012.jpg A view of the cottage.
- cottage-002.jpg A view of the back side of the cottage. One can see the terrace which is accessed from the kitchen. The "second story" window at the rear is the window to Meredith's room.
- cottage-030.jpg A view of the gap between the driveway rampart and Romanelli's window. Romanelli's room was ransacked and her window pane broken in what police and witnesses believed was a poor attempt to make it look like a burglar had entered through the second story window.
- 2007-11-02-Deposition-Police-Sollecito.pdf There are many depositions that were taken by police and the prosecutor, but the key ones remain this small group. Both Knox and Sollecito drastically changed their witness statements the night of November 5th, 2007. Sollecito was the first to change his alibi, after police noted discrepancies in his November 2nd statement with phone records. In his newer statement, Sollecito claimed he left Knox in town and went home to his own apartment alone the night of the murder. For her part, Knox claimed she was in the kitchen of the cottage while Lumumba killed Meredith in Meredith's bedroom. She voluntarily repeated this in a follow-up deposition with the prosecutor oncall (Mignini.) The question remains, why did they both change their stories, seeking to blame others for the crime? Why did Sollecito feel compelled to say Knox was not with him the night of the murder?
- 2007-11-05-Deposition-Police-Sollecito.pdf
- 2007-11-02-Deposition-Police-Knox.pdf
- 2007-11-04-Writings-Knox-email-to-friends.pdf
- 2007-11-06-Deposition-Police-Knox-0145.pdf
- 2007-11-06-Deposition-Police-Knox-0545.pdf
- 2007-12-17-Interrogation-Prosecutor-Knox-transcript.pdf By the time of this interrogation, Knox and Sollecito were 'reunited' in their alibis.
- 2007-11-19-Intercept-Skype-Chat-Guede-Benedetti.pdf Rudy Guede's initial intercepts and depositions also contain varying or evolving details, though they do not drastically change like Sollecito and Knox's depositions. Guede's initial statements remain quite vague about who the murderer(s) might be. At first it is a man with a knife, shorter than he, with light brown hair, and high cheekbones. Later, Guede claims to have seen a girl with blonde hair outside the cottage during his scuffle with the murderer. Finally, Guede accused Knox and Sollecito of the murder during the 2011 appeal. It remains an important question why he did not directly identify them as the murderers from the beginning.
- 2007-11-19-Intercept-Skype-Call1-Guede-Benedetti.pdf
- 2007-11-19-Intercept-Skype-Call2-Guede-Benedetti.pdf
- 2007-11-21-Deposition-Police-Koblenz-Guede-Police-translation-Italian.pdf
Much of the court room testimony helps to clarify details of the case, such as what the witnesses saw or heard, or what was determined by police analysis, or what the consultants felt were critical matters. This small selection offers some examples.
- 2007-11-08-Testimony-CM-cautionary-arrest-Sollecito.pdf
- 2007-11-08-Testimony-CM-cautionary-arrest-Sollecito-summary.pdf Both in the summary and transcript testimony, Sollecito remarks he no longer wishes to see Knox. This attitude is likely due to memos Knox gave to the police after their arrest. In the memos, she gave differing and confusing accounts of the night of the murder, at one point noting that Sollecito had "fish blood" on his hands.
- 2007-12-07-Testimony-CM-cautionary-arrest-Guede.pdf Guede already starts to hint at more than one murderer in this testimony.
- 2008-10-04-Testimony-PM-Stefanoni.pdf This testimony discusses DNA procedures and also defense objections to the DNA analysis. Dr. Stefanoni's replies to judge Micheli are of particular interest.
- 2009-04-04-Testimony-MC-Guede-Rolli-Marchionni-Liviero.pdf Dr. Marchionni's testimony about the bruising in the vaginal canal is particularly important as it underscores that Meredith did suffer sexual violence, contrary to what Guede maintained. (Guede claimed he and Meredith voluntarily "petted".)
- 2009-05-29-Testimony-MC-Sbardella-Politi-Codispoti-Giobbi.pdf Codispoti's testimony clarifies the scope of the UACV and what their crime scene analysis revealed. He noted that Meredith's relative lack of defense wounds strongly suggested she was restrained by multiple people during the attack.
- 2009-03-28-Testimony-MC-Curatolo-Gioffredi-Sollecito-Aiello-Kokomani.pdf Curatolo's answers to judge Massei's questions are rather interesting in clarifyng how Curatolo saw Knox and Sollecito in piazza Grimana on the night of the murder.
- 2013-11-25-Testimony-NC-Closing-arguments-Crini.pdf Crini's discussion of the differences between civil trials and criminal trials is extremely interesting. It clearly shows how the two types of cases require fundamentally different approaches to evidence evaluation. This is important for understanding what happened in Knox and Sollecito's first appeals trial in Perugia and in the final Cassazione ruling in 2015. Both of these courts were presided by judges with primarily civil case experience.
