Thursday, November 04, 2010

Report #2 On Perugia: What Very Very Close Neighbors Sollecito And Guede Really Were

Posted by SomeAlibi

Posted by SomeAlibi on 11/04/10 at 07:29 PM in Evidence & WitnessesReal locationsRaff Sollecito27 Single alibi hoax

Comments

Great video - thanks, Some Alibi! You are our eyes and ears. Thanks again for the white roses on the gate on Monday. It was quite thoughtful of you to do that.

Posted by Earthling on 11/05/10 at 10:10 AM | #

By Storm Roberts (Innai)

Thank you.  It is many years since I visited Perugia - I remember the “old town” streets well - it is quite a large place, but, as your video above shows, the old centre is quite compact and the area in which this tragedy unfolded is actually very small. 

The time to get between the two flats is very short, the basketball court is probably no more than 5-7 minutes walk further and Meredith’s house just a couple of minutes further than that.  I am sure that, as you walk the streets of Perugia, the distances, the time taken to walk between the points really shows how tightly packed everything is and how mere minutes could see someone move from their home to the basketball court and the crime scene.

I would like to echo Earthling’s thanks for the white roses you left in Meredith’s memory - such a gesture, generously on behalf of many who remember Meredith, shows that she will not be forgotten and that people really do care and want to see justice done for her.  Thank you.

Posted by Nolongeramember on 11/05/10 at 11:56 AM | #

Fine video, Some Alibi. I think the quotes at the end are very thought-provoking.

I do have to note, however, that I am in a medium-sized European town of apartment blocks. It’s a common way to live here, and there are probably (I would guess) at least 500+ people living within 2 minutes walk of where I live, and I only know a bare handful of them (and those are nodding acquaintances), so the proximity of Sollecito’s apartment and Guede’s apartment is perhaps not so strong of an argument.

But Sollecito’s cagey manner when Guede was arrested, and the fact that Guede was a small-time dealer of pot and Sollecito an enthusiastic supporter, certainly makes the odds on them being acquainted that much higher.

And thank you for the roses, indeed.

Posted by Janus on 11/05/10 at 03:03 PM | #

A couple of points of reference for the video which might be on interest here.

The further up Garibaldi you go (Sollecito lived about 2/3 of the way up) the less foot traffic there is.

At the top of Garibaldi there is a city gate which leads onto the high circular road that goes all around the massif. I for one never ever saw anyone walking there.

Sollecito would have used that gate to go in his car to his computer school which is in a straight line with Garibaldi way down the hill to the west.

The main campus of the university where Meredith studied is just down to the right directly behind Sollecito’s place.

I believe Sollecito’s apartment was on the ground floor. Does anyone know any different?

Posted by Peter Quennell on 11/05/10 at 06:18 PM | #

I don’t have the cite for this, but when Jovana Popovic came by Raffaele’s flat to tell him that he wasn’t needed to take her to the train station on the night of the murder, Amanda told her that Raffaele was upstairs. I believe Amanda also said something about going downstairs to open the door.

I don’t remember whether this was in her testimony or in something she wrote. From this, it seems that the ground floor exterior door was to an entry hallway with a stairway leading off of it (possibly accessed by an interior door)  going up to Raffele’s flat on an upper level.

Posted by beans on 11/05/10 at 07:31 PM | #

Jovana Popovic testified in court about her conversation with Amanda on the evening of the November 1st (2007).

The following is from a post by stewarthome2000 on 3/22/09 on TJMK: Report from the Courtroom: How Saturday Went.

“First up was Jovana Popovic…  She said she rang the bell about 8:40pm, and Amanda answered and came to the door on the street.”

She said that Raf was upstairs and invited Giovana up, but Giovana declined and said she just waanted to tell Raf that there was no need to go to the station but grazie anyway.”

Posted by beans on 11/05/10 at 08:23 PM | #

I did read somewhere that Sollecito’s apartment was on the ground floor on the right as you are looking at the front door but I think this is just speculation.
It is more likely upstairs as Beans states above.

Interestingly, if such a catastrophic flooding due to the breakage of the pipes took place, there is no known reports of any water leakage downstairs.

Posted by Black Dog on 11/05/10 at 09:08 PM | #

By Storm Roberts (Innai)

To quote the Massei Report (in the translation this is on page 321) in the section looking at Sollecito’s mobile phone reception (this is a discussion of mobile reception from Sollecito’s consultant):

“.....there is bad reception tout court [altogether] inside the dwelling, which is located on the ground floor and is bounded by thick external walls, whereas optimal reception of the signals is shown at the level of the entrance….”

Thus Sollecito’s flat was on the ground floor which is a different level than the entrance.

Posted by Nolongeramember on 11/06/10 at 11:44 AM | #

By Storm Roberts (Innai)

Just thinking about my above comment re: Sollecito’s flat; in many blocks of flats that I have seen you have the entrance (with things like numbered post boxes etc) then a half flight of stairs to the first flat. 

Given the hilly nature of Perugia, although this street is not on a particularly steep incline, that half flight of stairs might be all that is needed to “level off” the flats for living.

I lived in a “ground” floor flat like this once, all the upstairs flats had an intercom to the front door, but our home didn’t as we were only 4 or 5 steps away from the building front door.

Posted by Nolongeramember on 11/06/10 at 01:22 PM | #

Really liked this video, thanks SomeAlibi.  Always good to see actual videos and pictures of relevant locations and characters, ie with post of Curalto and pictures of Perugia and area surrounding Meredith’s house.  Having never been there myself (though now on my list of places to visit)conveys a real sense of atmosphere and context.

Posted by Lola on 11/17/10 at 06:51 PM | #

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