The Rise And Fall Of “Frank Sfarzo” And How Knox-Mellas PR Eagerly Propagated His False Claims
[Frank Sfarzo, thinking of better days past…]
My previous posts
Parts One and Two of this series on the increasingly erratic Francesco Sforza (called here Frank Sfarzo, his pseudonym) are here and here.
Summary of conclusions of investigation
1) The Knox/Mellas PR campaign, the Friends Of Amanda, and the activities of online commenters like Bruce Fischer and Frank Sfarzo are one and the same, coordinated to subvert the course of justice in the trial of Amanda Knox.
There is evidence of coordination of stories planted in various media, manipulation of Wikipedia, moneys paid to Frank Sfarzo; they post on his forums, he posts on theirs, and attempts to profit from the murder of Meredith Kercher.
2) The mercenary trickster Frank, who has other agendas and is flexible on the idea of guilt or innocence of the accused, inflames her gullible supporters with stories of ‘rotten’ Italian justice, and, by demonizing the prosecutor Giuliano Mignini, makes them unlikely to ever reasonably look at the concrete evidence of guilt presented in court and confirmed in several trials so far.
3) A series of lies sourced by him and the campaign then makes it into Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito’s books, and from there into the media, which, thinking they have been confirmed by various sources, repeat them endlessly in an attempt to sway public opinion, without doing any fact checking of their own.
(Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi, co-authors, The Monster Of Florence, first set attack on legal system in process.]
Introduction to Part Three
As someone who has long been fascinated by politics and the use of PR in political campaigns, it was interesting to see similar tactics used by the campaign that sprung up around the group known as the Friends Of Amanda Knox, or, FOA.
The group, formed to battle inflammatory descriptions of Knox and counter the negative media reports about “˜Foxy Knoxy’ ” was soon indulging in pretty inflammatory rhetoric themselves, mostly through the internet.
Many trial watchers, who were used to the normal progression of murder cases, were shocked to see the virulent online campaign become the story, and translate into a wholesale attack on a foreign country’s judicial system, and an attack on one prosecutor, Dr Giuliano Mignini, and the police force of the city in which the murder took place, Perugia, Italy.
These attacks soon got picked up and repeated by a hostile media, often without the simplest fact checking, but more to do with feeding the public with an endless titillation effect of sex and violence.
Analyzing this wall of noise became an interesting pursuit for many of us. Was there truth to the allegation that these were two “˜innocent kids’ railroaded by a rogue prosecutor with an obsession with Satanism and sex, and was there widespread public support for them, or, just the semblance of it?
[Edda and Chris Mellas. Only picture of them at an FOA event, which Frank Sfarzo claims “they have no connection with”.]
And how and when did Frank Sfarzo become such a big part of the picture? Make no mistake, he was central to the PR effort, as “the only Italian reporter to attend every trial date for the two accused” and apparently a victim of “a prosecutor with an enemies list” who sent police goons to kill him (Frank Sfarzo) which only served as back story for quasi-journalists, to play out their own prejudices and excuse two people already convicted of murder.
This series of articles on the activities of Frank Sfarzo and the FOA was based on the simple philosophical equation: if some should set themselves up as watchers and experts of a murder trial conducted in a foreign language, in a country thousands of miles away, and create reams of “˜expert’ opinion that never was to be tested in court, well, who would watch the watchers?
And how important was Frank Sfarzo, as the only Italian in the mix, to give them credibility by simple parroting and agreeing with their conclusions? Who was Frank Sfarzo, anyway? (For that, see parts One and Two)
Who are the “Friends Of Amanda”?
And how did they come across Frank Sfarzo?
The FOA was originally a “group of parents whose children went to Seattle Prep School with Amanda Knox” included Tom Wright, a filmmaker, Jim Lovering, a marketing specialist, David Marriott, of the PR firm, Gogerty Marriott, and King County Superior Court Judge Michael Heavey, with attorney and CNN legal specialist Anne Bremner as their spokesman.
Seattle Resident and New York Times columnist Tim Egan fired off a series of xenophobic posts, which portrayed the 1st instance trial as an exercise in anti-Americanism. A sentiment regrettably echoed by Washington Senator Maria Cantwell.
[Many well known FOA members are seen here with Frank Sfarzo]
Here is Frank Sfarzo, fully converted to Amandaism by January 19, 2009, and on board on his blog Perugia-Shock: “Friends for Amanda…. A different kind of marines”
Hate and contempt, people judging, people lynching, profiteers, and jackals. But there are as well a few nice stories around the Meredith Kercher case.
There’s Meredith’s family who have not had a word of hate for who ever stolen their daughter’s life. There’s a guy like Rudy—guilty of having killed Meredith or of just not having called the 118? never mind—who lives today in repentance, and had thoughts of sorrow for the angel that we lost.
There are Rudy’s lawyers, Walter Biscotti and Nicodemo Gentile, able to fight with all their strength and not exactly for a fortune. There’s Rudy’s elementary teacher and her son who run to the court to testify for this unlucky guy.
There are people who go work into the jails, keeping inmates busy with any sort of activities. There are Amanda’s guards, first rough but who treat her now like a queen.
[Professor Chris Halkides, “the DNA Guy” who writes many misleading pieces on DNA evidence, with Amanda Knox and her friend Madison Paxton]
Frank Sfarzo, continuing:
There were already people in Seattle helping Amanda’s family. Now we have Anne Bremner and Amanda’s friends. They didn’t stay there just watching and complaining. They chosen to show to the world that the girl they know, the gentle and creative young woman who loves music, the outdoors and children can’t be a killer and today friendsofamanda.org, the website they built for the purpose, is ready.
“Amanda should never have been arrested,” said Anne Bremner, a Seattle attorney and TV legal analyst:
“She’s on trial because Italian officials made a series of serious investigative mistakes and didn’t realize it until they had already leveled false charges. They got themselves in so deep that they refuse to get out.
Private criminal investigator Paul Ciolino used stronger words in a CBS 48 Hours interview last year: “It’s a railroad job from hell.”
The Friends of Amanda is not associated in any way with Knox’s family or her legal defense team. It includes members from the U.S. legal and judicial systems, an internationally renowned criminal investigator, a best-selling author, and other professionals and friends who believe unequivocally in Knox’s innocence.
“Many of us are parents who would be grateful for the support of a similar group if our own child was locked up 6,000 miles away in a stranger-than-fiction nightmare,” Bremner said. “Our mission is to present the international public and the Italian justice system with the solid facts and evidence that irrefutably prove Amanda’s innocence, and bring her home.”
“The killer is serving his time,” said Bremner. “He acted alone. Neither Amanda nor Raffaele was at the scene at the time. Zero evidence connects them to this homicide. We are absolutely certain that neither of them had anything to do with Kercher’s tragic death.”
“Italian authorities and the international media have presented a lurid and utterly false image of Amanda, accompanied by fantastical references to sex games and occult rituals,” Bremner added. “Everyone who knows Amanda says these stories are beyond ludicrous.”
Not really “the marines” Amanda’s lawyer was joking about but a nice story of friendship and solidarity. “America as I like it.”
[There’s a picture of Meredith to the back here, along with her accused killers’. FOA and Knox revel in phony ‘tributes’ and ‘honor’ to Meredith, knowing it will pain the Kerchers]
Of course, as we now know, Sfarzo already had been receiving moneys from OGGI, from American networks, and, very likely, the Sollecito family.
I do not agree that he changed his mind about guilt at some point along the way.
It is my opinion, that, having known Mario Spezi from his time in Florence, he returned to Perugia to find ways to attack PM Mignini, and his primary goal was to attack his credibility and affect his Monster Of Perugia investigation through a full bore attack on his handling of the Meredith Kercher Murder case.
My opinion, as I say, but there simply is too much evidence of collusion with Mario Spezi and Douglas Preston, and financial inducements via Bruce Fischer’s gullible membership, as reported earlier.
The rest of his story, and the main point made, that the FOA had no connection with Amanda Knox’s family, (or Frank to the FOA) we know to be an outright lie, as FOA>Chris Mellas>Bruce Fischer. Note Sfarzo’s nearly two month stay with the Mellases.
Judge Heavey and others making regular donations amounting to tens of thousands of dollars to Frank Sfarzo and his never ending demands to them for more.
[Bruce Fischer, center, long chained to Sfarzo, now the toothless ‘attack dog’ of the FOA campaign]
The stories sourced from Frank about “˜Mignini’s Goons’ found its way into the CPJ, Committee to Protect Journalists, who never retracted their claim after finding out that Sfarzo lied to them, that he had assaulted police who were called by his sister when he attacked them for trying to take her away from his clutches. Maybe this had something to do with it:
Douglas & Christine Preston
Julia Preston
Even his stories about not receiving any commissions from newspapers turned out to be a lie, he directed the RCS Group to send royalties for all the previous photos and stories to Seattle, and his pleas to send donations to another PayPal account (controlled by his aunt) were not because PayPal was creating problems for him, but because he was trying to avoid taxes. (I saw copies of his e-mails, and he was traveling with copies of his aunt’s ID).
[Frank with Judge Michael Heavey, shortly after his arrival in Seattle.]
Judge Michael Heavey
He is an interesting subject in himself, as one of the most fervid FOA.. Not having been very successful in his political ambitions, and admonished by the Judicial Ethics Council for his advocacy for Amanda Knox, he seemed to have some sort of emotional connection to the case, and maybe, like Bruce Fischer, wanted a springboard for his next venture, which now, grandly, is called Judges 4 Justice.
Here is our full investigation of him along with a video and transcript of his pro-Knox presentation repeated at numerous Rotary Club venues. He even took Frank Sfarzo and Dr. David Anderson to one in Yakima, WA on July 25, 2012.
At one of them (transcript) he repeats the claims of “˜corrupt and dishonest police’, “˜they planted evidence’, “˜kangaroo court’, “˜14 hour all night long interrogation’ canards. He also says elsewhere: “I used to think he (Mignini) was evil incarnate” and, shockingly, says:
The criminals are those who perpetuated a false accusation against two good young people. These police and prosecutors lied, cheated, and stole the innocence of two good young people. They are the criminals.
Why did the Supreme Court of Italy send this case back? Here is the answer
. In an effort to save face, the Italian Supreme Court joined the prosecution and the police of Perugia, and perpetuated these false accusations. The Italian Supreme Court has become criminals themselves. They continue the abuse of two good young people.
My prediction, this goes back for a third trial, there won’t be too much fanfare, and the verdict will be not guilty, insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. The Supreme Court, the Court of Cassation, does this to save face, but in reality, in my opinion, they have disgraced themselves as jurists, they continue to disgrace their country. Is this justice? I think not.
Is Judge Heavey unhinged? You can decide here..
[Frank, the loony Dr. David Anderson, and Judge Heavey at the Yakima Rotary. Anderson still attacks the victim’s family]
Bruce Fischer
Now we all have Bruce Fischer’s M.O. of intimidation and bullying behavior down pat. He is not simply an advocate for Amanda Knox, he is Chris Mellas’s surrogate in the online wars.
His enemies list, his attempts to “out” any anonymous individual who got in his way of building an Innocence-Anywhere-for-hire advocacy group. He promised to apply for charitable status, but became for profit.
His ballistic threats to expose the leakers who came forward on Frank Sfarzo’s behavior showed how important Frank Sfarzo was to their cause, there was no level he would not sink to, this has all been reported previously, in Parts I and II. The relevance, also, of the SfarzoGate Papers is that it sank Bruce Fischer.
But it was in his using of a very few volunteers to create the impression of widespread support that he undid himself. He even patently allowed the use of PR puppet accounts to out people, and to attack PM Giuliano Mignini.
And it was in his use of sock puppets to write articles for Wikipedia, and control the Meredith Kercher, Giuliano Mignini, and Candace Dempsey entries, that he exposed himself, and even, inadvertently, showed collusion with FBI agent Steve Moore.
Here is our investigation, in part on his methods.
But where Bruce really out-did himself was where FOA friends wrote numerous articles on the poorly editorially controlled (plus active collusion with the editors) Ground Report to write numerous libels about their favorite target, Dr Giuliano Mignini. (I also once got the “˜special treatment’. No biggie, I knew when I got involved this would happen, and this cause is worth it.)
Here is one comment written by an anonymous commenter “JLS1950” to another, “Heisenberg”:
JLS1950 > Heisenberg −
Sounds to me like Mignini seeks to protect the real traffickers from “competition”. I wonder if that might help shed some light on his connections to Guede…”
And who do you think was the source for this? Frank Sfarzo.
Note: “JLS 1950” is Joe Starr, a Seattle resident who was identified as being Chris Mellas’s best friend, and whose syntax, repeated libels and foul language for the last six years in various forums marks him as being one single awful person, regardless of how many ID’s he appropriates.
[Joel Simon of the now discredited CPJ, which did not fact check Frank’s allegations, then refused to retract after it turned out he lied.]
Example of major false Sfarzo allegation
this is Frank Sfarzo on Perugia Shock:
“MIGNINI WAS THERE AND THE INTERROGATION WAS VIDEO RECORDED” January 31, 2012
“I gave the order, to bring them both in together” ““Giobbi revealed at the trial. “So, as soon as the room was ready, with the camera set up and everything, she was called in”
“I was in a room together with the prosecutor Mignini” ““Giobbi adds”“ “We were watching the interrogation, so to study her reactions”.
“So, Giobbi reveals that Mignini was present! He is responsible, then, for everything that happened that night.”
But in the court transcript Dr Giobbi says nothing of the kind. The only other observer was Dr Profazio, the head of the Flying Squad. Dr Mignini was at home in bed.
And in his testimony there was zero mention of any camera. There was no recording. They were merely puzzling over Sollecito’s and Knox’s behavior.
So here’s a legal quiz.
After an investigation into a certain Perugian Blogger’s Blog is concluded, and someone wades through three years of slanderous shite, they find posts that accuse an officer of the court of consorting with drug traffickers, and protecting them, and lying about whether Amanda Knox’s interrogation was recorded, amongst many other false allegations.
In short, if he accuses said officer of the court of committing crimes.
Is that worthy of being sued for defamation, or is it not?
Steve Moore
Shortly after ex-FBI agent became convinced by his wife to look at the case in 2010, he started running illegal background checks on prominent commenters for guilt, as he admitted on his blog. His presentations on the case were uniformly, laughably, unprofessional.
There are more than a dozen posts on TJMK debunking him.
Chris and Edda Mellas
Not only do they organize and coordinate the FOA and Bruce Fischer wings of the Amandic Party, they have made it very clear that they approve and support their activities 100%.
And then they threw a party for the troops, but hid when the infamous group photo was taken, to hide their involvement. Luckily (see image of them above) we do have a picture of them there.
I blame them for their lack of respect and thinly disguised hostility towards the Kercher family, and for allowing their surrogates to attack the Kerchers as being motivated by “greed” when it was the Massei court that awarded the damages! The people who made such comments on their behalf were at that party, and they know that! The Kerchers, with their grace and perseverance, are the polar opposites of the classless Mellases.
(David Marriott, of the Marriott PR firm, who quickly lost control of the campaign as the FOA got into attack mode.)
Frank Sfarzo, again
This is before he realized it might be better to keep his mouth shut and disappear for a while:
“Damn, I’ve heard that pmfrs are slandering me seriously through one of their members, a certain “Tamale”, a certain “Ergon and various other anonimous (sic, I am not anonymous) slanderers (people so ashamed of themselves that they don’t even have the courage of appearing with their own name and face). Good for my lawsuit. Hey, I didn’t know I was in jail”¦ Thank you “Michael”, hope you got valuable properties”¦”
No, I’m not “˜anonimous’. My photo and name’s been published on IIP since 2011, and when Sfarzo ran in to me at Cassazione in Rome on the afternoon of March 25, he couldn’t even make eye contact. He spent the whole day texting away (maybe he took a picture of me with his Blackberry? 😊. Then the last I saw of him was on the Porto Umberto I bridge that night at 10:00 PM, driving away in his little Smart Car, hunched down and still texting at the stop light.
On December 16, the lawyers for the Kercher family presented their arguments, in the Appeals court of Florence. They were there, as they had been since the beginning of the trial in Perugia, to speak for the real victim, Meredith Kercher, above all.
Then on December 17, the lawyers for Amanda Knox presented their case, which amounted to more than a rehash of false arguments. It was livened only by an e-mail from Knox, to which as the judge said, if she wants to defend herself, she can present herself in court.
Raffaele Sollecito’s lawyers will present their arguments January 09, and then the prosecution rebuttal January 10. From now on, nothing the few remaining FOA does will make any difference to the verdict, due January 15 approx.
The end
Who knew when I first commented on the case in 2010 where it would lead me? Yes, the case brought together all sorts of people, but in the end, it was the nastiest PR campaign I have ever observed. Amanda Knox, Chris Mellas, Frank Sfarzo, Douglas Preston, Michael Heavey, Bruce Fischer and Steve Moore all seemed to revel in this dirty fight.
One day, they may look back and ask “Was it worth it? Did it help the cases at all? The Monster Of Florence, Knox/Sollecito, against Mignini?” But somehow, I feel they are, and always will be, singularly unaware.
(Outside Cassazione, Aula No. 1, Rome, waiting for the court to return. 8:30 PM, Mar. 25, 2013. This is when the wheels fell off the PR bus.)
Acknowledgement
Much of the background is based on research on the principals conducted and reported in the pages of the PMF dot net forum,, the PMF dot org forum,, and TJMK here..
I want to mention Nell and guermantes, Kermit and James Raper, The Machine, jools, Mr. and Mrs. Fly By Night, Yummi, Peter Quennell, and brmull (who sadly is no longer commenting on the case), and many more. The rest, too many to list here, but gratefully acknowledged.
And also I was fortunate to be entrusted with information from many confidential sources about Frank Sfarzo, and to obtain more when I went to Rome to attend the hearing at Cassazione March 25-26, when the Italian Supreme Court accepted the appeal of the Umbrian prosecutor general Dr. Galati and annulled the acquittal of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito.
This was a collaborative effort, and my thanks to all of you.
Posted by Ergon on 12/18/13 at 08:13 AM in Hoaxes against Italy, 9 Mignini v Knox hoax, Hoaxes Knox & team, 20 No-PR hoax, Hoaxers from 2007, Knox-Marriott PR, Heavey, Bremner, Francesco Sforza, Paul Ciolino, Hoaxers from 2009, Bruce Fischer, Hoaxers: media groups, CPJ Joel Simon
Tweet This Post
TweetComments
Ergon tells us this is only the tip of the iceberg so we hope one day soon he shares some more. There is much praise in the emails. “Frank and the Gullibles”. Not all of them are malicious but many are. Fischer is really nothing but, he seems a case for serious treatment.
Missing here of course is much mention of the Knox and Sollecito lawyers, who secretly dealt a lot with Frank, but it is clear that both of the families very heavily depended upon Frank, and big money certainly changed hands.
Buyers’ remorse, now they realise so much of what they bought from him was phony?
Ergon describes Frank’s falsification of Dr Giobbi’s testimony. This is the classic example of how he took advantage of his Italian and his presence in court and his access to some of the court papers to mislead the FOA troops, and build himself up.
And to get the knife again into Dr Mignini. This is yet another basis for charging Frank, he is likely to be in and out of court for years.
Dear FOA, you may expect him to inflict on you a lot more blackmail. Better pay up, he “knows where the bodies are buried” on each of you, and he could still turn against RS and AK. This is what is making the foolish Fischer so angry..
Posted by Peter Quennell on 12/18/13 at 04:10 PM | #
Ergon, you wrote -
“this is Frank Sfarzo on Perugia Shock:
“MIGNINI WAS THERE AND THE INTERROGATION WAS VIDEO RECORDED†January 31, 2012
“I gave the order, to bring them both in together†–Giobbi revealed at the trial. “So, as soon as the room was ready, with the camera set up and everything, she was called inâ€
“I was in a room together with the prosecutor Mignini†–Giobbi adds– “We were watching the interrogation, so to study her reactionsâ€.
“So, Giobbi reveals that Mignini was present! He is responsible, then, for everything that happened that night.†“
You then post the link to Giobbi’s trial testimony.
Now is it just me or was that link not there on my first read? I say this because I then went to the Wiki to find the transcript and wasn’t able to do that either.
Now the link and transcript are in place. Or perhaps it’s just me and they always were?
Doesn’t matter. WHAT A PROVEN BULLSHITTING LIAR Sfarzo is!
Posted by James Raper on 12/18/13 at 05:01 PM | #
Hi James
I checked the link for Ergon. This seems to be the problem. The page is called “Edgardo_Giobbi’s_Testimony” That apostriophe in “Gobbio’s” should not be there in a page address, and the browser is pausing before finding it. The Wiki software should have removed it when the page was posted. .
This is the only meeting Giobbi describes that I can see that resembles even vaguely what Sforza claimed. I see others that support the prosecution description of the interrogation - Dr Mignini was said to be not there, and had to be called (from his bed at home) - and a full translation would be a godsend
**********
Anzi tutto noi abbiamo iniziato come polizia giudiziaria a sommarie informazioni testimoniali, queste sommarie informazioni sono state realizzate contestualmente in due stanze diverse da due team di investigatori di versi, io e Profazio non abbiamo partecipato, ma rimanevamo diciamo una sorta di cabina di regia per cercare di capire quali fossero le contraddizioni, perché noi arriviamo a questo anche sulla base di contraddizioni emerse nel corso delle varie sommarie informazioni testimoniali, c’è stata questa evoluzione, c’è stato diciamo la possibilità durante lo sviluppo di queste sommarie informazioni testimoniali di fare domande di approfondire di mettere a proprio agio, insomma è stata una cosa molto ordinaria la chiamerei io, assolutamente nella ordinarietà delle cose, dopo di che quando sono emerse delle dichiarazioni che andavano secondo le nostre sensazioni oltre 1’aspetto di nostra competenza quindi che non fossero a nostro parere più testimoni, ma bensì avessero un’altra posizione, noi come ben sa insomma 1’abbiamo chiamata lei è venuto e poi è andato avanti come ...
Posted by Peter Quennell on 12/18/13 at 05:32 PM | #
Just incidentally that picture of Edda (third from top) is the first one I’ve seen that shows resemblance to her, ahem, wunderkind.
So there’s no doubt about it - Amanda did enter this world in the conventional way. Hard to believe but there we are, we must stick with the evidence and put to rest all scurrilous rumours that infer diabolic origin.
Posted by Odysseus on 12/18/13 at 08:18 PM | #
It’s always been a puzzle, if the case for innocence was so clear and compelling as the FOA claim, why does it need such a vast range of distortions, dirty tricks and disreputable characters to make it?
Probably because if you let the facts speak for themselves, they point strongly towards guilt. The only way to make a case for innocence is to deny the facts and malign those seeking justice, which has been the general playbook of the defence.
Posted by bobc on 12/18/13 at 08:49 PM | #
Here’s a word or two from the meister that Amanda might dwell on in the long and lonely nights to come:
“Whoever loves becomes humble. Those who love have, so to speak, pawned a part of their narcissism”.
(Sigmund Freud)
Posted by Odysseus on 12/18/13 at 10:23 PM | #
“Anzi tutto ...” winging a quick translation ...
“In fact we began a summary of testimonies in our role as judicial police, and this summary of information was taking place in two separate rooms by two different investigative teams, and I and Profazio did not participate, but rather remained let us say in a kind of control room in order to try to understand the contradictions, because we arrived at this also on the basis of contradictions inherent in the various testimonies, there was this evolution, there was let us say the possibility during the development of these testimonies to ask questions in order to dig deeper and put things to rest, and so I would say it was very ordinary, absolutely an ordinary thing, after which when all the statements were analyzed it became clear that there were no more witnesses we called for her to come and afterwards she came forward ... “
Posted by Patrizio on 12/18/13 at 11:13 PM | #
Amazing how these lies and fabrications made it into the MSM, and tainted the reporting on this case. But, now that this information is out, there simply is no excuse.
Posted by Ergon on 12/19/13 at 01:01 AM | #
Thanks Patrizio! That seems pretty clear. No Dr Mignini and no videotape. The FOA lose yet another big one. More and more of them are creeping closer to obstruction of justice charges.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 12/19/13 at 05:09 AM | #
An Italian version of this report is available!
While reading the post, one of our translators saw a need, and set about it.
We will put it up on our Italian reports page in the morning with the same images embedded.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 12/19/13 at 05:17 AM | #
Thanks very much to the translator; I’m deeply honored they took the time to translate it for the Italian media and people.
They should indeed know the source of the many calumnies spread against the Italian judicial system and against an honorable public servant, Giuliano Mignini.
Posted by Ergon on 12/19/13 at 07:35 AM | #
“(...) ma rimanevamo diciamo una sorta di cabina di regia per cercare di capire quali fossero le contraddizioni…”
The FOAs apparently assumed that “rimanevamo una sorta di cabina di regia” means “were were in a sort of control room”.
But “cabina di regia” does not only mean “control room”, it also means “chief directive staff”.
Giobbi in his statement says “eravamo una sorta di cabina di regia”, he does NOT say “eravamo IN una cabina di regia”. There is no “in”: the “cabina di regia” is not a location. He just means, that were were “a directive staff”.
There isn’t any “control room” in this statement.
Posted by Yummi on 12/19/13 at 03:13 PM | #
Thanks for the clarification, Yummi. Even Frank seems to be running testimony through Google translate, LOL.
Posted by Ergon on 12/19/13 at 06:08 PM | #
@yummi:
Sorry my quick translation had problems. E’ stato tanti anni fa che ho imparato l’Italiano, e volevo solo aiutare ... I see I also made a mistake at the end where it says “è andato ...” which is masculine tense, so I think this refers to Magnini, who was not yet present. I think the point is that the chief directive staff were separate from the two investigative teams, and that once the teams basically concluded that there were no more witnesses to give testimonies, then they called in Magnini (l’abbiamo chiamata) and he came (lei è venuto e poi è andato avanti). Insomma Yummi, spero che mi scusi ...
Posted by Patrizio on 12/19/13 at 06:42 PM | #
Hi, Patrizio, I was just referring to Frank’s original Perugia Shock article and not your translation of course.
I found out that Frank, despite having good English speaking and writing skills, still had many of his articles edited by others at the FOA.
Hence my Google Translate joke, which relates to many of the documents found at IIP 😊
Posted by Ergon on 12/19/13 at 06:51 PM | #
@ Patrizio
But it’s ok! It’s obvious that you can’t get it 100% correct if you are not mother tongue, translation is very hard work. I said that just because the “control room” and the story of Mignini+Giobbi observing Knox is one of the myths of the FoAs.
Instead, I say thank you 100 times for pointing out that paragraph: your translation mistake can be even useful, just as an example of how the brains of the innocentisti might easily find pretexts in mistakes and twisting.
They change one phrase, omit a participle, twist a logical meaning. If you do that systematically, you can obtain anything.
Posted by Yummi on 12/19/13 at 07:36 PM | #
Google Translate throws up “control room” in Giobbi’s testimony five times.
Yummi’s correction - that it was Giobbi’s words for the directorate, those who were not in the rooms, and could not see in - works for all five.
Here from the invaluable Wiki is a section of Giobbi’s testimony in which he confirms he was not sitting in some room watching, he was off doing other things:
SS:
A proposito del comportamento della signorina Knox, lei ha detto se quanto era interrogata lei faceva diciamo, era in una specie di cabina di regia, quindi non era presente, però volevo capire se aveva avuto modo di osservare il comportamento della signorina Knox in Questura nei momenti diciamo di pausa, nei vari momenti in cui ...
EG:
No.
SS:
Lei non l’ha vista, quindi non sa.
EG:
Io non sono mai entrato in quella stanza.
SS:
No, nella stanza dove lei veniva interrogata, ma quando magari aspettava.
EG:
In occasione delle sommarie informazioni della sera.
SS:
Fuori dalle sommarie informazioni, quando magari era nell’anticamera a attendere il suo turno di essere sentita.
EG:
L’avrò vista forse un paio di volte mentre faceva una piccola pausa nell’anticamera del corridoio della squadra mobile, dove beveva dell’acqua forse questo.
SS:
In quei momenti poi lei ha avuto modo di osservare particolari comportamenti della signorina.
EG:
No, beveva dell’acqua, io poi in quei momenti c’avevo altro.
SS:
Non se li ricorda.
EG:
No, non è che non mi ricordo, io non avevo tempo di vedere comportamenti in quel frangente specifico, noi parliamo del frangente delle sommarie informazioni la sera prima dell’arresto.
SS:
Solo quello, no, io parlavo anche dei giorni antecedenti.
EG:
I giorni antecedenti 1’ho osservata come ho detto prima un sacco di volte spesso.
SS:
A parte 1’episodio della mossa, dicevo altri episodi che ne so il fatto che faceva yoga che faceva ...
EG:
No, a me rimase impresso quell’episodio altri non ce ne sono.
SS:
Non ho altre domande
Posted by Peter Quennell on 12/19/13 at 09:00 PM | #
“MIGNINI WAS THERE AND THE INTERROGATION WAS VIDEO RECORDED”
If you Google that, about the first 50 hits are to TJMK and Ergon’s great post. But after that, there are some hits on the Randi and Webssleuths forums and other places where the conspiracy theorists hang out.
In 2012 the hard-line cranks all accept it was a control room and Dr Mignini was there the whole time (and Frank is a saint). This appears to be Frank’s entire post, re-posted with joy on the Randi site:
Between 36 Cops and Amanda, Hellmann and Zanetti Believed Amanda
As it was unavoidable, indeed, the leader’s project didn’t work. Two men of value have figured out everything, absolutely everything: the pair’s innocence and the leader’s project.
Between 10, 20, 50 cops and Amanda, Hellmann and Zanetti believed Amanda. They simply followed the law: is it not true what she said? Did she spontaneously accuse Patrick? Make us see the video of the interrogation! Make us hear the audio, at least. You can’t? Then you are lying and she’s telling the truth.
The interrogation of November 5 was indeed recorded, Giobbi said that. What a combination. Only the one who left right after that night of madness, the one who couldn’t talk again with Mignini and the other cops, doesn’t confirm them. And so accuses Mignini.
Mignini Was There And The Interrogation Was Video Recorded
“I gave the order, to bring them both in together†–Giobbi revealed at the trial.
Amanda wasn’t to suspect that she was suspected, she had to think she was there by chance, just to accompany Raffaele. So that if she still had the text messages, Patrick-to-Amanda and back, she wouldn’t have deleted them.
She was expected, instead, very expected. She didn’t know, but the party was thrown for her. And for her cellphone. They had understood that Patrick was the killer and they were hoping to find proof of that in her cellphone.
That’s why they sent a cop to “chat†with her while she was waiting: to make sure she didn’t delete the text messages right before the interrogation.
So, as soon as the room was ready, with the camera set up and everything, she was called in. “Let’s go in there, because it’s warmer†they told her (ask her, she can talk now!).
“I was in a room together with the prosecutor Migniniâ€. –Giobbi adds– We were watching the interrogation, so to study her reactionsâ€.
So, Giobbi reveals that Mignini was present! He is responsible, then, for everything that happened that night.
“The room was faraway, but still I could hear her screamsâ€.
So, they could watch the interrogation from a room that was faraway. And that can only happen if the interrogation was broadcast to Mignini and Giobbi in their room, therefore it had to also have been videotaped.
And she was screaming! Impressive. An officer is so used to abuses in police stations that he can admit in court without any problem that a witness, alone in the hands of many cops, overnight, is SCREAMING during an interrogation!
Indeed she was screaming, and we even know why.
That sure is crazy Conspiracy Theory #101. (Not to mention more calunnia - you can find calunnia everywhere if you go looking.)
But in early 2013, one year later (between wails by the thin-skinned Cranks-for-Knox claiming that they are not conspiracy theorists)(funny stuff) many of the cranks can be seen backing away.
Some by then clearly saw that Frank has feet of clay. A “Rose Montague” for example said so.
Only the worst of the Cranks-for-Knox (David Anderson and a “Bill Williams”) seem desperate not to let go of the Frank version of the story Ergon describes above. They still demonize Dr Mignini, in nasty wildly wrong ways, in every post.
But remember, Dr Mignini had not the slightest interest in hearing Knox talk at all that night, with or without a lawyer.
The whole point of his one pre-dawn meeting with her - which could have lasted 5 minutes, had she not hijacked the agenda - was to warn her she was now a suspect and to talk no more until she had a lawyer.
But Knox plowed onward. Instead of shutting up, she kept babbling. she hijacked the meeting, and extended it by an hour, to laboriously dictate the slight variant that was her Statement 2.
She seems to have screamed (or shouted) in frustration at herself in both meetings. Plus bang-bang to her head - she banged her head for sure; no evidence anyone else did. Oh wait… was it that banging that made her confess?!!!
No wonder she causes herself anger and frustration and drops herself in it.
This has been a great wedge issue series. Thanks, Ergon.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 12/19/13 at 09:41 PM | #
Many thanks Ergon for exposing JLS1950! Old Joe Starr has called me all the names under the sun, and of late has started calling me a ‘murderer’ and accusing me of working for the Italian police! He is deranged! In other words, the perfect Knox minion!
I sometimes wonder if Knox supporters could be considered a cult.
Posted by MHILL4 on 12/20/13 at 03:42 PM | #
Now there’s a thought.
Let’s see? David Koresh. Jim Jones. Frank Sforza.
“My What a tangled web we weave.” A cult yes. Cults usually ferret away persons wanted by the law. They usually have their bully boys too, such as ‘Ol Joe Star,’ Steve Moore, et al
‘Curt Knox and the acolytes’
Sounds like a bad 50s rock group.
Posted by Grahame Rhodes on 12/20/13 at 04:38 PM | #
Talk about “Lost-In-Translation”?!
Thanks for your razor-like expose’ Ergon.
Early-on I used Google to translate something I wrote-in-English into Italian; then I had Google translate it’s own Italian back into English. It was a disaster of mistranslation.
Will the Innocentisti learn? I doubt it.
Posted by Cardiol MD on 12/20/13 at 05:54 PM | #
Hi Ergon and Cardiol
You both raise an interesting question. Who was using google translation, when, including Frank, and how much of their crossed wires and wrong “facts” can be accounted for by that?
Sforza’s long post about Giobbi (see in comment just above) is especially odd, because as Yummi points out no real Italian speaker would have thought Giobbi was talking about a special room where he and GM could observe everything, he was merely talking about the directorate officers who could have been moving all over the place.
Giobbi was clearly off elsewhere in the Questura with at most half an eye and half his mind on the interrogations - and Dr Mignini was at home in bed!
Conclusion: use of imperfect google translate doesnt seem to give Frank a free pass - he HAD to know he was making stuff up, epecially if he was in court when Giobbi testified.
A malicious intention.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 12/20/13 at 06:18 PM | #
It was definitely malicious, but on the subject of people paid to say shite, more to come.
However, FOA Bruce Fischer’s website is rife with trial documents that have been translated using Google; they base their criticisms on improperly translated documents.
Posted by Ergon on 12/20/13 at 10:18 PM | #
Breaking News:
Details of Amanda Knox’s appeal of her calunnia conviction to The European Court Of Human Rights
Breaking News- Details of Amanda Knox appeal of her calunnia conviction to the European Court for Human Rights:
“Dear Sir,
Thank you for your mail and your interest in the Court.
An application lodged by Amanda Marie Know (sic) has indeed been registered by the Registry of the Court on 6 December 2013. The Court will examine it in due time.
With best wishes,
ECHR – Press Unit”
Another received shortly after:
“Dear Sir,
The application number is 76577/13 and the applicant is represented by Avv. Carlo Dalla Vedova (Roma).
With best wishes,
ECHR – Press Unit”
Further details to follow as they become available.
Posted by Ergon on 12/20/13 at 10:53 PM | #
Filed By Avv. Carlo Dalla Vedova (Roma). Hmmm. I wonder if he wanted that leaking out from Strasbourg at such a key time - at least months before the Italian process is even over. Could be contempt of court.
Knox’s book and email to the court have already left the Nencini court highly un-amused. Dalla Vedova has made other mistakes before.
Last tuesday in court he began to argue unequivocally that the Knox HIV test in Capanne was a deliberate setup to shake her - it wasnt, though he has tried through the years to sustain that lie, which he may have begun.
http://truejustice.org/ee/index.php?/tjmk/comments/lifetime_movie_included_a_serious_wrong_charge/
Judge Nencini asked if he had ANY evidence , he said no, and the judge ordered him to move on.
And now this. Good luck on obtaining the full application to the court.
And good luck for Dalla Vedova if, for once, the Strasbourg subbission contains some truths. We already know that the “forced confession” was a huge lie and the next post will further nail home that..
Kermit and James had this on the hapless submission so far.
http://truejustice.org/ee/index.php?/tjmk/comments/note_for_strasbourg_court_and_state_department_/
Posted by Peter Quennell on 12/20/13 at 11:24 PM | #
Bottom line, Pete, is that her submission must, according to the court’s own rules be summarily dismissed, since it will NOT entertain any appeals six months after the rendering of the responding country’s final judgement, which as she herself writes, was on March 26, 2013.
Didn’t Carlo Della Vadova know that, or wasn’t she listening? Or, as I suspected all along, just a ploy to keep herself in the news?
Posted by Ergon on 12/21/13 at 12:23 AM | #
Hey Ergon, thanks for the review and summary of the various links between “Frank” the fugitive blogger and the different faces and tentacles of the Friends of Amanda characters, and in general the “Knox Entourage”.
Someday this sect will just collapse and dissolve (in fact, I see signs of that already), given its lack of coherence and the different reasons that each one of them has joined.
It reminds me of the dissolution in the 1980’s of Rajneeshpuram, the ranch/town/commune in Oregon of guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. When in full swing, everyday the guru would drive by in one of his several Rolls Royces and his thousands of followers would shower the car with petals…. when it fell apart, those thousands just disappeared and found other gainful hobbies.
Posted by Kermit on 12/21/13 at 12:28 PM | #
Thanks again Ergon. This series has been excellent. I’ve sent Frank the links to your articles, so he can enjoy them too. Barbara Benedettelli has just retweeted to the link to the Italian version to 1,874 followers.
Posted by The Machine on 12/21/13 at 03:08 PM | #
Thanks, Kermit, The Machine. Good to know it’s taking effect. Regarding Rajneesh, when he passed away all the money went into the pockets of his core group in India. (The Federal Marshalls did a great job seizing US assets)
No wonder Knox and Sollecito are pleading poverty, putting out the begging bowl, they want to obscure her assets 😊
Posted by Ergon on 12/21/13 at 10:04 PM | #
Thanks…you are all rock stars to me. Rip Meredith
Posted by Bettina on 12/24/13 at 03:38 AM | #
Commenting is not available in this channel entry.
Where next:
Click here to return to The Top Of The Front PageOr to next entry On Saul Kassin: Our Letter To Dr Douglas Starr Who Wrote An Effusive Profile In The “New Yorker”
Or to previous entry The Rise And Fall Of “Frank Sfarzo” And His Disastrous Trip To The US And Canada