Friday, March 20, 2009

Trial: Proceedings Resume, The Agenda For Friday And Saturday Is 11 Witnesses

Posted by Peter Quennell


Eleven witnesses are scheduled - and they are probably about to provide some really dramatic testimony.

On Friday, the police experts who analysed the locations and activities of the phones relevant to the case will take the stand. The phones in question include Meredith’s two mobile phones (one of which was in Filomena’s name) which may have been removed from the house to prevent Meredith from calling for help as she lay dying.

They were both tossed into a garden very close to Sollecito’s and Guede’s places. The finding and reporting of one of the phones resulted in the Communication Police visiting Meredith’s house, where they have testified they found Knox and Sollecito outside apparently quite startled, with a mop and a bucket and the washing machine still running just inside.

One issue is whether anyone tried to use one of Meredith’s phones to communicate deliberately with Meredith’s password-protected bank account in the UK. Her rent money of course disappeared at the time of the murder, and Guede, Sollecito and Knox may all have been low on funds.

There should be confirmation that Sollecito’s father called Sollecito on his apartment’s land-line very late on the evening of the crime. His call went unresponded-to, perhaps because nobody was home at the time.

And there should be confirmation that Sollecito’s and Knox’s mobiles were turned off more or less simultaneously at Sollecito’s house less than an hour before the crime against Meredith took place, and that at least one of them was switched back on before daybreak the next morning, at a time when Knox and Sollecito have both claimed to have been asleep. 

On Saturday, the manager of the Conad supermarket in lower Via Garibaldi (in Sollecito’s street, and about 200 meters from Meredith’s house) will give testimony on whether Knox was seen in the supermarket early on the morning after the crime, and whether any bleach was sold. His previous statement included this:

I saw Amanda, on the morning they found the body of Meredith, doing some shopping at around 7.45am,” the witness, whose name has not yet been released, claimed.

“She was in the part of the shop where they keep detergents, but I couldn’t say for sure if she bought anything,” the man was quoted as saying by the Giornale dell’Umbria newspaper.

“I thought it was very strange for a student to be out so early in the morning. That morning was virtually a holiday, there were no lectures, if there had been I could understand her being up so early.”

Also on Saturday, the boyfriend of Alessandra Formica who apparently saw a black man similar to Guede running up the stairs near the house will testify. He and his girlfriend are often referred to as the diners, and they were returning to their parked car at the time. This could be vital to a firm timeline.

And also on Saturday the man sitting on a bench in the Piazza Grimana, from which the gate of Meredith’s house can easily be seen, is expected to testify that Knox and Sollecito came and sat nearby, late in the evening, and seemed to be keeping an anxious eye on that gate.

The timing of that action appears to be just minutes after a neighbor whose apartment looks onto the house heard a terrible scream and then footsteps running from the house in several directions.

Knox’s stepfather Chris Mellas is expected to again be present. He doesn’t speak Italian. Nevertheless, his spin on the above is awaited with great interest.

Comments

Peter,

I’ve seen a report that Solliceto’s domestic and the owner of a laundry close to his house are to be called Saturday.

The breakin was through the same window as last time, the blinds at the front of the house were also forced, but less distrurbance to the scene was caused than last time.

There was a request from the owner of the house to have it desequested in the last hearings, which was refused, and a request from the defense that the jurors visit the house, which is being considered.

It does seem that the house is becoming a magnet for sick people?.

Posted by Kevin on 03/20/09 at 11:36 AM | #

Thanks as usual for the heads-up Kevin. Always appreciated. I have a shot of that laundry, and will throw it up later. This must be the laundry where an early report had Knox hanging out on the morning after the crime.

The domestic may be about to testify that Sollecito normally kept no bleach in his apartment - it was smelling strongly of bleach when the police arrived on the day after.

Reference the second house break-in: a magnet for sick people? Or for those who want to muddy the waters?! If the latter, this really was overkill. Too many people in Italy are now thinking it was deliberate.

(And yes, it is right now the wee hours in New York. The city that never sleeps!)

Posted by Peter Quennell on 03/20/09 at 11:54 AM | #

This photograph (Acrobat) shows what is believed to be the bleach.

It is actually a rather weak bleach-and-detergent blend, which may explain why luminol has reveled so many bloody footprints in the house only partially removed.

See the green-turqoise spray bottles near the right-hand end of the second shelf? Directly above two large white plastic bottles of pure bleach.

Posted by Peter Quennell on 03/20/09 at 12:14 PM | #

And this photograph (Acrobat) shows the laundromat a few meters from Sollecito’s place.

Kevin in the top comment indicates that it may be in testimony on Friday or Saturday. Precisely why, is quite a cliffhanger.

Shots here and here of Sollecito’s building.

Posted by Peter Quennell on 03/20/09 at 12:23 PM | #

The switching off of the Knox and Sollecito cellphones more or less simultaneously was testified to this morning.

We’ll have a roundup post up soon, when there is more to report.

Posted by Peter Quennell on 03/20/09 at 06:45 PM | #

Saturday testimony: Jovana Popovic needs to be added to the list above.

From the PMF Timeline managed by Michael, here is who Joovana is.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

1750 (circa) Jovana Popovic, a Serbian female music student who worked as RS’ cleaner, arrived at RS’ flat at about 17:50 (she had an appointment nearby at 18:00 and it was before that). She went up and Amanda was alone, Jovana waited for Raffaele to ask him for a lift to get luggage from the station. Raffaele soon arrived and in a cold tone he said “OK”

2040 (circa) Jovana Popovic later got a message that for some reason there is no need to get the luggage and after finishing the violin lesson at about 20:20 she went back to tell Raffaele at around 20:40, and through the intercom she spoke to a laughing Amanda who said that Raf was there and invited her up. She did not go up.

Posted by Peter Quennell on 03/21/09 at 11:41 AM | #

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