Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Her 25th Birthday: It So Matters To Her Family That Meredith Is Cherished And Loved Around The World
Posted by Our Main Posters
A few days ago John Kercher wrote this poignant piece for the UK’s Daily Mirror.
He painstakingly re-explains what the Knox conspiracy theorists still don’t seem able to read or comprehend, the precise text of the Massei Report, a report for which the Appeals Court in allowing only the barest of re-examinations has already shown huge respect.
And he again describes for her admirers around the world what a bright lively caring girl Meredith was, and how she is so much missed by her family at this season of joy for most others.
As the third anniversary of the killing of our daughter Meredith passes, there is no relief from the publicity which surrounds it.
Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were convicted in December 2009 of her murder and sentenced to 26 and 25 years respectively.
Under Italian law, they are entitled to two appeals ““ the first to the court in Perugia and, if that goes against them, then the Supreme Court in Rome.
It means we are constantly reminded of the awful details of our daughter’s death, when we’d like to concentrate on our happy memories of her.
Although the tragedy is never going to leave us. As her mother Arline once said: “It is a kind of life sentence that has been imposed on our thoughts.”
It has not been easy to cope. As her father, I cannot ever put that tragic night out of my mind. I try to concentrate on Meredith’s humour and smile, which is something we all remember her for.
But whenever I open a paper or switch on the TV there is something about the trial and the appeals. You would like to stop being reminded of the horrific details, but they are always there.
Naturally I can understand that there are constant proclamations of the convicted people’s innocence.
But it means it is almost impossible to only remember Meredith as the caring and loving person that she was.With two movies in the pipeline about the events, it only serves to make the agony worse. We’ve suffered for three years and it seems unreasonable for it to continue. The first appeal of Knox, 23, and 26-year-old Sollecito has begun and is expected to last at least until spring, since the court only tends to sit for one day per week.
As before, there are two judges and a jury of six, of which five are said to be women. Surprisingly many people seem to be unaware of many of the important facts which led to their convictions.
Under Italian law, the presiding judge at the trial, where the accused were convicted, must present a report as to the reasoning behind his and the jury’s decision to convict. Judge Massei wrote a 400-page report. A situation, I believe, you would not find in a UK or US court. It is a revealing document which many people do not seem to have read.
This report, which I have read over and over, details all of the evidence from DNA to witnesses.
The defence lawyers are insisting that DNA evidence on the said murder weapon is of such a low sample it should not be admitted. This was the knife which police found in a drawer in Sollecito’s apartment, which showed traces of DNA of Knox and of Meredith.
However, the head of forensics in Rome, Patrizia Stefanoni, who conducted the tests, is one of the most respected in Europe, if not the world.
It is the focus on this knife which has caused confusion. This piece of evidence is all anyone mentions. Judge Massei’s report also states a shoe print found in Meredith’s room was consistent with the size that Amanda would have worn.
Genetic mixtures, or DNA, of Knox and Meredith’s blood were found in the small bathroom in three separate locations ““ on a tap, a bidet and a box of cotton buds.
In some cases there was evidence that pointed to the fact some of the blood had been washed, in an attempt to clean it away. In the room of one of the Italian room-mates, Filomena Romanelli, where it is said a burglary was “staged”, a sample yielded a mixed genetic profile of Knox and the victim.
Of the samples taken almost in the middle of the corridor and in front of the door to Knox’s room gave the result: victim plus Knox. These samples were discovered after the use of luminol, which reveals bloodied footprints even after attempts to clean them.
Regarding Sollecito’s DNA on fragments of Meredith’s bra, the idea of contamination is refuted, since his DNA was not anywhere else in Meredith’s room.
As for the “burglary”, where Romanelli’s room was found in disarray, the judge determined that if a burglar entered her room from the outside, through the window almost four metres above the ground, he would need two attempts. Firstly, to scale the wall to open the shutters on the window.
He would then have had to return to ground level to collect a stone to throw at the window to break the glass. Then he would have to climb the wall again to reach through the hole to open the latch.
There was no evidence of any footmarks on the wall.
It was therefore decided that the window was broken from the inside, after the room had been ransacked. This was why the broken glass was on top of the clothes on the floor, instead of under them, where it should have been.
Also, drawers to bedside tables had not been opened and boxes where valuables might have been kept had not even been searched.
When Filomena Romanelli returned to the house and surveyed her room and looked everywhere, she declared nothing had been stolen.
However, it is said that when police first arrived at the house, before Romanelli had even arrived, Sollecito told police there had been no theft. But how could he have known?
There is more relating to Knox and Sollecito’s constantly changing alibis and witness statements relating to their whereabouts on that night.
Defence lawyers have persisted with the theory the break-in and killing was conducted by a “lone wolf”, and that the person responsible is Rudy Guede. He was sentenced at a fast-track trial to 30 years, later reduced on appeal to 16 years.
His second appeal to the Supreme Court was yesterday rejected.
Now that his conviction is upheld, he might decide to tell the truth about the night of November 1, 2007. Guede is the only one who has claimed to have been in the house on that fateful night.
This, as I have said, has been going on for three years, but Meredith is still, and always will be, in our hearts and minds.
The difference at Christmas is, for us, that she is not there, seated at the table.
But when we open our Christmas cards, it is certain that there will be a few signed from her. We always do that. We have to believe that she is still with us.
We shall toast her with a smile, and remember her voice and laugh. And, usually, on Christmas Eve we shall go to the cemetery and leave cards and small presents for her, as shall her friends.
Ultimately, however, we would like to know the truth. Meredith was such a loved person by everyone ““ she was someone who cared about others.
The major question of why did this happen to her is constantly on our minds. You go to the cemetery and see all of the flowers and messages which friends still leave for her, and we know that she is never going to be forgotten.
As someone recently wrote on the internet: “Meredith is cherished and loved around the world.”
Tweet This Post
TweetComments
My heart goes out to the Kerchers at this very difficult time. The loss of such a lively, intelligent and kind girl—I cannot even imagine it.
On this day, what would have been Meredith’s 25th birthday and just the beginning of her extraordinary life, I would like to dedicate Elton John’s song Skyline Pigeon to Meredith’s memory. It was my Dad’s favorite Elton song. I heard Elton say in an interview once that this song is like a hymn. Below are a YouTube link and the lyrics.
SKYLINE PIGEON
Music by Elton John
Lyrics by Bernie Taupin
Turn me loose from your hands
Let me fly to distant lands
Over green fields, trees and mountains
Flowers and forest fountains
Home along the lanes of the sky-way
For this dark and lonely room
Projects a shadow cast in gloom
And my eyes are mirrors of the world outside
Thinking of the ways
That the wind can turn the tide
And these shadows turn from purple into grey
For just this skyline pigeon,
Dreaming of the open
Waiting for the day
That he can spread his wings
And fly away again
Fly away, skyline pigeon fly
Towards the things
You’ve left so very far behind
Fly away, skyline pigeon fly
Towards the dreams
You’ve left so very far behind
Let me wake up in the morning
To the smell of new-mown hay
To laugh and cry, to live and die
In the brightness of my day
I want to hear the pealing bells
Of distant churches sing
But most of all please free me
From this aching metal ring*
And open out this cage towards the sun
For just this skyline pigeon
Dreaming of the open
Waiting for the day
That he can spread his wings
And fly away again
Fly away, skyline pigeon fly
Towards the things
You’ve left so very far behind
Fly away, skyline pigeon fly
Towards the dreams you’ve left so very,
So very far behind
——
*My Dad recorded this song from Elton John’s rendition at Ryan White’s funeral, played it over and over, and even transcribed the lyrics. He misheard this part as “aching memory,†which is in some ways even more poignant.
John Kercher speaks with the articulation of a very intelligent man who is obviously devastated by the loss of his daughter. My prayers go out to him and his family. I hope for the Kercher’s sake, someday soon one of the perpetrators will come forward and finally admit the truth.
Today is Meredith’s 25th Birthday…As I watched my son sleeping so peaceful, I said a prayer for Meredith’s family and friends. Then I said a prayer for Meredith, I know today will be so hard for her family and friends but with God to lean on I pray it will make it easier.
And I prayed that AK, and RS will spend the rest of their lives in prison where they belong.
12/28/10
Happy Birthday, Meredith. Earthling’s song is beautiful.
I hope the Kercher family can find a support group for Victims of Crime and get encouragement from others locally. Talk therapy can help in these learning groups based on a common bond. Tragedies can be shared and the pain diminishes. Health and hope can be restored.
Support groups for parents who have lost children to crime, groups like this could be a healing place. I hope there are some near Croydon or wherever the Kerchers need them.
Surely Meredith would want her mother and father, sister and two brothers to have all the practical support they can get, and to take back their power. The eventual goal is a full release from negative emotions. Support groups can help people overcome grief and loss, and the wounded healers become healers in the process.
Happy Birthday, Meredith.
Chris & Edda Mellas and Madison Paxton have been telling the Italian media that Amanda Knox was naive, too trusting and that Amanda’s conviction was a grave error in Italian justice.
I wonder what Chris, Edda and Madison are saying about all the other convicts being housed in Capanne Prison including Amanda’s current cell mate The Black Widow?
Most certainly the rest of the prison population at Capanne jail cannot be naive and too trusting and do not find themselves being locked away because of a serious mistake in Italian justice.
So come next Christmas, when Chris & Edda Mellas and Madison Paxton bring another turkey dinner to Amanda Knox in Capanne Prison, what will they say?
Hi True North. The Italian media should ask them this. In what way precisely was she too naive and trusting?
A less naive and less trusting perp it is rather hard to imagine.
She has clearly never told one consistent single truth ever that hangs together and is corroborated by Sollecito and the evidence.
And she seems to have done her level best to throw the investigators off her track to the extent of framing Patrick and lying on the stand last June.
It is our view that Edda Mellas and Curt Knox have known since the very early days that Amanda Knox was a party to Meredith’s death and Edda probably lied on the stand when it was her turn.
Not the dream character witnesses that a perp would want in such a situation.
Where are all Amanda’s friends (if any) from back in Seattle? Why are they not speaking up? Did they all know as we are told that she was a case for treatment all along? On which the parents defaulted?
Let’s face it, those really are the parents from hell. Good title for a bestseller book if anyone is looking for one.
Where next:
Click here to return to The Top Of The Front PageOr to next entry Meredith’s Perugia #29: The Very Elegant City Of Milano Just Half A Day To The North
Or to previous entry A Meditation On The State Of Play In The Search For Justice For Poor Meredith