Continuation Part 16: Amanda Knox/Raffaele Sollecito

[davefoc]

Somebody above made the point that the little side mystery associated with the downstairs evidence is irrelevant to the issue of who is responsible for the death of Kercher. That seems probable to me.

Carbonjam made a point that I agreed with that the probable relevance of the downstairs evidence to this case is that it could provide information about the approach of the PLE to evidence associated with this case. Unfortunately, the evidence associated with the blood found downstairs is not strong enough to rule out or rule in any of the theories that have been put forth. (Although Stefano, the cat torturer, is hanging by a pretty thin thread).

For me, though there was another aspect of this discussion that I found interesting. All possibilities that have been put forth seem to be unlikely and it isn't obvious what other possibilities there might be. So my curiosity was aroused but it seems unlikely to be satisfied unless, at some future time, inside information became available that would shed light on some of these minor mysteries.

I think there is some convergence here on what the likely possibilities are for the downstairs flat crime scene.

To clear up some concepts...

For #2, I don't believe anyone has proposed that Meredith went downstairs after she was attacked. She would have been too badly wounded.

Some of us have speculated that Meredith had gone downstairs before she was attacked, to water the pot plants and/or check on the famous injured cat. Some have also, I believe, speculated that she was initially attacked in the downstairs flat and then forced (or fled and was followed by her attacker) to the upstairs. I don't believe either of these scenarios are highly probable, based on the evidence of what she was wearing when attacked and the lack of any clear evidence of a struggle outside of her bedroom upstairs. The scenario in which she comes home to the upstairs flat and is attacked soon after she enters her bedroom by an intruder (Guede, who had been in the larger bathroom, apparently not visible on entry) seems simpler and fully consistent with the available evidence.

Doesn't scenario #2 require Kercher to be attacked downstairs to explain the blood? And then she would have needed to make her way upstairs only leaving a trail of small blood drops. And then aren't there blood drops outside the door? It doesn't seem like this can be ruled out but the wounds on Kercher need to just right to leave quite a bit of blood downstairs but then only drip a little as she makes her way upstairs.

For #3, the point is indeed that Guede would have gone downstairs to recover after he had fatally wounded and raped Meredith. In this scenario, it's assumed he either used the key she had for the downstairs, or somehow had another key. The police, who at first had made the finding out what had happened downstairs a priority (the DNA samples from downstairs were, according to available police records, among the first to be tested), decided to eliminate consideration of the downstairs as a crime scene. They did this by assigning, arbitrarily, all the bloodstains there to the cat with the injured blood. There is, however, no indication in the police records of any species-specific test (it would be an antigen-antibody test) to verify that the blood was from a cat. The approximately rectangular stain on the bed is, to me, totally improbable as a blood drip from a cat or a person; it appears to be the pattern left by part of an approximately rectangular object, such as the handle of a bloody knife. (There was a somewhat similar bloodstain on Meredith's bed, which has been attributed to the murder knife.) Human DNA profiles were obtained from a number of the downstairs bloodstains, but not revealed by the police. The DNA profiles must be human because of the primate-specific enzyme used in the DNA replication (PCR). The DNA must have been in the bloodstain itself or the underlying substrate (surface) or both.

For #3, it is my assumption that the police have suppressed the truth of the downstairs crime scene, including the DNA results, to hide the fact that only Rudy Guede was involved in the murder and rape of Meredith. Finding Guede's DNA in those bloodstains (his hand was wounded by his own knife in the attack - not uncommon in knife attacks) and Meredith's would have made his involvement too clear, while leaving no room for any involvement by Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito. The suppression of the downstairs evidence by the police is consistent with their suppression of evidence from upstairs, such as the identity of the donor of the putative semen stain on Meredith's pillow. This putative semen stain may be tied to the time of the attack because of the distinctive shoe print on part of it.

As to #3: It seems the most likely, but unfortunately still requires a conscious effort by PLE to suppress evidence. The argument for that is that the number of people involved in the conspiracy is fairly small and might have involved only Mignini and Stefanoni to be directly involved. However it seems like several other people would have had to acquiesce to the scheme and that's beginning to sound like a lot of people to involve in a scheme like this without significant risk of exposure. On the other hand Mignini seems to have gotten away with his Monster of Florence nonsense so maybe this is plausible. As to the theories about why this evidence would have hurt the case against AK/RS: Yeah, the discussion about this has made me understand that this is more likely than I realized initially. Identify the semen as Guede's and identify that the blood evidence downstairs is associated with Guede alone and the tiny thread that the prosecution's fantastical ideas about AK/RS involvement would have been a much tougher sell I think.

As to Grinder's question about why if the PLE was going to do something like suppressing evidence with regard to the downstairs blood wouldn't they have just planted evidence and be done with it. I think, not necessarily so. There is a big jump between suppressing evidence that might be explained by some kind of prosecutorial or forensic technician discretion or mistake and directly planting evidence which is both more likely to be detected and is a much more straightforwardly identifiable crime. And planting evidence involves a much more straight forward ethical violation that Stefanoni and even perhaps Mignini would be unwilling to cross. ETA: Several people have suggested something like this during the time of this thread. I'm not laying claim to originating the idea. I'm just repeating something I agree with.

Still, I remain unconvinced of anything about this issue. I wondered about the possibility that the PLE realized that the crime scene was compromised by one of their own and somebody made the decision to just not push on the downstairs evidence to protect them. An unlikely idea, but so far I haven't seen a possibility that looked likely to me.

 

[Numbers]

Somebody above made the point that the little side mystery associated with the downstairs evidence is irrelevant to the issue of who is responsible for the death of Kercher. That seems probable to me.

Carbonjam made a point that I agreed with that the probable relevance of the downstairs evidence to this case is that it could provide information about the approach of the PLE to evidence associated with this case. Unfortunately, the evidence associated with the blood found downstairs is not strong enough to rule out or rule in any of the theories that have been put forth. (Although Stefano, the cat torturer, is hanging by a pretty thin thread).

For me, though there was another aspect of this discussion that I found interesting. All possibilities that have been put forth seem to be unlikely and it isn't obvious what other possibilities there might be. So my curiosity was aroused but it seems unlikely to be satisfied unless, at some future time, inside information became available that would shed light on some of these minor mysteries.



Doesn't scenario #2 require Kercher to be attacked downstairs to explain the blood? And then she would have needed to make her way upstairs only leaving a trail of small blood drops. And then aren't there blood drops outside the door? It doesn't seem like this can be ruled out but the wounds on Kercher need to just right to leave quite a bit of blood downstairs but then only drip a little as she makes her way upstairs.
As to #3: It seems the most likely, but unfortunately still requires a conscious effort by PLE to suppress evidence. The argument for that is that the number of people involved in the conspiracy is fairly small and might have involved only Mignini and Stefanoni to be directly involved. However it seems like several other people would have had to acquiesce to the scheme and that's beginning to sound like a lot of people to involve in a scheme like this without significant risk of exposure. On the other hand Mignini seems to have gotten away with his Monster of Florence nonsense so maybe this is plausible. As to the theories about why this evidence would have hurt the case against AK/RS: Yeah, the discussion about this has made me understand that this is more likely than I realized initially. Identify the semen as Guede's and identify that the blood evidence downstairs is associated with Guede alone and the tiny thread that the prosecution's fantastical ideas about AK/RS involvement would have been a much tougher sell I think.

As to Grinder's question about why if the PLE was going to do something like suppressing evidence with regard to the downstairs blood wouldn't they have just planted evidence and be done with it. I think, not necessarily so. There is a big jump between suppressing evidence that might be explained by some kind of prosecutorial or forensic technician discretion or mistake and directly planting evidence which is both more likely to be detected and is a much more straightforwardly identifiable crime. And planting evidence involves a much more straight forward ethical violation that Stefanoni and even perhaps Mignini would be unwilling to cross. ETA: Several people have suggested something like this during the time of this thread. I'm not laying claim to originating the idea. I'm just repeating something I agree with.

Still, I remain unconvinced of anything about this issue. I wondered about the possibility that the PLE realized that the crime scene was compromised by one of their own and somebody made the decision to just not push on the downstairs evidence to protect them. An unlikely idea, but so far I haven't seen a possibility that looked likely to me.

For #2: Rudy Guede had cut his hand; he was bleeding. Some or all of the downstairs blood is likely to be his. Furthermore, in killing Meredith with a knife upstairs, Guede had her blood on his clothes, for example, his pants (trousers). He seems to have tried to wash off some of her blood upstairs in the small bathroom, but may not have washed much of it off. However, he may have diluted it enough to increase the clotting time, so the diluted blood could drip off his clothes. The approximately rectangular blood stain on the bed is likely from the handle of the knife, and would contain Guede's blood with possibly some of Meredith's. There is no evidence Meredith was attacked downstairs, and the amount of blood downstairs is much less than that in Meredith's bedroom.

 

[Bill Williams]

Numbers, Rudi made up a story to account for everything that he knew about from reading the accounts and of course being there. He admitted to having oral sex. He had the story of the toilet because he knew he had used the toilet. He told of looking from Filomena's room to cover and evidence of being there. He went to the detail of drinking from the bottle of juice. He covered why he was there. He detailed that she was dressed when he left. He had a murderer come and go with a sharp knife like a scalpel.

Yet knowing they had found semen he didn't make that part of his story, why?

In short, Rudy did what perps do - they flee; then when they are closed in upon, make up a story with limited admissions, a limited hang-out.

A clue that the PLE/Scientific police did not do their jobs is that they found no forensics for Rudy in Filomena's room - despite his admission of being there. For his limited hang-out to work, he had to make a plausible, innocent reason for the forensics he knew would be there.

The difference between his story and the false confession (if, indeed, it was even that) is that none of Amanda's coerced imaginings described anything to do with the forensics.

 

[Numbers]

Hysterical.

....

My guess is that you have no explanation and therefore resort to what you call satire.

....

Yes, I have no certain explanation for Guede's account or lack of account of the putative semen. I told you that right off. I do have guesses as to explanations. Only Rudy Guede would know and be able to express a certain explanation. You should ask Guede for his explanation.

My reasonable guesses at explanations, such as for example, that Guede forgot, or that he did not realize that there was forensic information in his semen deposit, or that he did not wish to admit to such incriminating evidence, you have in your post intentionally failed to accept as my explanations. These guesses are are as probable as your explanation, which is also a guess and based on assumptions. For example, you are assuming that Guede would perfectly account for each forensic item without error or through inadvertence neglect one. Thus, your post is not arguing in good faith when you state or guess that I have no explanation. You may criticize my guesses which are my explanations, but those are in fact my explanations.

Nothing you can write will overcome the failure of the prosecution to have publicly revealed who was the source of the putative semen stain, by means of honestly conducted DNA testing. Guede's many statements, some of which are contradictory or seemingly fanciful, cannot overcome the absence or presence of objective forensic evidence.

It was not the burden of the defense to test the stain or reveal or discover who the actual murderer/rapist of Meredith Kercher was. The defense did publicly disclose in court that there was what appeared to be semen stains on the pillow found under Meredith's body and did ask that the stains be tested. They also showed that there were partial rings of a shoe sole made in semen, and the sole pattern was consistent with the patterns made in blood. These patterns in putative semen and in blood were consistent with the shoes Guede had, but disposed of.

The prosecution did not reveal any reliable DNA evidence of any other individual who had been in Meredith's bedroom, or who had been in contact with Meredith's vagina, clothes, or purse, except Rudy Guede.

 

[davefoc]

I...

The difference between his story and the false confession (if, indeed, it was even that) is that none of Amanda's coerced imaginings described anything to do with the forensics.

This is the key understanding that most people are aware of that have read through any of the false confession cases and the efforts by police to establish that a confession is indeed real. The police attempt to get the suspected perpetrator to provide corroborating details. If the "confession" can't provide those the value of the confession as a piece of evidence in modern police work seems to be of much less value. False confessions are now a well known phenomena and efforts to prevent them seem to be a common technique.

The Kercher murder case stands this notion on its head. The most ambiguous "confession" without a shred of corroborating detail is used to build an entire case on. And when no forensic evidence is found to corroborate the obviously false statements made under duress, the forensic evidence is fudged to fit a fanciful theory.

The remaining most significant mystery which is both interesting and unlikely to be solved is what was in the minds of the people perpetrating this crime against AK/RS. This has been a frequent topic of discussion in these threads and my appraisal of the results of that discussion is that the whole issue remains a mystery. Was Mignini overwhelmed with confirmation bias, or fantastical thinking? At some point did Stefanoni come to realize that she had created evidence against innocent people? Who knows?

 

[davefoc]

[see above]

Perfectly said.

 

[davefoc]

For #2: Rudy Guede had cut his hand; he was bleeding. Some or all of the downstairs blood is likely to be his. Furthermore, in killing Meredith with a knife upstairs, Guede had her blood on his clothes, for example, his pants (trousers). He seems to have tried to wash off some of her blood upstairs in the small bathroom, but may not have washed much of it off. However, he may have diluted it enough to increase the clotting time, so the diluted blood could drip off his clothes. The approximately rectangular blood stain on the bed is likely from the handle of the knife, and would contain Guede's blood with possibly some of Meredith's. There is no evidence Meredith was attacked downstairs, and the amount of blood downstairs is much less than that in Meredith's bedroom.

Just to be clear. I meant to say pretty much exactly this in my post and I fell a bit short. When the idea was first put forth I thought it was so unlikely that I thought the reference wasn't to Kercher.

As a small aside, we own a previously feral cat that has never been completely domesticated. It remains very territorial and it gets into some bad scrapes with cats and raccoons. The wounds it sustains are serious and there has never been anything like the kind of bleeding that would produce the stains seen like the ones in the downstairs unit. And not once has it jumped up to bloody a light switch after one of its fights. It also periodically brings its prey into the house which makes a bit of a mess, but still the pattern of blood is very different and usually some feathers and a head remains. Of course, this is only anecdotal evidence so it doesn't add much to the discussion about the possibility that it was cat's blood in the downstairs part of the house.

 

[JREF2010]

If the shoe print is on top then that doesn't prove the semen was fresh. If the semen was on top of the shoe then it was definitely made during the murder event.

You dont really believe in this do you? Wet sperm thats been sitting around for days...is that what you mean? or it was someone elses...as in the Alessi story in the prison breakyard conversation Rudy spoke of / video w Giulia.

More bizarre it wasnt even tested.(supposedly)
If it had been tested as in a normal investigation this ignorant mystery of the sperm wouldnt be ongoing 8yrs later.

If they did test it and it was a partner of Rudys it would have blown the whole Amanda and Raffaele game and made Migninni and the rest look even more like fools who wasted great amounts of court time and govt. money (despite their own incompetence plastered across the world).

I was always open to the Alessi video, of someone with Rudy because of the person bumping into Alexandra boyfriend in the parking lot and it wasnt Rudy as I recall.

Not snitching on your criminal buddy is pretty common.

 

[zotz]

Numbers, Rudi made up a story to account for everything that he knew about from reading the accounts and of course being there. He admitted to having oral sex. He had the story of the toilet because he knew he had used the toilet. He told of looking from Filomena's room to cover and evidence of being there. He went to the detail of drinking from the bottle of juice. He covered why he was there. He detailed that she was dressed when he left. He had a murderer come and go with a sharp knife like a scalpel.

Yet knowing they had found semen he didn't make that part of his story, why?

It really wouldn't affect the truthfulness of his story. He even could claim that Meredith was not in the room when he did it. In other words Meredith stopped the consensual encounter and left the room while he was still aroused and he finished by himself. Since no semen was found (so we are told) directly on Meredith he could claim that he was masturbating and he was too embarrassed to put it into his story. It doesn't have to be believable. It only has to be possible. The technicians obviously did test it and it was obviously Rudy's sperm. They did not enter it into the record because they had enough evidence against him and it would not have helped in the case against Amanda and Raffaele.

 

[Strozzi]

It really wouldn't affect the truthfulness of his story. He even could claim that Meredith was not in the room when he did it. In other words Meredith stopped the consensual encounter and left the room while he was still aroused and he finished by himself. Since no semen was found (so we are told) directly on Meredith he could claim that he was masturbating and he was too embarrassed to put it into his story. It doesn't have to be believable. It only has to be possible. The technicians obviously did test it and it was obviously Rudy's sperm. They did not enter it into the record because they had enough evidence against him and it would not have helped in the case against Amanda and Raffaele.

In other words, police and prosecution concealment of exculpatory evidence. And perjury by Stefanoni.

 

[davefoc]

... They did not enter it into the record because they had enough evidence against him and it would not have helped in the case against Amanda and Raffaele.

Or they didn't because it was part of the deal Mignini made with Guede that the test results for the semen stain wouldn't be revealed if he played ball.

There's almost no information available on this issue so there's not much to constrain the number of plausible theories that it is possible to cook up. It is intriguing though that Italian Judicial system here seems to have allowed a prosecutor and a forensics lab technician to suppress test results so blatantly without any consequences. But no matter how much discussion there is on this issue it doesn't seem like we are moving closer to knowledge of the truth.

 

[Numbers]

Or they didn't because it was part of the deal Mignini made with Guede that the test results for the semen stain wouldn't be revealed if he played ball.

There's almost no information available on this issue so there's not much to constrain the number of plausible theories that it is possible to cook up. It is intriguing though that Italian Judicial system here seems to have allowed a prosecutor and a forensics lab technician to suppress test results so blatantly without any consequences. But no matter how much discussion there is on this issue it doesn't seem like we are moving closer to knowledge of the truth.

There is a partial view of the truth that was given by the prosecution and Stefanoni to the defense. It can be seen at:
http://www.amandaknoxcase.com/failed-sexual-assault-investigation/

What I am discussing here is the rape kit results, not the putative semen stains on the pillow. The rape kit consists of swabs taken from the victim's vagina and rectum. The biological material on the swabs is DNA-tested in two different ways. One way looks at DNA profiles of the biological material from the swabs using standard STR analysis and Y-chromosome analysis; the Y-chromosome is only found in males (except for some very rare genetic conditions). The other way separates sperm cells from the other cells in the sample and analyses them separately.

In Stefanoni's lab, the rape kit samples from Meredith's body were analyzed begining Nov. 5, 2007, according to lab records supplied to the defense.

For the vaginal swab subjected to STR and Y-chromosome analysis, Rudy Guede's Y-chromosome profile was detected. No Y-chromosome analysis was reported for the rectal swab, although the STR results were reported. (In such tests, the female DNA is present in such greater amount that only the victim's DNA profile is typically clearly observed in the STR DNA profile.)

For the vaginal swab subjected to physical separation of the presumed sperm fraction from the non-sperm (largely female cells) fraction, only the non-sperm fraction results were reported; they were as expected, that of the victim. Similarly for the rectal swab subjected to physical separation of the presumed sperm fraction from the non-sperm (largely female cells) fraction, only the non-sperm fraction results were reported; they were as expected, that of the victim.

Thus, the treatment of the DNA tests, including the selective suppression of key data and results, by the police lab makes it impossible to state with objective certainty whether or not any male deposited sperm within the body (vagina and rectum) of Meredith Kercher. Whether by intent of the police and prosecution or not, this makes it impossible to evaluate objectively Rudy Guede's claim that he did not ejaculate (within Meredith) in his sexual encounter with Meredith.

However, it is clear from these DNA results that Guede left his cells inside her vagina. The DNA results cannot show whether or not this was the result of a consensual sexual encounter. That can only be deduced from other forensic data or other evidence of the relationship between the individuals.

No DNA test results were reported by the police relating to any sampling of Meredith's mouth, which could potentially have revealed any oral sexual activity.

 

[davefoc]

Thank you for the link and the information.

I didn't realize that some of the DNA test results of tests from the rape kit seem to have been suppressed. Once again, on the surface it seems like damning evidence of a conscious effort to suppress results that pointed to Guede.

I don't understand it, but I am wary of what conclusions to make about it. I don't think it confirms that Mignini and Stefanoni were conspiring to convict people that they knew to be innocent. Assuming that Moore's idea of a purely fraudulent prosecution is wrong and my guess is that it is then perhaps Mignini is driven by an out of control confirmation bias or perhaps by beliefs in the occult or perhaps just strong biases against Knox because she was beautiful, an American and was sexually active or some other undisclosed reason. There is also the possibility that his self interest bias is clouding his judgment and the opportunity to clear his name after the monster of Florence debacle with another similarly themed trial where he could prove his ideas were right was something too tempting for him to pass up.

I think figuring out what was going on with Stefanoni is more straightforward. It has happened in the US and I assume it has happened everywhere. Forensic technicians begin to see themselves as an arm of the prosecution and they begin to act as if they are a member of the prosecution team. I assume that this is what was going on with Stefanoni although as time went on it seems like covering up her errors might have been a pretty big driver as well.

And there is the possibility that we have some fundamental misunderstanding of the situation and there is something fundamentally wrong about the idea that what looks like straightforward prosecutorial misconduct by the suppression of critical evidence has an innocent explanation.

 

[MichaelB]

I think the missing sperm profiles could be Giacomo's because they were trace amounts. 700 and 1200 picograms.

 

[MichaelB]

This is Mignini's fantasy reconstruction in his notes for pre-trial closing arguments.

Si può così ricostruire il momento del delitto: Meredith è inginocchiata davanti all'armadio. Rudi le tiene immobilizzato il braccio sinistro, tenendola, con la mano sinistra, nel bordo inferior della manica sinistra della felpa, mentre con la destra e forse con il pene cerca di penetrarla a livello vaginale ed anale. Sollecito la tiene immobilizzata dall'altra parte. Amanda è di fronte a lei e la punzecchia col coltello della cucina al collo. Meredith, ad un certo punto, tenta di sfuggire alla presa e di respingere con la mano destra la lama utilizzata da Amanda e si ferisce alla mano destra. Sollecito la stringe al braccio destro per bloccarla e questo spiega le ecchimosi al braccio destro.

and on p51 he says:

A tutto ciò va aggiunta l'"ampia dilatazione, nell'ordine di due - tre centimetri, dell'anello anale con presenza di minute ecchimosi" (vds. sentenza della Cassazione relativa alla Knox, a p. 7), che evidenzia un ulteriore profilo di possibile tentativo di violenza sessuale, rimasto peraltro interrotto (anche perché, non sono assolutamente emersi fattori che avrebbero potuto comportare un tale fenomeno).

 

[Strozzi]

I think the missing sperm profiles could be Giacomo's because they were trace amounts. 700 and 1200 picograms.

Meredith obtained condoms from Amanda. That appears to be her form of birth control with Giacomo. That suggests that missing sperm profiles may not have been Giacomo's.

 

[Ken Dine]

Hysterical.

The question remains with his covering so much of what he knew was or would be found why didn't he have the semen covered in his story?

My guess is that you have no explanation and therefore resort to what you call satire.

Guede may not have been able to craft a logical explanation for everything, so he skipped over some details. Seriously, how could a semen stain (if his) that was found on the pillow below Meredith's pubic area possibly be woven into Guede's silly story of innocence?

My only explanation is that he knew he hadn't left it.

That may be the explanation you choose to accept, but that doesn't make your speculation match the facts.

It could be from before if it wasn't wet at the time of the murder.

The apparent semen stain's location on the pillow makes it obvious the semen was left at the time of her murder and not days earlier during a tryst with her boyfriend.

In any event, if tested promptly to check the stain's moisture content, it can scientifically be determined if the stain was from recently deposited semen.

I don't recall the defense making the point that the tread of the shoe print proved the timing. The Massei court didn't test it because it couldn't be dated. Hellmann didn't test it either.

As I recall, the defense had requested that Massei order the results of the testing to be given to the defense, but as with most defense requests, Massei said NO.

The defense may have requested the semen test results during the Hellmann re-trial, but it may not have been an important issue for Hellmann? I suspect Hellmann, like everyone else, simply presumed the semen stain was Guede's since there wasn't any forensic evidence in Meredith's bedroom of a 2nd male perp.

I sure don't remember a huge outcry by the defense that it was dated. Do you have anything from the defense that claims the dated shoe print?

Most of the filed paperwork from those earlier trials simply isn't available online today, so challenging someone to produce paperwork (motions & orders, etc) that may only be in a dusty folder somewhere in Italy, that isn't being realistic.

 

[Grinder]

You dont really believe in this do you? Wet sperm thats been sitting around for days...is that what you mean? or it was someone elses...as in the Alessi story in the prison breakyard conversation Rudy spoke of / video w Giulia.

As I've admitted I don't see the shoe prints in semen. I'm not denying that's how it is, just that I don't see it. I also don't remember the defense saying that in the Massei trial. Massei denied them their testing request saying there was no point because the stain couldn't be dated. Is there a translation of the defense expert on this?

More bizarre it wasnt even tested.(supposedly)
If it had been tested as in a normal investigation this ignorant mystery of the sperm wouldnt be ongoing 8yrs later.

Yes and if it was Rudi's , though some interesting reasons for not releasing that information has been put forward, I think releasing that wouldn't have undone their case against the kids and would have ended this subject 8 years ago.

If they did test it and it was a partner of Rudys it would have blown the whole Amanda and Raffaele game and made Migninni and the rest look even more like fools who wasted great amounts of court time and govt. money (despite their own incompetence plastered across the world).

Yes it would have and it would explain why Rudi, having read about "sperm" being found denied it could be his in his communiques from Germany.

I was always open to the Alessi video, of someone with Rudy because of the person bumping into Alexandra boyfriend in the parking lot and it wasnt Rudy as I recall.

Not snitching on your criminal buddy is pretty common.

And if that "buddy" had just killed Meredith in the brutal way she was killed and was part of the local crime gang then big fear for Rudi.

 

[Kauffer]

I think the missing sperm profiles could be Giacomo's because they were trace amounts. 700 and 1200 picograms.

Is this likely? When was the last time before she was killed that Meredith and Giacomo could have had sex? If they were using condoms, wouldn't the chances of sperm being deposited be very low - even in small quantity?

 

[Grinder]

Or they didn't because it was part of the deal Mignini made with Guede that the test results for the semen stain wouldn't be revealed if he played ball.

There's almost no information available on this issue so there's not much to constrain the number of plausible theories that it is possible to cook up. It is intriguing though that Italian Judicial system here seems to have allowed a prosecutor and a forensics lab technician to suppress test results so blatantly without any consequences. But no matter how much discussion there is on this issue it doesn't seem like we are moving closer to knowledge of the truth.

The problem with this approach is that Rudi hadn't discussed his "deal" with Mignini until well after his Skype with his buddy. He admits to being there during the murder but is adamant that the "sperm" isn't his.

ETA - As I said yesterday the only reason I can think of is that he forgot he had left semen behind. But even if he had forgotten why when reading the reports that they had found "sperm" didn't he make a story to "innocently" cover. "I don't remember that happening Giacomo but I was pretty hot before going to the bathroom".

He even covered the downstairs by saying he heard noises down there.