It has always been my opinion that it was premeditated.
Note the pages ripped out of Amanda's diary TC: No evidence of this, the phones switched off before 9:00 TC: Yes, so she wouldn't get called into work; grabbing a kitchen knife on way out TC: No evidence of this (cf Rachel Wade), the sheer brutality. TC: And the relevance of this is???
As the pair were charged with aggravated murder, which automatically means life, there was no requirement for the police or prosecutor, to construct a case for premeditation (as they might have had to in the USA). TC: Of course, the old "we don't need no stinkin motive" excuse, which is really code for "we tried to come up with one, but each one was worse than the previous one so we finally decided 'just because' worked well enough"
Kokomani said he saw the three of them smashed out of their heads crouched behind the bins awaiting their 'friend'. He was pinged in the area, I think there is a grain of truth in his claim. TC: You give him a grain, no one else gave him a thing. Since Popovic has them at Raffaele's, NOT smashed out of their heads, at the time they would have needed to be there waiting for their 'friend' - the one they had no idea if/when she was coming home - to come home, it would seem there was good reason not to give him any credibility. You are desperate...
The Amélie film crashed at 9:10 - there is no requirement for one to be sitting in front of it watching it. TC: The film ended at 21:10, it didn't crash. They claimed they were watching it and it was running. That is called evidence, that is called an alibi. I see you're still keeping that head of yours in the sand.
Phone switched back on 6:00 - Raff and midday Amanda, whereupon her first call was to Mez. TC: Her first call wasn't to Meredith (and BTW, unless you were personal friends with Meredith, calling her Mez is both classless and insulting) but this is irrelevant anyway.
Look up Costas / Protti, De Nardo, Erin Caffey- the murder archives are littered with teenage girls armed with sharp weapons who set off specifically to kill. TC: Yes, but the key is to find one where the teenage girl armed with sharp weapons had no motive and leaves no evidence of herself but is aided by someone else whom they didn't know who did leave copious amounts of evidence behind. And, of course, it would be good to find one where someone else, who has only known the girl for a week, agrees to participate despite also having no motive or history. You're probably being deliberately vague but, if Amanda and Raffaele had been involved, this case would be extremely unique - probably a one-of-a-kind. Why don't you go check in with Quennell and see if he's had any luck finding a case that even remotely parallels this one.
Personally, I am sceptical that a row would lead to the type of torture Mez was subjected to. It was someone obtaining sadistic and vindictive pleasure out of it. Taking both of Mez' phones and locking the door, is the height of wickedness. TC: There was nothing unique to how Meredith died compared to the millions of women who have been sexually assaulted and murdered as a result of a bungled burglary. You'll have to help me to understand why taking the phones and locking the door is "the height of wickedness"
