Hello 'Rolfe'
I believe the Perugian coppers liked the weird American girl for this crime from the very start, perhaps believing at first that she must have known the killer. This is evident from the extensive wiretaps and the increasing pressure brought to bear on her before her arrest. When she 'wiggled her hips' and broke down at the sight of knives during the second crime scene tour they further theorized that she was directly involved in the attack. In my view it was a deadly cycle of confirmation bias.
If you go back and look at the 2007 news coverage you can see the gears turning. Early reports state police are looking for a single male attacker, possibly known to Meredith. A couple days later they're theorizing about a male or female attacker. And finally, shortly before Amanda's arrest, there are rumors of multiple attackers.
What I'm really curious about is why it took them over two weeks to identify Rudy Guede. They had the palm print. They had asked Meredith's friends to describe any men she might have come into contact with in the days and weeks leading up to her murder. Amanda, in her final statement, said she'd described Rudy to investigators though she hadn't remembered his name.
Why were the police expending so much energy on wiretaps when they had a critical piece of forensic evidence in their hands and a list of associates to track down?
