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Amanda Knox is innocent, says FBI agent
Steve Moore criticises ‘Third World’ tactics of Italian police and pours scorn on DNA evidence
A retired FBI agent who investigated murders around the world during his 25-year career has said he believes Amanda Knox is innocent of the murder of the British student Meredith Kercher.
Knox, an American who shared a house in Perugia with Kercher, was convicted of the murder along with her Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito last year and is now serving a 26-year jail sentence in Italy.
But former special agent Steve Moore told ABC's Good Morning America that after studying the evidence used to convict Knox, 23, he could not understand why she and Sollecito weren't "eliminated on day one as suspects".
Moore says he was at first convinced of Knox's guilt. But that changed after he obtained video of the crime scene investigation, autopsy photos and legal documents. "I kept thinking the smoking gun would pop up - and it didn't come," he said. "I didn't know why they were in jail."
Moore is not the first person to question the evidence against Knox
- but he is one of the most qualified.
Key to the prosecution's case was the presence of Knox's DNA on a kitchen knife which was thought to be the murder weapon. However, Moore is unconvinced, pointing out that Knox often used it to cook.
He is equally dismissive of other DNA evidence, including the claim that Knox cleaned Kercher's blood off in her own bathroom.
"There is no DNA evidence," says Moore. "What they're saying is that whoever killed Meredith cleaned up in Amanda's bathroom. That's all they say. They found Amanda's DNA in her own bathroom? Astounding."
Moore also attacked the Italian police, saying their interrogation techniques, under which she was interviewed between 10pm and 6am and given no food and no toilet breaks, were like those of "Third World intelligence agencies".
Moore goes even further: "The evidence doesn't just say [Knox] didn't do it; the evidence proved that she couldn't have done it. The evidence that was presented in trial was flawed, it was manipulated. Some people think some of it was actually planted."
Knox is appealing her conviction in a hearing due to start in November. Although Moore has had no contact with Knox or her family, he says he is willing to help - free of charge. ·
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My sympathy also goes out to the family of Meredith Kercher, whose tragic death should be avenged by the justice system in Italy. Let me say first that I am an African American who has been very sensitive to the racial implications associated with the murder of Meredith Kercher. Yet my research on this case leads me to conclude, without reservation, that Rudy Guede is solely responsible for this crime. I believe Raffaele and Amanda were unjustly tried and convicted of a crime they did not commit. This further injustice inverts the judicial system, and makes a mockery of the justice being sought for Meredith and her family. Italian officials should have the DNA evidence reviewed by a disinterested panel of international experts, because right now a huge cloud of suspicion hangs over the Perugia.
I have lived and worked abroad (Egypt, the USA, Jamaica, Oman and China) for 20 years. Some Americans are among the most cultured and refined people I have ever met. Others seem to regard themselves as immaculate conceptions, very condescending to the rest of us fallible human beings and somehow deserving of special consideration.
my sympathy tothe family of meridth kercher, for the pain and suffering of losing a loving daughter.. no one has the right to take any persons life..now i have allways believed that amanda knox is innocent and should be freed at once..if the police had done their job properly and used proper ways of investigation.amanda knox would not be in jail. and the cruel way that girl was treated and mentally tortured..for amanda to know she is innocent must be burning the heart out of her and her family...amanda we will pray for you so you get justice and your good name cleared.. hope to meet you some time.. amanda knox we love you....and to meridth kerchers family to under stand that your innocent..and god give them strenth to carry on
Michael, up your medication dude, seriously.
Knox is guilty, end of.
Michael, you are clearly a narrow-minded moron, and somewhat paranoid.
This may give you a bit more perspective:
http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/57166,news,nothing-third-world-about-itali...
It's great that Agent Moore is offering forensic analysis to prove that Knox & Sollecito are innocent. I think their greatest weapon of defense, though, is the English language translation of Judge Massei's motivational document released last month. I was flabbergasted to read the number of conjectures and assumptions with no semblance of proof offered, that this judge used to convict Knox & Sollecito. They were found guilty because, apparently, it was this judge's opinion they were guilty but he had to turn the facts into pretzels to make them so. If you wash the dishes at 8 pm it goes without saying you're lying about having dinner at 11. Swing over my house some time. I can't have dinner until I've washed the dishes. If you turn off your cell phone, you're obviously about to commit a crime. If you run home to take a shower before a day trip you're planning to inhibit a police investigation. It's all well and good as far as it goes, judge, but could you deliver some verifiable facts to back up what you say? I know exactly what Moore means. You keep waiting for the smoking gun and it never arrives. You've got to hand it to Massei, though, he actually convicted them on this nonsense.
So, the theme of this story is that the Italian police are lazy and corrupt: I think that confirms my previous stereotype. It also confirms my previously held notions of small-minded Italian anti-Americanism. Moral of the story? If you are American, and you really need to go to Italy, you really need to say nothing until you have seen your lawyer and contacted your consulate. If you are interrogated with Soviet-style tactics, scream bloody murder in the press (electronic too obviously!). And don't forget...if you are a European non-Italian this applies to you too...but thanks to the the EU European Arrest Warrant, another brainchild of the bureaucrats in Brussels, you had better not think you can sleep easy in your bed just because you live in Engalnd, Scotland, Wales, or Ireland. You thought you were safe in UK because this is a free country? Guess again!