Yes, the prosecution in the Amanda Knox case has been withholding evidence.
We finally know the defense was right: Dr. Patrizia Stefanoni, a police forensic biologist, has never delivered key paperwork about the DNA traces that pinned Knox to the murder weapon and Raffaele Sollecito, her ex-Italian boyfriend, to the crime scene. These samples, found way back in 2007, were crucial to the 2009 conviction of the two college students for the murder of Meredith Kercher, Knox’s British roommate.
Stefanoni testified that she found Knox’s DNA on the handle of the murder weapon and the victim’s near the tip. She also testified that she found Raffaele’s DNA on Kercher’s bra clasp.
Incredibly, Stefanoni still hasn’t delivered crucial paperwork that would shore up these stunning bits of evidence, even during the ongoing appeals trial for the former lovers.
Judge Pratillo Hellmann has finally said enough.
Exasperated, he sent her a handwritten note on April 14, 2011. It ordered Stefanoni to send every file requested by independent experts: Drs. Stefano Conti and Carla Vecchiotti, from Rome’s Sapienza University. They want to trace exactly how she achieved her results in the (then) unaccredited Roman police lab. The defense has argued that the samples, found on the alleged murder weapon and a bra clasp, were either too scanty or resulted from contamination. She testified that the DNA traces were ample enough and that contamination has never occurred in the Rome crime lab.
Stefanoni has not replied to Judge Hellmann’s note.
Crime scene: After victim's body was removed. A bra clasp, originally found near the body, somehow ended up across the room, under a dirty rug, before police collected it--47 days after the murder. Dr. Patrizia Stefanoni testified that she found Rafafele Sollecito's DNA on the clasp. Rudy Guede's DNA is on the bra and everywhere. Nothing else ties Raffaele to the crime scene.
She cannot be happy with the appeals trial. The hotly disputed “unassailable” DNA evidence against Amanda and Raffaele is “toppling” under independent review, to quote the Italian press. Hellmann’s experts discovered the DNA cannot be retested. Turns out there was never enough DNA on the kitchen knife, brought to court with its own bodyguard, to determine a genetic profile suitable for an investigation–let alone to do a second test. The bra clasp rusted in police custody.
So the only way to determine the reliability of the DNA tests is to put Stefanoni’s methods under the microscope. How were the two samples collected? How did they come into police custody? How did they reach the Rome lab? How were they stored. Most importantly, how exactly were the knife and bra clasp tested and under what conditions in the police lab, afloat with Meredith Kercher’s DNA?
As an example of how controversial Stefanoni’s results are, Dr. Greg Hampikian of the Idaho Innocence Project says the DNA evidence points to drifter Rudy Guede, not Knox. His DNA was found on the victim’s clothing, inside her body, on her handbag. He was convicted of the murder in a separate trial.
“The one piece of evidence that tied Amanda Knox to this case is a kitchen knife with such a low level of the victim’s DNA on it – and no trace of blood – that it probably represents casual or unintended transfer,” Hampikian said. “You have to look at all the evidence, and it clearly points to Rudy Guede. He is the only one identified by DNA recovered right after the murder, from the victim’s body and her possessions. Amanda Knox’s DNA is nowhere in the room where the murder occurred.”
Since the experts can’t unravel Stefanoni’s results sans the pertinent files, they’ll come to court May 21, the day they were supposed to deliver their results, and ask for another 40 days. That would push hearings into July. Italian courts shut down in August, meaning we may not see a verdict until the fall.
Bra clasp: Collected 47 days after Meredith Kercher's murder, found in a new location, under a dirty rug. It's the only bit of evidence that ties Raffaele Sollecito to the crime scene.
How did we get to this place?
In November 2007, several weeks after Kercher’s sensational murder, police announced that an ordinary kitchen knife, found in Raffaele’s apartment, was the murder weapon. It had been pulled from a drawer, a police officer testified, because it was large and looked shiny. Not only did it test negative for blood, but it was too big to have made all of the wounds and didn’t match a bloody imprint that the killer left on the victim’s bed.It didn’t help that police had originally said that Raffaele’s much smaller clasp knife made the wounds. The final blow was so powerful that police originally said only a man could have made it.
Nevertheless, Stefanoni testified that she found Amanda’s DNA on the handle of the kitchen knife and Kercher’s near the tip. Since Amanda had used the knife for cooking, her DNA was not incriminating. Kercher’s was, since she’d never been to Raffaele’s flat.
Stefanoni also testified that she found Raffaele’s DNA on a bra clasp in the murder room. Collected 47 days after the murder, it had migrated across the bloody tile floor and was found under a dirty rug. Not only did that tiny bit of metal contain traces of Raffaele’s DNA, but also of at least three other people, none of whom has been brought in for questioning. Meanwhile, drifter Rudy Guede’s DNA was found on the bra itself, on the victim and inside her body. Having left a bloody handprint on a pillow under the victim’s body, he was convicted in 2008 after choosing a separate, fast-track trial.
Stefanoni isn’t used to anybody checking her paperwork. At pretrial the “independent expert” appointed by Judge Paolo Micheli was none other than her own boss, Renato Bionidi, who found her work flawless. During Amanda and Raffaele’s first trial in 2009, Judge Giancarlo Massei delivered a crushing blow to the defense when he said no to independent review of any evidence. He claimed the court had all the information it needed. Indeed, jurors never debated guilt or innocence, only whether the two defendants should get 30 years (life) or less. Massei handed out 26 years to Amanda; 25 to Raffaele.
Prior to that, Guede saw his sentence decreased from 30 to 16 when he suddenly announced that he could place the two student at the crime scene. He offered no proof and has always refused to be cross-examined in court.
Fast forward to the appeals trial for Amanda and Raffaele.
January 23, 2011: Judge Hellmann tells the court that we know only one thing for certain: Meredith Kercher is dead. He swears in the two independent experts from Rome, giving them 90 days to investigate the bra clasp and knife. Conti asks to take the knife apart.
April 7, 2011: In a fax to Judge Hellmann, independent expert Conti emphasized the importance of receiving all relevant data from the police lab, whether “found, or partially found, in the court records or acquisitions.” In other words: “everything integral to the investigation of the two items of evidence,” whether it had already been presented in court or not. The judge swiftly approved Conti’s request for key files.
March 24, 2011: The Italian press reported sensational news. Neither bra clasp nor murder weapon can be retested, the experts had announced. Pending a review of Stefanoni’s results, they’re out as evidence against Amanda and Raffaele.
April 14, 2011: Judge Hellmann’s court clerk (Maria Centorrini) faxed Dr. Stefanoni, telling her to send “as soon as possible” the items requested by Conti, the independent expert. She attached Conti’s list, approved by the judge:
The alleged murder weapon: an ordinary kitchen knife from Raffaele Sollecito's apartment. There is no proof that it was ever carried to the crime scene. Judge Giancarlo Massei claimed that Knox was carrying this knife in her cloth bag, because she worked in a dangerous neighborhood. However, she didn't go to work the night of the murder. No blood or DNA from the victim was found inside the cloth bag.
- 1. CD of the electropherograms relating to the bra clasp and knife deposed 10/8/2008 during preliminary hearings and found at Raffaele’s flat on Nov. 6, 2007.
- 2. CD RAW DATA (data relative to the general electrophoretic runs of the automatic sequencer).
- 3. All the transcriptions, in all the phases, of the depositions of Dr. Stefanoni and of the CTP, including the documentation deposed (considerations and notes, including possible CDs).
- 4. CD film, photos, search reports on methods of checking evidence into custody, preservation, and transport to the police laboratory.
On April 20, 2011, Stefanoni sent an “urgente” fax to the judge. She balked at producing the data and said she couldn’t identify one of the requested files (The boldface and convoluted language below is hers):
In reference to the acquisition request of the CD RAW DATA, containing the DNA profiles (in the form of electropherograms), copies of the same were presented and had already been deposed in the court records on 9/25/2008 by Judge Paolo Micheli of the Perugia Court, and that all of the electropherograms pertaining to the genetic profiles extrapolated by the technical analyses have been gathered into a separate attached book separate from the body of the report.
Too low: Stefanoni's handwritten notes from her tests on the famous murder weapon. If the machine said too low, doesn't that indicate not enough DNA? Not in the Rome lab.
In reference to the request of acquisition of CD RAW DATA, one is obligated to explain that the information in the form of this file in the sequencer is never an integral part of the technical report, as far as the object being tested by the forensic geneticist, namely the DNA profile, and that it is already reported in the electropherogram printout, connected to the technical report on which all of the useful date and an evaluation of the genetic profile are reported.
In addition, it is good to clarify that the files contained in the denominated sequencer “Sample File.fsa” contain subfolders denominated “Info,” “Raw Data” and “EPT Data” that do not allow any human intervention in order to modify and/or add data; and therefore, in this view, do not contribute to furnishing later elements to the genetic data evaluation.
Finally, the request asked for by the expert consultants relative to the acquisition of the CD RAW DATA appears incomplete in so much as the name of the “sample file” requested was not specified, without which the exact identification of the documented material the acquisition of which is asked for is not possible.
Taking swift action, Judge Hellmann faxed a handwritten note to Stefanoni that same day, demanding she send the files, include the experts when discussing said files with him, and resolve her own “perplexity.”
Dear Doctor Stefanoni,
I received your faxed note dated April 20th and take note of the relevant content. I ask you, however, regarding the official experts to kindly give to them copies of your and my responses communicated at the same time, consigning directly to them what is of interest, useful to acquire with the goal of completing the investigations, subject to the clarification of the perplexity that you mention.
Amanda and Raffaele have been behind bars in Italy since Nov. 6, 2007. Stefanoni has not sent the files.
Here’s video of expert Patrizia Stefanoni coming into court on May 21, 2009, to nail the two college students on DNA evidence. We also see her at the crime scene in 2007. The clip ends with Raffaele’s super-lawyer, Giula Bongirono scoffing at the bra clasp DNA evidence against him. Proof, proof, what proof?
MURDER IN ITALY, my book on the spell-binding Amanda Knox case, is a Library Journal Bestseller. Winner of Best True Crime 2010 Editor’s Choice and Reader’s Choice awards. Called “a real-life murder mystery as terrifying and compelling as fiction,” it’s built on diary excerpts, wiretaps, court scenes, trial transcripts, first-hand experience and interviews with key players for all sides.
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