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Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
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Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
We have confirmed that 20 year old Amanda Knox has been taken into custody.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
For her involvement in the murder of her roommate.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
Why would Amanda brutally murdered her roommate? For what? For what reason? This is a 20 year old honor student from the University of Washington who's never been arrested, who certainly isn't a burglar, murderer, dope dealing, thief.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
She's absolutely innocent. There's no doubt in my mind, never has been, that she's had nothing to do with this.
Nick Pisa (Journalist)
I had a call from a guy telling me, look, there's been this murder in Peru involves a British girl.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
Police say Meredith Kersher was found partially clothed and had been left in a pool of blood with a deep cut to her throat.
Nick Pisa (Journalist)
There's a lot of blood there, blood stains on the walls, blood stains on the furniture.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
Just could never think that anybody would want to harm her or that anybody really with a conscience could do anything.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Like she was upbeat and she was always the life of the party. My name is Nathan Abraham. I met Meredith Kircher at the welcome party we had at Merlin Pub. When all the new students arrive into Perugia, we have a welcome party for them. Everyone just comes here to learn the Italian language, get to know the culture and get to meet new people.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
20 year old Amanda Knox has apparently confessed her role to Italian police.
Nick Pisa (Journalist)
She's hung herself out to dry basically from the way that she's answered the police questions, from the way that she's changed her story.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
She was confused. She was scared. My name is Etta Mellas, and I'm Amanda's mother. She's a beautiful young woman who is incredibly bright, incredibly kind. She's devastated by the death of her friend. She's sure that as the investigation continues, the truth will come out and she'll be proven innocent.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
They're so desperate a case against this kid that they'll do anything. My name is Paul Ciolino. I'm a private investigator from Chicago. They don't have any evidence. They got a lot of suppositions. They got a lot of crazy theories. There's Amanda and there's the cops. That's it. And who's gonna believe Amanda?
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
I want my kid out of jail. She hasn't done anything.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Peter Van Sant reports. A long way from home. In the beginning, no one really knew much about her. But after that, it's this dark American girl from Seattle and somewhere. From Seattle, Washington, to Perugia, Italy, something about her changed. Growing up in Seattle, Washington, Amanda Knox was an all American girl.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
Go get him, Amanda. Keep following.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
She excelled in athletics and academics.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
Dean's list in high school, Dean's list in college. Soccer player since she's been five, all.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
The way to the premier level.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
She's driven to learn and to be a good person and to do something good with her life.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Her parents, Curt Knox and Etta Mellus, divorced when Amanda was three, but family bonds remain tight.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
She loves her family. She talks about that in her blogs and in her MySpace that what's most important to her is her family, her close friends.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
After graduating with honors from an elite Jesuit high school, Amanda went on to the University of Washington, where she discovered her passion.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
She loved going to other cultures and learning about them. And she's really drawn to languages. She really knew she wanted to study abroad.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Amanda worked three jobs to get to Perugia, a medieval hill town north of Rome. She rented a room in this house and began taking classes.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
She's so far away, but it was something that she had dreamed of doing. On the one hand, you encourage their dreams and then worry a little bit, you know?
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Amanda's years of dedicated study and hard work were paying off. Just a few weeks after arriving here in Perugia, Italy, she emailed some of her friends back home, saying, I'm actually at one of my happiest places right now. Amanda's good fortune also included a new romance. She'd met a young, handsome Italian engineering student.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
They met at a classical musical concert at the college And I think they just really clicked.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
His name is Raffaele Solechito. He is 23 years old, the son of a doctor from southern Italy. Did you feel like Amanda was falling in love?
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
You know, I felt like that that might be a possibility. It was very early. Why wouldn't you want an Italian boyfriend?
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Back in Seattle, Amanda's friend Madison heard all about her Italian adventure through emails and pictures Amanda posted on MySpace.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
Sometimes she would kind of go on these little rants about how much she loved everything. And she'd be like, I love my bed. I love my room. I love my roommates. I love my house. I love my view. And I'm just like, okay, I get it. You're really happy.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Amanda had three roommates, two Italian girls and Meredith Kircher, a 20 year old student from England.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
Amanda described her as beautiful and quiet.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Amanda even got a job in a local bar.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
She told me she must work because she needed money.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Yeah. Bar owner Patrick Lumumba, well known around town for his music and generous spirit, hired her. When you first saw Amanda Knox, what did you think?
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
A good person and friendly.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
But then, just six weeks into Amanda's Italian adventure, everything changed. It was November 2, 2007.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
I got a phone call early in the morning, and it was Amanda. And the first thing she said was, I'm at home and I'm all right, but I think somebody's been in my house.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Amanda told her mother she had spent the night with her boyfriend Raffaele. That morning, when she came home to take a shower and change clothes, she found the front door was open. No one was home.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
When she got out of the shower, she noticed some blood. She thought maybe somebody had gotten injured and left quickly. And that's why the door was open.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Amanda started phoning her roommates. She found the Italian girls.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
But she told me she's called Meredith several times and she couldn't get ahold of Meredith.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
How did you learn that something terrible had happened at that house?
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
She called me back and told me that the police had come because one of the things she said is, we he can't find Meredith and her door is locked.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Two officers arrived at the house to investigate and found Amanda and Raffaele standing outside.
Paolo Sofrizo (Italian Investigator)
Police enter the house, start searching it.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Paolo Sofrizo is an Italian investigator who 48 Hours has hired to examine this case.
Paolo Sofrizo (Italian Investigator)
Meredith's door is locked. They knock on the door. Nobody answers. Nobody knows where she is. They decide to break in her door.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Inside, blood everywhere. And on the floor, covered by the blanket from her bed was the body of Meredith Kercher.
Paolo Sofrizo (Italian Investigator)
Amanda starts crying out, a foot, a foot. I saw her foot.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
My heart was breaking for my daughter. She was devastated.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
The last time anyone had seen meredith Alive was 9:00 clock the night before, when she walked home alone after leaving friends. What do you believe, based on your investigation, happened after Meredith arrived home?
Paolo Sofrizo (Italian Investigator)
That is the million dollar question. Meredith arrived home. Maybe somebody was already inside the house waiting for her. Maybe somebody arrived after. There are signs of what appears to be a break in.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Because Amanda and Meredith had been roommates, Amanda quickly became a key witness.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
She said they had a lot of questions for her because she was the first one that had come back to the house and she wanted to help.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Four days after the murder, no arrests, the students of Perugia organized a memorial service for Meredith Kercher. Noticeably absent Amanda and Raffaele, they had been summoned to police headquarters.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
When the two of them went down.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
There, they separated them into different interrogation rooms and began a questioning process that lasted for a very long time.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
Overnight, all night and into the next day.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Police were questioning the two because they suspected they were hiding something. The approach to how the interrogation went became more aggressive.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
And it was literally began to. I mean, she was.
Paolo Sofrizo (Italian Investigator)
She.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
Never.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
I've never seen her that way. After 14 hours of intense police interrogation, no sleep, no food, no lawyer, Amanda dramatically changes her story.
Paolo Sofrizo (Italian Investigator)
She says that she thinks she was here, that she hears Meredith scream.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
When she signed this statement, Amanda Knox was no longer a witness. She was under arrest. And Doug Limu and I always tell you to customize your car insurance and save hundreds with Liberty Mutual. But now we want you to feel it. Cue the emu music. Limu.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
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Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
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Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
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Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Four days after the murder of Meredith Kercher, Amanda Knox is paraded in front of the press on her way to jail. Police believe Amanda took part in the murder of her roommate, her boyfriend Raffaele Sulecheto is also arrested. And surprisingly, her employer, Patrick Lumumba is picked up after Amanda names him as Meredith's murderer. They really thought they had potentially their killer in Patrick Lumumba.
Paolo Sofrizo (Italian Investigator)
Definitely, definitely. They thought they had the killer served to them on a platter.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
The arrest came after Amanda Knox dramatically changed her story. 48 hours obtained Amanda's stunning statement. Quote, I met Patrick at the basketball courts and we went to my apartment. Patrick had sex with Meredith. I confusedly remember that he killed her. Amanda's statement came after an all night 14 hour interrogation.
Paolo Sofrizo (Italian Investigator)
I certainly believe that she was placed under psychological pressure.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Italian police next developed a theory. Meredith was murdered after refusing to join Amanda, Raffaele and Patrick in kinky four way sex.
Paolo Sofrizo (Italian Investigator)
Basically a sort of drug and sex induced frenzy.
Nick Pisa (Journalist)
Well, I think what is quite interesting in this case is the web, the Internet.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Like the Italian police, journalist Nick Pisa began searching the Internet to learn about the suspects.
Nick Pisa (Journalist)
They had entries on Facebook and we were getting unimaginable amounts of information about these people.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
Are you taking movies right now? No, not at all. I'm not.
Nick Pisa (Journalist)
I can just tell you what yours is.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
No.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
One shot.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
One shot.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Don't you dare.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
It was one and a half.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Like most college students these days, Amanda and Raffaelli shared their lives through the web. Amanda boasted about alcohol use and casual sex.
Nick Pisa (Journalist)
She even posted pictures of herself outside a dope shop in Amsterdam. We discovered how she'd been on a train and she admitted having sex with the guy that she'd met on the train. We discovered that she'd written some very bizarre essays which she posted on her website, which talked about rape.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
They jumped on that, they saw the word rape and they're like, yes, good headline.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
In fact, the essays were simple school assignments. On Raffaelli's pages they learned he collected knives. His expression of admiration for a serial killer.
Nick Pisa (Journalist)
Exactly. And then we have him with the meat cleaver. Then we have Amanda behind the machine gun as well. I mean, it was just all grist of the mill. It was more information than you could ever imagine on a story.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
And the mill was the Italian and British press corps that was all over the story.
Nick Pisa (Journalist)
The more salacious, the more interest.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
And perhaps what damned Amanda most was her old soccer nickname she used on her MySpace account, Foxy Noxy. Here are just a few of the headlines that have been in the British press. The twisted world of Foxy Knoxy. Foxy Noxy helped girls kill her. Meredith held down by friend. The Dark angel of Seattle, orgy of death. And Amanda was a drugged up tart.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
You know, I have not read the British press just because I knew that was out there. And that's not my daughter, and that's not. I mean, and, you know, some of that you can just toss because these people don't know her. They've never met her. It's horrible.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
But the Italian police say they do know Amanda and they formed an opinion based on her and Raffaele's behavior after the murder.
Nick Pisa (Journalist)
And we saw them briefly to the side, to the left hand side as you look at the house.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Police brought Amanda and her boyfriend back to the crime scene the day after the murder to see how they would react. Nick Pisa was there.
Nick Pisa (Journalist)
They both were sort of stroking and petting each other, and then they were kissing each other and they seem to be whispering to each other.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
What some see as simple comforting was interpreted by Italian police as something sinister. What is it about it that is significant to investigators?
Nick Pisa (Journalist)
Well, it's just the fact that it's just very odd and very unusual behavior. There didn't seem to be any sadness or the fact that her friend had been murdered.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
The next day, the couple was caught on a security camera buying underwear for Amanda.
Paolo Sofrizo (Italian Investigator)
The shop owner distinctly remembers them being quite excited and aroused by the purchase and promising each other a night of frenzy sex. With this new G string.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Based on your experience, what do you think of that?
Paolo Sofrizo (Italian Investigator)
Not only is there insensitivity and inappropriateness, but there again, it could be seen as arousal.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
But the police theory that Meredith was killed during a sex frenzy has a problem. According to private investigator Paul Ciolino.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
That's a great theory until a science comes rolling in. Until the fingerprints show up and they go, oops, oops, we made a mistake.
Paolo Sofrizo (Italian Investigator)
A murder, such a violent and mysterious murder is practically unheard of in local history.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
With a British girl murdered, her throat slashed, and an American girl held as a suspect. Italian investigators spared no expense bringing in the country's best forensic teams to Peruscha. Police say they have recovered hard evidence linking Amanda to the murder.
Paolo Sofrizo (Italian Investigator)
There are traces of her blood mixed with Meredith's blood in the bathroom in the house where Meredith was murdered.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
And the boyfriend.
Paolo Sofrizo (Italian Investigator)
We have Raffaele's shoe print in her blood in the room where she was murdered.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Police do extensive testing on a knife found in Rafaeli's kitchen drawer. Amanda's DNA is on the handle. No surprise, but investigators are stunned when Meredith's DNA is detected on the blade. Police think it could be the murder Weapon.
Paolo Sofrizo (Italian Investigator)
From their point of view, Amanda and Raffaele staged the crime. Patrick physically committed it, maybe with some physical assistance, either from Raffaele or from both Raffaele and Amanda.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
But there is a problem. The man Amanda named as the killer, Patrick Lumumba, has an airtight alibi for the night of the murder. He was at his bar all day with the police. But I just said, I don't know this. I am in my bar. I was in the bar.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
Why close the bar I'm taking home?
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
And after an exhaustive search, police can find no evidence linking Patrick to the murder. So in a stunning reversal, police release Patrick Lumumba. We wouldn't understand why Amanda Knox would accuse her lost. We don't know why she pulled out Patrick's name. American Nathan Abraham, a former student who now works in Perugia, says Amanda's lie about Patrick shocked everyone. He has a beautiful wife and a beautiful baby. To me, he's the most famous guy in Prussia and everybody loves him. Everybody from the mayor down. Police believe Amanda implicated Patrick as part of a well planned, calculated move to hide the identity of the real killer. Within days of Patrick's release, the case took another dramatic twist.
Nick Pisa (Journalist)
They'd found a fingerprint didn't match with Raffaele, with Amanda or with Patrick.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
The fingerprint belonged to this man, 20 year old Rudy Goodet. Rudy was a fixture and often a nuisance on the local bar scene. He'd be dancing at tables when if there's a big party, he would be sometimes harassing girls. I'm a vampire. A dropout. Rudy had no regular job. He played basketball on the courts near Amanda and Meredith's house. And he smoked dope with the boys who lived one floor below the girls.
Nick Pisa (Journalist)
Well, we know that Rudy was very friendly with the guys downstairs.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
And then the day after the murder, Rudy Goodet ran. He hopped a train out of the Perugia heading north. Two weeks later, after a European wide manhunt, Good Day was tracked down in central Germany, arrested and returned to Perugia.
Nick Pisa (Journalist)
We have his his fingerprint on the pillow. We have his DNA in the bathroom. Well, he had his admission that he was there at the time.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Rudy told police Meredith invited him over for a date and they had sex.
Nick Pisa (Journalist)
His story does seem rather fanciful. That he was in the bathroom and that he came out and he saw that Meredith had been stabbed and that some guy was running out of the room.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Rudy said he couldn't identify the killer, but he admitted he left a dying Meredith lying in a pool of blood. He said he went home, changed his clothes, and went dancing at a disco until four in the morning. Is that what we're supposed to believe?
Nick Pisa (Journalist)
Yeah. One does find that rather hard to believe.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
This case is so clear, it's not even funny.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Chicago private detective Paul Ciolino.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
Amanda Knox is in a bad position. She's sitting in a maximum security prison.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
48 hours brought Ciolino to Italy to look into the case against Amanda Knox.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
She's been getting railroaded since the day they took her into custody. Since November 5, 2007, the railroad started and it continues today as we sit here right now.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Ciolino reviewed police reports, Meredith's autopsy, crime scene photos, and talk to witnesses. He says everything points to Rudy Goodet.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
We know one thing for certain in life, that when you're dead, the last guy that was with you is usually responsible for you being dead. And the last person that was with Meredith, from the horse's mouth, is Rudy.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Culino doesn't buy Rudy's story that he was dating Meredith. Rudy told police he met Meredith the night before the murder at a Halloween party at the bar Merlins. Meredith was there dressed as a vampire, but no one saw Rudy. Good day. At the Halloween party, did Meredith hang out at all with Rudy Goodet?
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
Meredith did not hang out with Rudy Goodet. Meredith and Rudy are not contemporaries. They're not buddies. They didn't have a relationship of any kind on any level.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Ciolino, talking to the owner of the bar, learned that Rudy had even been banned from Merlin's because he tried to rob a bartender at knifepoint.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
We know that Rudy has no visible means of support and is able to pay rent, go to clubs, and do all kinds of things.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Why would Rudy have targeted that house of all places to deliver to look for money. These are a bunch of college students.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
Rent is due at the time of the month. It was at the first, and rent's due. So everybody knows college students are gathering up the rent at that time.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Police told Ciolino Meredith took out €250 the day she was murdered, and the money is missing. Rudy's fingerprints were found on her purse.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
It's really that simple. There was no Raphael. There was no Amanda. Jesuit educated high school girls who are high honor students 18 months ago don't participate in orgies and homicides. They don't do it. And if you could tell me one that does, I'd sure like to see her.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
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Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
Payment of $45 for three month plan. $15 per month equivalent required. New customer offer first three months only, then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra. C mintmobile.com hello, it's Lena Dunham. I host a podcast called the C Word with my dearest friend and hist behavior, Alyssa Bennett. What is up? It's a chat show about women whose society is called Crazy. We're going to be rediscovering the stories of women's society dismissed by calling them mad, sad or just plain bad. Listen to and follow the C Word with Lena Dunham and Alyssa Bennett. Available now wherever you get your podcasts. Heather is a nurse practitioner from UnitedHealthcare. We meet patients wherever they live. During a house call she found Jack had an issue. Jack's blood pressure was dangerously high.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
It was 217 over 110.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
So they got Jack to the hospital and got him the help he needed. He had had a stamp placed in his heart preventing a massive heart attack.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
If it wasn't for my guardian angel, I wouldn't be here.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
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Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
She got killed because she said no. She said no to something that she didn't want to do. I think that people want to have justice served for Meredith. Private investigator Paul Ciolino wants justice for Meredith as well, but not at the expense of Amanda knox.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
She's a 20 year old kid who has been ripped out of everything that she knows and placed in jail. Amanda Knox is sitting in a maximum security prison in Italy wondering when she's going to get out of there.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Amanda and her boyfriend Raffaele Solechito have been in jail since early November now more than five months. Yet Paul Ciulino believes the police have no convincing evidence they had anything to do with the murder of Meredith Kercher.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
This is a railroad job from hell and she's sitting at the end of it right now.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
The police chief of Perugia looked me in the eye and said, we have evidence.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
He knows there's not a shred of evidence putting this girl at that murder scene.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Edgardo Jobi is the lead investigator he told 48 Hours that the case against all three suspects is solid. The DNA found on the victim's bra, he says. DNA which belongs to Rudy Gaday and Raffaele Solicito, proves Rudy didn't act alone. And if Raffaele was involved, so was Amanda, because they both claim they were together that night.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
I don't believe Rafael's DNA is on Meredith's bra.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Why? Because Ciolino says evidence leaked in this case has often turned out to be wrong.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
They're so desperate to make a case against this kid that they'll do anything. We know this for a fact because we've seen it happen in this case already.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
A prime example, the witness police say heard three people running from the house that night.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
Peter High police officials told you that they had a witness who heard stuff that night indicating that they had interviewed her and they owned her. Now we go interview the witness. And what happened?
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
A scream in the night, then the sound of running. That's what Nara Capizzoli said she heard from her apartment across the street from the crime scene on the night of the murder. She told her story in this Italian television interview. TV and tabloids had already been reporting the police theory that three people, including Amanda, were all involved in the crime. Ciulino wanted to talk to this key witness himself.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
We're going up to try and talk to the witness who allegedly heard something the night of the murder.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
He took our translator, Julia Alana, to the woman's door.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
Senora.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
Tell her this is a very important issue, okay? And it concerns somebody's life. It's very serious.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Authentic Greek.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
She heard a scream and somebody ran away.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
Were windows open or closed? So the windows were closed. Grazie.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Ciulino wanted to see or hear for himself.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
Christina? I'm Paul. I'm from Chicago. Are you really?
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Nara's upstairs neighbor let Paul into her apartment.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
Come on in, guys.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
Come on in.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
To find out what he could hear.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
We'Re looking directly on top of the house where the homicide happened.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Okay, you ready outside?
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
We've got a bunch of local kids. We got to do some running to see if we could hear them running.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
We've now closed the window, which we believe was the situation that night, because it was a very cold night. And let's see what they can hear. You guys ready to go?
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
Ready? Three, two, one, Go.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Right now.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
I hear something.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
What did you hear?
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
I heard something, but I couldn't tell if it was footsteps. Did you hear anything?
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
No.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
At the very least, our unscientific test raises Serious questions about what Nara really heard that night. And even she isn't as certain as police have suggested.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
She didn't notice. She couldn't tell if it was one.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
Or two, so she didn't know if it were two or three.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Nara also didn't know what time it was when she heard the sounds. But she is very clear about one thing.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
She says she was never interviewed by the police.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
As hard as it is to believe, police only saw the witness on television. But wait a second. We're being told that this is one of the pillars of this case against Amanda Knox?
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
Pretty weak pillar. This is fascinating to me because not one cop in this town has ever knocked on this woman's door. Not one time.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Ciulino says if Amanda had actually been involved in Meredith's murder, police should have a lot more evidence to prove it.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
When you or I walk into a room and we mess it up with blood and DNA and sweat, we're going to bring a whole lot of stuff home with us, and we're going to leave even more there. Well, we have a problem in this case because they can't put Raphael and Amanda in that crime scene.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
But you know who put Amanda at the crime scene? Amanda put Amanda at the crime scene. Who signs a statement that implicates them and their friends to murder? Who does that? Why would Amanda sign that?
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
Let me tell you, Peter. A confused 20 year old girl 6,000 miles from home, and all of a sudden they're telling her she's a prime suspect in a murder. That they're going to put her in prison for the rest of her life in an Italian jail unless you pony up baby and sign this.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
That's what the case against Amanda Knox boils down to, says Culino. A police theory that formed the basis for a coerced confession.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
How does this work? This is real easy, okay? Amanda, you know what happened, and I know what happened. And you better sign this statement. Because if you don't, young man, you're never gonna see your mom again. You're never gonna see your daddy again. Sir, it really didn't happen like that, Bip. Yes, it did happen like that, Amanda. And this is how it happened. You were with Patrick and you and him went over there and he murdered your roommate. Now maybe. Maybe you didn't know that was gonna happen. Now you better get writin or sign this or bad things are gonna happen. Like we're gonna charge you with the murder. That's why there's no video, there's no audio, there's no independent party. There's Amanda and there's the cops. That's it. And who's gonna believe Amanda?
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Amanda's signed statement helped form the backbone of the original police theory of the crime. That Amanda and Raffaelli assisted Patrick Lumumba when he killed Meredith Kercher.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
And that's a great theory until the science comes rolling in. Until the fingerprints show up.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
When Lumumba proved he had an alibi and the police matched DNA to Rudy Goodet. Oops. Oops, oops.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
We made a mistake. It wasn't him. It was the other guy.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
The original theory didn't work anymore.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
But now we have another problem. Because Amanda don't know him. Raphael. Don't know him.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Ciulino learned that police have no phone records linking Amanda and Raffaele to Rudy Goodet.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
There's no connection.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
So we have a big problem.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
This is all a police generated fairy tale.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
The police have been revising that fairy tale, says Ciolino. But they seem determined not to let Amanda Knox live happily ever after.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
They've put so much into Amanda Knox, they've got to convict her now or they look like fools. In their minds, they look like fools.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
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Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Every Tuesday and Saturday morning, family members are allowed a brief visit with Amanda at a prison just outside Perugia where she has been held since last November.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
She wants to listen to music, so we brought her a personal CD player and some music. And it's supposed to be approved and all set, but that doesn't mean it's.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Going to get in on this Tuesday in February.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
Here we are.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Kurt Knox is with his ex wife Etta Melas. 48 Hours brought Curt to Italy in order to interview both parents together. Day to day, what is Amanda's existence like right now? In jail, she is let out of her cell for one hour a day.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
Trying to exercise in the yard.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Since Amanda's arrest, her parents take turns staying in Italy, away from Seattle for weeks at a time.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
It's a lot of waiting. It's a lot of just. Just waiting. It's hard.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Every morning when you wake up, is Amanda the first thing you think of?
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
Absolutely. If I have five minutes in a day that I don't think of her, that's a lot.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
During her months in prison, Amanda has kept a diary. In it, she wrote about the overnight interrogation that led to her arrest and imprisonment. She said the statements were made under the pressures of stress, shock and extreme exhaustion. Not only was I told I would be arrested and put in jail for 30 years, but I was also hit in the head when I didn't remember a fact correctly. Is that true?
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
She wrote that? And we believe that everything that she has said is true.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
But the lead investigator says not true. No one ever hit Amanda. He expects all three suspects will be charged and tried for murder. Police say Raffaelli's bloody shoe print will be important evidence at trial, but defense lawyers and Paul Ciolino say it's not conclusive.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
Now, experts have looked at that footprint and it's not Raphael's. There's no blood on him. The shoe isn't fit. Okay, Just like the glove didn't fit, the shoe doesn't fit. They've got his shoes. They don't match.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
They have mixed blood. Amanda and Meredith's blood in the bathroom.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
They have Amanda's blood in a bathroom that they shared commonly. Meredith is killed in the bedroom, not in the bathroom.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
There is a report that a knife has been recovered at Rafaeli's house that has Amanda's DNA on the handle and reportedly Meredith's DNA on the blade. Sounds like a murder weapon, doesn't it?
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
No one has determined that's the murder weapon. Not the government nor the defense. Nobody knows.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Police agree it may not be the murder weapon, but think it may have been used in some way during the crime. And the motive? Police have changed their theory. They now believe Meredith was murdered by Rudy, Amanda and Raffaele during a robbery, not an orgy.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
There's never been a motive. They could never explain a motive. In this case, there is no motive.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
What might happen now that could harm Amanda Knox's chances in a trial?
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
There's a number of threats. She's got two co defendants, both of whom have said she didn't do anything wrong. The longer this thing goes on, the longer everybody sits in jail. Somebody's gonna figure out sooner or later. My best chance escaping this nonsense is to hang Amanda out to dry.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
And that's exactly what happened just two weeks ago. After months of silence, Rudy Goodet asked to speak to the prosecutor. Now he changes his story. Before, he said he could not identify Meredith's killer. Now he says he saw Raffaelli with a knife in the apartment and that Amanda was there, too. Amanda's parents are frightened. They fear their daughter may soon be on trial for murder in Italy. But we have to believe in the system.
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
That's the only choice that we have.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
Because the other option is to believe that, you know, she's going to go be in prison for something that she didn't do. And that's. That's just unimaginable.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Meredith Kercher was buried by her family in Southeast England in December. Amanda's parents sympathize with Meredith's family and pray that their daughter doesn't become another innocent victim in this tragedy. Are there words to describe what this is like for a parent?
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
I don't know that I could. I mean, it's literally gut wrenching. It's a physical, almost sick response to the whole situation almost constantly.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Paul Ciulino says he's worried about Amanda and worried that the Italian justice system will is out to get her. If you had the power to act right now, what would you do?
Paul Ciolino (Private Investigator)
I would hop in my car and I'd go to that prison. I'd get them two kids out of there and I'd take them home with their parents. That's what I would do, and that's what should be done. Till that's done, this case is going to be a disaster.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Much of the evidence leaked after Kercher's murder would be disputed in court. In October 2008, Rudy Gaday was convicted of her murder. He was released in 2021, serving 13 years. In December 2009, Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollechito were convicted of murder. They were released in 2011 after an appeals court overturned the conviction. They spent nearly four years behind bars. The pair were exonerated by the Italian Supreme Court in 2015.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
I can only describe it as evil.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Something horrible from 48 hours. This is train to Kill, the dog trainer, the heiress and the bodyguard. He couldn't control his obsession. Who was the hunter and who was the hunted? Follow and listen on the Free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts now. Streaming everyone who comes into this clinic is a mystery.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
We don't know what what we're looking for.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Their bodies are the scene of the crime. Their symptoms and history are clues.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
You saved her life.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
We're doctors and we're detectives.
Etta Mellas (Amanda Knox's mother)
I kind of love it, if I'm being honest.
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
Solve the puzzle, save the patient, Watson. All episodes now streaming on Paramount Plus, Tulsa is my home now. Academy Award nominee Sylvester Stallone stars in the Paramount plus original Tulsa King. His distillery is a very interesting business. And we got to know the enemy from Taylor Sheridan, co creator of Landman.
Paolo Sofrizo (Italian Investigator)
What are you saying?
Narrator/Reporter (Peter Van Sant or similar 48 Hours correspondent)
I'm all right. If you think you're going to take me out, it's going to be really difficult. Tulsa King, New season now streaming exclusively on Paramount plus.
Date: September 22, 2025
Host: CBS News (Correspondent: Peter Van Sant)
This episode intimately examines the Amanda Knox case, focusing on the 2007 murder of British student Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy, and the global media firestorm and legal battle that ensued. Through exclusive interviews, firsthand accounts, and investigative analysis, "A Long Way From Home" scrutinizes the evidence, media influence, and judicial proceedings that eventually revealed deep flaws in the investigation and prosecution.
Paul Ciolino on the Prosecution's Weak Case:
“They’re so desperate to make a case against this kid that they’ll do anything. ...There’s Amanda and there’s the cops. That’s it. And who’s gonna believe Amanda?” (03:51, reiterated at 37:39)
Etta Mellas on the Ordeal:
“I want my kid out of jail. She hasn’t done anything.” (04:15)
“It’s literally gut wrenching. It’s a physical, almost sick response to the whole situation almost constantly.” (45:24)
Paul Ciolino on Amanda’s “Confession”:
“A confused 20 year old girl 6,000 miles from home... they’re telling her she’s a prime suspect... unless you pony up baby and sign this.” (36:35)
Media’s Role in the Case:
Peter Van Sant: “Perhaps what damned Amanda most was her old soccer nickname... Foxy Noxy.” (18:01)
On Misapplied Forensics:
Paul Ciolino: “That’s a great theory until science comes rolling in. Until the fingerprints show up and they go, oops, oops, we made a mistake.” (20:49 and 37:53)
Aftermath and Justice:
Etta Mellas: “We have to believe in the system. That’s the only choice that we have.” (44:40)
The tone is investigative, urgent, and empathetic—balancing factual reporting, meticulous analysis, and the emotional toll on all parties. Multiple voices (Amanda’s parents, journalists, investigators) offer competing narratives, while overarching skepticism is directed at flawed investigative tactics and outsized media influence.
“A Long Way From Home” offers a thorough, nuanced examination of the Amanda Knox case, revealing missteps in policing, the distorting power of the press, and the devastating impact on all involved. The episode drives home how easily justice can be derailed—and how long the path home can be for the wrongly accused.