Meredith: Our daughter's murder and the heartbreaking quest for the truth [Formato Kindle]

The first chapters were about Meredith, who by all accounts was a unique and beautiful young woman. I sympathize deeply with the family's grief.

That aside, this book fails at what it stated it set out to do. John Kercher complains that "Meredith is lost in all this" and then what does he do? Writes three chapters about the victim and spends the rest of the book writing about Knox and spreading misleading and outright false information. Is this really how informed he is as to the details of his daughter's murder?

He gets the number of wounds (including bruises) to his daughter's body wrong, citing forty something. The number was actually 23.

I was appalled by La Mumba's claims which Mr. Kercher referenced in his book. La Mumba actually claimed that "Amanda hated Meredith because everyone loved Meredith more than her, she was insanely jealous that Meredith was taking over her position as queen bee." How the heck would he know that? He saw the two of them together all of one time. I think that was a form of revenge on Patrick's part, she slandered him, he was going to do it right back to her.

I can see why this comment had the effect it did on Mr. Kercher though. Mr. Kercher failed to mention Patrick's original claims of police brutality, but I can see why he did. He might get sued by the police for daring to repeat such a thing.

He mentions the Daily Mail coining the "Foxy Knoxy" phrase and how he disliked it because it was "a somewhat cozy name that didn't reflect the horror of the events." Amanda didn't want it used against her either.

I do like that the Kerchers didn't immediately jump the gun in believing that Amanda was the killer, but the problem is where their "research" led them. Straight to trashy tabloid sites like the Daily Mail site where numerous outright false stories have been printed. One example is the headline ""Foxy Knoxy, the girl who had to Compete with her own mother for men."

I was also happy to read that the Kerchers knew Guede was full of crap. A partial transcript of one of Guede's conversations with a friend of his during the time he was in Germany was put in the book, but the Kerchers completely left out the fact that Rudy mentioned that Amanda was not at Via Della Pergola that night. Maybe the police neglected to give them the full transcript.

The errors cited in this book are numerous. Of course there's that nonsense with the knife that was pulled out of Raffaele's kitchen drawer, then there's Amanda's luminol footprints which the police tried to pass off as being made in blood, even though the police themselves tested the footprints for blood, found them negative and later lied about them and claimed they had not tested for blood, but could tell it was blood from the shade of the luminol.

I was disgusted at his desperate need to believe Kokomani's ridiculous and inconsistent testimony. He even makes excuses for Kokomani, saying that if Kokomani had wanted to attract attention to himself he would have gone to the police sooner. The only thing Mr. Kercher questioned was whether it was storming on October 31 or November 1. I really thought he was smarter than that. of course, these are the same people who claim they still don't know who killed Meredith when Guede's DNA is slathered all over the crime scene.

Mr. Kercher also claims that the reason the bra clasp wasn't found for 47 days was that it was hidden from sight and the officers hadn't seen it. He should check out that footage of the police processing the crime scene again. The footage clearly shows one investigator picking it up (without changing his gloves) handing it to another investigator, also wearing dirty gloves and them eventually setting it back down on the floor, photographing it and then leaving it there for almost two months. When they came back for it, it was under the rug. They couldn't explain how it got there.

The Kerchers' main hangup seems to be that they don't think that only one person could have overpowered their daughter. I ask them to consider the fact that this one person had a knife, which he was holding to her neck. That might have caused Meredith to hesitate for a moment before attacking. Once he created the fatal wound, Meredith could have easily been held down. The bruising on Meredith's body indicates that she did in fact try to fight back. They also ignore how hard it would be for four people to be grappling in that tiny room and leave no trace of themselves.

I can't fault the Kerchers too much though. It seems they've been kept in the dark about a lot of things and don't realize how weak the evidence against Amanda and Raffaele actually is and how dirty the cops and Mignini have been playing. Still, the book is full of hearsay evidence that Mr. Kercher seems to believe outweighs all the direct evidence. Be ready to read the phrases "They said", "I heard", "this person said that Amanda said" blah, blah blah.

What I mainly got from this is that the Kerchers flat out don't like Amanda, whether she killed Meredith or not. I can see why, especially when Mr. Kercher cited the statement that Amanda made about "being shocked over Meredith's murder, but not knowing her for that long and wanting to get on with her life." That aside, the fact Amanda is tacky and made a couple of rude and callous remarks doesn't make her guilty of murder.

It's funny, I still think Meredith was drop dead gorgeous and an amazing person, but I like her less after reading this book. I doubt that's the goal her father had in mind when he wrote it.

Reading that she "complained about Amanda for the entire flight back from Perugia to London" and her parents' constant assertions that no way could Meredith have truly been friends with a person like Amanda made her come across as stuck up and two faced. Especially in the light of the fact that multiple people (other than Meredith's British friends who hated Amanda) have testified that the girls seemed to be friends and have a good relationship and did things together. I discount this only because her parents living in England, seem disinterested in anything positive about Amanda and her relationship with Meredith.

If they can forget about their own disdain for two minutes and reexamine the facts of this case, they will realize that Meredith's murderer has already been caught. (Hint, it's the guy with his DNA all over the crime scene who claims your daughter propositioned him at a bar on a whim and invited him over for a one-night stand, the rapist you seem to still find less irritating than Amanda.)

He'll be out of jail next year. Maybe they want to think long and hard about that if they really want to do something for Meredith.

Last of all, the author brought up the fact that he didn't see how the outcome of this trial could be seen as "anti-American." Let me tell you why. The police didn't really want Sollecito, they would have let him go or given him a lighter sentence if he'd stopped vouching for Knox. He refused to back down, knowing himself and Knox as innocent and refusing to admit to something that he didn't do.

Rudy Guede WAS given a lighter sentence, half of his time was shaved off when he decided to incriminate Amanda and Raffaele. Mignini actually referred to him, the guy with all the forensics pointing his way and the only man who they can definitively prove was in that room, someone who the Kerchers seem to believe was involved in the murder of their daughter, as "Poor Rudy" and reduced him to the rank of an accomplice in order to further implicate Knox. I honestly don't see why that doesn't infuriate them. HE'S never admitted to the murder, but all the evidence points to him and not only that, he portrays poor Meredith as some sort of promiscuous bar hopper who decided to cheat on her boyfriend (who was away for the holiday) and invite someone she barely knew back to the cottage for a roll in the hay.

What was most laughable was his citing True Justice for Meredith Kercher as "an unbiased and non-profit site."

So Mr. Kercher, if you ever write a sequel I suggest rereading the motivation reports and not online tabloids and the True Justice For Meredith Kercher website. You might want to read "The Monster of Florence" as well.

MEREDITH
The testimony to Meredith is wonderful. She is no doubt a woman who illuminated the lives of others with her character. The first 80 pages of the book describe vividly just what an accomplished woman she was. The chapter titled "The Funeral" was particularly beautiful and it was difficult not to get emotional while reading it. Hopefully it's writing would have crystallized the memory of Meredith and been cathartic enough to bring some sort of emotional healing for the author. No individual can come close understanding his level of grief considering the circumstances of his loss. However, the author forfeits any moral high ground and dignity that would have been preserved if he had devoted the book strictly to Meredith's memory. Instead, the memory of Meredith is dragged into a quagmire of misunderstanding, misinformation, and bitterness that the author seems unable to extricate himself from. The author subsequently launches an onslaught of questionable and discredited evidence along with considerable emotional leverage in an effort to keep the more uninformed reader gullible and yielding.

MARESCA: THE WRONG MAN?
The Kerchers selected Francesco Maresca as the "most suitable" from a list of lawyers issued by the British Consulate. Meresca apparently could not (or would not) speak English at the start of the case and used an interpreter to keep in touch. He was alternatively able to talk to Stephanie who also spoke Italian. The author writes in page 24 "He was young, experienced and would be able to up date us on what was happening when we returned to England", however, the facts seems to be somewhat different....Page 100 tells us that, "In England, we were still trying to unravel what was going on in Italy". Page 101 goes on to say "So far away from the investigation, we were lost". Again, on page 129 the Kerchers seem to be further confused on the subject of the pretrial. The author wrote, "So we limped out in some sort of limbo, unable to find answers to any of our questions". Page 139 again finds the Kerchers again bereft and uninformed, "In the evening, slightly bewildered and confused as to what had actually been said because it was couched in legal technicalities". Page 171 finds the Kerchers still confused "Arline and I spoke frequently on the telephone to discuss these events but we were still confused. Yet in other parts of the book he consults with the Kercher family on a more regular basis. One can only conclude that the information given to the Kerchers was VERY selective.

"IT'S BLOOD", SAYS THE LUMINOL, "NOT SO" SAYS THE TMB!
On page 81 with the homage to Meredith more or less complete the author goes on to target Amanda as well as Raffele. He opens his time capsule of discredited evidence revealing more unwitting testimony than understanding of the key points of the case. ...The whispering (who could hear them?) ... the bucket and the mop (not submitted as evidence)... the staged break-in...the superhuman accent to Filomena's window (actually not so difficult,) ...the cartwheels (stress release)...the detached behaviour (totally predictable)...the changing of the alibis, the arrest of Lumumba (contrived by the police).... Meredith and Amanda not getting on... the "insane jealousy" of Amanda (despite Meredith's boyfriend Giacomo Silenzi's testimony in the Massai report to the contrary)...the "Foxy Knoxy".nickname (big deal!)... the character assassination by the (unknown)"contemporary" talking to the Daily Mail... the diagnosis from Van Zant, (that confirms natural behaviour of a sexually active young woman away from home rather than exposing anything sinister)...the comics (comical)... the mixed blood (mixed DNA actually).....Amanda's footprints (not in blood says the TMB)... I could go on and on and...Even the `smoking gun' telephone calls were all demolished by commonsense and logic or completely dismissed as irrelevant by the Appeal Court, that crystallized as the 144 page Hellman-Zanetti report. It vexes me that this discredited information that was swept away months before this book went into print is still being clung onto by the author as though it were his salvation.

DARK THOUGHTS AT THE GRAVESIDE?
After the guilty verdict, on page 205, the author had Amanda exactly where he wanted her, (incarcerated for 26 years). He expresses his emotions at that time. "For me, there was only a deep and unsettling numbness, as if I was far away". On page 214, at the graveside his mood is profound. It seems that the verdict had not brought justice for the author, his thoughts are also deep and unsettling for the reader. He writes. "I looked down at the stones and flowers on her grave and I thought, you never deserved this. More than ever I wanted justice for her". He had just been delivered all the justice the law could give him. The sentiment is placed at the end of the chapter to leave the reader with maximum impact. What dark justice was he considering? What exactly is TRUE justice for Meredith Kercher?

THE WRONG MAN (The Sequel)
On page 249 the author while waiting for the appeal verdict states "Between ourselves, we felt that the appeal was simply a process we would have to endure, and that the final result would be the same". What on Earth was he being told? The tide had been turning in Amanda's and Raffaele's favour for months but it seems that the Kercher's were their usual blinkered, uninformed selves. The Conti-Vechiotti report that destroyed the prosecution's case is virtually non-existent in this book. The author blames American politicians for interfering in the case and suggesting that they influenced the Appeal Court, however if he had taken off the blinkers he would have known that it was the fact that the evidence against Amanda and Raffaele was being proven to be totally flawed that undermined the prosecutions case. It seems that he was oblivious of the events unfolding right in front of his face.

THE VERY BITTER END.
The vitriol is still relentless even towards the end of the book. On pages 275 and 276 Amanda's hard working parents and family who made huge personal sacrifices for Amanda are targeted. Raffaele's respected family are also besieged and criminalized. However, it has to be remembered that two innocent young people were imprisoned for four years for a murder they did not commit. The Kerchers lawyer Francesco Meresca was played a very important role in perpetrating that injustice under the instructions of the Kercher family. Perhaps the Kerchers don't quite realise that ultimately, they may have a moral debt of responsibility towards those innocents. ... Is that a scenario they can honourably confront if the Appeal Court's decision is upheld by the Supreme Court?

WHAT CHANCE FOR ENLIGHTENED CHANGE?
In the end John Kercher is not saying anything that we don't already know, and considering what he has written, there is a considerable amount of information waiting to be uncovered for his, and everyone else's benefit. For those who know enough about the case this book is far from the damning indictment of the defence that he intended it to be. With the bereavement process long since burned out, his testament is in fact, more of a fascinating insight into the mindset of an embittered and grievously misinformed man rather than any effective condemnation of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito. Any contradictions, of course would run the gauntlet of self-righteous indignation by the author. With emotionally charged stock responses like "disrespectful", "shocked", "outraged", and "distressed" already consolidating the author's moral high ground, (thus confirming his absolute right to be absolutely wrong), what chance is there for enlightened change?

DELIVERANCE IS THERE...(GRASP THE NETTLE)!
I don't think that John Kercher is a man who can't see the facts for what they are. But for him not to see the facts there must be a consistent denial of them by the people he trusts, and this goes right up to Mignini. They are the ones who have kept John Kercher angry, deprived of a wider understanding and drowning in grief. In page 226 the author praises Mignini "To me he comes across as an avuncular man with a pleasant smile, but he also is acutely intelligent, and he appears to be both well liked in the Perugian community and respected by his legal adversaries. Praise indeed! However...the author neglects to inform us (or someone neglected to tell him) that Magnini had been convicted of abuse of office after bungling the so-called "Monster of Florence" case and that his 16 months sentence was under appeal at that time. He also makes no reference to the actions of the police in Milan who had caught Rudy only a few days before Meredith's death burgling a nursery with a stolen hammer for breaking toughened glass and a large knife on his possession... He was subsequently allowed to go free. Why, and by whom?

Let's not forget that during 2011 local deputy and politician Rocco Girlanda petitioned the then Italian President Giorgio Napolitano along with 11 government lawmakers who saw the iniquity of this case and demanded an investigation of the Perugia Prosecutor's Office. These people were not poor misguided souls. These were senior politicians that had their fingers on the pulse of the matter more than most and demanded that something be done about it. For ultimate closure on this case the Kercher family need look no further than those who deigned to succour them during their desperate hours.

A SPECIAL MESSAGE FOR MR K?
John Kercher is still struggling for the truth. He was delivered justice on page 205 however by page 214 that wasn't good enough. Living a lie takes continual effort, while living with the truth is effortless, although accepting it may be the worst part for him. Kercher is an elderly man and has suffered a stroke and is clearly not in good health. He is in great danger of living the rest of his life with teeth and hands clenched in anger, and dying an embittered man. I would buy this book 100 times if it would help John Kercher gain closure on this case. The author seems to put a lot of significance on white feathers. He is obviously a spiritual man and who could deny him that comfort. Taking into account the authors sentiments about Amanda and Raffaele as early as the "The Investigation" chapter it is obvious he was clarifying his thoughts about who killed his daughter. Perhaps, with the toppling of the vase of flowers at the funeral, Meredith begged to differ.

I find myself having to give 5 stars to this book because what a tremendous effort went into writing it by a father who had lost his daughter to an unsolved murder. Thank you for letting us get to know Meredith and to understand her personal circumstances.

The book presents Meredith's life in a way we can all relate to her, and it also presents the factual details of the maelstrom of judicial proceedings that resulted in contradictory decisions. How is a family supposed to cope with all of this? The book shows how they took everything day by day and handled it with grace. It's obvious they had tremendous confidence in the legal system in Italy and believed, ironically like Amanda Knox in her book, that the truth would eventually come out. No one could have predicted the crazy outcome of the trials and the complete blundering of the legal system. How is it possible in modern day for there to be such failure in finding what really happened? In the end, there wasn't enough concrete evidence to show Amanda and her boyfriend contributed to the murder beyond a reasonable doubt, and the prosecution's actions just added more confusion to make it impossible to know what happened. I think people will continue to be split in their opinions and flip back and forth until a better and more reliable investigation is completed.

Back to the drawing board... Still so many questions. What they know reasonably for sure is that Rudy Guede was there (he even admitted this), he had sex with Meredith (DNA shown), was present while she was killed (his bloody handprint and footprint show this and he admitted to trying to stop her bleeding), and he used the bathroom (which was proven).

I still don't understand for my life how someone would go murder someone and hang out to use their bathroom without flushing it?

Either Guede killed Meredith or someone with him did. After that, Meredith's cell phones (2) were thrown over a wall of a neighboring home that was 1/2 mile away. Any reason for this? Does it show she was alive when they left, and they didn't want her to call anyone? Was there a land-line or any other phone in the house? What was the court's opinion of this?

In Amanda's book, it is mentioned on Nov. 2 how the police walk Amanda through the first floor apartments where blood is found on a comforter in one of the bedrooms--was this ever explained? Where were the boys living downstairs that night? They were the ones who knew Guede.

Surely there is an investigator in this world who can connect these dots and also who can determine if a break-in actually occurred. It boggles the mind that no one could determine for sure how many people were present with actual certainty. This book mentions that the police are done investigating and aren't looking for other suspects... How can they justify this in their community? They owe answers to their city, not to mention the victim's family and the people accused.

The police in Perugia appear to be truly Mickey Mouse in their actions. My thoughts and prayers are with Meredith's family. I hope an independent investigation can be done so you can get the answers you deserve. This entire mess is unacceptable, and our hearts go out to you. MEREDITH is a well-written book that presents the case from the victim's family point of view. After reading it, you will feel motivated to want to take action to help this family get answers. Perhaps a non-profit organization can help raise money to pay for an independent investigation?