All language subtitles for The.Murder.Of.Meredith.2022

[pensive music]

- [Liz] The family
first discovered

that a young female student

had been murdered in
Italy on the news.

Immediately they
start wondering, could
this be Meredith?

- [Reporter] Meredith
Kercher laughing

and joking with friends

at a Halloween party
on Wednesday night.

Her body was discovered this
afternoon concealed by a duvet.

She was partially clothed.

Her throat had been slit.

[music continues]

- [Stephanie] She was very
excited about coming to Italy,

looking forward to learning
more about Italian culture,

seeing the city of Perugia
and making new friends.

She really fought to come here.

She really wanted to be here.

- [Julian] At nine
p.m. that night,

Meredith's image was broadcast
on the news in Britain,

and obviously her image was
then

on the front pages
for the next day.

This was an international story

that dominated the
news simply everywhere.

- [Nina] It was an unusual
and shocking event.

This was a college town and
they don't have murders there.

[mysterious music]

- [Arline] What happened
to my daughter, Meredith,

is every parent's
nightmare of something

so terrible happening
when basically,

she was in the safest
place, her bedroom.

[music continues]
[siren wailing]

- [Honor Doro] There were
so many superficial wounds.

- [Julian] So much
bruising, so many cuts,

including the main
wound to her neck.

- [Honor Doro] In the media
circus that happened
afterwards,

we can forget that
fundamentally,

a young woman was likely
tortured to death that night.

- [Liz] The key person
here is Meredith Kercher.

She's been silenced
by her killer.

She will never be able to
tell her side of the story.

[music builds]

[pensive music]

- [Stephanie] Meredith
has been hugely forgotten

in all of this.

The media photos
aren't really of her.

There's not a lot about
what actually happened

in the beginning,

so it's very difficult
to kind of keep

her memory alive in all of
this.

[mysterious music]

[gentle music]
[birds chirping]

- Perugia is one of these
storied hill towns in Italy

that is utterly beautiful,

picturesque, photogenic,

filled with architecture and
art

that is really part
of the western cannon.

There's renaissance art in
there

in those churches that
art historians study.

It's a walled mountain town,

and it's history dates
back to the Etruscan era.

It's a beautiful place.

- Perugia is a town that has

an international
university within it.

Very much an idyllic location

for somebody studying
abroad for a year

because there's a lot of
rich cultural heritage there.

It's not just a a
metropolitan city

that many students
go and study abroad,

and this is a place with
depth, with diversity.

- It has two universities.

The population explodes
by like 40 or 50,000

when students are there.

It depends heavily
on these universities

for its economic engine.

[Patrick speaking in Italian]

Seven out of ten people
that you can meet

in the center of Perugia
are students.

It is like being on an island
with just students,

so everything is focused
on the students.

- But you've really got this
mixing pot of young people

in quite a cutoff location,
but it's really beautiful.

There's a lot going on.

- [Narrator] In 2007,
peace in the historic town

was broken when a 21
year old British student

was found dead in her
apartment.

- [Reporter] The murder of
Meredith Kercher still haunts

the rarefied medieval
city of Perugia.

- [Reporter] Italian
police are still trying

to piece together a
horrific night of sex,

drugs, and murder.

- [Reporter] On November 2nd,

Meredith Kercher's lifeless
body was found half naked,

lying in a pool of blood with
a stab wound on her neck.

- [Reporter] A judge found

that 21 year old Kercher
died fighting off

a sexual assault.

- [Reporter] Well, the
house where Meredith

was murdered still
holds its secrets.

- Students and the police found

the body of Meredith Kercher,

and within hours it
was being reported

in the Italian press
and it was probably

being reported in
the British press

that this British student
had been murdered in Italy.

[pensive music]
[siren wailing]

- It was around 5 p.m.
when Arline saw

that there were
rumors about the death

of a student in Perugia.

Obviously, her mind
started to wander.

She tried to get hold of
Meredith, but couldn't.

Her ex-husband,
Meredith's father, John,

was a freelance journalist,
who was able to call

the foreign desk of
a British newspaper.

An agonizing wait followed
and then he was able

to get information that the
name circulating was Meredith.

- It was quite plain to see

why Meredith fell in
love with the city,

and why she wished to
study languages here,

possibly with the view
of ultimately going on

to perhaps teaching or
working in politics.

Either way, it would've
certainly been a career

that I think she could
have done something

where she could
make a difference.

- There's so many things happen

that you just want to call
her up or text her or...

Still waitin' for her
to come in the room now

and just hear her laugh and
I know she's not coming back,

and that is very hard
to kind of accept.

- Meredith was 21.

She was studying politics and
languages at Leeds University.

Meredith arrived in Perugia
at the end of August, 2007.

- Going to Perugia was supposed
to be the time of her life.

- I remember her
being very excited.

I was due to go on
holiday with some friends

and she was leaving the
day before I got back.

So we had to say our
goodbyes just before I went,

and we were just
talking on the sofa

and having a little
cuddle goodbye.

And then I just remember
her suddenly crying

and saying that she
was gonna be sad to go,

but she was excited to come

and I remember being quite
taken aback 'cause I thought,

"Don't make me
sad, I'll miss you,

but you'll go and have fun."

- Meredith was doing
what tens of thousands

of people her age do.

This was a safe environment.

There was very little crime
reported in that area.

[ominous music]

- [Narrator] When Meredith
first arrived in Perugia,

she met a group of English
girls

who quickly became
friends and enjoyed

the social scene that Perugia
was also renowned for.

- She was very excited
about coming to Italy,

looking forward to learning
more about Italian culture,

seeing the city of Perugia
and making new friends.

And she really
fought to come here.

She really wanted to be here.

[pensive music]

- Meredith was living
in a flat share

with two other students,

Italians called
Laura and Filomena,

and then later on
an American student

moved in as well called Amanda.

- Amanda.
- How do we do this?

Huh?
- [laughs] One shot.

One shot.

- So the setup was
really intimate.

There were four boys downstairs
and four girls upstairs,

so they really got to
know each other in a city

that was just simply teaming
with students at that time.

[crowd chattering]

- [Narrator] In the short time,
they had been in the city,

Meredith and her flatmates
had become well known

in the student area
around the old town.

Patrick Lumumba owned a
very popular bar there.

[Patrick speaking in Italian]
My pub "“Le Chic"” was here.

This door here
was the main entrance.

It was a club on three floors.

First floor
you had the big bar.

Second floor the small bar
and on the third floor there

was a stage
for the musicians or the DJ.

I met Amanda Knox
because she needed money.

A friend of mine introduced her
to me saying:

"“She is my friend.

She loves Perugia and would
like
to stay here longer

but she has not enough money
so she needs a job."”

And we talked for a short time

and then I told her to come
to my club in the evening.

So she went to the club with a
group of people.

There were many girls probably
more than twenty.

Also, poor Meredith was with
them.

I remember Meredith that day

because I used to bring
from Poland a Polish vodka
called Zubrowska

and she stopped to say to me:
"“It is the first place here
where I'’ve seen Zubrowska."”

I asked her: "“Do you know it?"”
and she replied: "“Yes, yes."”

She used to work as a bartender
in London

and they used to do the Mojitos
with Zubrowska

So I said to her:
"“If you'’re a bartender,

you should come and work
in the club sometimes."”

Then I asked her to show me how
she made it,

inviting her to come behind
the counter

and she made her mojito
with Zubrowska.

Then I spoke with Amanda
and we agreed that she would
start to work here.

[crowd speaking in Italian]

[pensive music]

- The night after Halloween in
Italy is a religious holiday,

and a lot of students had gone
home to their moms and dads.

The streets would've been
less active at that time

because it was a holiday and
because students had left town.

[Patrick speaking in Italian]

The 1st of November for me
as for anyone else,
it was an ordinary day.

So I texted Amanda saying:

"“I don'’t need you come
to work today.

It's like a Sunday today,
and I'll be working alone."”

And Amanda wrote back to me:
"“Okay, Patrick. See you later."”

[music continues]

[Giuliano speaking in Italian]
I was at home

and the Deputy Chief Inspector
of the flying squad called me.

And he told me that there was
the body of a still
unidentified girl

in a house in Via Della
Pergola, number 7

located outside of the old
town.

- Giuliano Mignini
is the magistrate,

which corresponds to the
prosecutor in the U.S. system.

Mignini's role was
to basically oversee

the investigation of
this murder scene,

find the murderer, or
murderers,

and file charges against them.

[Giuliano speaking in Italian]

Then this girl was identified

as a British girl
from London - Croydon.

In the meantime,
the journalists arrived

and placed themselves in front
of the car park above.

When we arrived the two young
people, Amanda and Sollecito,

were obviously there
exchanging embraces.

What struck me the most

was that while Amanda
was very scared

Sollecito seemed
to be more confident.

He was the one trying to
support and reassure Amanda.

- Amanda Knox was from Seattle.

She's an American student and
she was one of four roommates,

four female roommates
living in the house.

Raffaele Sollecito is an
Italian

and he was the
one week boyfriend

of Amanda Knox at that point.

[Patrick speaking in Italian]

We knew Raffaele Sollecito
as Amanda'’s friend.

And Raffaele used to arrive
5 or 10 minutes

before Amanda finished working.

He used to enter and sit down
or stayed standing up somewhere
here on the first floor

and then when she finished,
they used to leave together.

- Amanda Knox had spent the
night at Sollecito's house,

according to Knox,
eating dinner,

having sex and smoking
pot and sleeping.

And in the morning
decided to go back

to her house to take a shower.

Went to the house, found the
door slightly ajar, front door,

went in, took a shower,

noticed there were blood
spots here and there,

didn't do anything
about it right away,

didn't seem too alarmed
by it apparently.

Then I believe she went back
to Sollecito's house and said,

"Something's not
right in my house."

They went back to the house

and they started knocking
on Meredith's door.

Her bedroom door was locked.

They didn't know
where Meredith was.

Amanda, I believe, called
the other roommates

who were Italian.

Then Sollecito calls the
police.

The Italian roommates who
showed up with their
boyfriends,

and the boyfriends
kicked Meredith Kercher's
bedroom door in

and saw this
horrible crime scene.

[pensive music]

- [Narrator] One of the first
things Prosecutor Mignini

needed to establish
was when Meredith died.

The most accurate way to do
this

was to take her body
temperature as soon as
possible.

[Giuliano speaking in Italian]

I remember that at one point
the coroner,

Dr. Luca Lalli arrived.

I asked him to get the internal
body temperature

to establish accurately
the time of death.

The scientist in charge of the
forensic police

stopped me saying:
"“Please can you postpone this
procedure because...

I want to prevent any potential
contamination."”

The coroner
didn'’t say anything,
so I accepted the request.

However the coroner measured
the rigor mortis

but he didn'’t get
the internal temperature.

- The first couple of hours
after a body is discovered

are the golden hours in terms
of the forensic investigation

because there's an
awful lot of information

that you need to ascertain
at that point in time.

You need to estimate
the time of death,

which involves taking the
rectal temperature of the body

to tell you what is the
temperature of it right now?

What are the conditions,
the weather conditions?

How likely is it that this
person was killed an hour ago,

a couple of hours ago?

So, all of that information,

you need to capture that
really, really early on,

and if you don't, that
information has gone,

and actually that can really
compromise your investigation

because the number of
possibilities increases then,

in terms of what happened
and when it happened.

[pensive music]

[Patrick speaking in Italian]
It was time to open the club

and two American girls arrived
who used to work for me.

They told me that they heard

that Amanda'’s English friend
who lived with her has died.

When I heard that,
I thought it wasn't true.

So I called Amanda...

And Amanda replied:
"“Yes, it is true.

She died and we are
at the police station now."”

I felt very bad.

It was really bad news.

All the community
of the old town of Perugia

was mourning.

[pensive music]

- The family first discovered
that a young female student

had been murdered in
Italy on the news.

- At nine p.m. that night,
Meredith's image was broadcast

on the news in Britain.

It was instantly a huge
story and obviously,

her image was then on the
front pages for the next day.

This was an international story

that dominated the
news simply everywhere.

- I think the fact that
Meredith's family found out via

the media really was a
sign of things to come.

- [Reporter] Police arrived
to find Meredith's friends

in the house oblivious
to what had happened.

They broke down the
door to her bedroom

and discovered her body.

Meredith's family were
tonight being informed.

Her friends are being
supported in Italy.

[mysterious music]

- [Narrator] As
the investigation

continued at Meredith's flat,
her family arrived in Perugia.

- It has got to
be the worst thing

that a parent can
ever, ever experience.

It is the worst
trauma to be told

that your beautiful,
vibrant, vital daughter

has been killed in
a foreign country,

and you have to go
and identify the body.

It's just unfathomable.

[mysterious music]

[Giuliano speaking in Italian]
I remember the mother.
I saw her after the autopsy.

You could see
the immense pain that she had
always tried to hide

Meredith had been autopsied
in the morgue.

The mother arrived and asked me
for permission to come in,
so I let her in.

She looked at her.
It was a very touching scene.

Then she made a gesture to me
in this way...

as she wanted
to give her a kiss.

[reporters chattering]

- [Narrator] The family then
met with Francesco Maresca,

who had been appointed
to guide them through

the often complex
Italian legal system,

and keep them informed
about the investigation.

[Francesco speaking in Italian]

At that moment,
the meeting was really special.

We were in the very first
moments after the murder.

So we were trying
to understand
what could have happened.

They told me
about their daughter,

what they knew
she was doing in Perugia.

There were no reasons
that they could think of

that could give rise
to the violence

that had taken
away their daughter's life.

- [Narrator] As the
family were coming

to terms with their loss,

the coroner, Dr. Luca Lalli
was carrying out the autopsy

to determine the cause of
death.

[Giuseppe speaking in Italian]

Meredith's neck had three
wounds:

One deep and wide to the left

at the front of the neck,
on this side.

And two smaller ones
on the other side.

These are wounds
that correspond
to a point-and-cut instrument.

So they can be attributed
to an instrument

with a point and a blade
such as a knife.

When Luca Lalli finishes
the autopsy,

he concludes that the cause
of death of Meredith

depended on three wounds
to the neck
and the spill of blood.

This blood entered the lungs

drowning this poor girl
in her own blood.

In forensic jargon,

this is called
internal drowning
or internal submersion.

- [Narrator] During the murder,

Meredith also sustained
other injuries,

including multiple bruises and
several smaller knife wounds.

- There were quite
a significant number

of superficial knife wounds
that emerged within the
autopsy.

So this tells me that
this was not something

that was an accident.

This was not something that
happened incredibly quickly.

The superficial knife
wounds that they found,

those can't be inflicted
in 10 seconds, 30 seconds.

This was something that was
likely a sustained attack.

- [Narrator]
Following the autopsy,

the prosecution began
to build a hypothesis

as to how Meredith had died.

[Giuliano speaking in Italian]

There were also
grasping injuries,
or grip injuries.

The evidence revealed
the crime was committed
by more than one person.

Probably someone grabbed her
while someone else
was torturing her.

- Some of the autopsy
findings have been interpreted

as meaning that
there might have been

more than one person
involved in the attack

because of the nature
of Meredith's injuries

and the number of injuries.

But equally, it can be
interpreted in another way

in terms of the fight
that that Meredith put up,

in terms of how
sustained the attack was.

So, we always have
to be quite careful

to separate what the
autopsy findings are

from what sense
we're making of them.

- [Narrator] With the autopsy
results and growing amounts

of potential forensic and
circumstantial evidence,

the prosecution was
building a theory

as to how Meredith died,

but as yet had no idea who
may have been responsible.

[pensive music]

[Francesco speaking in Italian]

The first few days
were total confusion.

We were all trying
to figure out
what had happened.

Initially,
all Meredith'’s friends

were considered as witnesses

as they wanted to know

her lifestyle and understand
what could have happened

in the days leading up
to her murder.

- On the night she died,

Meredith Kercher had
gone to eat pizza

and watch a movie
at the rented house

of another group of students.

She was there for a few hours.

[Giuliano speaking in Italian]

She said she was very tired

and the next day she would
have been very busy

so she just wanted to go home
and go to bed.

Roughly around 9 p.m.
Meredith was home.

- [Narrator] Some 16 hours
later

at approximately one
p.m. on Friday afternoon,

Meredith's body was discovered.

- The investigators
started paying attention

to Amanda Knox early
on when she appeared

to be behaving in a way

that did not match
what they thought

a young woman who had just lost
her roommate would be doing.

She was making out with
her boyfriend in the yard

of the house while police
were going in and out

while the body was still there.

And then later in the evening
at the police station,

she didn't appear to be
grieving

as Meredith's
other friends were.

[Valter speaking in Italian]
I have a very distinctive
memory of those very hours.

Young people
on the steps of the cathedral

who immediately put up
a tribute in honor of Meredith.

And I have a beautiful memory
of this father

who slowly walks towards
the steps of the Cathedral

and deposits a lit candle.

Watching that father'’s act,

I thought about
all those parents

who had kids studying away
from home or abroad.

It is an image that I will
probably never forget.

[pensive music]

- [Narrator] As Perugia and
the family remembered Meredith,

Raffaele Sollecito was called
in

for questioning by the police.

Amanda Knox went with him.

- They bring the boyfriend
in for questioning,

and he goes down
there and they ask him

for a timeline

of the night Meredith
was murdered,

and his timeline
is rather fuzzy.

[Giuliano speaking in Italian]

The police
had questioned Sollecito

and for the first time
that night,

he distanced himself
from Amanda

and he said that he had told
a lot of lies until then

because Amanda asked him to.

- They ate dinner.

He remembered that part of it,

and then at some point
she left his house.

He wasn't sure where she went

and that she may have come back

at a certain hour
later in the evening.

[Giuliano speaking in Italian]

He was home and Amanda

came back around half past one.

That time
was a little compromising.

[Daniela speaking in Italian]
In my opinion,
they are statements

that arose out of moments
of confusion.

So I don't think they are
relevant and can be considered.

They were taken
in a very stressful moment.

[Luciano speaking in Italian]
That night Amanda
went to police headquarters,

they had called Sollecito in,
but not Amanda

but she said:
"“I'’ll come with you."”

When she got there,
she was doing gymnastics,

the cartwheel.
And they thought
she was acting crazy.

- She wasn't tearful.

She seemed rather blithe
about the whole thing,

sitting on her boyfriend's
lap in the police station,

things that a good
Italian girl certainly

would not be doing after
as traumatic an event

as finding your roommate

with her throat
slashed in your house.

[Luciano speaking in Italian]

Then they question her.
The prosecutor comes in a
first time then a second time

because everybody was saying:
"“It'’s them, it's them."”

This is the night
at the police headquarters,

where there is the transition
from suspects to accused.

- [Narrator] Now that Sollecito

had thrown doubt
on Amanda's alibi,

the police began to question
her version of events.

- During one of the
questionings of Amanda Knox,

á*the police asked for
her phone, they took it,

they looked at it and
they found a text message

from her to a man
named Patrick Lumumba.

[Giuliano speaking in Italian]

He told her
to not go to the club

because there were few people.
It was a long weekend.

She replied: "“See you later"”

but she thought in English
while answering in Italian.

She wrote a text message
if I remember well.

- Ci vediamo dopo
translated literally means,

"I will see you in awhile,"
or "I will see you later."

Now, in English, if
you say see you later,

it could mean I'll
see you in an hour,

or it could mean I'll
see you in five months.

Apparently in the
usage in Italian,

saying that means
something quite specific.

It means I'll see you later,

like in five minutes,
or in an hour.

[Giuliano speaking in Italian]

The police officers
became suspicious
and asked her for more details.

She did not accuse herself.

She accused Lumumba.

- [Narrator] Amanda
claimed she arranged

to meet Patrick Lumumba
at her apartment

and they were both there
when Meredith was killed.

[Giuliano speaking in Italian]

She put herself in the kitchen.

The kitchen
is around 5/6/7 meters

from Meredith'’s room.

She said that Lumumba was
in Meredith's room.

"“I heard and understood
that he killed her."”
She said that.

So, she never made
self-accusatory statements

but accusatory statements
towards Lumumba.

At that moment,
those three guys
seemed involved.

- There were three
suspects, an unusual lineup.

You had a bar owner,
Patrick Lumumba,

and then you had
these two students,

Raffaele Sollecito,
who's Italian,

and his girlfriend Amanda
Knox, who's American.

- [Narrator] In the early
hours of the morning

on Tuesday the 6th of November,

Amanda and Raffaele were
arrested at the police station.

Officers then went to
detain Patrick at his house.

[Patrick speaking Italian]
I heard someone knocking
at the door.

And I heard
a female voice saying to me:

"“It's the police.
Open the door."”
And I half-opened it.

I saw that there were
a lot of people

and then I said:
"“Ah but I'm with a baby and...

No, no... open. Open."”

So I opened
and they were there
I don't remember but

certainly more than 15
policemen and they immediately
handcuffed me.

And my partner asked them:
"“What did he do?"”

They replied:
"“He knows what he did.
He knows it."”

So they grabbed and brought me
to the police station.

[pensive music]

- By the morning of the 6th,

all three of these
people are in jail,

and there is about to
be a press conference,

announcing that the
murder has been solved.

[sirens wailing]

[pensive music]

[spokesperson
speaking in Italian]

The teamwork of the police
and other departments

has allowed the prosecuting
judicial authority to issue

three arrest warrants

for the crime of conspiracy

to commit voluntary homicide

and conspiracy
to commit sexual assault.

- So, four days after
Meredith's body was found,

the police and the
prosecutor announced

that they've solved the crime.

That solves a lot of problems
for the town of Perugia

because 40,000 students had
been experiencing ripples

of fear and panic, as had
their parents at home,

especially the foreign students

or the international students.

- [Reporter] The killing
was part of a sex

and drugs party that
went horribly wrong.

- [Reporter] Strangled
and stabbed Kercher during

what began as a sex game.

- [Reporter] The 21 year old
had been sexually assaulted

and stabbed to death.

- [Reporter] They say
that Meredith refused

to take part in a
drug-fueled orgy.

- Amanda Knox was orchestrating
a kind of a group sex game

with Lumumba and Sollecito,

and that Meredith
Kercher resisted,

and then that resistance
ended up enraging Amanda

or these two men so much
that they killed her.

That's the theory
that they laid out.

- A story that was already
getting loads of coverage

was moved to a new meteoric
level with these new details.

- I do feel women being
involved massively contributed

to how this case played out in
the police and in the media,

but I do believe that Meredith

was readily given
status as victim.

I don't think that was
taken away from her.

I don't think her
character was questioned,

which happens a
lot, unfortunately.

But with Knox, a very
gendered approach was taken.

We have this theory
in criminology called
double deviance,

and it relates to
female offenders,

and it essentially argues
that when women commit crime,

not only have they
committed a crime,

but they have gone against
society's gendered norms

that are prescribed to them.

You see that not only are
people kind of creating

these headlines because of
the crime that's occurred,

but they're calling into
question a woman's character.

- This was probably the point

that Meredith became a
secondary
character in her own story,

and there was a frenzy really

in the reporting on Amanda
Knox,

perhaps more so from the
newspapers than broadcast
media.

But there was huge interest,

perhaps more interest about
her than there was interest

in what actually happened
on the night itself.

- [Narrator] Despite the
intense media spotlight

on the case, at its heart
was a family still coming

to terms with their grief.

- She was looking forward
to coming home this weekend

for her mother's birthday

with her suitcase
laden with chocolates.

We feel it's no
exaggeration to say

that Meredith touched the
lives of everyone she met

with her infectious,
upbeat personality,

smile and sense of humor.

- [Narrator] The
Kercher family's local
MP Richard Ottoway

was watching the case unfold
on the news in the UK.

- Anyone who's been
on the receiving end

of the British media in full
cry

will know that it's not
a pleasant experience.

But I took the view that
the media always exaggerates

in order to try and
sensationalize things,

and it was bad then
as it is today.

So this didn't surprise me,

but for the family it must
have been quite ghastly.

- [Narrator] While the
family were facing the press

and the police were
declaring its case solved,

the main suspects were also
subject to huge media interest,

especially young lovers, Amanda
Knox and Raffaele Sollecito.

- That solved a
problem for Perugia

because there was
not a murderer afoot,

a Jack the Ripper was not
afoot.

It was these three people,

and they were safely
behind bars now.

Let's say it was pure
gold for tabloid media.

[intriguing music]

[Luciano speaking in Italian]
The first time
we defenders, met Amanda,

November 8, 2007
was in front of the judge.

We advised Amanda to say:

"“I deny the charge and I will
not answer any questions"”.

After that the prosecutor
allowed us to speak with her
for half an hour.

I spoke little English,

I understood very little but...

...that girl was determined
and lucid.

Also she told us that Meredith
and her were friends.

- [Narrator] While
Amanda was in court,

her boss, Patrick
Lumumba was in custody

following Amanda's accusation
that he had killed Meredith.

[Patrick speaking in Italian]
The interrogation
was always the same:

"“You know what you'’ve done.
Why have you done this?"”

and so I'’d answer:
"“What have I done?"”

And it kept going on

until I found out by myself

that it was all
about Meredith'’s death.

So I asked if it was

about Meredith'’s death.

They said:
"“Yes, you remember now"”.

And then I started saying,
"“No, how could you think
something like that?

I was at the bar.
I was working at the bar"”.

And they say :
"“Oh no, we know
that the bar was closed"”.

So I replied:
"“I was at the bar
with other people"”.

I didn'’t even know
that Amanda was arrested.
I didn'’t know anything.

Then when they brought me
a document and I read it.

It was Amanda'’s declaration

on which she was saying:

"“I had an appointment
with Patrick
and we went to my house."”

I was so confused
in that moment

that I didn'’t realize
she was accusing me.

I asked them:
"“Did Amanda do that?"”

because it seemed that she was
confessing to killing Meredith.

Another cop who was nicer
replied to me:

"“You aren'’t understanding.
She is saying that you did it"”.

So I said that I didn'’t do it.

Then they said:
"“If you say it would be better
for you."” I replied: "“No"”

I know what happened now.

If we are here

because you thought
that I was going to confess

to something that I didn'’t do

just to make you happy.
I will never do that.

So take me to jail.

After that they asked me
if I wanted a hood

and I said: "“Why?

I don'’t want it. I have
nothing to hide. Nothing"”.

- [Narrator] As the
investigation progressed,

evidence from the crime
scene began to be processed.

[Giuliano speaking in Italian]
When I entered,

the footprints were
still not visible
in the corridor

which would have
been highlighted with luminol.

[Francesca speaking in Italian]
It was understood that there
had been an attempt to clean

because some traces were only
highlighted by the luminol.

Others were highlighted
because there were traces
of blood.

But in the end,

the footprints
weren'’t considered
important evidence,

because for a start
they had been cleaned,

and also they were
of people
who lived in the house,

because there were also
Amanda's and also Meredith's.

The scene has been cleaned,
there is no doubt about that.

- You can have footprints
that show up in luminol

because of standing
across cleaning products.

So, it's really
difficult to suggest

that those luminol
footprints actually indicate

the cleanup process
has happened,

or there's just blood that's
not visible to the human eye.

It could be a lot of things.

- When we look at a crime
scene,

especially when that crime
scene is a domestic house,

places where multiple
people might be living,

you'll find DNA in
the communal areas

from all of the people
that live in the house.

Where you want to be
placing your attention

are those private
areas of the house,

the areas of the house where

you would only expect
one person's DNA to be.

[pensive music]

[Giuliano speaking in Italian]
We were doing an inspection
at Sollecito's house

when a police officer
found a knife

that was the type that could
have caused the injury.

Also, this knife seemed
to have been cleaned
and it smelled of a solvent.

So they took it to the
forensic police in Rome.

[Giuseppe speaking in Italian]
There were several knives
in that drawer.

The investigator who found it
was asked several times:

"“Why did you chose that one,
excluding the other ones?"”

Because there were similar
knives like
in any other kitchen.

The answer amazed everyone.

They said it was
an investigative intuition.

- They quickly announced
that Amanda Knox's

and Meredith Kercher's
DNA was on this knife

that they had found in
Sollecito's kitchen.

And obviously, that kind
of information is released

right after a prosecution says

they've arrested
the perpetrators,

not too many people are gonna
ask whether it's real or not.

I mean, I certainly wouldn't,

and I was across the
Atlantic Ocean from this.

You read about it and you
think,

"Well, they probably did it."

[Luciano speaking in Italian]
The news about the mixed trace

found on the blade
of the seized knife

comes over the radio
at 5 p.m.

As soon as the genetic
investigation in Rome
is completed.

I almost crash my car
because I realize
in less than a minute

that it was bad for the trial,

if there is a blade
that binds the two girls.

The mood was that everyone,

they were jumping
for joy everywhere.

The newspapers,
the televisions,
ordinary people.

[intriguing music]
This is going to nail her.

- [Narrator] 18 days after
the murder of Meredith,

a crucial witness came forward

and the investigation
took on a new direction.

[Patrick speaking in Italian]
The night that Meredith

was killed I was working
by myself at the bar.

There was a group
of Erasmus students

and this professor
from Switzerland.

I wanted to offer him wine,

but he insisted on paying
and explained

that the Swiss government

was going to reimburse
that expense.

So I had no idea

that receipt was going
to become the major proof

that my bar was open.

[Valter speaking in Italian]
Lumumba had the sheer luck

to cross paths
with a Swiss client,

who could remember precisely

the time when he was
in Lumumba's bar.

Something around nine o'’clock

which ruled out immediately

Lumumba'’s participation in the
murder.

In fact, a few days later,

even though he did spend
13, 14 days in jail,

Lumumba was released.

- [Narrator] Despite Amanda
Knox's signed confession,

Patrick Lumumba was
entirely innocent.

- False statements aren't as
uncommon as you might think,

and it sounds bizarre.

Why would you throw
someone under the bus

if you didn't know
that to be true?

But I think just
contextualize it

as the most high stress,

the most tired you've ever
been,

the most confused
you've ever been.

You're hearing narratives from
various different sources.

You're trying to piece
something together

and you're also panicking
because you're thinking,

"Hang on, is this
turning against me?"

- [Narrator] At the
same time as Patrick

was exonerated of any
involvement in the crime,

a new suspect emerged.

[Valter speaking in Italian]

The investigators discovered
that there were fingerprints
of blood

on a pillow
near Meredith's body.

So they order
an immediate investigation.

- Rudy Guede suddenly
becomes a suspect

because his bloodied
fingerprint

is found at the crime scene.

[dramatic music]

- Rudy Guede was the
son of an immigrant

from the Ivory Coast.

He'd been raised in Perugia
since the age of five.

He'd fallen into some trouble.

He'd been arrested a few times

for breaking and
entering or burglary,

and he was well known to the
police in Perugia already.

- Now, Rudy Guede was not
somebody who lived in the
house,

he was not somebody who was a
regular visitor at the house.

So, the presence of his DNA,
that is incredibly unusual.

[Valter speaking in Italian]
Rudy formally
becomes a suspect.

And where is he?
At that time, nobody knows.

What they knew was his name,
his nationality,

where he lived, who his
friends and his contacts were,

but he couldn'’t be found.

Whilst looking for Rudy Guede,

the investigators ask one
of Rudy'’s closest friends

to try and contact him.

So, his closest friend

calls him
from the police station.

- [Narrator] Unknown to Guede,
the police recorded
this conversation.

[Rudy speaking in Italian]

Guede: The girl who was
killed, I met her
the previous evening...

Friend: This Meredith?

Yes, Meredith.

She was disguised
as a vampire.

Well, the next day,
we had an appointment
to see each other again.

They're saying that she
told her friends she was
tired and wanted to go home.

But in fact no.

We saw each other
at Meredith's house
and we started talking.

And I, well, I tried,
I mean, I made a pass at her
and she was willing.

But in the end,
we didn't do anything

because she didn't have
any condoms
and neither did I.

- It seems highly unlikely
that Meredith Kercher

had any kind of
relationship with Rudy Guede.

Her friends certainly
didn't know about it.

Nobody had ever
seen them together.

There's no evidence
that they were friendly

or that they had any
kind of relationship.

- He is setting up
a version of events.

He's explaining the
presence of his DNA there.

He's putting himself
at that location

and he's giving a reason for
it.

[Rudy speaking in Italian]

Guede: And after that I went
to the bathroom. I really
had to go take a shit.

And I heard the doorbell.

So for me, it was... it could
have been anyone for me, see?

Friend: Sure, sure, sure.

It could have been Amanda,
it could have been...

I was in the bathroom, in the
bathroom maybe five minutes

but then I heard a scream,
but let me tell you,
a really loud scream.

I came out and I saw him.

But who?

His back was turned,
and then I said:
"“What the hell is going on?"”

What the hell
was this guy like?

It was almost dark,
I didn't see his face,
but I say he was Italian...

we insulted each other...

and he didn't have
a foreign accent.

I hurried out
of the bathroom,
I fell on the ground

and then the guy ran away,
he escaped,
he went out the door, see?

- Rudy Guede flees Italy very
shortly after the murder,

and he goes on the run,
but during this time,

he's able to keep close
to the investigation

to be aware of what's happening

because of the humongous
amount of press coverage.

So, I think this really
does speak volumes

about the management
of this investigation

in terms of the
amount of information

that was put out to
the press and the media

because Guede was able
to use that information

to his own benefit.

- [Reporter] New developments
Tuesday in the murder

of a British student in Italy.

A fourth person
has been arrested

in connection with the case.

21 year old Rudy Hermann Guede

was taken into
custody in Germany.

[Valter speaking in Italian]
In prison in Germany,
I explained to him

that there were important
circumstantial elements
about him.

There were his bloody

fingerprints on the pillow
next to Meredith's body.

There was his DNA
in Meredith's vagina.

And there are also
the biological traces

that he left in the bathroom

and so it was absolutely
certain his involvement
at the scene of the murder.

So I explained to him that
the circumstantial framework

was a very serious picture.

The lawyer's job
is not to believe or disbelieve
what the client tells you.

The lawyer's job
is to understand immediately

what are the elements
that can lead
to a serious defense.

- Rudy Guede's story

about what happened
that night evolved.

When he was first asked
by his friend he said,

"Amanda had nothing
to do with it."

That's a quote.

"Amanda had nothing
to do with it."

Then when he was
brought back to Perugia

and was starting to be
interviewed by the police,

he moved Amanda Knox
closer into the house.

[Giuliano speaking in Italian]
During the second
interrogation,

he [Guede] changes the
beginning.

He hears Amanda knocking.
He realises they are arguing.

Then he always hears
the scream and rushes out.

He describes the guy in a way
more compatible with Sollecito.

So when Meredith is dying and
the guy still has the knife,

Amanda is already out
in the courtyard.

[Valter speaking in Italian]
Rudy'’s version
has always been the same.

He certainly didn't mean to
say that Amanda wasn't there.

Because he has always said
that he heard Amanda arriving
at the house

and he heard her arguing
with Meredith.

[Rudy speaking in Italian]
Guede: It could have been
anyone for me, see?

[friend speaking in Italian]
Friend: Sure, sure, sure.

It could have been Amanda,
it could have been...

- In further interviews,

there had been some kind of a
fight between the two women,

and he only showed
up when Amanda Knox

was fleeing and had left
behind this bleeding body.

So he went from, "No,
Amanda Knox wasn't there,"

to not only was she there,

she probably stuck the
knife in this poor roommate

and that Meredith Kercher
was killed by Amanda Knox,

but just happened to die while
he was in the room with her.

[Luciano speaking in Italian]
In two other versions

he [Guede] says:
"“I saw a girl under the moon."”

But it was raining that night
and the moon was not visible.

The girl had blond hair
about 162cm tall.
That's a weird coincidence.

In another version he said
he saw a guy with a cap

that I bumped into
in the hallway.
That would be Sollecito.

It is a comedy.

- [Narrator] While the DNA
evidence matching Guede found

at the crime scene
was very compelling,

the prosecution still alleged
that Rudy did not act alone.

[Francesco speaking in Italian]
There is definite data
on the poor victim's wrists

that lead back
to Rudy Guede's DNA

and therefore there is no
question that he was
holding her by the wrists

and obviously holding her
by the wrists, he could not
injure and kill her

with the knife
at the same time.

Hence the hypothesis

of undergoing
a group sexual experience

being threatened
and wounded many times

with small knife point wounds.

[pensive music]

- [Narrator] In the early
stages of the investigation,

Meredith's bloodied
bra had been removed

from the crime
scene for analysis.

However, the bra clasp was
not removed until much later.

[music continues]

[investigators
speaking in Italian]

[Giuliano speaking in Italian]
On that hook there was

the genetic profile
of Rudy and Sollecito

and Meredith'’s genetic profile.

That means the two guys

violently ripped
Meredith'’s bra.

Using extreme energy to do it

and each of the two guys left

behind these genetic profiles

- [Narrator] After
an agonizing wait,

the family were finally
able to bury Meredith

on the 14th of December, 2007,

and the service was held close

to her family home
in South London.

- I attended and as
attended many services

in the minster over my 25 years
as the MP for Croydon south,

and I don't think I
ever saw the church

as full as it was that day.

It was absolutely overflowing,

and I think it's not
unsurprising when a
young person dies

in a community that the youth
of that community rally around

to support each other, and
it was full young adult.

But I was very
conscious that there

were a lot of
young people there,

and it was quite
a moving service.

I mean, in a way that it
almost highlighted the dignity

and solemnity of the occasion

that the siblings
and friends were able

to get up onto the
front and to talk

about Meredith in
the way they knew

that was of a laughing,
cheerful, friendly person.

- There's elements of Meredith

that I think everyone
saw reflected

in themselves and
people they know,

and that just meant that
there was this real outpouring

because it's when you can see

this awful thing occurring

to someone that you feel
that you can relate to,

it makes you question,
what if that was me?

Or what if that was someone
that I know and love?

And it sort of impacts
on this personal level.

[solemn music]

[pensive music]

- [Narrator] During
the course of 2008,

the preliminary hearings
into Meredith's murder began.

[reporters speaking in Italian]

- Nearly six months on,

we're still coming to
terms with never seeing

our happy, smiling
sister Meredith again.

We are here for
tomorrow's hearing,

which obviously
you all know about,

as we feel it's an important
step in the investigation.

While generally we're
pleased in the way

that the investigation
has been going,

we have been a bit
disappointed with some

of the information
that has been leaked,

both in terms of the frequency
and the content of it.

Ultimately, nothing
can be done to undo

what has happened and
bring Meredith back.

All we can hope is that
we can work together

to ensure that those
responsible
are brought to justice,

and despite attempts to
perhaps discredit evidence

and undermine the process,

we do have every
faith in the police,

the forensic experts, the
legal team that we have,

and the Italian justice system,

and believe that their efforts

will ultimately see
the right person

or person's responsible
suitably punished.

- [Narrator] The
preliminary hearings ruled

there was enough evidence
against the three suspects,

Knox, Sollecito and Guede,
for the case to go to trial.

Due to the overwhelming
media interest

and forensic
evidence in the case,

Rudy Guede's team decided
upon a different strategy,

a fast track trial
for Geude alone.

[Valter speaking in Italian]
I was sure that all the
negative media attention

would have been
dumped on Rudy and he would
have paid the consequences.

Because then the
'‘ of punishment'’
would have taken over.

And I'm sure Rudy would have
paid the highest price.

So to be safe, the trials
needed to be separated.

When the lawyers announced
that the two defendants

would have gone through
the normal procedure.

We chose to do
the fast-track trial,

and this was a kind
of advantage in Rudy's trial

because we were able
to go through the trial

with some peace of mind,
with much less pressure.

- [Narrator] Unlike
a normal trial,

the fast track procedure
excludes cross examination

by the prosecution
or the defense teams

of the other suspects.

[Valter speaking in Italian]
There are no witnesses,
no expert witnesses,

we can only use the data
that the prosecutor
has collected.

So the law says that if you
choose this procedure

you get to be given 1/3 off
the sentence.

- Valter Biscotti made the
best decisions for his client,

given that his client's
DNA was on the body,

in the body, and on the
walls of the murder scene.

There was no other way that
he could have advised him,

but I will say another lawyer
might have laid down and said,

"They got you dead to rights.

Just let's try to make this
a second degree murderer.

You accidentally did
it or something."

There were other ways
that other lawyers

could have handled it.

- Guede elects for
this fast track trial.

He is concerned that
his DNA has been found

at the crime scene and
on Meredith's body,

and he thinks that
the other two suspects

are going to pin
everything on him.

Guede was still
maintaining that he had

had a consensual
sexual relationship

with Meredith before she died.

That was something her family
simply didn't recognize.

That was not within
her character.

She just simply would
not have acted like that.

And it felt like an
attempt from Guede

to control the
narrative at this stage.

[reporters speaking in Italian]

[contemplative music]

- He was convicted of murder,
he was sentenced to life,

but because he had agreed
to this fast track trial,

the sentence was
dropped to 30 years

and then further dropped to 16
years when he went on appeal.

Crucial to the ruling
as the judge determines

that he did not act alone.

[Luciano speaking in Italian]
Rudy Guede's verdict states

that there was complicity
with people
who remained unknown.

So they meant Amanda
and Raffaele.

The following question
was asked to our experts:

"“Could the murder
have been committed
by one person or more?"”

"“Even by one person"”
they replied

but it'’s easier to see
more people
in the mechanics of the crime.

- I think what sends this
case to the next level

in terms of publicity
and in terms

of the public's appetite

to consume information
about the case,

is the alleged team
killer scenario.

So, Rudy Guede has already
been convicted and sentenced,

but we have these two
other individuals,

Amanda Knox and Raffaele
Sollecito, who haven't.

And this is something that
is not going to be impacting

on the case particularly
well because you've got

all of this space
in which people

can make judgments
and form opinions,

and that narrative
starts to get out there.

- [Narrator] In January, 2009,

14 months after Meredith
Kercher's murder,

the trial of Amanda Knox and
Raffaele Sollecito began.

- This is obviously a personal
tragedy, but at this point,

a trial like this
is where it becomes

an international news event,

and the prosecution opening
really the first chance

to hear how the pieces
connect together.

We have heard various
bits of speculation

over the previous months,

but this is the first
time where lawyers

are giving us a
more solid narrative

of what they say happened.

Extremely difficult moment

for the family of
Meredith Kercher,

but at least they
are now in court

and within sights
of getting justice.

- [Narrator] As the
trial got underway,

the defense teams were
confident they could disprove

the prosecution's key evidence,

and Sollecito's team believed

that one of
Meredith's own phones

was key in determining a
more exact time of death.

[Daniela speaking in Italian]
The range
that had been given initially

by the investigators
was very wide

and there was no scientific
way to have a precise estimate
of the time of her death.

It only indicated an
approximate time
of 11/ 11:30pm.

It was a precise analysis
of the victim's phone records

that made it possible
to narrow this range.

The important information
that came up

was that the phone received
a text message
at 10:15pm or 10:13pm

but the signal wasn'’t coming
from Via della Pergola any more

it was in another area,
the area where the cellphone
was found

which is called Via Sperandio.

- [Narrator] The morning
after the murder,

Meredith's two phones
were found in the garden

of a property a
short distance away.

The defense teams believed

they had been discarded
by her killer,

meaning the homicide
had already occurred,

enabling them to determine a
more specific time of death.

[Daniela speaking in Italian]
I would say it happened
between 9:15pm and 9:30pm

or maybe 9:45pm.

It was important
to narrow down the time

because there were some
interactions on Raffaele'’s
computer around that time

proving that Raffaele
was at home.

- [Narrator]
While the prosecution felt

this computer evidence
was far from conclusive,

the defense teams also disputed

the validity of
Raffaele Sollecito's DNA

being found on the torn off
clasp of Meredith's bra.

- This bra clasp was such an
important piece of evidence,

but the handling of
this sample was so poor

because it was collected,
it was photographed,

and then it was dropped.

It was left there for 46 days.

Meanwhile, they're
collecting other samples.

So though there's
a strong indication

of Raffaele's DNA
on that sample,

because that sample is so open
to potential contamination,

really you have to question
the validity of that result.

[pensive music]

- This is so frustrating
to watch as a criminologist

because there is potentially
very valuable evidence

at this crime scene,

but you either collect all
of that evidence properly

and meticulously and
rigorously,

otherwise you
compromise all of it.

[Francesca speaking in Italian]
It's clear that if it was
taken immediately

it would not have exposed
itself to disputes.

There is no doubt about that.

But we also have to remember
that it was a crime scene

so it wasn't a place where
everybody could come
and go as they wanted.

So it's not that easy.

The contamination still
has to have direct contact.

- That little piece of evidence

as ridiculously as
it was collected,

timing wise and in
terms of protocol,

it turned out to be pivotal

because it puts
Raffaele Sollecito

in the room
furthering this theory

of a group of people
ganging up on poor Meredith.

- [Narrator] The defense
argued that the DNA

found on the knife was
also problematic.

[Daniela speaking in Italian]

The investigators found
two traces on the alleged
murder weapon.

One was on the handle and the
other one was on the blade.

The result of some analysis
stated that the trace
on the handle

belonged to Amanda
and the trace on the blade
belonged to Meredith.

However the traces
were very small

so they couldn'’t carry out
an additional evaluation.

For this reason, this'‘f'’

couldn'’t be considered reliable

and accepted as evidence.

Regardless, the small trace
that was found

could have been analyzed

to understand if it was
a blood trail

or to identify
a genetic profile.

The police chose to carry out
a genetic analysis of the DNA

and according to this analysis
they recognized Meredith'’s
genetic profile.

[Francesca speaking in Italian]
The key part
was to get a profile.

So which testing do you do
Is it blood?

No, it's not blood.

So, hold on, do I do
a colorimetric analysis
to see if it'’s saliva.

No wait. I do another test
to see if there are
cells or stripes on the slide.

It is all material
that is lost.

So if I feel as an expert
that there is little quantity

I choose what will be the
'‘analysis'’ in my case. Right?

- One of the problems with this
is that people who think that
Rudy Guede did not act alone,

or who think that Amanda Knox

and Sollecito were
in the room will say,

"Well, how come you
believed the police

when they found his
DNA on the wall,

on her body and in her body,

but you don't believe
this little bra clasp,

or you don't believe the
knife that they picked up?"

[Daniela speaking in Italian]

I knew from the beginning

that there weren'’t
strong elements supporting
the accusation

So I felt very confident
in the legal process.

As this trial went on,

we learned more and more about
the deeply horrendous details

of the ordeal that Meredith
Kercher went through,

and yet the focus really
was still very much

on one of the
defendants, Amanda Knox,

how she was coping in
court, how she was reacting,

and it meant that the
victim of this crime

was still somehow a secondary
character in the whole thing.

[Daniela speaking in Italian]
When Rudy Guede

was about
to be heard during the trial,

we were ready
for any kind of statement.

- [Narrator] Rudy Guede
appeared in court,
but chose not to testify.

[Luciano speaking in Italian]
He never answered.

So his five different versions
[of events] remain five
different versions.

Without any evidentiary value.

- [Narrator] A vital moment
in the trial occurred

when the defense teams
requested further analysis

of the key pieces
of DNA evidence.

[Luciano speaking in Italian]
We wanted these two

expert reports
on the knife and
on the hook.

[Daniela speaking in Italian]
So the fact that the evaluation
wasn'’t approved worried us.

However we were always
counting on a positive result.

[Luciano speaking in Italian]
The first trial was
a complete trial. 112 hearings,

that was a guarantee!

But if we didn't dismantle
the argument of the knife

and the mixed [blood] trail,

the outcome to me seemed
a foregone conclusion.

[Daniela speaking in Italian]

I remember closing

the defense testimonies
that morning.

Then I spent the day in Perugia
waiting for the verdict,

which came out late
in the evening.

The expectation was high

and so was the hope
of getting a positive result.

There was a lot of tension.

Perugia was filled
with international press.

Everyone was waiting
for this verdict.

- For some reason, everything
about it was so cinematic,
it made for a horror movie.

The jury reached its
verdict in the evening,

so we all trooped over there

before [speaking in
Italian], midnight.

The piazza was filled

with public screaming
[speaking in Italian].

"American killer."

And jostling to get inside.

We went in and the courtroom
is in a medieval fortress

that's been turned into
a modern court building.

He reads off the jury's
verdict, [speaking in Italian].

"They're condemned, they're
condemned, they're guilty."

And that's how it ended.

[judge speaking in Italian]

Sentenced to the penalty
of 26 years of imprisonment
for Knox

and to the penalty
of 25 years for Sollecito,

the primary sentence being 24
years of imprisonment,

as well as the payment
of legal costs and the cost
of custody in prison for both.

- [Narrator] Shortly after
the guilty verdict,

the Kercher family gave
a press conference in Perugia.

- Ultimately, we are
pleased with the decision,

pleased that we've
got a decision,

but it's not a time
for celebration at
the end of the day.

It's not a moment of triumph,

and as we've said before,
at the end of the day,

we're all gathered
here because our sister

was brutally murdered
and taken away from us.

- Our lives have
been on hold, really.

You can't continue
your life as normal.

You just have to take
each day as it comes,

and going back to the question
about the appeal, everything,

you just have to take
it one step at a time.

- There was no question that
they were going to appeal,

that the process
was gonna be long,

that Meredith Kercher's
murder was going

to remain a topic of
controversy going forward

because of the way the
trial had been handled.

These two students were
gonna remain in jail

and that it wasn't over.

[soft music]

[intriguing music]

- [Narrator] Knox and Sollecito

did appeal their
guilty verdicts,

and the appeal hearing began
on the 24th of November, 2010.

[Daniela speaking in Italian]
The first verdict
discouraged us, it'’s true.

But when we started the appeal
trial we had so many elements

and we realised there were
so many mistakes
in the first trial.

In particular,
we highlighted the fact

that they never allowed
the expert reports.

- [Narrator] Both defense teams
resubmitted their request

for the DNA evidence
on the bra clasp

and the knife to be reexamined
by their own experts.

This time it was approved.

[Luciano speaking in Italian]
The admission
of the expert reports.

The knife and the bra clasp
an avenue opened up to me.

Some elements came out
like traces of starch
on the knife handle

and the kit that was used
for the examination
of the mixed trace,

which was very small

and therefore
did not allow the procedure

of the amplification
of the genetic data

was the wrong one.

So it loses effectiveness.

The starch retains everything.

If there was blood,
it would have been retained.

- [Narrator] Once again,
the defense teams argued
that the DNA on the bra clasp

could have been a
result of contamination.

- The sheer amount of DNA
evidence putting Rudy Guede

in there overwhelms
the other bits

that they supposedly came up
with, and they are irrefutable,

whereas the Sollecito
connection is suspect

on a piece of clothing
that was on the floor

for six weeks after the
police ran their first search,

suggesting that anybody could
have walked into that room

and done anything
in the six weeks

between the first forensic
sweep

and the one six weeks later.

So, there are a lot of problems
with the forensic evidence.

[Francesca speaking in Italian]
Honestly the fact that the
only place of contamination

that we had was on that hook

that was in the mat where
there were also some socks.

The socks had no DNA from
Sollecito but his DNA was only
on that hook.

Honestly...

I can'’t accept that.

[Luciano speaking in Italian]
We summarise the first appeal
we won, and nobody cares.

- [Narrator] The court
of appeal cleared
both Knox and Sollecito,

and public opinion was
immediately apparent.

[Luciano speaking in Italian]
When you bring 1,000 people
to applaud a conviction and boo

an acquittal for a common
crime, albeit a murder among
20-year-olds

a reflection needs to be made.

I knew 50 percent
of the people who booed me.

[crowd protesting in Italian]
-So this trial also had
a very dangerous impact.

[Patrick speaking in Italian]
So when Amanda was convicted
I thought it was right.

And when she was released,
I thought it was a miscarriage
of justice.

I don'’t want to say
that the judges
didn'’t do the right thing.

I think the judges are human

and they made a mistake
releasing Amanda.

- This case has almost taken
on this pantomime like quality
in which they are the villains.

And for me, this is a
real tragedy of this case

because where is Meredith
Kercher in all of this?

She is completely absent.

The key characters are the
people who have been convicted,

then have their
convictions overturned,

and there seems to be
this laser focus on them.

And all the while
Meredith's memory

is just completely fading.

- Amanda Knox was allowed to
go home to the United States.

Sollecito was released,

but that wasn't the end
of the story yet either.

- [Narrator] In September,
2013,

a new appeal hearing
began in Florence.

Four months later,

this retrial found Knox
and Sollecito guilty,

and the Kercher
family were thrust

into the glare of the
media's spotlight yet again.

- Losing somebody close
to you's difficult,

losing somebody of that age,

and obviously in
horrific circumstances

that Meredith was
killed is horrendous.

And then to have
worldwide media attention

and the fact it's been
drawn out over six years

just makes it incredibly
difficult for us.

- I think we're still on
the journey to the truth

and it may be the fact
that we don't ever

really know what
happened that night.

- No matter what the decision

and when it is
finally upheld or not,

nothing's of course gonna
bring Meredith back.

Nothing will ever
take away the horror

of what happened to her.

- At this point as
the pendulum swung

the other way yet again,

it just became very confusing.

Were these people guilty or
not?

And the point where
what was already

a really difficult
story to follow

became almost impossible
to get any clarity on.

- [Narrator] In 2014,
the next appeal began.

This time the hearings were
held

at the Supreme Court in Rome.

[Luciano speaking in Italian]

In the summer we filed the
appeal at the Supreme Court
in Rome.

I was going to Rome by train.

We sweated a summer doing the
last appeal.

It's a thin road that,

being optimistic
gave us 10% of hope.

'‘Where is the truth?'’

[Luciano speaking in Italian]
In the evening at 11 p.m.,
they call us on the cell phone

telling us to come back
to the courtroom in 15 minutes.

[reporter speaking in Italian]
We are still waiting.

Then the court comes out.
All full, journalists,

policemen, all the courtroom
was full with people.

"“Given Article 620

and 530,
that is the one of acquittal.

Acquits the defendants
for not having committed
the act."”

[Luciano laughs]

[Luciano speaking in Italian]
And I stood still. Impassive.

Neither was I sweating,
nor cold, nor hungry,
nor thirsty.

I was there
with a police officer.

"“Let'’s smoke a cigarette?"”
I ask them

and I am not a smoker.

It was the most important
moment of my professional life.

[judges speaking in Italian]
The verdict
that has now been issued

is a verdict
that doesn'’t say we were right

it says that we were
totally right

because the outcomes
could have been two:

we annul this verdict
but delve into it elsewhere

and instead the annulment
is without referral.

We felt that the elements were
suitable and sufficient
to support

the prosecution thesis and so
did many judges, not just us.

Evidently, it'’s a trial that
has gone through a history
of alternating judgments

so we noted the judgements
that resulted in convictions

[Luciano speaking in Italian]
tonight we take note
of the judgement of acquittal.

I'’m very happy, yes.

- [Narrator] Amanda Knox

and Raffaele Sollecito
were acquitted.

This time it was
the final verdict

from the highest court in
Italy.

But the ruling stated,

"In the face of
missing, insufficient,

or contradictory evidence,

the judgment must
simply take note of it

and issue a judgment
of acquittal,

even if compelled by
genuine moral conviction

of the guilt of the
defendants."

[Luciano speaking in Italian]
That sentence,

to read it now after
five years,
makes me shudder, doesn't it?

How much we have risked!

"“Although animated
by moral conviction
of the defendants'’ guilt..."”

Who knows what they meant...

[Daniela speaking in Italian]
I certainly cannot hide
the fact

that it was a moment
of great emotion and great joy.

At last there was the end word
to this eight years case

that had tormented these
people who indeed suffered
a great drama.

- [Narrator] However,
the ruling that had been
on record

since the guilty verdict in
Rudy Guede's fast track trial

maintained he did not act
alone.

[Giuseppe speaking in Italian]

The justice is not even
in the final verdict

because saying that Rudy
killed in collaboration
with others

it means that others
have not been found.

So this is not justice.
It is just a part of justice.

- After eight years,
the Kercher family frankly
had no answers whatsoever.

It's a cliche to talk
about roller coasters,

but they had had the highs
of seeing convictions

and then the lows of those
convictions being taken away.

But all through this,
at the end of this,

they had absolutely no
justice for Meredith Kercher.

And frankly, no real answers

about what happened on
that night when she died.

- I fully sympathize with them,

and I feel sorry
for them because who
could possibly survive

that as a parent, intact?

It's crushing, horrific.

[reporters speaking in Italian]

- [Narrator] For Giuliano
Mignini and the prosecution,

the final verdicts were
a huge frustration.

[Giuliano speaking in Italian]

I am not at peace with myself
because I didn'’t accept it.

From the very beginning,

this case was influenced
by the media.

I thought the media pressure

couldn'’t reach the magistrates.

[Valter speaking in Italian]
I was wrong.

If we expected
a restorative justice

perhaps it has not arrived.

If we expected satisfactory
justice perhaps it was not
all the way.

However, we have to think
that the judicial system

is the backbone
of a country's democracy.

[Giuseppe Speaking in Italian]
There is no such thing
as a perfect murder;

there are imperfect
investigations

That'’s what I have always said
to my students

in the 40 years I have been
teaching at University.

[solemn music]

[Daniela speaking in Italian]
I thought about Meredith
many, many times

she was always in my thoughts
when I was going through
all the analyses

even the ones that obviously
concerned her directly.

And I thought about putting
myself in her shoes

and thinking what a bad tragedy
really had befallen her.

There is underlying grief
for the loss

of such a young girl
that touches anyone.

- Her time in Perugia
should have been a
big step in her life.

I suspected she would've
gone on and built on this

and perhaps built quite a
strong relationship with Italy.

Really, at the end of the day,

your thoughts have got
to be with the family

and the brothers and sister

who found themselves in
this terrible situation.

- I met with the Kercher
family several times,

but it was always
extremely difficult.

They were obviously
thrust into this story.

I mean, nobody wants
to be at the center

of something like this.

They dealt with all
this in a brilliant way

and with absolute grace.

But this was such
a difficult time

for them and remains so now.

- I think the only thing that
we can do now for Meredith

is make sure that
moving forward,

the failings that happened
for her don't happen again.

And that just basically means

that we need to be more
focused on victims.

We need to allow the
space for their stories

and their lives
to be remembered,

rather than just getting
fixated

on the details of the crime.

[shutters clicking]

- Meredith was, and very
much still is a part

of our family and is
dearly loved by us,

and of course, her
friends as well.

And it's just cruel that
such a bright future

was brought to
such an abrupt end.

Her shining personality

is how we ask people
to remember her by,

and for her not to be
remembered as just the victim

of a cruel and torturous crime.

Thank you.

[solemn music]

[mysterious music]

[music fades]