The Murder of Meredith Kercher (2 page)

A
s the investigation into the murder of Meredith Kercher was getting underway in Perugia, back in the UK, John Kercher and his ex-wife, Arline, were growing increasingly anxious to make contact with their daughter. He recalled later that he had last spoken to Meredith at about a quarter past two on the afternoon of Thursday, November 1, while conducting business at a bank in Croydon. She had called him on his mobile phone while he was at the counter, just to ask how he was doing. Since they usually spoke during the evening hours, he had thought it a bit unusual for her to call at mid-afternoon. He, nonetheless, had been very happy to hear from her, and they had chatted for about two minutes. She had told him that she did not have classes that day because it was a public holiday. He told her that he loved her, and that he would call her back later. However, she had said
that she would be going out that evening, so he knew it would not be until the next day that they would be able to speak again. Although he had no way of knowing it at the time, that telephone call would be the last time he spoke to Meredith.

About 5 p.m. the following day, Friday, November 2, Arline called him about the female British student who had been murdered in Perugia. Partly because of Arline’s telephone call and partly because he simply wanted to speak to his daughter again, John Kercher called Meredith on her mobile phone. To his dismay he heard an automated message that her phone was turned off. Over the next hour he tried calling Meredith a dozen times or more, keeping in mind that the time in Italy was an hour later than it was in the United Kingdom. Finally, he could hear Meredith’s phone ringing in his earpiece, meaning that it had been turned back on, and he had become hopeful that she was okay and that there was nothing to worry about. However, there was still no answer. He tried calling her relentlessly over the next half hour, always with the same result: no answer.

Increasingly anxious to obtain information about the murder in Perugia to, hopefully, put his and Arline’s minds at ease, Kercher telephoned the foreign desk at the
Daily Mirror
, a newspaper that he had worked for as a freelancer for a number of years, and spoke to one of his contacts there. He was told that they only had sketchy information at best at that
point, but he was urged to call back in an hour or so, when they may have additional details. Although it was one of the most agonizing hours of his life, Kercher did as was suggested.

When Kercher called the newspaper back an hour later, his hopes rose again – but only for the moment. He was told that the Italian police had found the murdered girl’s mobile telephone, and that they had been in touch with people in London. From that information, which was still, admittedly, sketchy, he had figured that the police in Italy must have contacted the murdered girl’s family as well as British authorities. However, half an hour later a woman from the
Daily Mirror
called back and told him that they now had a name, and Kercher’s hopes were quickly dashed. Although the woman seemed reluctant to provide the information to him at first for obvious reasons, she finally told him that ‘The name going around Italy is Meredith.’

Numb with shock and unable to believe what he had just been told, Kercher dropped his phone thinking, hoping, praying that it had been a mistake, or that if it had not been a mistake that it was not
his
Meredith. After all, they did not have a surname yet, and Meredith was a fairly common given name. Even so, something inside his gut – instinct or intuition – told him that the murdered girl in Perugia was his daughter. Shaking and fearing the worst, he asked a friend to drive him to Arline’s home, where Meredith’s
older sister, Stephanie, 24, along with her brothers, John, 30, and Lyle, 28, were being told to gather there too, as soon as possible. On the way Kercher telephoned the Foreign Office to try to confirm what the
Daily Mirror
had told him, but they were unable to authenticate anything at that point, and instead told him that they did not have all the details yet, and that he should not jump to any conclusions.

Within an hour, everyone had assembled at the family house. Distraught over the dreadful possibility facing them, they tried as best they could to console each other as they nervously waited for the 9 p.m. television news. Shortly after the broadcast began, their worst fears were suddenly realized as Meredith’s photo appeared on the screen. In stunned disbelief, they watched and listened to precisely what they had so desperately hoped they would not see or hear – their Meredith was dead, murdered in Perugia, Italy, by a person or persons as yet unknown. As they sat there, numb with the pain of finally knowing what had happened, the Kerchers hugged each other and the tears began to flow.

The next day, as news of Meredith’s tragic and untimely death spread throughout the UK, a number of Meredith’s friends that she had known at school in Croydon, just south of London, made plans to place flowers at the school. John Kercher and his family learned of the plans and, emotionally moved despite their personal anguish, decided to go and meet their
daughter’s friends at the school. Expecting to find only a half-dozen or so people, when they arrived there were more than 70 people waiting to offer their condolences and to place their flowers in memory of Meredith. A number of people had travelled from universities at various locations around the country, and Kercher and his family found the small service held in the school’s gardens ‘unbelievably touching’. When the service was over, Kercher knew that they had to quickly make plans to leave for Italy.

‘I was clinging to the hope that it was another Meredith, or even that they had got the name wrong,’ Kercher told the
Daily Mirror
. ‘But I have been told she was identified by one of her flatmates. Now I will have to go out there and identify her as her father. I can’t bear to think about it.’

Meanwhile, back in Italy, the Italian news agency ANSA began reporting that the body found inside the quaint villa had been identified as Meredith Kercher, and that she had reportedly been found in her bedroom with a deep cut to her throat. ANSA also reported that Meredith had been to a Halloween party on October 31, and had watched a film at the home of some friends on the evening of November 1. According to the report, she was believed to have then left at approximately 9 p.m. ANSA also reported that police investigators had already begun questioning Meredith’s friends and housemates, and among the
things they learned by this time was that none of her roommates had stayed at the villa on the evening of November 1. On the surface, it appeared that Meredith had been home alone after returning from watching the movie with friends.

Forensic experts spent much of Friday evening, November 2, going over the house in a search for clues that hopefully would shed some light on how Meredith had died and the circumstances that had led up to the attack. In addition to finding the massive amounts of blood inside Meredith’s bedroom, as well as the bloodstains on the frame of the broken window, investigators had also found a handkerchief outside in close proximity to a railing by the road near the villa. Its significance to the case, if any, was not yet known.

Perugia’s chief prosecutor, Nicola Miriano, had already told the press that murder was the ‘most credible hypothesis’, but he also stated that he would not rule out other possible explanations until after he had seen the results of the forensic investigation and had read the reports of the detectives. A theory of robbery or burglary had quickly been discounted because computers, items of gold, and other valuables inside the house had not been taken.

A spokeswoman for the University of Leeds confirmed that Meredith was in the third year of a four-year European studies degree programme at the time of her death. In addition to Italian language
coursework, Meredith was also studying modern history, political theory and cinema history. She said that the university officials were shocked and dismayed over Meredith’s death, and expressed concern for Meredith’s family and friends, and added that the university was sending a member of its staff ‘to provide support to her fellow students’.

On the evening of Friday November 2, a few of Meredith’s friends paid tribute to their dead friend on the Internet social networking site, Facebook. One wrote: ‘Meredith, words cannot express how I feel right now. I’m thinking of you and can’t believe that one minute we were celebrating Halloween together, and then the next you’re gone. You’re in my thoughts and prayers.’

Another friend wrote: ‘Love you now and always. The memories that we have made together will always stay in my heart! Xxxxx.’

A number of photographs of Meredith and her friends taken at one of the Halloween parties they had attended two nights earlier were also posted on Facebook. Some depicted Meredith dressed up as a vampire, with fake blood made to appear as if it was dripping from her mouth.

In a recent message to one of her friends, Meredith had said that she was happy and enjoying Perugia, and ‘Was having a good time… it’s starting to get really cold now, but the chocolate festival is on at the moment, so a good excuse to drink a lot of hot chocolate.’

Meanwhile, as they wrapped up the first day of their investigation, police said that they were looking for the murder weapon, believed to be a knife, screwdriver, or a shard of broken glass. ‘This was a particularly nasty murder and the victim was found with a deep cut to her throat,’ said an unidentified law enforcement source, who declined to provide any additional information at that time. But as additional details began to be released, it was revealed that Meredith had planned to return home the following Friday to attend a birthday celebration for her mother.

The ANSA news agency reported that magistrate Giuliano Mignini had been assigned to lead the investigation, and that a postmortem examination of Meredith’s body was scheduled to be performed by the pathologist Luca Lalli.

M
eredith Kercher was described by family and friends as a quiet young woman, diligent and serious about her studies, who loved to read. She aspired to become a teacher after completing her education, and enjoyed writing stories and poetry. During her teens she studied ballet as well as martial arts, in particular karate. Having a great sense of humour, Meredith could make people laugh and put them at ease.

‘She had such life and vitality and made friends, wherever she went,’ her father said. ‘The sense of the ridiculous stayed with her. Meredith really enjoyed Halloween.’

During her childhood, she often made Halloween costumes from plastic bin liners, and would go out with family members to visit neighbours, as part of the traditional celebrations, which some view as macabre.
As her father remarked, it was ironic that she died so horribly only one day after Halloween.

As Italian investigators continued piecing together Meredith’s last known movements and interviewed her contacts, they learned that she and her friends, including roommate Amanda Knox, had spent at least a part of the evening of October 31, Halloween Night, at a party in the ground floor flat of the villa, the home of Giacomo Silenzi, a young Italian man Meredith had been dating. It was also believed that she may have attended other parties that night. Meredith spent the following evening with two girlfriends, Sophie Purton and Robyn Butterworth, also from the UK. They had dinner at Robyn’s apartment, and then watched the movie,
The Notebook
, on DVD. Meredith, tired from the partying that she had enjoyed the previous evening, decided to call it an early night and left Robyn’s apartment shortly before 9 p.m.

Sophie walked her part of the way home, and the two girls said goodnight to each other on a street corner not far from the cottage where Meredith lived. Investigators believe that Meredith probably arrived home around 9.15 p.m., and initially theorized that she had been killed sometime between then and midnight. The police officer leading the investigation, Marco Chiacchiera, head of the investigative unit known as the Perugia Flying Squad, which was being assisted by forensic teams from Rome, soon revised the estimated time of the murder
to sometime between 10 p.m. Thursday and 10 a.m. Friday.

Although more than 100 police officers had been brought to Perugia from all across Italy to assist in the investigation, by Saturday, November 3, the police still had not named any suspects. But revealing additional bits of information, Chiacchiera said that Meredith had been found wearing only a T-shirt, and that her throat had been cut by a knife or other sharp object that had been thrust in an upward motion with much force. There were signs of other injuries, but Chiacchiera did not go into the details at that time.

‘We have 100 officers on this case and are not ruling out any possibilities,’ Chiacchiera said. ‘We are now questioning all of Kercher’s friends, male and female.’

Chiacchiera added that there was no evidence of a sexual attack, although it would later be revealed that there was evidence of the possibility of recent consensual sexual intercourse. He said that it was possible that the killer may have entered Meredith’s bedroom via a window –despite it being 13 feet from the ground – and exited by the front door after stopping in the bathroom to wash off blood, a possible explanation for the traces of blood that had been found there. Chiacchiera indicated that it was likely that Meredith had known her killer, because there was no evidence that the villa’s front door, which had been left unlocked, had been forced. Although Meredith’s body had been found locked inside her bedroom,
investigators had so far not found the key to the door, leaving unanswered the important question of whether her killer had entered or exited – or both – through the broken window in her room.

It was not long before speculation began to surface that Meredith may have been attacked by a boyfriend. However, the conjecture was quickly dismissed by her friends and acquaintances, including a pub owner she knew, who said that although she was known to go on dates at times she had not been, to the best of their knowledge, in a relationship at the time of her death.

Chiacchiera soon learned that Meredith and Amanda Knox had met when each had responded to a notice appealing for roommates that they had seen at the university. Although they were opposites in many ways, with Meredith being quiet and reserved and Amanda being more lively and boisterous, the couple of Italians who shared the villa told the police that the two girls had initially hit it off and had seemed to like each other. Among the things they seemed to have in common were that both were humanities students, both enjoyed drinking in Perugia’s lively pub scene, both played guitar, and both girls liked to smoke pot. However, as time went on, Meredith and Amanda drifted apart. Meredith did not like the fact that Amanda had so many frequent visitors, many of whom were male, and she did not like Amanda’s sense of hygiene and was particularly bothered by the fact that Amanda frequently did not flush the toilet after
using it. Nonetheless, they made the best of their situation despite their obvious differences.

Forensic experts worked through the weekend at the murder scene, collecting and analyzing fingerprints and collecting items where DNA might be present. A footprint made in blood was also found near Meredith’s body, and the chemical Luminol (which highlights traces of blood) was used throughout the dwelling to help investigators identify other locations where blood evidence might be present. They also reportedly found fingerprints on Meredith’s two mobile phones, and the call records were being examined.

Chiacchiera and his investigators expanded their avenue of inquiry to include the Halloween photos, and others, that had been posted on Facebook, in an effort to identify people in the pictures with Meredith. Some of the photos were taken at pubs in Perugia, including the Merlin Pub, co-owned by Pasquale Alessi, where Meredith liked to hang out. A number of the photos had been taken at the Merlin during a party there on Halloween night. Alessi helped the investigators identify people in the photos with Meredith, including a part-time bouncer at one of Perugia’s pubs, a male American student, and a Libyan computer student. Gennaro Crugliano, 33, who took some of the photographs, also helped police confirm some of the identities.

By that time speculation about how Meredith was murdered, who murdered her, why she was murdered,
and so forth, was running rampant in Perugia. One rumour suggested that she had been murdered by a man that she had met at one of the parties she had attended on Halloween.

‘She was not the type to invite someone home without knowing them very well,’ Crugliano said in an effort to dispel the gossip.

‘I was with Meredith at the pub that night and did not see her meet anyone,’ said another of her friends, Samantha Rodenhurst, 20, also a classmate of Meredith’s at the university. ‘Meredith had not received any threats as far as I know.’

Other people came forward to help dismiss much of the gossip that was being disseminated throughout Perugia, but it did not seem to help matters much. This was a huge story for Perugia, and it ranked as one of the biggest in all of Italy, perhaps even overshadowing the ‘Monster of Florence’ case (the still unsolved murders that took place in Florence between 1968 and 1985). The rumours, as everyone would see, were not going to go away easily.

On Sunday, November 4, the same day that the autopsy on Meredith’s body had been scheduled, an unusual, even ghoulish event occurred at the entrance to the University of Foreigners. Someone had posted a notice advertising for an English student to rent a vacant room at the villa where Meredith had lived. Whoever posted the notice included a bogus telephone number that comprised of the date of Meredith’s
murder. It was removed by the police as soon as it came to their attention, but they did not trace who had posted it.

Later that evening the pathologist Luca Lalli performed the postmortem examination of Meredith’s body. Afterwards, Lalli said that the autopsy had shown that Meredith ‘possibly’ had sexual relations prior to her death, but that she ‘was not raped’. His findings helped refute some of the false information – including that she had been raped – that was beginning to creep into the Italian press. Lalli also said that he believed the weapon that was used to kill Meredith had been a penknife.

Following the autopsy, the Italian press reported that Meredith’s carotid artery had not been cut, resulting in the theory that she had probably endured a relatively slow and agonizing death as she bled, choking on her own blood. As additional details of the postmortem on Meredith’s corpse were either reported directly or leaked – as many of the details would be – information surfaced indicating that she was also strangled, that her throat had been crushed, and that her partially-nude body had sustained 47 cuts and bruises. There was also talk that the police now believed that Meredith had died while attempting to fend off a sexual attack and that police now believed that the broken bedroom window had been staged. Adding to the growing mystery was a report that Amanda Knox had been seen at a launderette on Via
Fabretti on the morning of November 2, in the company of a black man from North Africa, washing clothes and a pair of shoes, leaving many people wondering where all the twists and turns would eventually lead.

What seemed particularly troubling to the police and Mignini early on were the wounds on Meredith’s body, details of which were initially kept from the press. It was eventually revealed that Meredith had sustained three large knife wounds that most likely resulted in her death, but she had also been subjected to a series of ‘pinprick’ knife wounds, which could suggest torture or, perhaps, some kind of sadistic sexual game that had been perpetrated by her attacker or attackers, a game that had eventually spun out of control because of the unwillingness of the victim to participate.