English student Meredith Kercher, who was murdered in Perugia, Italy on November 2, has been called a "natural charmer, a beautiful girl who made friends easily." Yet she's been overshadowed by Amanda Knox, her 20-year-old American housemate, now in custody, who's suspected in her death.
The source of the kind words above is Patrice Lumumba, the owner of the bar in which Knox worked. Of the latter, he said, "I didn't realise it at the time, but now I see that she was jealous. She wanted to be the queen bee. . . . She hated anyone stealing her limelight -- and that included Meredith."
Knox has got it to herself now. In fact, "Foxy Knoxy," as she's been known to refer to herself, has helped earn the case honorary Missing White Woman Syndrome status, even though the body has been found (by, ta da, Knox).
Of late the cable news shows that feast on these cases are sucking the bones of the mother of all MWW cases, the Natalee Holloway murder. But they've managed to allot time to Ms. Kercher's murder.
For those unfamiliar with what happened in Perugia, the city with a historic past, but now most famous for its chocolate, we'll bring you up to speed. Also arrested were Knox's 24-year-old boyfriend of a few weeks, Raffaele Sollecito. The son of a doctor, he not only expressed a desire to engage in "extreme" sex, but was a collector of knives.
Meanwhile, Knox fingered the Congolese Lumumba as the murderer. Apparently she was scrambling for the most likely candidate (read: black) to take the heat off her. Due to lack of evidence, he was released and she's since apologized.
Rudy Hermann Guede, 20, also of African descent, is another story. Judge Claudia Matteini, who issued the arrest warrant for him, said: "There are, without doubt, grave indications of the guilt of Guede, especially in the light of precise and irrefutable analysis carried out by the forensic police."
In the US, everyone –- from the law to lawyers to suspects to the family of the victim -- observes the zipped lips rule. The mischievous Drew Peterson (another murder suspect on high cable news rotation) excepted.
But, if this case is any indication, in Italy everyone blabs. The news flow is constant, unlike the US where the media and public beg for crumbs from the authorities, lawyers and families.
The good news about the case is that though it's an offshoot of the MWW genre, you don't have to feel guilty about following it because. . . of the bad news. Which comes in two installments.
First –- Ms. Kercher's slow death. According to Newsweek, "Forensic evidence shows that Kercher's neck was lightly scratched twice with a knife before a third and fatal swipe slit her throat."
A coroner hired by Knox's lawyers testified Ms. Kercher died instantly from strangulation. But the "coroner's office believes that she was conscious during the two painful hours it took her to die, but that her injuries made it impossible for her to call for help."
The judge and media called the crime "extreme sex" gone wrong. To them that seems to have meant group sex and/or S&M in which one of the participants resisted.
Apparently, though, the term incorporates "edge play," which, according to the Belfast Telegraph, includes fun stuff like this: "Knives are heated, frozen and handles can be as erotic as the blades. . . . According to most sources, rules are that knife play is 75% 'touching, scraping and rubbing' and 25% actual cutting."
Only 25% cutting? No big deal. Just don't render me a nullo, if you don't mind.
Russ Wellen is the nuclear deproliferation editor for OpEdNews. He's also on the staffs of Freezerbox and Scholars & Rogues.
"It's hard to tell people not to smoke when you have a cigarette dangling from your mouth." -- Mohamed El Baradei, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency
