Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Foxy Knoxy Unclassified: The Amanda Knox State Department Cables

As I promised early, I have acquired seven cables pertaining to the arrest and trial of Amanda Knox. The first cable is December 2008 and the last from December 2009. The majority of the cables are redacted due to privacy concerns with the State Department invoking (b)(6) to justify withholding. Despite this, some aspects of the State Department's handling of this case can be puzzled out. Specifically:
  1. The US Embassy in Rome is handling it. All of the released cables orginate from there.
  2. It is a localized affair. All of the cables went to the American consulates in Milan, Naples, Florence, or to  ....
  3. The State Department in Washington DC. The cables say "SECSTATE WASHDC," but it is doubtful that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton read any of them, at least at first. She may have read them since, but with the possible exception those marked IMMEDIATE. I believe all cable traffic is routed to the Secretary of State or more accurate State Department HQ.
  4. Knox has received consular representation as required by international law. However, it does not appear that the State Department is pushing hard (or at all) for her release.
I should point out that the State Department reported there was an 8th record (most likely a cable) withheld its entirety on (b)(6) grounds. I also limited my search to cable traffic. A FOIA request for all Amanda Knox related records will probably turn up more information, probably some more recent cables, but not much more. If someone can get Knox to sign a release or file her own Privacy Act request, more information will become available.

I have loaded them in chronically, oldest to newest, with each page of the PDF being a separate page of a cable. On the bottom left front page of each cable is a line blacked out. I did that to remove identifying material about me.

Knox Cable Traffic

16 comments:

  1. Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito repeatedly told the police a pack of lies in the days after Meredith's murder.

    On 5 November 2007, Knox and Sollecito were confronted with proof that they had lied and were given another opportunity to tell the truth. However, they both chose to tell the police even more lies.

    Sollecito's new alibi was shattered by computer forensic evidence and his mobile phone records.

    Knox accused an innocent man, Diya Lumumba, of murdering Meredith despite knowing full well that he was completely innocent. She didn't recant her false and malicious allegation against Lumumba the whole time he was in prison.

    Knox's account of what happened on 2 November 2007 is contradicted by her mobile phone records.

    Knox and Sollecito both gave multiple conflicting alibis. Neither Knox nor Sollecito have credible alibis for the night of the murder despite three attempt each. At the trial, Sollecito refused to corroborate Knox's alibi that she was at his apartment.

    Rudy Guede's bloody footprints led straight out of Meredith's room and out of the house. He didn't lock Meredith's door, remove his trainers, go into Filomena's room or the bathroom that Meredith and Knox shared.

    He didn't scale the vertical wall outside Filomena's room or gain access through the window. The break-in was clearly staged. This indicates that somebody who lived at the cottage was trying to deflect attention away from themselves and give the impression that a stranger had broken in and killed Meredith.

    Guede had no reason to stage the break-in and there was no physical evidence that he went into Filomena's room.

    The scientific police found a mixture of Amanda Knox's DNA and Meredith's blood on the floor.

    There was no physical evidence that Guede went into the blood-spattered bathroom. However, the scientific police found irrefutable proof that Knox and Sollecito tracked Meredith's blood into this bathroom.

    Amanda Knox’s DNA was found mingled with Meredith’s blood in three different places in the bathroom: on the ledge of the basin, on the bidet, and on a box of Q Tips cotton swabs.

    Sollecito left a visible bloody footprint on the blue bathmat.

    According to two imprint experts, the woman's bloody shoeprint on the pillow under Meredith's body matched Knox's foot size. The bloody shoeprint was incompatible with Meredith's shoe size.

    Knox's and Sollecito's bare bloody footprints were revealed by luminol in the hallway. Knox’s DNA and Meredith’s DNA was found mixed together in one of the bloody footprints.

    An abundant amount of Sollecito's DNA was found on Meredith's bra clasp. Sollecito must have applied considerable pressure to the clasp in order to have left so much DNA. The hooks on the clasp were damaged which confirms that Sollecito had gripped them tightly.

    Knox's DNA was found on the handle of the double DNA knife and a number of independent forensic experts - Dr. Patrizia Stefanoni, Dr. Renato Biondo and Professor Francesca Torricelli - categorically stated that Meredith’s DNA was on the blade.

    Sollecito knew that Meredith's DNA was on the blade which is why he twice lied about accidentally pricking her hand whilst cooking.

    The defence experts were unable to prove that there had been any contamination. Alberto Intini, head of the Italian police forensic science unit, pointed out that unless contamination has been proved, it does not exist.

    Amanda Knox voluntarily admitted that she involved in Meredith's murder in her handwritten note to the police on 6 November 2007. She stated on at least four separate occasions that she was at the cottage when Meredith was killed. She also claimed that Sollecito was at the cottage.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Rag-bot has automatically added the first comment on this. Notice it has ZERO to do with the specific contents of this blog post. Nothing about why having a look at these cables might be interesting and what conclusions about how the US handles high profile situations involving ordinary citizens. (and what if anything they are doing to help)
    Instead this obsessive almost fact-free auto post comment effort by Harry Rag has become the "Kilroy was Here" of the internet at least as far as this case is concerned on every single web address that even hints at being linked to the case or mentions his hate Object. The volume of repeated half truths and lies spewed 24-7 by this one-person Propaganda band is likely into Guinness book of records territory by now, but quantity does not make something true.
    For a better understanding of the case backed up by facts not prejudicial supposition, why not have a look at the information on http://www.friendsofamanda.org/home_eng.html and
    http://www.injusticeinperugia.org/

    ReplyDelete
  3. Amanda and Raffaele are clearly innocent of this crime. The sad thing is that the State Department has taken a hands off approach rather than stepping in. Is this because we need Italy's support in Iraq, Iran, and elsewhere? Italy is a first world country with a third world justice system that is badly in need of reform.

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  4. I have a massive stiffy.

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  5. Hey FOA delusional person,
    Any idea (just let everyone know why you think so seeing that you seem to be representing the murderess)
    why on her social networking page your client/friend/former lover/family member waxed lyrical about the new house she's fallen in love with in Perugia and how great the two Italian girls are (even posting photos of them) but absolutely no mention whatsoever of Meredith Kercher? You know, like she didn't exist?
    I think you people have fallen hook line and sinker for the false/self world the murderess would have you believe.
    Would you say that this fact suggests that the murderess didn't like her housemate and "friend" Meredith kercher.
    I am very much looking forward to a coherent reply.

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  6. To "stiffy":

    Call that massive?

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  7. The convictions of Ms. Knox and Mr. Sollecito bear far too many of the hallmarks of wrongful convictions: notorious crime, great pressure on police, tunnel vision, poor evidence gathering, sketchy forensics, demonizing in the media, failure to record interrogations, likely mistreatment by interrogators, etc. Add in the bizarre allegations made by a dodgy prosecutor, the unreliable "witnesses" whose evidence came very late in the day and/or is inconsistent with their previous offerings, the failure to test certain pieces of evidence that should have been tested, the lack of any real evidence to place these two individuals in the room at the time of the murder, and the unprofessional approach of the Perugia police, and it seems quite apparent that these convictions are very dangerous indeed.

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  8. The above official cables from the US Embassy disprove all of your claims Catherine, if you had cared to view them.

    They NEVER remark of anything wrong, no charges or claims or complaints are relayed from Amanda Knox.

    NO instructions, questions, or comments are cabled from Washington in return!

    ReplyDelete
  9. HARRY RAG is well known to people who have followed this case on the Internet as he pops up on almost every single blog or forum etc about this sad case. He goes around posting LIES and DISTORTIONS and along with his sidekick (Fulcanelli) he tries in vain to convince people of his deluded beliefs.

    For a GENUINE and fair discussion of this case, you should visit either the Injustice in Perugia website or the JREF forum.

    Best suggestion of the day would be to IGNORE Harry Rag's posts as there is rarely any truth (or certainly, very little) in any of his posts. Funniest thing about this sad man is that most of his posts say EXACTLY the same garbage - copy and paste perhaps?

    Hopefully, one day, this troll Harry Rag will be exposed as Peter Quennell.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Why in the world would someone use a 'handle' of Hairy Rag?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hey, I just now saw this. I knew about it, but didn't know YOU knew about it!!! Very cool.
    By the way, sorry for the really long winded people on here.

    ReplyDelete
  12. because they are a cigarette or like the band which kinda tells you their age. I know people that age.

    ReplyDelete
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