A few well thought out post from around the internet

"...the theory of intent was a satanic rite to celebrate halloween, then it was a sex game gone bad, then it was an argument over Meredith's missing rent money, then it was revenge on the "smug," "prissy" girl, then it was "sometimes there is no reason."

Mignini changed his story more times than Amanda and Raffaele put together, but that doesn't seem to bother his true believers."

- Notfromaroundhere

"A year before Merideth's murder he was kicked out of the house that he had been adopted into when he was 15 because, his adoptive father, Paolo Caporali said, he was such a "tremendous liar" and that he (Caporali) had "thought I could help him to build a future, but with the passing of time I realised that I had made a mistake."

He had been caught (in the month before Merideth's murder) three times with stolen goods in his backpack-stolen goods from places he had broken into. At one, when challenged he threatened Cristiano Tramontano with a knife and then ran off.

He was identified by those he stole from all three times by eye witnesses or because he actually had the stolen goods on him but although the police were called he was never kept in jail for any of these crimes but was let go. This has caused the defense to wonder if Guede had been a police informer to get off so completely.

Where did the money Guede have come from that allowed him to go kick up his heels (literally) at a local bar in the early morning hours after the murder, and manage to travel to Milan and then Germany for a couple of weeks? It could well be that cash that Merideth had taken out of the bank because she was returning home to celebrate her mother's birthday. Her purse had been opened by the killer and the cash was gone.


The truth is that Rudy Guede acted alone the way he always had. He was used to breaking and entering, was used to carrying a knife, was used to taking and doing what he wanted, was used to stealing and lying. He also understood the Italian justice system and how it worked.He found Merideth alone in bed in the apartment building,and decided to add an easy sexual encounter as an afterthought to the robbery he had planned. But Merideth fought back hard, he brought out the knife to convince her to calm down, she didn't and she ended up getting killed in the heat of the struggle.

So what is this all about? Why accuse Amanda and Raffaele? First because of the collusion between the prosecutor Magnini and the tabloid press.He made the blunder of leaking his speculation about the case to them almost instantaneously-with no facts to back him up-just raw speculation. They ran with it. When facts changed face needed to be saved Magnini just "razzle-dazzled" us all until the red herrings got in the way of common sense and logic and we all became blinded by his convoluted snow job.

Obviously this lack of justice hurts Merideth's family alot because the truth is actually alot easier to live with than the horrendous crazy speculations of the prosecutor's.In the one view their daughter and sister fought bravely to the end for her own justice and even though she did lose she is portrayed as brave and strong-not a helpless victim. However under the prosecutor's speculation Merideth was only a poor defenceless victim set upon and held down and violated horrendously by a friend and two men she had barely met.

Merideth's family will never again have their sister and daughter while on earth. They will have only the memories. If I were her sister, mother, father, I would want very much to visualize a srong defiant and brave fighter to the end-a warrior- than see my loved one forever more as nothing more than a mere victim who couldn't fight back. I really don't think that's the way it went. In my mind's eye Merideth will always be the fighter, and even though she died in the end she died fighting her killer, Rudy Guede. She died as young and as strong and as brave a girl as her family and friends always knew her to be.

Amanda was nowhere around when this valiant struggle was ongoing and neither was Raffaele. I believe, after reading about Amanda and Raffaele as much as I have lately and feeling like I've gotten to know them that if they had been there they would have joined Merideth in her fight and then there would have been such a better ending for everyone."

- Seeker-finder