Tag Archives: murder

Amanda Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, are now taking their cases to the U.S. court of public opinion — with book and media tours. An Italian court in 2009 convicted them of murdering Amanda’s roommate, British exchange student, Meredith Kercher. Rudy Guede, a man with a criminal record, was also convicted of the murder. In 2011, an appellate court threw out Amanda’s and Raffaele’s convictions for lack of evidence. But in March 2013, Italy’s highest court demanded a …

Jodi Arias’ sentencing mini-trial on May 16 included more tears from the defendant during testimony by her victim’s family, and it was revealed that her lawyers tried to quit – for the second time.   Ethical Dilemma? Defense lawyers Kirk Nurmi and Jennifer Willmott on May 14 reportedly told Judge Sherry Stephens they wanted to withdraw from the case. The meeting was not public, with only court minutes documenting the request, so their reason remains a mystery. The first time Nurmi …

Jodi Arias’s jury agreed with the prosecutor on May 15, finding that her murder of ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander was “especially cruel” – one of the aggravating factors that now makes her officially eligible for a spot on Arizona’s death row. The trial moves on to the sentencing phase on May 16, with the jury hearing evidence about whether Arias should get death by lethal injection or life in prison.   Suffering Debate Arias was found guilty of first-degree murder on …

Was Amanda Knox naïve before she was arrested for murder in Italy? Yes. Was her behavior often flaky, clueless and inappropriate for her situation? Yes. Was her youthful attractiveness a liability with the media and at trial? Maybe. Was she a killer who stabbed her roommate? No way. In her new memoir, “Waiting to Be Heard,” Amanda Knox of Seattle, Wash., describes the nightmare of her 43 hours of interrogation over three days, an 11-month trial and four years in …

Now that Jodi Arias has been found guilty of first-degree murder by a jury of her peers, she faces the penalty phase of her trial. Because she is eligible for the death penalty as the result of killing her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander, Arias must now make her way through another round of legal processes designed to weigh both the “aggravating” and “mitigating” circumstances of the killing.   The Medical Examiner Returns A capital case in Arizona, as in many states, …