Salem Witch Trials
Eric Dezenhall, the nationally known and respected president of Dezenhall Resources, a leading crisis management and communications firm in Washington, D.C., wrote the following column, which appeared yesterday on Huffington Post. As it quotes John Douglas and Mark Olshaker and deals with a subject important to us, we wanted to share it with our readers.
In the vortex that swirls from today’s media and legal climate, motivated authorities may not have enough to send you to jail, but they certainly have enough to ruin your life.
And they don’t need much.
This week, the retrial of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito begins in Florence for the 2007 murder of Meredith Kercher. Knox and Sollecito were once convicted and then, in 2011, found innocent on appeal. Their acquittal was accompanied by a scathing assessment of the methods of the prosecution.
But now it all begins again.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-dezenhall/all-the-pretty-witches_b_4024946.html
I acknowledge that I am no expert and I am not saying that I am correct in my assumptions, I am just saying that Knox’s behaviors post-crime were bizarre and highly inappropriate and do not jive correctly with the Mary Poppins persona she has tried so hard to portray. Honestly, I must admit that I would place Knox in the same category that I place Karla Homolka. To me, it seems that she exemplifies a classic sociopath, but because she is female and attractive it is difficult-impossible for many to consider. Regardless of Guede and what he may or may not have done, I still cannot justify her behaviors and many inconsistencies in the image she tried to portray and her actual behaviors. Raffaele Sollecito even notes her bizarre behaviors in his book. I am not willing to say that I feel 100% sure she had something to do with the murder of her roommate, I am just saying that there are definite inconsistencies in who she says she is and how she behaves–and that brings up alarms for me.
Come up with the most lascivious crime theory you can dream up involving an attractive female and let it explode across the media. Follow that up with a series of illegal false evidence leaks to solidify your fantasy and people will find it difficult-impossible to consider anything else. It is just too darn titillating.
MD, what happens when the crime scene evidence and absence of evidence contradicts your behavioral assumptions?
And after 6 years no past friend or acquaintance has revealed any sexual deviancy, violence, stalking, threats, mental illness, or manipulation on Amanda’s part to support your sociopath accusation.
Will you please specify what particular behaviors you think indicate that Amanda is a sociopath or a threat to anyone?
Thanks.
Karla Homolka was damned by the evidence.
Amanda, Raffaele, and everyone else in the world except Guede are exonerated by the absence of evidence at that crime scene. I find your comment reckless.
Mr. Mininger:
Why should I list behaviors that you obviously have reflected your negative opinion on in some rhetorical manner so that you can restate what you have stated above? You know exactly the behaviors I am talking about. Everyone does. I’m not going to be your podium, sir, to further your cause. I have my opinion just as everyone else does and I have stated that my opinions are my own and that I could be completely wrong but I just have a difficult time reconciling the inconsistencies in the behavior and who this woman portrayed herself to be. You don’t see the problem, good for you. Respectfully, I am just as entitled to my opinion as you are. I have not been rude or attacked anyone, I have just stated that, to me, Knox shows characteristics of a sociopath on par with Karla Homolka. I am not talking about Homolka’s criminal actions, I am talking about how she presented herself in one way and her behavior was completely inconsistent with that presentation. I never said I thought she was guilty of her roommates murder, and I never said that I thought the Italian courts were correct in their actions, I said I have questions about her behaviors that I cannot reconcile. That’s all.
MD-
You claimed you haven’t attacked anyone. But imo “I am not willing to say that I feel 100% sure she had something to do with the murder of her roommate,” is a thinly veiled accusation of murder against Amanda and indirectly against Raffaele.
You also accuse Amanda of being a sociopath on par with Homolka. These are about the most serious charges one human being can make against another.
I heard all the behavior talk bantered back and forth for years while there exists a plethora of hard crime scene evidence fingering the burglar Guede. You’re right that you couldn’t list anything I haven’t heard already. But I’d like to hear your take on what makes these particular behaviors sinister, as opposed to trauma induced, or just quirky. And in some cases like the cartwheels, the behavior never happened at all.
You are indeed entitled to your opinion and you have not been rude to other commenters, although I’m sure I’m testing your patience. I deal with people everyday who are in this for the thrill of the witch-hunt and I respect you for not being one of them.
With all the passionate talk about behavior on this site regarding various topics, I would like to remind readers that Mr. Douglas studies crime scene photos/videos, CSI reports, and coroner/medical examiner reports. He has training and experience recognizing recurring crime scene patterns. Behavioral analysis regarding a crime cannot be done in a vacuum, it must be integrated with the other forms of investigation.
I very much enjoy and appreciate your comments, MD, but on this one, I have to disagree. I see absolutely no comparison between Amanda Knox and Karla Homolka, and I have studied both cases in great detail. Amanda certainly displayed certain immaturities, which were consistent with her previous behavior, but there is nothing sociopathic about her. The evidence we have compiled is extensive that she was a girl who went out of her way to help other people and make them feel better about themselves. I can also tell you that John and I went into this case knowing nothing, but with a mild bias that she was probably guilty. Our investigation and analysis of every bit of physical and behavioral evidence led us to the opposite certainty.
Mr. Olshaker and Mr. Mininger:
I acknowledge that, considering the opinions of Mr. Olshaker and Mr. Douglas, my assertions and questions must sound silly, but I still stand by them. Just chalk it up to me being crazy and my arguments hence invalidated. =] I also don’t think Mary Kelly was a Jack the Ripper victim. Go figure.
Gracias,
MD Rice
Mr. Olshaker and Mr. Douglas:
As always, I acknowledge the expertise involved in your reaching the decisions you have reached in the Knox case. I must admit, however, that I have a much more difficult time rationalizing the bizarre behaviors of Knox post crime.
M.D. Rice
MD Rice-
This is a Homicide 101 case of resident surprises burglar. The blood transfer and DNA evidence shows Guede did it in the bedroom with a knife. Meredith still had her jacket on when she was attacked. In order to give Mignini and Giobbi what they needed to keep their premature tabloid conclusion intact, CSI Stefanoni perjured herself multiple times on the stand and hid her data from peer review for over 3 years, which is scientific fraud.
May I ask what you consider bizarre post crime behavior on Knox’ part? Surely you know that different people react differently to trauma. Criminals tend to flee like Guede did. They don’t come back to the blood bath the next morning. If they do, they are extreme sociopaths who could have never hidden their condition throughout their life up to that point.
I hope you’re not going to recite the kissing in the parking lot. Amanda was standing in the lot in shock, shivering. Quite boring to tabloids. Then Raffaele gives her a few kisses of comfort. The kisses go out on the media sound bite and it is played over and over and over again.
You do know that there were no cartwheels? Amanda was stretching as she was studying. An officer noted that she was limber, so she did a split. Monica Napolitano, who claims she did cartwheels, has since been moved away from her Perugia post due to misconduct on another case.
Knox bought underwear because the cottage was a crime scene and she could not retrieve her own.
The “All You Need is Love” T-shirt in court was really dumb. But it’s the kind of thing that naïve neo-hippies, who believe that innocence is going to protect them, will do. She grew up.
Retired FBI homicide investigator Steve Moore discusses what threat assessment professionals look for in behavior, as opposed to a titillation craving media and their readers, or a delusional prosecutor.
http://www.injusticeinperugia.org/FBI2.html
If you want bizarre behavior, Mignini’s history of corruption and bizarre group crime theories is described by journalists Mario Spezi and Doug Preston in their book “The Monster of Florence”.
This case is painful in many ways. Mignini tormented 20 innocent suspects on the Dr. Narducci suicide case, which in his mind is linked to The Monster of Florence case by a satanic sex cult dating back to the middle ages. Then he is allowed to proceed victimizing the Kercher, Sollecito, and Knox families on this case.
Amanda stayed and tried to help while Meredith’s pot supplying Italian law student flat mates lawyered up (without warning Amanda), and her other friends fled. I am proud of her for this.
Thanks, M.D. In addition to what Tom Mininger has written, I would just say that most of what has been ascribed to Amanda as bizarre behaviors are really reports taken out of context. One thing we have learned over the years is that it is extremely perilous to try to say what is “normal” or acceptable behavior in extreme situations. Perhaps the most telling of all of Amanda’s behaviors post-crime is that unlike Rudy Guede, she didn’t get the hell out of town and out of the country, as she easily could have and how we might expect a guilty person to react. Instead, she stayed and was completely cooperative with the police for days, until it finally dawned on her that they considered her a suspect.