DNA from both Amanda and Raffaele had been found at the cottage where Meredith was killed.
At one point during the murder probe, Raffaele’s underwear had been confiscated by police after spots of blood had been noticed. It was determined, however, that the blood belonged to Amanda and that it was probably menstrual.
When news of the DNA match found on the knife reached Raffaele, he never wavered, remaining steadfast that he was innocent of any wrongdoing. His legal team also continued to support his insistence that he had nothing to do with Meredith’s murder.
As information about the bizarre case continued tocirculate from a variety of sources – some official, others not so official – on Sunday, November 18, Meredith’s boyfriend, Giacomo Silenzi, spoke publicly about the case for the first time, recalling how he heard about Meredith’s death.
‘I was on a train heading back to Perugia from my parents’ house when I got a call from Meredith’s other flatmate, Filomena, who told me what had happened,’ Silenzi told a reporter for the Daily Mail . ‘My stomach dropped. I just could not believe it. I had spoken with her for the last time just a couple of days earlier and she had sent me a text saying she was looking forward to me coming back.’
He said that when he arrived at the Perugia train station, police picked him up and drove him to the police station. Describing Meredith as ‘beautiful and innocent,’ he said that he first suspected Amanda while they waited to be questioned by detectives at the police station on the day Meredith’s body was found.
‘I had a cast-iron alibi because I had been at my parents’ house since the Monday [before the killing],’ he said. ‘It was a bank holiday in Italy. I was taken to a waiting room and Amanda was there.’ He described how Amanda had hugged him and had told him how sorry she was about Meredith. She also introduced him to Raffaele, who Silenzi had never met before that day.
‘I couldn’t help thinking how cool and calm Amanda was,’ Silenzi continued. ‘Meredith’s other English friends were devastated and I was upset, but Amandawas as cool as anything and completely emotionless. Her eyes didn’t seem to show any sadness and I remember wondering if she could have been involved.’
Silenzi said that he had spoken with Meredith’s British friends, Robyn Butterworth and Sophie Purton, that day, and they had offered similar feelings and opinions about Amanda. In fact, he said, none of them could understand how Amanda was able to deal with everything that had happened so calmly.
‘I knew that Amanda didn’t get on with Meredith,’ Silenzi said, ‘but I didn’t think that would lead to Amanda killing her.’ Tearfully, he described how he and Meredith had only just begun their relationship.
‘Maybe it was too early to talk about love,’ he said, ‘but we really had an affection for each other. She moved into the flat above mine at the end of summer, and we would pop into each other’s places just to say hello or have a cup of coffee, the things that neighbours do. She was very pretty, and I was also impressed with her Italian. We would share CDs and play music together.’
He said that his birthday was at the end of September and that a party had been planned in honour of it. Meredith, however, had been unable to attend because she was flying back to England to spend the weekend with her family.
‘She gave me a bottle of rum as a present,’ he said. ‘Most of it was drunk at the party, but there is a drop left that I will now keep forever… a few weeks afterthat, around the middle of October, we kissed for the first time at a student party. Then we made love a couple of days later in my flat.
‘I’m still having trouble taking this all in,’ he continued. ‘If I could see Amanda, I would just ask her, “Why? Why did she kill Meredith?”’ Silenzi added that he had not been in touch with Meredith’s parents, but indicated
At one point during the murder probe, Raffaele’s underwear had been confiscated by police after spots of blood had been noticed. It was determined, however, that the blood belonged to Amanda and that it was probably menstrual.
When news of the DNA match found on the knife reached Raffaele, he never wavered, remaining steadfast that he was innocent of any wrongdoing. His legal team also continued to support his insistence that he had nothing to do with Meredith’s murder.
As information about the bizarre case continued tocirculate from a variety of sources – some official, others not so official – on Sunday, November 18, Meredith’s boyfriend, Giacomo Silenzi, spoke publicly about the case for the first time, recalling how he heard about Meredith’s death.
‘I was on a train heading back to Perugia from my parents’ house when I got a call from Meredith’s other flatmate, Filomena, who told me what had happened,’ Silenzi told a reporter for the Daily Mail . ‘My stomach dropped. I just could not believe it. I had spoken with her for the last time just a couple of days earlier and she had sent me a text saying she was looking forward to me coming back.’
He said that when he arrived at the Perugia train station, police picked him up and drove him to the police station. Describing Meredith as ‘beautiful and innocent,’ he said that he first suspected Amanda while they waited to be questioned by detectives at the police station on the day Meredith’s body was found.
‘I had a cast-iron alibi because I had been at my parents’ house since the Monday [before the killing],’ he said. ‘It was a bank holiday in Italy. I was taken to a waiting room and Amanda was there.’ He described how Amanda had hugged him and had told him how sorry she was about Meredith. She also introduced him to Raffaele, who Silenzi had never met before that day.
‘I couldn’t help thinking how cool and calm Amanda was,’ Silenzi continued. ‘Meredith’s other English friends were devastated and I was upset, but Amandawas as cool as anything and completely emotionless. Her eyes didn’t seem to show any sadness and I remember wondering if she could have been involved.’
Silenzi said that he had spoken with Meredith’s British friends, Robyn Butterworth and Sophie Purton, that day, and they had offered similar feelings and opinions about Amanda. In fact, he said, none of them could understand how Amanda was able to deal with everything that had happened so calmly.
‘I knew that Amanda didn’t get on with Meredith,’ Silenzi said, ‘but I didn’t think that would lead to Amanda killing her.’ Tearfully, he described how he and Meredith had only just begun their relationship.
‘Maybe it was too early to talk about love,’ he said, ‘but we really had an affection for each other. She moved into the flat above mine at the end of summer, and we would pop into each other’s places just to say hello or have a cup of coffee, the things that neighbours do. She was very pretty, and I was also impressed with her Italian. We would share CDs and play music together.’
He said that his birthday was at the end of September and that a party had been planned in honour of it. Meredith, however, had been unable to attend because she was flying back to England to spend the weekend with her family.
‘She gave me a bottle of rum as a present,’ he said. ‘Most of it was drunk at the party, but there is a drop left that I will now keep forever… a few weeks afterthat, around the middle of October, we kissed for the first time at a student party. Then we made love a couple of days later in my flat.
‘I’m still having trouble taking this all in,’ he continued. ‘If I could see Amanda, I would just ask her, “Why? Why did she kill Meredith?”’ Silenzi added that he had not been in touch with Meredith’s parents, but indicated
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