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EXPLORING THE DARK SIDE -
A Role-Playing Game Turned Deadly?

American college student Amanda Knox is a key suspect in the murder of her British roommate, Meredith Kercher, last November 1 in Perugia, Italy.

*Precisely how an attractive, gifted, wholesome American student found herself at the heart of a particularly sordid and brutal murder has yet to be established by prosecutors and the police.*

Could it have anything to do with this?

In December 2006, Amanda Knox posted a short story on M*Space in which a young woman is drugged and raped by another young woman. One passage reads: "She fell on the floor, she felt the blood on her mouth and swallowed it."

According to the autopsy report:

*Kercher was stabbed three times in the neck. The last and deepest thrust missed her carotid artery, but Kercher is believed to have been in agony for about 10 minutes before bleeding to death.*

I have been following this case and have formed the impression that this scenario may have started out as a kind of Role-Playing Game based on the widely popular TV shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel or, perhaps, the Anne Rice books and movies about Vampires - until the game turned deadly.

For most youngsters these TV shows, books and movies are harmless fantasy forms of entertainment; but for other young people who have some serious problems, they can provide a vehicle to explore taboo endeavors like vampirism or even murder as exciting adventures.

*John Follain spent two months in Italy and Seattle finding out the truth about Amanda Knox.*

Mr Follain has done an excellent job as an investigative journalist in this extensive article. And the presentation here is quite comprehensive.

"Is this the face of a killer?"
:: By John Follain - UK Times ::

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