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CBS PEDDLES CO-VICTIMHOOD --
Meredith Kercher Murder Case -

The CBS TV 48 Hours series presented a program Saturday night about "Giallo Perugia," that penny dreadful mystery that's been going on in Italy since last November. They called it A Long Way From Home.

The program's story hook for why viewers should care about the murder of an English girl in a faraway country was that one of the suspects, Amanda Knox, is an American college girl from Seattle who could be your daughter, classmate, friend or associate. While this may be a legitimate storytelling device theoretically, it flopped for me in this case.

I expected them to present a reconstruction of the crime scene and related material that would help clarify the situation for us. They did less of that and spent most of their efforts, it seemed, on a promotional video glorifying
Amanda Knox.

What actually offended me was their introduction of the argument that Knox is a "Co-Victim" in this case along with the murdered Meredith Kercher. This argument is simply unacceptable. And it's quite obnoxious. Meredith Kercher is the victim in this case. But their approach may provide some weird insight as to a possible motive in this murder. Their efforts to compete with Kercher even in death and victimhood do not paint a very pretty picture on TV about the girls' relationship. Even post mortem they are still trying to best her. This is a rather grim picture.

The promotional aspect of it all seemed somehow out of control, over the top, and the equivalent of a mad rant from the underground man just surfacing. Was this just some misguided info-mercial or outright propaganda swill?

One of the program's private investigators claimed that the Prosecution doesn't have a "shred of evidence." At the very least, the Prosecution has all the phone records; we don't. But the Prosecution has no obligation to share their evidence with the Public.

How comprehensive was their coverage of the situation? I was disappointed about one specific point: The Boys DownStairs. They explained that Rudy Guede was somehow acquainted with the BDS and then dropped the subject. They did not mention that Meredith's boyfriend lived downstairs - and he was conspicuous in his absence. There seems to be a red line beyond which the News Media will not venture. Do the BDS enjoy some kind of Diplomatic Immunity?

:: CBS Recap of program ::
A Long Way From Home

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