Bizarre Crime of the Week : Investigation Discovery: Meredith Kercher Murder House Looted by Devil Worshippers

February 24, 2009

On Wednesday, February 18, 2009, police in Perugia, Italy discovered that the house where Meredith Kercher, 21, was sexually assaulted and murdered in November 2007 had been broken into and ransacked, presumably by devil worshippers, despite the best efforts by police to keep the house sealed as a crime scene.

Although the house has been sealed off and its perimeter marked with police tape since the crime occurred, sentries guarding it have since been discontinued—at least since January 2009. As a result, the police are uncertain as to when the break-in actually occurred, but they said they discovered the illegal intrusion when they returned some items to the house that had been seized earlier as part of the investigation into Meredith's murder.

Apparently, according to European sources, Satanic worship has become somewhat widespread in Italy over the past several years, and murder scenes are frequently used to carry out their ceremonies. Some people believe that the fact that Meredith's throat had been slashed, resulting in much blood at the murder scene, and the fact that her body was partially nude when she was killed may have contributed to the house having been selected by Satanists for their unholy rituals—if indeed it turns out that Satanists were behind the break-in.

Among the oddities discovered by investigators following up on the break-in were four knives on the kitchen floor, as well as a burned candle in another room and candle wax drippings in the room where Meredith was slain. Nothing appeared to be missing from the house, which sits among other homes on a hillside overlooking a valley. The intruders' point of entry, police said, was through a kitchen window on the back side of the home.

"Four knives were found at the scene, and they were all determined to be from inside the house," a police spokesperson said. "They were not brought here. A candle was also found, but this also appears to have (already) been in the house. Traces of wax were found in Meredith's bedroom and at this stage we are keeping an open mind on the motive. We cannot exclude anything, and it is possible it was for some unnatural reason such as Satanism."

"I have no words to describe how much distress this will cause the family," said Francesco Maresca, attorney for the Kercher family. "I hope that full details about what happened will come out quickly."

Marco Brusco, the attorney for defendant Raffaele Sollecito, 24, 21-year-old Amanda Knox's former boyfriend—to recap, Sollecito, Knox, and another man, Rudy Guede, 21, have all been accused of taking part in Kercher's slaying (Guede has since been sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in the crime)—apparently viewed the break-in as possibly being beneficial to his client's case.

"This break-in just shows what we have always said—anyone could get into the house," Brusco said. "It proves how easy it is to get into the house and tamper with the crime scene…we are very concerned about what happened, but at the same time it proves what we have always said—that a thief broke into the house and murdered poor Meredith Kercher."

The fact that Meredith was murdered near Halloween has caused a number of people in Italy and elsewhere to suspect that Satanism had played a part in the crime. The latest suspicions about the house possibly having been broken into by Satanists have only served to fuel those earlier suspicions.

Photo Credit: iStock

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Comments

Presumably this could equally well have been the type of curious young sensation seekers who used to stare at the house of the "Yorkshire Ripper" due to his notoriety. Having broken in to an empty house, perhaps they lit the candle for simple illumination?

Was it only the knives, already in the house, that were disturbed? Or was it like the recent Jersey case, where only things that might lead to speculation along the lines of evil were mentioned to the press?

Posted by: David North | February 25, 2009 at 03:47 PM