The Forgotten Killer

Rudy Guede and the Murder of Meredith Kercher

by Douglas Preston (Author), John Douglas (Author), Mark Olshaker (Author), Steve
Moore (Author), Judge Michael Heavey (Author), Jim Lovering (Author), Thomas Lee
Wright (Author)

2016 Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

 Discuss in depth the relevance of the title

Discuss cause and effect relationships you found in the book

The Forgotten Killer possesses a title that compels you to open the real story and
perceive the truth of the title within. When you first pick up the novel, the questions were
why and how? How and why would a killer be forgotten? What are the factors that
have caused this to become the focal point of this non-fiction novel? So let us put on our
Watson spectacles and get with it.

First we must delve into the events surrounding the novels case; starting with the
characters involved. There was the victim, Meredith Kercher. The murderer, Rudy
Guede. The criminal justice system of a civilized European country. Then the
persecuted Amanda Knox and her Italian friend and co-defendant, Raffaele Sollecito.
Amandas hell starts when she and her boyfriend found Meredith dead; they promptly
called the police. Leading to the Italian police force zeroing in on them as suspects. They
were the individuals who had called in. The solitary ones reported at the shared housing
at the time: they became the leading suspects. This lets the real perpetrator, Rudy Guede
get farther away. Set in motion by the pressure of the media to find the killer. Now under
severe pressure, the Italian Police Force couldnt find any suspect. They did possess
Amanda and her boyfriend. The force had to find a killer this instant and what better
than the roommates found at the scene. Stories started to spin for the Italian medias
benefit, spreading to America. We find Amandas boyfriend released, but Amanda locked
away in an interrogation room. She was mentally tortured to cave and sign papers that
stated she killed Meredith. Somehow she maintained her innocence and never wrote she
killed Meredith. While the real mystery murderer, had damning evidence building,
dubbing him the killer. At this point, the police force couldnt turn back. They had to save
their reputation and jobs; they couldnt turn around and tell the world the truth. Who
were in a frenzy over the innocent American college girl being a sexual fetish murderer.
Instead, they lied and floundered to catch the real killer. When in reality, Rudy was in
their jail over a petty thievery. To cut a long story short, they finally let Amanda go from
prison a few years later. She was saved by people like John Douglas. Who realized things
didnt match up; evidence was deliberately performed inaccurately. Managing to put the
real murderer behind bars. From Rudys semen and DNA were found ingrained in the
crime scene. In the end, every juridical person involved with this case suffered damage,
but not enough. Managing to dematerialize any evidence and continue as they were.

To answer our first question. The Forgotten Killer was a dutifully picked title for
this novel, you could say it fit like a glove. As you read the evidence and find how the
controversy of the case reached the international news. You find the title becomes more
befitting of the real life story. Prosecutors of the case ignored finding the real killer. The
media cashing out on such a controversial case. Nobody would have benefited if the real
killer was acquired. The story was too juicy to delve deeper into. There were people who
came forward to the media about it being a fluke, but they wouldnt take it. Doesnt Foxy
Knoxy sound better than Oops We Didnt Do Our Research. Wouldnt that bring in
the views which would equal more money? Through it all, the killer was left forgotten,
until it inevitably couldnt help but point to Ruby.

Moving on to our last question. Its obvious, pointing out the massive cause and
effect the lead investigator launched. When you pick the easier route and choose to cower
and lie, you ruin lives. You can ask, what of the media, didnt they pressure them to find
the killer? Someone was wrongly convicted and paid the price of years in jail to cover
juridical asses. Instead of putting forth the effort to create an elaborate faux crime scene
and story, you couldve been scouring the world for the real killer. The police force dug
themselves a deeper pit that wouldnt let them turn around and pronounce the truth.
Media had shit themselves over the juicy information they hadnt taken the necessary
time to research over. It became one huge catastrophe. One major cause and effect if you
will.
 In conclusion, this novel was written by the people who had sought the truth. To
inform us about the forgotten killer and the forsaken victim. Someone we forgot under all
the deception and cowardliness to pass a murder off on an innocent. The decisions we
make will forever haunt us and I predict in this case, some more than others.

List eight things you learned from this book

Brainwashing: "Induction of Fatigue" Is a brainwashing technique that results in intense
psychological debilitation. Forcing a prisoner to remain awake during long periods of time. With
fresh rotation interrogators every interval. Allowing the victim to sleep for 2-3 hours before
forcing them awake to begin the interrogation rotations again.
Persons of interest: Ordinary people don't commit a brutal crime for their first time. Unless
if there is a motive. Which I found was a surprising way of knocking a person of interest from
the list of suspects.
Interrogation considerations: If a suspect is identified, you should expect no remorse or
admission of guilt. They would likely have justified the killing in his/her mind.
Interrogation considerations: If the suspect was somehow tied to the scene, he/she would
create scenarios to present why he/she was connected. Most often they would say they came to
scene during when others were present, or after the real killer left or he was another victim.
The investigation: "Target fixation" is when investigators and prosecutors fixate on a single
suspect.
The investigation: "Junk Profiling" In the book, Amanda didn't openly grieve in public for
her friend. This lack of public weeping allowed the detectives to believe she killed her friend.
Imagine balling your eyes out in the privacy of your home and going into public dry-eyed and
then being accused of sexual murder.
Evidence: If you killed someone with a knife, blood will frequently find its way between the
tang and the handle of the knife.
Media: Through the entire book, I just can believe how much the media influenced this
case. I never really thought the media could even influence an investigation the way they did.
Pushing and pushing for juicy news, then not taking the time to review their information on a
real murder case.