Mugford/McDonald and Knox/Lumumbaba

[Holly Goodhead]

Are there are any similarities here?

Amanda Knox claimed she made the false confession about Patrick Lumbaba as a result of the mental strain from the police interrogation?

[Myster]

No, it was the mental strain of keeping the dark secret about her boyfriend's odd behaviour under wraps, until it was finally released through the encouragement of her close friend, SB... before any serious police interrogation took place.

Gotta dash... arlosdad needs his daily gallop!  See you (not very) soon.

[scipio_usmc]

Are there are any similarities here?

Amanda Knox claimed she made the false confession about Patrick Lumbaba as a result of the mental strain from the police interrogation?

Not just mental strain, Knox did not know the language at the time and they insisted they had proof she met up with Lumumba.  They twisted a text that said see you later insisting it meant she met him.  They told her to imagine how things happened with Lumumba there.  They kept her sleep deprived and confused.  Hours later when she had a chance to rest and see what they wrote down she disclaimed it.  Even though she immediately disclaimed it they ran out and arrested Lumumba anyway.

There is no evidence  Mugford was grilled and told to imagine a hitman let alone specific hitman doing it. Police wanted her to say Jeremy did it not a hitman, Jeremy had no alibi.

Since he had no alibi and there was no evidence of a breakin (other than the window being used the way Jeremy admitted he would enter) there is no reason for anyone except Jeremy to introduce the story of a hitman.  Why he did so is widely debated.  Some suggest it was so that if Julie turned him in then the claim would be proven false and he would be in the clear.  Others suggest it was to scare Julie because she had to fear a hitman coming after her if she talked.  I personally feel the main reason he did so was because he didn't want her to know he was cold blooded enough to kill the boys himself.  I do believe Julie's claim that he told her if she talked then the hitman would get her but think that moreso this was something he took advantage to tell her when they were fighting as opposed to his main design.  If he didn't trust her on the day of the murder or right after then he would not have had her speak to police and would not have phoned her before he even phoned the police.  So it makes little sense to believe he made up the hitman story because he didn't trust her.  Much more likely is that he did it because he didn't want her to know he was so cold blooded that he did it himself.