Injustice in Perugia
a website detailing the wrongful conviction of Amanda Knox & Raffaele Sollecito
Selfless Sacrifice
Selfless Sacrifice
By Bruce Fischer
As we have now seen, many sacrifices have been made by those most dedicated to helping Amanda and Raffaele secure their freedom. In this chapter I will highlight the personal sacrifice made by Steve Moore and his wife Michelle. Their dedication to the cause went far above and beyond all expectations and has truly been an inspiration to myself and others working to achieve the same goal.
Steve Moore is a retired FBI Agent who has 25 years of investigative experience. His experience includes the investigation and prosecution of violent crime, from murder to mass-murder and terrorism. Steve researched the Meredith Kercher murder case extensively and concluded that Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were innocent. Steve's expert opinion is one that must be respected when it comes to crimes of this nature. Steve has done invaluable work for Injustice in Perugia and has worked tirelessly to spread the truth about this case.
After a fulfilling career with the FBI, Steve was hired by Pepperdine University as the Deputy Director of Public Safety; his experience made the job a perfect fit. In his short time on the job Steve received good performance reviews for making several improvements to campus security.
With everything going well at work, Steve was shocked to find himself faced with a major decision in September 2010, when Pepperdine gave him an ultimatum; stop advocating for Amanda Knox or face termination.
This decision was not an easy one for Steve to make as he had a family to think about. There was a mortgage payment coming due and many other bills to pay. There was also the fact that two of his children were planning on going to Pepperdine, where they would have attended for greatly reduced tuition based on Steve’s employment with the university.
After discussing the decision with his family, Steve informed the university that he would not be silenced. Steve was fired shortly thereafter for refusing to comply with Pepperdine's ill-planned ultimatum. Steve discussed his firing with CBS Crimesider:
“Pepperdine gave me the option of staying,” Steve Moore says, if he stopped talking about Amanda Knox. And Moore says, “If I had any doubts about her innocence, I would have stayed. But I don't.”
Steve’s response to the University should be a lesson for all of us; honesty and integrity have far more value in our lives than anything money can bring.
Pepperdine is a Christian school with an enrollment of 7,000 students. The school’s "Affirmation Statement" says, "That, truth, having nothing to fear from investigation, should be pursued relentlessly in every discipline". It appears that Pepperdine ignored their core beliefs when they decided to fire Steve Moore. Ironically, Steve was fired just weeks after Pepperdine students had organized a Free Speech Week on campus to commemorate the signing of the U.S. Constitution on September 17, 1787.
What was it that caused Steve to become involved with the Amanda Knox case in the first place? His life changing moment occurred when he accepted a challenge from his wife Michelle regarding the case. Michelle had watched a 48 Hours Mystery program about the case that convinced her Amanda had been railroaded. Steve spent 25 years putting bad guys in prison so it would take a lot more than a television show to convince him of a person's guilt or innocence.
Knowing her husband well, Michelle challenged Steve to investigate the case and prove her wrong. Steve took his wife's challenge, conducted a thorough investigation, and to his surprise, he too concluded that Amanda Knox was innocent.
I met Steve and Michelle shortly after "the challenge" when I was notified that a woman had posted a comment on Facebook that her husband, a retired FBI Agent, believed Amanda was innocent. I contacted Michelle to see if her husband had any interest in getting more actively involved. Steve felt compelled to help, writing a series of articles for Injustice in Perugia.
Steve explained why he felt he had an obligation to help Amanda Knox:
“I could not see this injustice and do nothing, any more than a doctor could see a person collapse and fail to render assistance, or a fireman hear the cries of children inside a burning house and stand idly by”
Steve's expert opinion would not go unnoticed leading to interviews with every major network in America and even a couple in the United Kingdom. His message was loud and clear; re-test the DNA evidence. As I mention several times in this book, the defense requested independent testing during the first trial but that request was denied, leaving the prosecution’s expert as the final word. This was a crushing blow to the defense all but guaranteeing that Amanda and Raffaele would be convicted.
The entire case would come down to the DNA evidence and freedom for Amanda and Raffaele would never come if additional testing was not authorized. Steve’s analysis told him that the DNA was faulty and he was not shy about telling the world what he had concluded. In fact Steve spent months telling anyone who would listen that an injustice had occurred in Perugia Italy.
We will never know to what extent outside pressure may have influenced Judge Hellmann’s decision to appoint independent experts to take another look at the DNA on appeal, but one thing is certain, Steve’s wish was granted. The DNA evidence that once condemned Amanda and Raffaele would have an opposite effect on appeal, all but guaranteeing freedom for the two.
Of course Steve’s support of Amanda Knox did not sit well with the guilters, led by Peggy Ganong and Peter Quennell. One member of the group, SomeAlibi, vowed to "take down" Steve for simply believing Amanda was innocent, and the group encouraged all of their followers to write letters to Pepperdine in an attempt to get Steve fired. SomeAlibi openly admitted that he contacted Pepperdine in a post on an online forum:
“I contacted Pepperdine to provide with all of the online content of Steve Moore’s interviews etc. to save them time. Since Steve stands by them I believe you couldn’t object to that. I also pointed out the factual errors in them.”
Why is a group that claims to gather for Meredith Kercher contacting employers of anyone in attempt to adversely affect their employment? More importantly, why did Pepperdine listen? How could Steve’s involvement with the Amanda Knox case have a negative impact on Pepperdine? One possibility was that Pepperdine had a campus in Florence, Italy. Did the university act after hearing complaints from the Italian campus?
Pepperdine's student newspaper The Graphic put any possible speculation to rest that Steve may have been causing a disruption for Pepperdine in Italy when it reported that the Florence campus was completely unaware of Steve’s support of Amanda Knox, in fact the Florence campus had received no negative feedback from anyone in Italy regarding Steve Moore.
There is no doubt that the hate campaign against Steve Moore by the Quennell-Ganong cult influenced Pepperdine's decision. The details will never be discussed publicly due to a legal agreement between Steve Moore and Pepperdine, but I will say that it is my opinion that Pepperdine hastily responded to the complaints coming from the Anti-Knox group and would have never thought to take action otherwise.
Upon hearing the news that Steve had been terminated, the Quennell-Ganong cult celebrated as if they had achieved great success. Unfortunately for them, their celebration was premature because when it was all said and done Steve Moore would be well compensated for his wrongful termination.
Steve filed a lawsuit shortly after he was fired; the preliminary judge reviewed the case and determined his complaint was valid, setting the trial date for August. Pepperdine moved for summary judgment, which was denied. It looked like Pepperdine had no interest in seeing the inside of a courtroom, offering a settlement instead. Steve discussed the settlement on his blog:
“I am happy to announce that Pepperdine and I have reached a satisfactory settlement of the lawsuit. As a stipulation requested by Pepperdine, I have agreed to keep the terms of the settlement confidential. But I can tell you that Michelle and I are happy with the settlement and we feel very much vindicated! I would like to thank the University for doing the right thing at this juncture. With the stress of that ordeal over, the family has plans to vacation in Maui later this summer.”
I have great respect for Steve and Michelle Moore and I was very pleased that Pepperdine chose to do what was right in the end. Steve and Michelle have sacrificed greatly for a cause they believe in and I am honored to call them friends.
Additional Resources
Professional Analysis
Injustice in Perugia
The Appeal
The Victim
Meredith's Killer
Wrongfully Convicted
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