The Italian prosecutors rests in the Meredith Kercher murder case. The Amanda Knox trial has drawn international attention since the American girl, her Italian boyfriend and another friend were charged with murdering Kercher, Knox’s roommate, allegedly because she was unwilling to participate in drug induced sex games with the trio. The year-long trial is coming to a close with prosecutors demanding a life sentence for Knox.
Amanda Knox is the U.S. student from the Seattle area who stands accused of murdering her British roommate. She is accused along with her Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito. A third person, Rudy Hermann Guede, of Ivory Coast, was tried and convicted of murder in the case. He was sentenced to 30-years for his participation and is appealing his conviction.
Earlier today, prosecutors requested that the defendants receive life in prison for murder and sexual violence in the fatally stabbing Meredith Kercher. Prosecutor Giuliano Mignini also requested nine months of daytime solitary confinement for Knox and two months for Sollecito. Mignini is also asking for a conviction for staging a break-in and theft of Kercher’s cell phones and 300 Euro in cash ($444). They have also charged Knox with defamation for her early accusation that Diya ‘Patrick’ Lumumba was the killer. Lumumba owned the pub in Perugia where Knox worked and was briefly jailed because of her accusations against him. He was cleared of the charges.
Knox, Sollecito and Guede have been in prison since their arrest shortly after the murder two years ago.
Kercher, a student at Leeds University, was found on November 2, 2007 with her throat slit, her face battered and her clothing ripped off in an apartment she and Knox shared in Perugia, Italy. She was 21-years-old at the time of her death. Prosecutors claim that Knox, 22-years-old, resented her roommate and that she, Sollecito, 25-years-old, and Guede stabbed her to death during drug-fueled sex games. Prosecutors say that Knox hit Kercher’s head against a wall and attempted to strangle her. They claim that Sollecito then held her down while Guede sexually assaulted her. They assert that Amanda Knox initiated the attack on Kercher and inflicted the injury that killed her.
The evidence against Knox includes a 6 1/2 inch knife that has Kercher’s DNA on the blade and Knox’s DNA on the handle. The knife was found in Sollecito’s house. The defense argues that the knife is too large to match the wounds that killed Kercher and that the DNA is in inadequate amounts to definitively identify it. Sollecito’s DNA was found on Kercher’s bra clasp. However, defense attorneys claim the evidence was contaminated during the investigation.
Knox has testified that she was not at home the night of the murder. Guede has alternately testified that she was in the house and that she wasn’t in the house. She claims she was spending the night with Sollicito. She stated they were watching a movie on his computer, however, prosecutors argued that there was no evidence that his computer was used during that time period.
Now that the Italian prosecutors have rested their case, the defense in the Amanda Knox trial will begin presenting their closing arguments late next week. A verdict in the Meredith Kercher murder case is expected in December 2009.
Amanda Knox Trial - Video
Italian Prosecution Rests in Meredith Kercher Murder Case
November 22nd, 2009 at 6:52 am
yes, those new ivory coast and pub acquaintances Knoxx met during her flawed two month stay in Italy seem to be the key to the case. I read, in depth< about it and still don’t see where the Prosecution has aproven Knoxx did as she is accused of, and by American standards the evidence and testimony is seriously flawed. she has denied doing it, and she has no history of violence. Could she have gone native in two months to the point of doing what they accuse her of? She had cooked in her boyfriends kitchen using the cooking knife similair to what we all have in our kitchens and of course her dna would be on it. That’s basically the prosecutions case besides she’s a pretty American. seriously. Seriously, she had everything going for her, except being around some new bad male influences, so I just find it hard to envision her going Hitchcock on a holiday. The prosecution is really using theory and its hypothesis more than usual here. There are no “gotcha” elements in her case. I really don’t know anymore than that, but do have strong doubts. Clearly students studying abroad should avoid contacts with such seasoned foriegners as one was said to have often carried a knife. I don’t know where she went from having a 22 year old Italian boyfriend to getting involved with these older characters. something doesn’t add up.
November 22nd, 2009 at 6:56 am
I would just add, if you read the background info on the case more deeply you will see the current headlines are overly supportive of the prosecution “hypothesis” which isn’t anywhere near as strong as say the o.j. or blake trials both of whom were acquitted in the American courts. suddenly the press coverage is parroting the prosecution, when it wasn’t just a few months ago.
December 5th, 2009 at 11:28 pm
They say Amanda Knoxx was shrieking in agony as they led her away from her sentencing today and they could hear her screaming through the midevil thick courtyard walls. That doesn’t sound like a guilty person to me, but one who was railroaded by a prosecution that played to local politics. She sounds more naive than foxy. I still don’t see how this girl being away from home just two months would go so native. Her mistake was hooking up with a number of european and african men, yes and living a bohemian life with them as if somehow she wasn’t going to be an easy target. I think both the woman were exploited by the men and the prosecution, and were in effect, cannabalized. If you ever have a daughter go overseas and suddenly set up off-campus living arrangements with a bunch of strange men from countries exotic as they are strange, you better go bring her home, pronto. Given the choice of playing the politically correct game versus giving your kid over to predators, opt to the old fashioned parent. I cannot believe the photo and history of the Ivory Coast dude who was claiming to be a boyfriend or lover of the murdered girl. Are you going to raise your daughters to go over and service this kind of absolutely amoral manipulative person who runs around with knives and lies? Its not sheik. She got used and burned and burned again. Its a travesty.