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Raffaele Sollecito has claimed Italian police tried to bribe him into framing ex-girlfriend Amanda Knox for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher – and revealed his fears “out of control” Knox would do the same to him.
Amanda Knox’s former boyfriend says “sneaky” officers instigated a string of approaches from a prison guard, other inmates and even his family as he and his American lover were awaiting trial for 21-year-old Meredith Kercher’s murder in Perugia, Italy.
Raffaele Sollecito, 29, said he refused to point the finger of blame at Amanda Knox to save his own skin because he was “really fond of her”.
Yet he admits he was terrified Amanda Knox, who he had been dating for just a week before the 2007 killing, would do a deal to stitch him up because she was “out of control”.
Raffaele Sollecito and Amanda Knox, 26, were convicted of Meredith Kercher’s murder in 2009 then cleared on appeal two years later.
But Italy’s highest court later threw out the acquittals and the pair faces a new trial, beginning later this month.
Raffaele Sollecito claimed detectives told him he would be released immediately if he distanced himself from Amanda Knox, saying he should pretend he couldn’t remember anything or that he was sleeping in order for the prosecution to catch her.
He told the Daily Mirror: “They did not persuade me. It was the most sneaky situation. I couldn’t invent anything.”
But he still “feared Amanda” and added: “I knew her for a short time, a week, and in reality I did not really know this woman. I was scared because she was out of control at the police station. She had been making crazy statements and everything was just wrong.
“I thought she could make a deal to blame me. I was scared of that.”
Amanda Knox was jailed for 26 years and Raffaele Sollecito for 25 following the trial in 2009.
Raffaele Sollecito said the first “deal” was when he was in solitary confinement and came about when he his father tried to speak to the prosecution and was told to pass on the message his son should keep his distance from Amanda Knox.
Other family members urged Raffaele Sollecito to take the deal and free himself, but he refused to be persuaded and wrote a letter to his nearest and dearest vowing to stand by Amanda Knox.
Raffaele Sollecito claimed police then began trying to get him to turn against Amanda Knox and that, unless he distanced himself from the American, he would spend the rest of his life in prison.
The Italian claims this message was passed to his family in no uncertain terms.
Raffaele Sollecito has claimed Italian police tried to bribe him into framing Amanda Knox for the murder of Meredith Kercher
His father was allegedly approached by a Perugia lawyer offering a similar deal.
Meredith Kercher’s grieving family, from Coulsdon, Surrey, were devastated when Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were freed on appeal but vowed to keep Meredith’s memory alive.
They have kept out of the public eye and refused to read the books that Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito wrote about their “ordeal”.
But in March the family welcomed news of the retrial and hoped they would finally get answers.
No murder weapon was ever found, DNA tests were faulty and prosecutors provided no motive for murder.
In a series of confused interviews after their arrest Amanda Knox initially claimed to have witnessed the murder and named a local bar owner as the killer.
She later withdrew the statement, insisting it had been made under duress, and said she had been at Raffaele Sollecito’s student apartment throughout the night – which he confirmed.
Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito met at a classical music concert and became lovers within hours. Meredith Kercher was murdered just a week later.
Raffaele Sollecito said the pair “were like teenagers in a fantasy romance” but then became friends bonded by the tragedy.
Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were photographed being reunited in New York earlier this year – but he insists there is no romance.
Raffaele Sollecito is often asked if he wished he had never met Amanda Knox. He said: “No, I don’t think like that. I don’t blame her, it is not her fault this nightmare. It is others.”
And he claimed his own life is “in limbo”, and that he is without a home. He fears he is a target in Italy for those who still believe he and Amanda Knox were involved and worries police will try to seek revenge by planting drugs in his car.
He has tried to settle in Lugano, Switzerland, and set up a computer software firm – but was kicked out by the Swiss authorities because he failed to disclose details of the murder charges.
Raffaele Sollecito then went to stay with relatives in the US and even got marriage proposals from female murder trial “groupies”.
He has now moved to a secret location in the Caribbean, where he is currently trying to establish a business.
Amanda Knox’s lawyers have insisted she will not be at the retrial in Florence and Raffaele Sollecito said he will wait until after the first of eight scheduled hearings to see “which way the court is going”.
Raffaele Sollecito feels victimized and slammed the police handling of the case, saying everything about the investigation was handled “wrong” and that officers were “incompetent” and “fools”.
Despite his own grievances, Raffaele Sollecito insists he hasn’t forgotten the pain of Meredith Kercher’s family, saying he “can’t imagine their suffering”.
But he urged them to read the case documents and ask questions about what really happened instead of sticking by the “theory” of what happened.
“If you accept only the prosecution case you will never find what is right and what really happened,” he added.
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New reports claim that Amanda Knox will not return to Italy for a retrial in the murder of her roommate Meredith Kercher.
Meanwhile, David Marriott, a spokesman for the Knox family, told CNN that Amanda Knox, 26, had never agreed to attend the re-trial and that there is “no requirement she be there”.
However, Amanda Knox could still be forced to return to Italy if the country requires her extradition from the United States, the network reported.
In an interview in May, Amanda Knox expressed her fear and uncertainty about returning to the country where she was held in prison for several years for the murder of her roommate, 21-year-old Meredith Kercher.
“I’m afraid to go back there,” she told CNN.
“I don’t want to go back to prison.”
Amanda Knox was convicted of the November 2007 murder of the British exchange student, whose body was found in the villa they shared in Perugia, in central Italy.
Her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, was also found guilty of the killing. He received 25 years behind bars, while she was given 26 years.
But the convictions were turned over in 2011 due to “lack of evidence”. The appellate court noted that the murder weapon was never found, said that DNA tests were faulty and that prosecutors provided no murder motive.
Their convictions had come despite a drifter from the Ivory Coast, Rudy Guede, being found guilty of the assault and murder. He is currently serving a 30-year sentence.
After she was acquitted, Amanda Knox returned home to Seattle, Washington, where she remains.
But last year, Italy’s Supreme Court said the ruling was full of “deficiencies, contradictions and illogical” conclusions and ordered the new appeals court to look at all the evidence.
The new court must conduct a full examination of evidence to resolve the ambiguities, the high court judges said.
They said the new appeal process would serve to “not only demonstrate the presence of the two suspects in the place of the crime, but to possibly outline the subjective position of Guede’s accomplices”.
It said hypotheses ran from a simple case of forced intimate relationship involving Meredith Kercher “to a group e**tic game that blew up and got out of control”.
Amanda Knox has said that such claims were “a bombardment of falsehood and fantasy”.
No date for the new trial has been set. Florence’s appeals court was chosen since Perugia only has one appellate court.
Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito have both denied wrongdoing and said they weren’t even in the apartment that night, although they acknowledged they had smoked marijuana and their memories were clouded.
Earlier this year, Amanda Knox said the future was very unsure for her financially and that she is almost broke because of her huge legal bills – despite a $1.5 million book advance.
She will be paid a reported $ 4million in total for her memoir Waiting To Be Heard but claimed that her retrial and a potential libel lawsuits will leave her penniless.
Amanda Knox also revealed that to make money in the future she will be writing more books and will be taking a creative writing course at the University of Washington, near her home in Seattle.
Raffaele Sollecito, Amanda Knox’s Italian ex-boyfriend, has told of their “intense” relationship claiming he felt he had been “hit by a thunderbolt” when they first met.
Speaking to reporters in New York, where he and Amanda Knox were reunited earlier this week, Raffaele Sollecito said he was horrified by the Italian Court’s decision to reopen the case into the murder of British student Meredith Kercher.
Raffaele Sollecito and Amanda Knox were found guilty of murdering 21-year-old Meredith Kercher in 2009 and were jailed for 25 and 26 years respectively.
They were freed on appeal in 2011, but Italian judges have now ordered them to return to court for retrial.
Raffaele Sollecito told The Sun: “Meeting Amanda was like being hit by a thunderbolt. Our relationship got very intense, very quickly.”
He said he felt great sorrow over the death of Meredith Kercher and added that he would one day like to visit her grave in Mitcham, Surrey.
Raffaele Sollecito said: “I will never forget Meredith. It was terrible what happened. But I am not responsible for her death.
“It makes me sad when her family say they still believe other people were involved. Rudy Guede is in prison for her murder and his DNA was all over the scene.”
He described the reopening of the trial as like a “horror movie where they keep making sequels”, and continues to deny having anything to do with Meredith Kercher’s death.
The court ruled that Meredith Kercher’s death was a “s** game gone wrong” and have ordered Raffaele Sollecito and Amanda Knox back for trial.
This has resulted in Raffaele Sollecito launching a desperate $500,000 online appeal for donations to fund his retrial.
The computer studies graduate said he was hard up and needed the cash for “legal expenses” but added he would donate anything raised above the target “to a research foundation”.
In an appeal posted on his Facebook page, Raffaele Sollecito wrote: “Well Guys, the problem for me now is pretty though.
Raffaele Sollecito, Amanda Knox’s Italian ex-boyfriend, has told of their “intense” relationship claiming he felt he had been “hit by a thunderbolt” when they first met
“I’m deeply concerned not just for the issue I’m facing and most of you already know about, but also because I don’t have resources anymore to fight this injustice.
“I badly need to be able to hire experts, when needed, or pay my attorney fees, documents fees, and so on when the new appeal will start.
“I hope to not bother you, but I need your collaboration to face this ordeal. Otherwise I don’t want to forced to give up just for financial reason.
“I hope you will understand. I’m just asking if you, buddies, know how to build up a non-profit raising funds foundation. Big Hugs, Raffaele Sollecito.”
Raffaele Sollecito is thought to have been paid $1million for U.S. TV news interviews and an advance on his book Honor Bound: My Journey to Hell and Back with Amanda Knox, which was published last year.
However, a sizeable proportion of that was swallowed up in legal fees to his team of lawyers including Italy’s high flying Giulia Bongiorno who is said to have the highest fees in the country.
On Tuesday, the High Court issued its written reasoning for doing so. Meredith Kercher’s body was found in November 2007 in her bedroom of the house she shared with Amanda Knox in Perugia, a central Italian town popular with foreign exchange students.
Amanda Knox, now 25, and her Italian ex-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, 29, were initially convicted and sentenced to long prison terms, but a Perugia appeals court acquitted them in 2011, criticizing virtually the entire case mounted by prosecutors.
The appellate court noted that the murder weapon was never found, said that DNA tests were faulty and that prosecutors provided no murder motive.
A young man from Ivory Coast, Rudy Guede, was convicted in a separate proceeding and is serving a 16-year sentence.
In the 74-page Cassation ruling, the High Court judges said they “had to recognize that he [Rudy Guede] was not the sole author” of the crime, Italian news agency LaPresse reported. The judges though said he was the “main protagonist”.
They said the new appeal process would serve to “not only demonstrate the presence of the two suspects in the place of the crime, but to possibly outline the subjective position of Rudy Guede’s accomplices”.
The high court faulted the Perugia appeals court for “multiple instances of deficiencies, contradictions and illogical” conclusions.
The new court must conduct a full examination of evidence to resolve the ambiguities, it said.
Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito denied wrongdoing and said they weren’t even in the apartment that night, although they acknowledged they had smoked marijuana and their memories were clouded.
Raffaele Sollecito was given a 25-year jail term while Amanda Knox was given 26 years but in 2011 the verdicts were overturned and they were released on appeal.
However, three months ago Italy’s highest court ruled there should be a fresh trial for both of them.
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Amanda Knox and her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were caught hugging and kissing during a secret reunion in New York this week.
Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were pictured strolling in New York City on Tuesday – just hours after Italian judges ordered them to return to court for a retrial for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher
The tryst has already led to concerns that the couple should not be in contact with each other now they have been recalled for a retrial.
As reported by the Daily Mirror, Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were pictured hugging closely, with Amanda closing her eyes during the warm embrace as Raffaele kissed her cheek.
Amanda Knox and her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were caught hugging and kissing during a secret reunion in New York this
The meeting has led to rumors that the pair have become romantically involved again. James Terrano, who is reportedly Amanda Knox’s boyfriend, was nowhere to be seen.
As Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito walked and chatted along the street, Amanda’s mother walked behind. One onlooker told the Daily Mirror that the pair looked like a couple who had been together for some time.
He said: “You only have to look at him to see he still holds a huge torch for Amanda.
“They never once stopped chatting. It’s astonishing they are allowed to even talk to each other, let along see one another, considering they are both suspects in a murder trial.”
Amanda Knox declined to comment on the reunion, with Raffaele Sollecito admitting the pair have much to plan.
Hours before their secret reunion on Tuesday, Italy’s high court faulted the acquittal of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito by the appeals court for the murder of Meredith Kercher.
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Amanda Knox, who was convicted and then cleared of murdering her British roommate Meredith Kercher, says she may return to Italy to face a retrial.
“My lawyers have said that I don’t have to… I’m still considering it, to be honest,” Amanda Knox told USA Today.
Amanda Knox, 25, also went on TV to publicly protest her innocence as she released her autobiography, Waiting to Be Heard.
Last month, an Italian court overturned her acquittal along with that of her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito.
Meredith Kercher, 21, was found stabbed to death in the flat she shared with Amanda Knox – an exchange student- in Perugia in November 2007.
Prosecutors say she died in a brutal sex game that went wrong.
Another man – Rudy Guede from Ivory Coast – was convicted in a separate trial and sentenced to 16 years for the killing.
Amanda Knox says she may return to Italy to face a retrial in Meredith Kercher murder case
The case has drawn intense media interest in Italy, the UK and the US, and put the Italian police and justice system under great scrutiny.
Amanda Knox told USA Today on Tuesday that the thought of returning to Italy for the retrial was “scary”.
“But it’s also important for me to say: <<This is not just happening far away from and doesn’t matter to me.>>
“So, somehow, I feel it’s important for me to convey that. And if my presence is what is necessary to convey that, then I’ll go.”
The Italian courts cannot compel her to return for the retrial but they could request her extradition – at which point it would be up to the US authorities to determine her fate.
In a separate interview with ABC News, Amanda Knox said claims that she was a “she-devil” and “heartless manipulator” were all wrong.
She added that what happened to her “was surreal but it could’ve happened to anyone”.
“It’s one thing to be called certain things in the media and it’s another thing to be sitting in a courtroom fighting for your life while people are calling you a devil,” Amanda Knox said.
“For all intents and purposes I was a murderer, whether I was or not. I had to live with the idea that that would be my life.”
In a reference to the Kercher family, Amanda Knox said she wanted them to understand “that my need for justice for myself is not in contradiction with theirs”.
Amanda Knox said she hoped “that eventually I can have their permission to pay respects at her grave”.
The interview was timed to coincide with the release of her autobiography, Waiting to Be Heard, for which Amanda Knox was reportedly paid more than $4 million.
In the book, Amanda Knox maintains that on the night of Meredith Kercher’s death she was at Raffaele Sollecito’s flat smoking marijuana and watching a movie.
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Amanda Knox, who is facing a retrial over the killing of Briton Meredith Kercher in Italy in 2007, claims she is innocent during an ABC News interview to be aired later on Tuesday.
Amanda Knox, 25, says claims that she is a “she-devil” and “heartless manipulator” are all wrong.
“I’d like to be reconsidered as a person,” she says.
Last month, an Italian court overturned her acquittal and ordered a retrial.
Her former Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, 29, will also face a new trial.
Meredith Kercher, 21, was found stabbed to death in the flat she shared with Amanda Knox in Perugia in November 2007.
ABC News interview coincides with the release of Amanda Knox’s autobiography Waiting to Be Heard
Prosecutors believe she died in a brutal sex game that went wrong.
Another man – Rudy Guede from Ivory Coast – was convicted in a separate trial and sentenced to 16 years for the killing.
The case has drawn intense media interest in Italy, the UK and the US, and put the Italian police and justice system under great scrutiny.
“I was in the courtroom [in Italy] when they were calling me <<devil>>,” Amanda Knox says in the ABC interview.
“It’s one thing to be called certain things in the media and then it’s another thing to be sitting in a courtroom, fighting for your life, while people are calling you a devil.
“For all intents and purposes, I was a murderer – whether I was or not. And I had to live with the idea that that would be my life.”
She adds that what happened to her “was surreal but it could’ve happened to anyone”.
The interview is timed to coincide with the release of Amanda Knox’s autobiography (Waiting to Be Heard), for which she was reportedly paid more than $4 million.
In the book, Amanda Knox maintains that on the night of Meredith Kercher’s death she was at Raffaele Sollecito’s flat smoking marijuana and watching a movie.
The Italian courts cannot compel her to return for the retrial but they could request her extradition – at which point it would be up to the US authorities to determine Amanda Knox’s fate.
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Italy’s Supreme Court’s decision to retry Amanda Knox for the murder of her British roommate Meredith Kercher sparks a heated legal debate that raises questions of double jeopardy.
The U.S. constitution bans double jeopardy, or being tried twice for the same crime; however, the Italian courts have no such law, meaning that they will use the same evidence to try Amanda Knox for the 2007 murder.
According to legal experts, Italy’s Supreme Court decision could throw both countries into uncharted territory, as it is highly unlikely the U.S. will extradite Amanda Knox to face trial.
Amanda Knox’s Italian lawyer, Carlo Dalla Vedova, said it was unlikely that his client does not intend to return to Italy to face trial, which would likely take place this year or next. However, Amanda Knox can be tried in absentia.
“Amanda does not intend to come back for the retrial,” he said.
“Her home is in Seattle and she doesn’t need to be here.”
Carlo Dalla Vedova added that the decision to order a new trial was shocking.
“She thought that the nightmare was over,” he said on the steps of the courthouse.
“But she’s ready to fight.”
When the Italian courts reach a final decision they can also ask for her extradition, the lawyer told Reuters. At that point, the U.S. Department of State would have to weigh in on the request and make its own decision. The state department would then turn to the U.S. Attorney’s Office to seek the Seattle resident’s extradition.
Regardless of the outcome, the new trial will prove to be an expensive and emotionally-charged spectacle.
After the court’s decision, Amanda Knox struck back: “No matter what happens, my family and I will face this continuing legal battle as we always have, confident in the truth and with our heads held high in the face of wrongful accusations and unreasonable adversity,” she said in a statement.
Amanda Knox has largely avoided the public eye since returning to Seattle, Washington, and has been spotted around the town running errands and resuming her studies.
Her memoir, Waiting to be Heard, is due out in April.
Amanda Knox’s memoir, Waiting to be Heard, is due out in April 2013
Meredith Kercher, 21, a Leeds University student, was found semi-naked with her throat cut in the bedroom of the house she shared with Amanda Knox, in Perugia in November 2007.
The first trial caused a stir as both Amanda Knox and her then boyfriend Raffaele Sollicito were acquitted of Meredith Kercher’s murder, and a polarizing divide in national thought. Americans largely understood the two to be innocent, while the British believed them to be getting away with murder.
The initial trial also put Amanda Knox’s character in the forefront as prosecutors painted the American student as a sexual deviant who experimented with marijuana.
But in 2011, the evidence was re-visited and much of it was found to be “contaminated”.
Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito spoke on the phone soon after Italy’s Supreme Court’s decision of retrial.
Raffaele Sollecito’s current girlfriend Annie Achille said: “They will see what can be done.”
Annie Achille added that Raffaele Sollecito, who turned 29 yesterday, is “destroyed” and not talking to anyone.
Meredith Kercher, from Coulsdon, Surrey, was in Italy as an exchange student from Leeds University.
She was found dead in 2007, in the cottage she shared with Amanda Knox in Perugia.
Her throat had been slit and her semi-naked body had been covered with a duvet. After a lengthy trial in Perugia, Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were convicted of the murder in December 2009 and sentenced to 26 and 25 years respectively.
Two years later, Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were freed after an appeal court found that the case had been botched and DNA evidence contaminated.
A third suspect, Rudy Guede, whose DNA and bloody footprints were found all over the crime scene, is serving a 16-year prison sentence, reduced from 30 years on appeal.
Meredith Kercher’s family welcomed the Italian court’s judgment. Her sister Stephanie said: “We are never going to be happy about any outcome because we have still lost Meredith but we obviously support the decision and hope to get answers from it.
“There are still so many unanswered questions. All we have ever wanted to do is do what we can for Meredith and to find out the truth of what happened that night.”
Amanda Knox had rejoiced after her conviction was sensationally overturned in 2011.
She fled Italy within hours, returning home to the US, where she quickly embraced life as a free woman.
Amanda Knox now shares a flat with boyfriend James Terrano, a classical guitarist, and is studying at the University of Washington in Seattle, where she can be near her parents and three sisters.
She is preparing for the publication next month of a memoir for which she has been paid a reported $3.8 million.
Raffaele Sollecito remained in Italy and is studying robotic surgery at the University of Verona. He has already released a book about his experience. In it he said that he and Amanda Knox were still in touch – he visited her earlier this year and they speak on Skype regularly.
His lawyer Giulia Bongiorno said: “We are still strong. This is not a sentence in itself: this is just an annulment.”
Amanda Knox’s appeal against her conviction for slander – for having falsely accused her boss Patrick Lumumba of the murder – was rejected. She has already served the three-year prison sentence for that conviction, but was ordered to pay Lumumba €4,000 ($5,100) in costs.
The retrial will be held in Florence, with different judges, to avoid accusations of prejudice against Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito.
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Amanda Knox has said she will fight to clear her name after Italy’s Supreme Court overturned her acquittal for killing Briton Meredith Kercher.
Amanda Knox and former Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito face a new trial over the 2007 killing in Perugia.
They were freed on appeal in 2011 after four years in jail, but Italy’s Supreme Court re-opened the case on March 26, 2013.
Amanda Knox does not have to return from the US for the case, but if found guilty she could face extradition.
Raffaele Sollecito, 29, will not have to return to jail while the new appeals process goes ahead.
Both deny killing Meredith Kercher, 21, who was found stabbed to death in the flat she shared with Amanda Knox in Perugia in November 2007.
Amanda Knox has said she will fight to clear her name after Italy’s Supreme Court overturned her acquittal for killing Meredith Kercher
The case has drawn intense media interest in Italy, the UK and the US and put the Italian police and justice system under great scrutiny.
In a statement, Amanda Knox, now a 25-year-old student in Seattle, described the court decision to reopen the case as “painful news”.
“The prosecution’s theory of my involvement in Meredith’s murder has been repeatedly revealed to be completely unfounded and unfair,” she said.
“No matter what happens, my family and I will face this continuing legal battle as we always have, confident in the truth and with our heads held high in the face of wrongful accusations and unreasonable adversity,” Amanda Knox added.
Meredith Kercher’s family has welcomed the decision.
“Whilst we are not happy about going back to court, and it will not bring her back, we have to make sure we have done all we can for her,” Meredith Kercher’s older sister Stephanie said.
Kercher family lawyer Francesco Maresca said it was “an important day for the Italian legal system”.
Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were originally sentenced to 26 and 25 years in prison for murdering and sexually assaulting Meredith Kercher.
Meredith kercher, a Leeds University student, was found with more than 40 knife wounds on her body, including a deep gash to the throat.
Prosecutors believe she died in a brutal sex game that went wrong.
Another man – Rudy Guede from Ivory Coast – was convicted in a separate trial and sentenced to 16 years for the killing.
In 2011, Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were acquitted on appeal, largely on the grounds that DNA evidence was flawed.
But that decision has now been overturned by the Supreme Court after prosecutors argued that it was “contradictory and illogical”.
The court has not yet given a full explanation for its ruling on the appeal, but will announce its reasons within 90 days.
The new trial will be held in Florence rather than Perugia, where the original trial and appeal took place, although the date has not yet been set.
After her release in 2011, Amanda Knox returned to the US.
Both she and Raffaele Sollecito – now a student in Verona – have written books about the case.
Rafafele Sollecito’s book was published last year.
Amanda Knox’s book – titled Waiting to be Heard – is due out on April 30, 2013.
Meredith Kercher case:
- 1 November 2007: Meredith Kercher is killed at her apartment in Perugia, Italy. Police find her a day later.
- 6 November 2007: Meredith Kercher’s US housemate Amanda Knox is arrested, along with Raffaele Sollecito and Congolese national Patrick Diya Lumumba.
- 20 November 2007: Rudy Guede detained in Germany and extradited to Italy. Patrick Diya Lumumba released without charge
- 28 October 2008: Rudy Guede sentenced to 16 years. A judge rules Raffaele Sollecito and Amanda Knox will face a murder trial
- 4 December 2009: Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito found guilty of murder and sexual violence, and jailed for 26 and 25 years
- 3 October 2011: Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito acquitted
- 26 March 2013: Re-run of appeals ordered. Acquittals overturned
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Amanda Knox and her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito face a retrial over the 2007 killing of Briton student Meredith Kercher, Italy’s highest court has ordered.
Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito spent four years in jail in Italy for murder but were freed on appeal in October 2011, largely on the grounds DNA evidence was flawed.
Prosecutors appealed and the Court of Cassation overturned the acquittals.
Ivory Coast national Rudy Guede was convicted in a separate trial and sentenced to 16 years.
He was found guilty of sexually assaulting and stabbing Meredith Kercher. Rudy Guede admitted being at the house on the night of the killing in November 2007, but denies murder.
Amanda Knox and her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito face a retrial over the 2007 killing of Briton student Meredith Kercher, Italy’s highest court has ordered
Meredith Kercher, from Coulsdon, south London, had been on a year abroad from Leeds University when she was found semi-naked in her bedroom and with her throat cut in the cottage she shared with Amanda Knox.
Prosecutors believed Meredith Kercher was killed in a brutal sex game that went wrong.
Addressing the court on Monday, they urged the judges to “make sure the final curtain does not drop on this shocking and dire crime”.
Amanda Knox’s Italian lawyer, Luciano Ghirga, said on Monday her client was “very anxious” about the latest hearing.
Amanda Knox lives in Seattle and a retrial is likely to take place in absentia, as the US is unlikely to extradite her, analysts say.
Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were originally sentenced to 26 and 25 years in prison for killing and sexually assaulting Meredith Kercher.
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Amanda Knox and her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito are waiting to find out if their acquittal for the murder of Meredith Kercher will be overturned by Italy’s highest court.
Italy’s Supreme Court judges will rule on Monday on whether there should be a retrial regarding the death of Meredith Kercher or if the case against them should be closed completely.
In 2011 Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were cleared of the 2007 murder on appeal after they had initially been found guilty and sentenced to 26 and 25 years respectively.
British student Meredith Kercher, 21, was found semi naked and with her throat cut in her bedroom in the house she shared with American Amanda Knox in the picturesque Italian hill top town of Perugia.
The case made headlines around the world amid allegations of sex games, drugs and jealousy during their first trial in 2009.
Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were found guilty but were cleared two years later after a fresh hearing uncovered a bungled police investigation.
Defence lawyers and experts revealed how evidence had been contaminated or poorly handled by forensic teams and that the conviction should be considered unsafe.
They were immediately freed with Amanda Knox returning to her home in Seattle while Raffaele Sollecito went back to Bisceglie on the southern Italian coast near Bari.
Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito are waiting to find out if their acquittal for the murder of Meredith Kercher will be overturned by Italy’s highest court
Prosecutors in Perugia appealed the decision on behalf of Meredith Kercher’s family and will find out on Monday if they have been successful.
They want the acquittal to be quashed and for a new trial to be held in neighboring Tuscany.
Neither are expected to attend the hearing which will be held behind closed doors in Rome.
The case will decided purely on paperwork and legal documents with no new witnesses giving evidence.
Luciano Ghirga, Amanda Knox’s lawyer, said: “She is very anxious about the hearing but she is waiting for it knowing full well that the outcome is very important.”
Since returning to Seattle in the US, Amanda Knox has kept a low profile although she is due to given an interview to ABC television on April 30 to coincide with the release of a book about her four years in an Italian jail.
Raffaele Sollecito has also written a book and has already given an interview on Italian TV about the case where he said he and Amanda Knox were no longer lovers but they were still in touch – he visited her earlier this year and they speak on Skype regularly.
He is now studying in Verona and they have always insisted they are innocent of Leeds University student Meredith Kercher’s murder – she had only been in Italy for two months before she was killed having arrived from Coulsdon for a year long course as part of her degree.
During the investigation and trial much was made of Amanda Knox’s character with prosecutors saying she was highly sexual and had manipulated Raffaele Sollecito but her lawyers dismissed the theory.
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