Murder of Meredith Kercher: Difference between revisions
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A footprint found in blood in Kercher's room is compatible with the footwear worn by Sollecito, but he alleges that it is that of Rudy Guede.{{Fact|date=December 2007}} |
A footprint found in blood in Kercher's room is compatible with the footwear worn by Sollecito, but he alleges that it is that of Rudy Guede.{{Fact|date=December 2007}} |
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On January 11th Italian police released statement which says that Sollecito DNA was found on the piece of Kretcher's bra. This evidence has put him on the scene of the crime. |
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[[Image:Rudy Herman Guede.jpg|thumb|right|Rudy Hermann Guede]] |
[[Image:Rudy Herman Guede.jpg|thumb|right|Rudy Hermann Guede]] |
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Revision as of 11:05, 11 January 2008
 | This article appears to be slanted towards recent events. (January 2008) |
The murder of Meredith Kercher occurred on the night of November 1 2007 when the English student was stabbed to death in her bedroom at the cottage she shared in Perugia, Italy.
Three people, two men and a woman, are currently being held in custody in Perugia. One other suspect has been released without charge.
Background
Meredith Susanna Cara Kercher was born on February 1986 in Southwark, London, England, and lived in Coulsdon, South London. She attended the University of Leeds.[1] She had been part of the Erasmus student exchange programme, and had gone to Italy to complete her degree course.[2][3]
Murder and investigation
Kercher was murdered on the evening of 1 November 2007.[4] She had spent the early part of the evening eating pizza and watching a film with friends, returning to her home alone at around 21:00.
Pathologists initially put the time of death as between midnight and 02:00 although there is more recent evidence suggesting a time of death between 20:30 and 23:00.[2][5]
The following morning, the Postal Police came to investigate the discovery of two mobile phones in a nearby garden, one which was registered to Ms Kercher.[3] When they breached the door to Kercher's room, which had been locked from the inside, they reportedly found Kercher lying beneath a duvet in her room "soaked in blood."[6] Police have said Kercher's throat was slit with a shard of glass or a pen-knife, but have not yet located the murder weapon.[7] Police initially believed that the killer or killers escaped through a broken window in Kercher's room, since the door was locked when they arrived,[2][7][8] but now suspect the break-in was staged.[citation needed] The following morning, Amanda Knox was spotted by two men at a laundromat on Via Fabretti washing clothes and a pair of shoes with a "North African" man.[9][10]
Judge Matteini, citing a pathology report, added that Kercher's carotid artery had not been ruptured in the attack, and that she likely died a "relatively slow and agonizing death."[11]
Suspects
Three of the suspects in the case are currently being held in Perugia: Amanda Knox, her Italian student boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, and Rudy Hermann Guede, who was arrested in Germany on November 20 and extradited to Italy on 6 December. [12][13]
Amanda Knox
Amanda Knox, aged 20, a student from Seattle, Washington, USA, was arrested on the morning of 6 November for her alleged involvement in Kercher's murder. Knox was a student at the University of Washington and had been living with Kercher in Perugia while she was enrolled in ERASMUS programme in Italy. She had a part-time job serving at 'Le Chic', a bar owned by Patrick Lumumba, also a suspect in the case. According to statements published by The Times, Knox told the police that she had been in the house when the murder took place and had "heard the screams"; [4][14]however, she has subsequently given several different versions of the events of the night of the murder, saying her memory was clouded by having taken drugs, and now asserts that she spent the whole evening and night with her boyfriend at his flat.[3]
In one of her earlier statements to the police, Knox said that she received a text message from Patrick Lumumba on the evening of 1 November at a nearby basketball court and that they went back to Knox's residence on Via della Pergola.[4] She went on to say:[4]
I don't remember if my friend Meredith was already there or whether she came later. What I can say is that the two of them (Meredith and Patrick) went off together... Patrick and Meredith went off together into Meredith's room while I think I stayed in the kitchen. I can't remember how long they were in the bedroom together, I can only say that at a certain point I heard Meredith screaming and I was so frightened I put my fingers in my ears. I don't remember anything after that, my head is really confused. I don’t remember if Meredith called out or if I heard thuds because I was upset, but I can imagine what was happening...I'm not sure whether Raffaele was there too that evening but I do remember waking up at his house in his bed and that in the morning I went back to where I lived, where I found the door open.
Knox appeared before a magistrate on the morning of 9 November and was ordered held, along with Sollecito and Lumumba, for up to one year while the police continue their investigation.[15] In a leaked report published by The Times, Judge Claudia Matteini suggested that Knox and Sollecito had been seeking to "experience extreme sensations, intense sexual relations which break up the monotony of everyday life," and had attempted to persuade Kercher to participate in a sexual encounter.[11][16] The report continued:[16]
They went together to the apartment on Via della Pergola 7, to which only Amanda had the key. It was roughly at this time that both Sollecito and Knox switched off their mobile phones until the following morning.
The truth of Amanda Knox's statements about Lumumba being present at the scene of the crime was questioned. The evidence given by Lumumba partially proves that Amanda Knox has made this up as the cover story for her crime.
Raffaele Sollecito
 | This article possibly contains original research. (December 2007) |
Raffaele Sollecito, 23 years old and at the point of completing a degree at Perugia University at the time of the murder, was Knox's boyfriend. The son of a urologist from Bari, and from an affluent family, he had been dating Knox for 2 weeks.[17]
Sollecito claims that he returned to his flat and spent the evening surfing the internet on the night of the murder.[18] It is thought that his alibi is not substantiated by records of his internet service provider[citation needed]. Like Knox, he has changed his recollection of the evening claiming that his memory was impaired by having smoked marijuana with Knox that afternoon.[citation needed]
A footprint found in blood in Kercher's room is compatible with the footwear worn by Sollecito, but he alleges that it is that of Rudy Guede.[citation needed] On January 11th Italian police released statement which says that Sollecito DNA was found on the piece of Kretcher's bra. This evidence has put him on the scene of the crime.
Rudy Hermann Guede
Police arrested a fourth suspect, Rudy Hermann Guede, 20, who originates from the Ivory Coast, on November 20. The Italian police announced that Guede had been arrested in Wiesbaden, Germany in an Interpol operation that traced Guede when he logged into his Facebook account.[12]. Guede came to Perugia at the age of 5 with his father[12]. After his father left Italy when Guede was 16, he was informally adopted by the family of a wealthy local businessman Paolo Caporali[12]. Caporali stated that he had been disappointed by Guede's behaviour, describing him as a "tremendous liar", skipping school and being reluctant to do any work.[13]. Guede played basketball for the local team which Caporali sponsored.[13]
DNA tests indicate that Guede had sex with Kercher before her murder [19] and that faeces found in the toilet are his[20].
Guede's account of the evening is that he and the victim had consensual sex, after which he left the room to use the toilet where he listened to music on his ipod and thus did not hear the killer enter the house.[21] He did, however, hear Kercher scream,[21] and emerged to see the murderer, a dark-haired Italian man whom he didn't know, stabbing Kercher. As the man escaped, he said "You're in trouble, you black bastard"[21] after which Guede claims to have been so frightened that he fled the scene and made his way to Germany.[22] The Investigators stated that Guede's version of events was "a highly improbable fantasy."[21]
Patrick Lumumba
Patrick Diya Lumumba, 37, originally from the Congo, but a long-term resident of Perugia, owns a small bar, Le Chic', in the city, and employed Amanda Knox occasionally as a barmaid.[23]
Lumumba was arrested on 6 November, having been implicated by Knox's version of events, which alleged that he had been involved in the murder.[3] He denies that he had ever been in the house that Kercher and Knox shared and asserts that he was at his bar on the evening of the murder.[2] He was released immediately after the arrest of Guede.[24]
The chief prosecutor in the case, Giuseppe Mignini, has stated that there are no longer any serious indications linking Lumumba to the crime[24], although he remains under investigation. [25] His lawyers are pressing for his name to be cleared.[26]
Public reaction
After the initial publication of Knox's 'confession', many news media sources began to uncover information about her background online.[27][28] Both Knox's Myspace profile and videos that she had previously posted to Youtube were used in some cases to cite her instability.[27][28] The news media's investigation of events has been viewed with scrutiny by online bloggers and others.[28][29] Some students at Knox's university have called the allegations "shocking," and a friend of Knox's said "This is not something she would do."[30][31]
Tributes
Kercher's family travelled to Italy and visited the place where Meredith's friends in Perugia commemorated her, on the steps of Perugia Cathedral. Her father left a rose and a condolence note stating "Love you forever Meredith, all my love. Dad".[32] There was a candlelit vigil on the night of Monday 5 November in Perugia in memory of Meredith.[33] The students of the University of Leeds, commemorated her as well.[34] Members of Facebook networks and groups dedicated several pages and a number of messages and comments to her memory.[33]
The funeral service for Meredith Kercher was held on 14 December 2007 at the Croydon Parish Church in Coulsdon with over 300 people in attendance.[35][36]
References
- ^ "Students hold vigil for Meredith". BBC news. 2007-11-07. Retrieved 2007-11-19.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b c d Richard Owen (2007-11-06). "Meredith Kercher 'killed after refusing orgy'". The Times. Retrieved 2007-11-06.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ a b c d Richard Owen (2007-11-06). "Woman 'confesses role' in British student's murder in Perugia". The Times. Retrieved 2007-11-06.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b c d "Excerpts from the witness statements". The Times. 2007-11-06. Retrieved 2007-11-07.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Timing is crucial after police raise doubts on Meredith Kercher suspect's alibi'". The Times. 2007-11-12. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ John Follain (2007-11-04). "Student killer leaves bloody footprint clue". The Times. Retrieved 2007-11-07.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b Richard Owen (2007-11-06). "Diary of murdered student could hold clues to her killer, police say". The Times. Retrieved 2007-11-06.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Seattle woman held in slaying of British student". KOMO TV. 2007-11-06. Retrieved 2007-11-06.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Perugia murder. Meredith said there were too many men in the house". Corriere della Sera. 2007-11-08. Retrieved 2007-11-08.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Richard Owen (2007-11-08). "Meredith Kercher was worried by US flatmate's 'strange men'". The Times. Retrieved 2007-11-08.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b Richard Owen (2007-11-09). "Judge says Meredith Kercher was murdered for resisting brutal sex game". The Times. Retrieved 2007-11-09.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b c d "Fourth arrest over student murder". BBC news. 2007-11-20. Retrieved 2007-11-20.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) Cite error: The named reference "fourth-arrest" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page). - ^ a b c "Fourth Meredith suspect arrested in Germany". The Times. 2007-11-20. Retrieved 2007-11-20.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Vanessa Ho (2007-11-07). "Seattle woman heard fatal attack unfold in Italy". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved 2007-11-07.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Student from Seattle to remain in jail in Italian death probe". The Seattle Times. 2007-11-09. Retrieved 2007-11-09.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b "Meredith Kercher: Judge's report". The Times. 2007-11-09. Retrieved 2007-11-09.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Grisly Murder Case Intrigues Italian University City". The New York Times. 2007-11-13. Retrieved 2007-11-13.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Kercher police find 'DNA match'". BBC News. 2008-01-10. Retrieved 2008-01-11.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ John Follain (2007-11-25). "Dying Meredith Kercher 'whispered initials of killer'". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 2007-11-28.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Drug dealer is fourth suspect in Meredith murder investigation". The Times. 2007-11-20. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b c d "Two more sought over 'sex and drugs' party on night Meredith Kercher died". The Times. 2007-11-26. Retrieved 2007-12-07.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Meredith Kercher suspects 'flirted and shopped for lingerie' after murder". The Times. 2007-11-23. Retrieved 2007-12-07.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Lumumba: The popular and gentle bar owner willing to help anyone". Daily Mail. 2007-11-07. Retrieved 2007-12-07.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b Marta Falconi (2007-11-20). "Fugitive arrested in UK student slaying". Associated Press. Retrieved 2007-12-07.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Malcolm Moore (2007-11-21). "Fourth Meredith suspect arrested in Germany". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2007-12-06.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Perugia pub owner wants name cleared". Associated Press. 2007-12-04. Retrieved 2007-11-20.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b Colin Fernandez (2007-11-06). "Foxy Knoxy: Inside the twisted world of murdered Meredith's flatmate". The Daily Mail. Retrieved 2007-11-06.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Unknown parameter|coauthor=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ a b c Monica Guzman (2007-11-07). "Amanda Knox and the Internet: Are we being fair?". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved 2007-11-07.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Caso Chiuso? For Real?". Seattlest.com. 2007-11-07. Retrieved 2007-11-07.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Christine Siderius (2007-11-07). "UW student held in Italy slaying". Seattle Times. Retrieved 2007-11-07.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Maureen O'Hagan (2007-11-08). "Slaying in Italy stirs media frenzy". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2007-12-20.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Unknown parameter|coauthor=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ "Judge considers ruling on Meredith suspects". The Daily Mirror. 2007-11-06. Retrieved 2007-11-08.
- ^ a b "Candlelight Vigil For Meredith". Croydon Guardian. 2007-11-08. Retrieved 2007-11-08.
- ^ "Police 'Find Knife' In Meredith Case". Sky News. 2007-11-07. Retrieved 2007-11-19.
{{cite web}}: Check|url=value (help) - ^ Gemma Wheatley (2007-12-14). "Meredith laid to rest". Croydon Guardian. Retrieved 2007-12-14.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Patrick Foster (2007-12-14). "Meredith Kercher's family joined by 300 for funeral". The Times. Retrieved 2007-12-14.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)