We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
A MAN CONVICTED of murdering a British exchange student testified that he believes her roommate, Amanda Knox, and her ex-boyfriend killed her — an accusation that prompted an emotional denial from Knox in the Italian courtroom on Monday.
“He knows we weren’t there,” American student Knox said moments after her accuser, Rudy Hermann Guede, left the courthouse. “I’m shocked and anguished by these statements.”
The testimony by Guede, a 24-year-old immigrant from the Ivory Coast, was closely watched in the packed courtroom in Perugia. He had been called as a witness for the prosecution in the appeals trial of Knox and Raffaele Sollecito, her Italian ex-boyfriend and co-defendant.
Knox and Sollecito were convicted in the 1 November 2007 slaying of Meredith Kercher, whose body was found in a pool of blood in the apartment she and Knox shared in Perugia.
Prosecutors claimed in Knox’s first trial that Guede, Knox and Sollecito killed Kercher in what had begun as a sexual game.
‘The truth’
Taking the stand, Guede confirmed the contents of a letter he wrote to his lawyers last year, in which he accused Knox and Sollecito of killing Kercher.
In the March 2010 letter, which was read out loud in court, Guede wrote that he had nothing to do with the “horrible murder of the splendid and wonderful Meredith Kercher by Knox and Sollecito.”
“This is a thought I’ve always had in my mind,” Guede told the court Monday. ”It’s not up to me to decide who killed Meredith Kercher,” he added. “I’ve always said who was there that damned night in that house.” He said he was telling “the truth I lived through that night.”
Guede is serving a 16-year-prison sentence for the murder. He sought a fast-track procedure and has already exhausted all levels of appeal. He was escorted in court by police in handcuffs.
Knox and Sollecito were convicted of sexual assault and murder in separate proceeding. She was sentenced to 26 years in prison, he to 25.
“Raffaele Sollecito, Guede and I have only been in the same place in a court,” Knox said as she denied Guede’s accusation. ”I don’t know what happened that night,” Knox added, saying she wished she could have said so to Guede’s face.
She was only allowed to speak after Guede was escorted out. Guede was called by the prosecution to counter testimony by a fellow inmate and convicted child killer who claimed Guede told him during recreation time in prison that Knox and Sollecito had nothing to do with the killing.
Denied
On the stand, Guede denied talking to Mario Alessi about the case. The letter that was read in court had been written by Guede to deny Alessi’s claims.
Witness Giacomo Benedetti, a close friend of Guede’s who has often visited him in prison, told the court Monday that the Ivorian had never mentioned speaking to Alessi about the case.
Like Knox and Sollecito, Guede has denied killing Kercher. Unlike them, he has admitted being at the crime scene the night of the murder. Speaking at the opening of his own appeals trial, Guede claimed he had heard Kercher and Knox argue minutes before the Briton was slain.
He said he was at the house with Kercher when he fell ill and went to the bathroom with his iPod. He heard Knox and Kercher argue over money, then heard a “very loud scream” coming from Kercher’s bedroom, and rushed to it. There, he said, he saw an unidentified man who tried to attack him. Backing down into the hallway, Guede said he heard the man say “Let’s go, there’s a black man in the house.”
Guede said he heard footsteps leaving the house and looked out of the window, where he saw a silhouette that he later identified as Knox’s. He said he then tried to rescue Kercher after her throat was slit, taking her in his arms and trying to mop up the blood with towels. But he panicked and left the house.
Lives ruined
Guede fled Italy, and was found and arrested in Germany about a month after the killing. His DNA confirmed sexual intercourse with Kercher, while fingerprints and other traces attested to his presence in the house.
Knox and Sollecito have maintained they were at Sollecito’s house the night of the murder. Their defense lawyers claim Guede was the killer and acted alone.
Sollecito, also addressing the court Monday, said his and Knox’s lives had been ruined on the basis of “shadows” and “voices.”
Two other witnesses were called to counter testimony by another defense witness, a Naples mobster named Luciano Aviello who had told the court earlier this month that his brother had killed Kercher during a botched burglary. Aviello’s brother is on the lam.
The two witnesses — two inmates at the same prison as Aviello — testified that Aviello had said he had been contacted by Sollecito’s defence team to stir up confusion in the trial in exchange for money. Witness Alexander Ilicet of Serbia-Montenegro said Aviello had wanted the money for a sex-change operation.
Sollecito’s defence has denied making any such contact.
- AP
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Living in Italy I have seen and heard a lot about this case. I must admit at the beginning I was convinced that they were guilty or at least somehow involved. This was partly due to the media frenzy which surrounded the case and the wild stories that emerged about Amanda. They painted a picture of her which I think has subsequently been seen to be untrue and there was little basis for. Apart from this there was her “confession” and accusation of Lamumba which confirmed, in most peoples eyes, her guilt. It has been shown that these were both results of great pressure and stress from the investigators during an illegal interrogation which took place during the night, denying her food and water and access to a lawyer. A young, naive American who spoke little italian was forced into making this confession and accusation without even realising she was a suspect. Having looked into a lot of the evidence in this case I am convinced that they are innocent. The killer was Guede and was probably alone. There is no DNA evidence of Amanda in Meridiths room and the only DNA evidence of Raffaele is on a bra clasp which was tested nearly 6 weeks after and had been moved and probably contaminated. Guedes DNA has been found in and on Meridith, on her bag from which money and keys were stolen and his bloody footprints and fingerprints all over the house. There is a long list of reasons why all evidence points to Guede and very little to Amanda and Raffaele (mostly strange behavior and dodgy accusations from unreliable people). In my opinion this is an unfortunate case where 2 innocent people have ended up in prison and mostly due to poor policing and outrageous media. But who knows….maybe I’m wrong!!!
Sorry Catriona but there were 4 instances of Knox’s DNA found in the bedroom and her foot print was found in a blood stained mat.
The prosecution made a bit of a balls of the investigation which opens the door to discredit some of the DNA evidence but there is still enough to convict.
The lack of real motive is the only thing that would concern me as the whole ‘sex game’ theory sounds strange to me.
The fact that she says that Guede knows that she wasn’t there is a bit odd don’t you think? I think that he killed her but that Knox and Sollecito helped stage the break in and cover up the crime. For what reason, I can’t say for sure.
Hi! As far as any articles I have read there was no DNA of Knox found in the bedroom. DNA was found on a knife belonging to Raffaele, found in his kitchen but has been confirmed not to be the weapon used as it is too large. Her DNA was also found in the bathroom mixed with Meridiths blood where Amanda took a shower that morning.
The bloody footprint found by luminol testing tested negative for blood… http://blog.seattlepi.com/dempsey/2011/04/08/amanda-knox-bloody-footprints-tested-negative-for-blood/
I don’t know, it’s such a complex case it’s hard to know what evidence is real or not and definitely was poorly handled by investigators.
I don’t find it odd she says Guede knows that she wasn’t there…if she knows she wasn’t there and knows he was there…she would assume that he knows she wasn’t there!
I can’t see why Knox and Sollecito would cover up a crime they didn’t commit.
I’m undecided on the break-in and whether it was staged.. This is an interesting site… http://www.injusticeinperugia.org/RonHendryindex2.html … although i’m slow to believe everything here as it may be biased!
Thus is an awful story. My heart goes out to Meredith family an friends. We are not privy to all the facts and evidence relating to the event so all we can do is surmise as to what actually happened.
May she rest in peace an may those responsible for her death feel the full rigours of the law.
I’ll give that a try! Thanks!
I have read a couple of goods books on the case, the best being ‘Darkness Decending’ by Paul Russell. Well worth a read.
Well what do folks think???
Sounds credible, though not totally au fait with details!
And Guinness Follower, what was your conclusion?
Guilty. My theory is that Guede and Solliceto were fulled up on drugs and raped Kercher (Knox may have been in on this but its hard to say).
There was a struggle and Guede killed Kercher. Solliceto paniced and was out of his depth. Guede fled the scene and left Solliceto to clean up. He persueded Knox to help clean up and make it look like a break in.
The spent the night in Solliceto’s to give each other an allibi. His DNA being found on Kerchers bra strap was a body blow as their allibi means that they are lying if he was at the murder scene.
Very sad case as Merideth was a wonderful young woman by all accounts.
I know this is a little late (139 days to be precise) but I feel compelled to correct some of the awful mistruths that Guinness follower has posted on this article.
The first one to address: ’4 instances of Knox’s DNA found in the bedroom’. This is an outrageous claim and is completely untrue. No credible DNA from Amanda Knox was found at the crime scene. Not a hair, not so much as a finger print. Only the infamous bra clasp had Amanda’s DNA on it. It also should be mentioned it had several peoples DNA profiles on it including forensic investigators such was the carelessness of handling the evidence. Clear sigs of DNA contamination. The bra clasp was thrown out of court during the appeal as it was completely unadmissible. It must also be pointed out that no ‘control testing’ was done against the clasp. This is a common technique used by forensic investigators to determine whether DNA found is credible, this could have easily been done by testing near by items. It was never done. I have no idea where you are getting ‘four’ instances from, this is not my opinion, this is fact.
‘her foot print was found in a blood stained mat.’ This is a very vague and misleading statement. This is almost suggestive of Knox leaving a bloody foot print. The fact of the matter is, Amanda like Meredith used this bathroom frequently. Amanda’s foot print may have been found ON the mat and nothing more. This is not unusual, what is the main point of focus is who left the bloody print, Mr. Rudy Guede.
‘The fact that she says that Guede knows that she wasn’t there is a bit odd don’t you think?’ I can’t understand why you find this statement odd. Amanda is clearly stating that Rudy was there at the time of the murder (As per his ever changing testimonies) and that he knows what truly happened. Not odd in the slightest. Amanda is emphasising the fact that she wasn’t there.
‘The lack of real motive is the only thing that would concern me as the whole ‘sex game’ theory sounds strange to me.’ – You say this, but the same day you post ‘Guilty. My theory is that Guede and Solliceto were fulled up on drugs and raped Kercher (Knox may have been in on this but its hard to say).’ How fickle of you! If you really believe in the hashish sex crazed satanic ritual theory then you are as diluded as the Prosecution and the tabloids. Something to consider, why would Raffaele agree to engage in group sex with Amanda (A girl he has been seeing less than two weeks by the way) and Rudy Guede a total stranger to Raffaele. Guede and Rafaelle had NEVER met. It was often remarked by Raffaele and his defence that the first time himself, Amanda, and Guede were in the same room together was during the trial. You were right the first time, there was no motive, the best the Prosecution could come up with for their closing arguments was that Amanda was ‘untidy’ and this caused a strain between herself and her housemates. It must also be pointed out that nobody had ever witnessed Amanda and Meredith have and argument or a disagreement with eachother. Meredith’s English friends who found Amanda to be ‘annoying’ have even attested to this. There was no motive and no credible forensic evidence linking Amanda Knox or Rafeaele Sollecito to this murder and yet these two kids were railroaded. ‘Case Closed’ the investigators shouted emphatically mere days after the murder, before the forensic results were even back! Meanwhile Rudy Guede the man that any sane person knows carried out this murder has fled the country and is arrested in Germany. What a complete and utter farce.
Don’t underestimate the power of misinformation and the spreading of misinformation, this is largely responsible for the injustice that was Knox & Sollecito’s original convictions. Knox has paid the price, and not for her naivety. The interrogation methods used on her during that week were far beyond intense and in a word appauling. Her false confession was coerced out of her by an all night interrogation which consisted of up to 8 investigators in the room at any given time. This was illegal for two reasons. Firstly she did not have an attorney present and was told ‘It would be better for you if you didn’t. Secondly at this point Amanda Knox was technically being interviewed as a witness NOT a suspect. If you want to read more about the intricacies that cause individuals to make false statements this is a great piece:
Lets all get real and look at the hard facts: Rudy admitted he was in the room. Rudy’s DNA was found all over the crime scene. Rudy’s DNA was found in and on Meredith’s body. Rudy’s DNA along with Meredith’s blood, was found on Meredith’s purse. Rudy’s excrement was found in the toilet. Rudy’s shoe prints, set in Meredith’s blood, were found in the bedroom and hallway. Rudy’s handprints in Meredith’s blood were found on a pillow case in Meredith’s room and on her wall. Rudy had a cut on his right hand that was still visible when he was arrested. Rudy fled the country. How in the name of God could Amanda Knox & Raffaele been in that room when Mereidth was murdered? 2 liters of blood spilled, and yet not a single hair found by either! They were either floating around the room in bio hazard suits or staged the most miraculous clean up in the history of crime: Being able to remove all traces of their presence at the crime scene while leaving Rudy’s! Rudy Guede was the lone killer, he acted alone and killed this beautiful girl in a burglary gone wrong. He had been arrested just days before her murder for breaking in to a childcare centre armed with a knife. This is a man with a history of this sort of crime.
In any case, justice was done, however Rudy Guede should have his sentence trippled.
have your say