Prosecutors Ask Life Sentence For Amanda Knox
Italian prosecutors on Saturday called for a life sentence for American university student Amanda Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito for the 2007 murder of Briton Meredith Kercher, Reuters stated.
According to Reuters, Knox, 22, is the American student accused by prosecutors of instigating the killing in the central Italian university town of Perugia out of hatred for Kercher, with whom she shared an apartment. They allege Sollecito and another man, Ivorian Rudy Guede, took part in the November killing two years ago to please Knox.
Guede opted for a separate, fast-track trial and was convicted of murder and attempted sexual assault in October 2008.
The key piece of evidence against Knox is a 6½-inch kitchen knife that prosecutors say was used to slit Kercher’s throat. A source tol CNN that the knife belonged to Sollecito and was found at his apartment with Knox’s DNA on the handle and Kercher’s DNA on the blade,
CNN stated the following:
Anne Bremner, a lawyer and former prosecutor working with the group Friends of Amanda, told CNN that investigators improperly handled the knife, leading to questions about the validity of the DNA evidence.
Another defense expert, geneticist and private coroner Sarah Gino, testified that the DNA sample on the knife was too small to be definitive.
On the night Kercher was killed, Knox and Sollecito say, they were at his house watching a movie and smoking marijuana.
They admitted their recollection of events was hazy from the drugs, but both swore they went back to the house the next morning. Knox said she could not get in, so she called police.
