What was the verdict of the Amanda Knox murder trial in Italy?
Ostensibly, Amanda Knox looks like any other American girl: young, beautiful, and her whole future at her fingertips. Unfortunately in this case, the fresh-faced 22-year-old has had her future held in the palms of an Italian jury for the past year. Knox and her then boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, 25, have been found guilty for the 2007 murder of Knox’s British roommate Meredith Kercher, 21. The verdict, which was announced early Saturday morning after 13 hours of deliberations, marked the end of a strenuous, yearlong trial that caused quite the media craze. Kercher was a student at Leeds University and shared a house with Knox, also a student, in Italy’s medieval town of Perugia. Kercher’s body was found in her bedroom with her throat slit on November 2, 2007. [See other Women Who Kill- Wicked Attraction] Knox and Sollecito have also been charged with sexual assault, along with the murder charges. Knox was said to have murdered her roommate during a violent sex game, though very little
PERUGIA, Italy – The family of a slain British woman said Saturday they were pleased with the murder conviction of American student Amanda Knox but said there was no sense of celebration. Meredith Kercher’s relatives made their first comments since a jury in Perugia, Italy, announced early Saturday that they had convicted Knox and sentenced her to 26 years in prison for the 2007 murder. The court also convicted Knox’s co-defendant and former boyfriend, Italian Raffaele Sollecito, and gave him a 25-year jail term. Sources: http://www.msnbc.msn.
Amanda Knox and her Italian former boyfriend were found guilty of the murder of the British student Meredith Kercher, who was stabbed to death two years ago. Knox, 22 and Raffaele Sollecito, 25, killed Kercher in an attack which ended with Sollecito taunting Kercher with one knife while Knox plunged another into her throat, the court heard during the trial. Knox was sentenced to 26 years in prison while Sollecito was sentenced to 25 years. Knox was also found guilty of several other offences including criminal slander for pointing the finger of guilt at Diya “Patrick” Lumumba, 38, who ran a local bar. He later proved to have an alibi and was released after initially being arrested in connection with the murder. Sources: http://www.guardian.co.
