Amanda Knox guilty again: The murder of Meredith Kercher

A court has again convicted Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito for the murder of a British student in 2007.

AMANDA Knox and her former Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito have been found guilty for the second time of killing their British flatmate in Italy in 2007.

Meredith Kercher, 21, was found in a pool of blood after being brutally stabbed in the villa she rented with Knox, while they studied in the Italian university town of Perugia.
In 2009, the former couple of Knox and Sollecito were first convicted of the gruesome murder. Prosecutors said at the time the murder was the result of a sex-game gone horribly wrong.

Amanda Knox is escorted by Italian penitentiary police officers to Perugia's court during her first trial. Source: AP

After nearly 12 hours of deliberations overnight, the court reinstated the verdicts first handed down in 2009. The original verdicts were overturned due to "lack of evidence" on appeal in 2011 and the pair were freed after four years in jail - with Knox returning to America.

Knox convicted again

Knox remained in the US during the retrial, while Sollecito remained in Italy. He had his passport revoked as the decision was announced, as he is under Italian jurisdiction.
Knox was sentenced to 28-and-a-half years in prison and Sollecito to 25 years.

British student Meredith Kercher, on February 6, 2009 in Perugia, Italy. Source: Supplied

'Kicking and screaming'
It is highly likely the extradition of Knox may never happen due to America's 'double jeopardy' law - which dictates that a person cannot be tried twice on the same charge. The US State Department has not yet released a comment on what it will do if Italy seeks extradition.
Under Italian law, another appeal is permitted.
Indeed, Knox has been vocal about her plan to resist any attempts to extradite her.
Prior to the verdict, she told the Guardian: "I'm definitely not going back to Italy willingly.
"They'll have to catch me and pull me back kicking and screaming into a prison that I don't deserve to be in. I will fight for my innocence."

Amanda Knox, left, and Raffaele Sollecito, are seen outside the rented house where 21-year-old British student Meredith Kercher was found dead in Perugia, Italy. Source: Supplied

The original case
Meredith Kercher moved to Italy in 2007 for a study year at the University of Perugia.

A view of Perugia during the Meredith Kercher murder trial at the Perugia courthouse on November 28, 2009 in Perugia, Italy. Source: Supplied

She moved in with Amanda Knox, then 20, from Seattle in the United States, into a four-bedroom ground-floor flat called Via della Pergola 7. Locals would later say it was located in a rough part of the small town.

The house where the Meredith Kercher murder happened on the night of November 1, 2007. Source: Supplied

Two Italian women in their late 20s also lived in the flat.
Kercher became romantically involved with an Italian man, Giacomo Silenzi, who lived in the flat below, while Knox struck up a relationship with Italian Raffaele Sollecito, 23.

Italian student Raffaele Sollecito, then boyfriend of American student Amanda Knox, stands outside the rented house where 21-year-old British student Meredith Kercher was found dead. Source: AP

During this time, Knox and Kercher randomly met an Ivory Coast-born man by the name of Rudy Guede. He joined their group of friends.
The night before the murder, Kercher, Knox and their friends spent Halloween at a party downstairs at the home of the man Kercher was dating, Silenzi.

Meredith and Amanda partied together the night before the murder. Source: AP

On November 1, Kercher went to the apartment of her English friend for dinner and watched the movie The Notebook. She returned home at 8.45pm. By 12.50am she was dead.
Knox claims she was at Sollecito's flat on the night of the murder - and returned in the morning to find strange indicators throughout the apartment.

Amanda Knox was the only housemate in the vicinity on the night of the murder. Source: Splash News Australia

These included spots of blood in the bathroom, which she thought were menstrual, an unflushed toilet which was out of character, and a broken window. Kercher's bedroom door was closed and Knox says she assumed her flatmate was sleeping.

The broken window at the apartment. Source: Supplied

Police showed up after finding Kercher's mobile phone, which she carried with her, located in a neighbour's garden. After police refused to break into the bedroom door where Kercher was, a male friend broke in.
Kercher's body was lying on the floor, covered by a blood-soaked dooner with knife wounds around her neck. An autopsy claims she had been attacked by multiple people.

The bloody scene in the Perugia apartment. Source: Supplied

Knox became the focus in the investigation as authorities ruled out the possibility a burglar killed Kercher. The broken window was dismissed as a point of access and attention shifted to Knox. She was the only flatmate in the vicinity during the murder.
Detectives claim Knox confessed to the crime and implicated her boss from the bar she worked, Le Chic, in the murder.

Patrick Lumumba speaks to the media during the final verdict of the Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito retrial on January 30, 2014 in Florence, Italy. Source: Getty Images

She allegedly confessed she met her boss, Patrick Lumumba, at a basketball court before going to the home Knox shared with Kercher, where he had committed the murder and she was therefore an accomplice.
Knox's statement to police read: "I have a hard time remembering those moments but Patrick had sex with Meredith, with whom he was infatuated, but I cannot remember clearly whether he threatened Meredith first. I remember confusedly that he killed her."
Knox claims the statement was made under duress.

The Amanda Knox trial grabbed global headlines and polarised trial-watchers in three nations. Source: AP

The Italian media portrayed Knox as a sexual demon lacking emotions. She was repeatedly questioned for four days after the murder, with no lawyer present and with only a very basic grasp of Italian. Knox claims she was abused and manipulated by the police.
"I want to make clear that I'm very doubtful of the verity of my statements because they were made under the pressures of stress, shock and extreme exhaustion," she said in a statement.
Knox, her boyfriend Sollecito and her boss Lumumba appeared in court.

Amanda Knox at her original trial gets escorted by authorities. Source: Splash News Australia

Not long after, DNA evidence was found on Kercher, after the discovery she had sexual intercourse before her death. This led to the arrest of Rudy Guede, an acquaintance of Knox and Kercher, who was then charged with the murder. His bloody handprint was also found at the scene. His DNA was on record, due to previous crimes committed in the area.
In 2008, Guede was tried in fast-tracked trial in a closed court, with no media present. He was sentenced to 30 years in jail.
Lumumba was released, with the belief Knox had used him to cover up Guede's involvement in the murder. In January, 2009, the trial of Knox and her boyfriend Sollecito began.

Rudy Guede is serving time for the murder. Source: Splash News Australia

They were accused of going to the flat Kercher and Knox shared on the night of November 1 with the now-convicted Guede.
The case alleged the three brutally murdered Kercher after a group-sex game went wrong.

The bedroom where Meredith was murdered. Source: Supplied

Prosecutors say she was held down and stabbed after she rejected attempts by Knox, Sollecito and Guede, to involve her in the game.
Knox then allegedly staged a robbery to cover up the crime. No DNA evidence implicating Knox or Sollecito was discovered at the scene.

The knife presented as evidence in the original trial. Source: Supplied

A knife found in Sollecito's apartment was linked to the murder. It was claimed DNA of Kercher was discovered on the knife. Experts said the trace on the knife was so small it could not be used as evidence and independent reviews of the DNA were denied by the judge.
During the trial, Knox became the subject of intense media coverage due to her attractive appearance, apparent lack of emotion and the alleged sexual nature of her crimes.
She was dubbed Foxy Knoxy.

This photo apparently shows Foxy Knoxy’s “sexual side” Source: Supplied

On 5 December 2009, the former couple were convicted of the sexual assault and murder of Kercher, and sentenced to 26 years imprisonment.

Locked up: Amanda Knox is originally convicted of Meredith Kercher’s murder. Source: Getty Images

In sensational circumstances, they were both released on appeal in 2011. Today, this appeal has been overturned and the original conviction again stands.
What happens to Knox next is now in the hands of the American government - and whether they will allow an extradition back to Italy, if it is requested.

Amanda Knox during her first trial. Source: Splash News Australia

Knox's thoughts on today's conviction:
"First and foremost it must be recognised that there is no consolation for the Kercher family. Their grief over Meredith's terrible murder will follow them forever. They deserve respect and support.
"I am frightened and saddened by this unjust verdict. Having been found innocent before, I expected better from the Italian justice system. The evidence and accusatory theory do not justify a verdict of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Rather, nothing has changed. There has always been a marked lack of evidence. My family and I have suffered greatly from this wrongful persecution.

Amanda Knox during her appeal trial in Perugia's courthouse in 2011. Source: AFP

"This has gotten out of hand. Most troubling is that it was entirely preventable. I beseech those with the knowledge and authority to address and remediate the problems that worked to pervert the course of justice and waste the valuable resources of the system: overzealous and intransigent prosecution, prejudiced and narrow-minded investigation, unwillingness to admit mistake, reliance on unreliable testimony and evidence, character assassination, inconsistent and unfounded accusatory theory, and counterproductive and coercive interrogation techniques that produce false confessions and inaccurate statements.
"Clearly a wrongful conviction is horrific for the wrongfully accused, but it is also terribly bad for the victim, their surviving family, and society."

Amanda Knox waits to hear whether she will be extradited. Source: AFP