November 2 marked the one-year anniversary of the
brutal murder of the English Erasmus student Meredith Kercher. The picturesque
central Italian town of Perugia commemorated Kercher’s death with a church
service, while friends left flowers and lit candles outside the cottage that
she shared with one of the murder suspects, 21-year-old American student from
Seattle, Amanda Knox.
Kercher, who studied at Leeds University, went to
Perugia to learn Italian and pursue a European studies degree. She had been in
the medieval city for only two months when police found her body, with more
than 40 wounds, lying on floor of her bedroom. Prosecutors posit that Kercher was
killed during a ‘sex game’ gone awry with Knox; an Italian student, Raffalle
Sollecito; and an Ivory Coast national, Rudy Guede.
The three accused have been in jail since the crime,
as investigators compiled evidence. At the end of the quiry, Guede opted for a
plea bargain-a fast-track trial without a jury-to avoid being tried alongside
the two other suspects in the case. He received a 30-year jail term for his
role in the sexual assault and murder and has been order to pay Kercher’s
family 7 million euro in compensation.
The presiding judge, Paolo Micheli, ruled there was
sufficient evidence to proceed to a full trial for both Knox and her former
boyfriend, Sollecito, and set the first hearing for December 4, 2008. The two
accused will remain in jail until the trial commences.
Guede’s lawyers claim that the crime was carried out
by Knox and Sollecito alone. The Ivory Coast national has always admitted to
being in the house on the night of the murder but claims he was in the bathroom
when Kercher was murdered. Lawyers for Knox and Sollecito maintain their
clients were not in the house and that the crime was committed by a single
attacker.
Despite accepting the plea bargain and its 30-year
murder term, Guede says he will work to ‘clear his name’ in the case.
