Was Knox really involved in Kercher murder?
Bill Bonde { 'by a commodius vicus of recirculation' )
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Prosecutors have asked for life imprisonment for the pair accused
of murdering British student Meredith Kercher in Italy.
Miss Kercher, 21, from Coulsdon, Surrey, was found dead in her
bedroom two years ago. Her throat had been cut.
Prosecutor Giuliano Mignini asked a jury in Perugia to convict
Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito on charges of murder and sexual
violence.
Miss Knox, a US student, and her former Italian boyfriend deny the
charges.
The prosecutor argued that Miss Knox, Mr Sollecito and a third man,
Rudy Guede, who was convicted in a separate trial killed the
British student during a drug-induced sex game.
Guede, 22, was jailed for 30 years for murdering the British
student.
Guede, who is originally from Ivory Coast, always denied any
wrongdoing and has launched an appeal against his conviction.
Miss Knox, addressed the court in Italian, saying that the
accusations against her were "pure fantasy".
"Meredith was my friend, I didn't hate her," she said.
Prosecutors told the court Miss Knox hit the British student's head
against a wall, then tried to strangle her, as Mr Sollecito held
her and Guede sexually assaulted her.
Mr Mignini said Miss Knox "harboured hatred" for the Briton and was
the driving force behind a drug-fuelled sexual assault against her
that became "an unstoppable crescendo of violence".
Meredith Kercher
Meredith Kercher was on a student exchange programme in Italy
In his reconstruction, the prosecutor alleged that Guede held Miss
Kercher down while Mr Sollecito and Miss Knox inflicted fatal
wounds to her neck.
"The murder and the sexual violence were carried out for futile
reasons. Meredith will never come back," he said.
Police found the Briton's semi-nude body in a pool of blood with
her throat cut.
Miss Knox shared a flat in Perugia, central Italy, with Miss
Kercher, a Leeds University student who was on an exchange
programme.
Mr Sollecito, a 25-year-old Italian, is Miss Knox's former
boyfriend.
The American student and her ex-boyfriend both deny allegations of
a drug-fuelled sex game.
Miss Knox, who is from Seattle, says she spent the night of the
murder at Mr Sollecito's house elsewhere in the Umbrian town.
Mr Sollecito says he was at home working on his computer that night
and does not remember whether Miss Knox spent the whole night with
him or just part of it.
A verdict is expected in the first week of December.
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