Meredith Kercher's murder 'was purely casual' says Italian judges' report

Published on Thursday 4 March 2010 20:33

AMANDA Knox and her former lover, Raffaele Sollecito, murdered British student Meredith Kercher "purely casually'', according to a judges' report released yesterday.

Knox, 22, an American student, and Sollecito, 25, were found guilty of the brutal killing of Meredith, 21, last year after her body was found semi-naked and with her throat cut.

Under Italian law, judges release their motivations and reasons for sentence 90 days after a verdict, and Giancarlo Massei and Beatrice Cristiani added in the report that the case was "without holes or inconsistencies".

The 427-page document was provided to legal teams for the defendants, as well as to the prosecutor, Giuliano Mignini, and the lawyer representing the Kercher family, Francesco Maresca.

Knox was sentenced to 26 years in prison and Sollecito to 25 years, but both deny any wrongdoing and the report will be picked through by their lawyers to plan their appeal.

Since the conviction, there have been doubts over the scientific evidence against Knox and Sollecito, which seemed to be flimsy and flawed at best and non-existent at worst.

However, Mr Massei and his colleague wrote in their report that the evidence led to the convictions as "a necessary and strictly consequential outcome".

The court heard that Meredith was killed after she refused to take part in a drunken sex game, and key to the case was a 30cm kitchen knife, which was found in Sollecito's flat.

Mr Mignini said Knox's DNA was on the handle of the knife, while Meredith's was on the blade, but defence lawyers argued that the amounts were minuscule and should not be used as evidence.

The judges' report said that the killing was not planned and that the culprits had no ill-feeling for Meredith.

It went on: "It was a murder without planning, without any animosity or grudge against the victim."