Families awaiting outcome of Knox appeal

The family of murdered British student Meredith Kercher, who have kept a low profile since her horrific death, are expected in an Italian court on Monday for the verdict that could set her accused killers free, lawyers said.

Italian prosecutors yesterday appealed to a court to keep American student Amanda Knox in jail for life, saying she would flee the country if her conviction was overturned, as is widely expected.

The 24-year-old was convicted along with her Italian ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, 27, of the killing of Ms Kercher, whose bruised, half-naked body was found in a pool of blood in the Umbrian university town of Perugia in 2007.

A verdict in the pair’s appeal, which has gripped public attention on both sides of the Atlantic, is due on Monday.

“They were young but they killed for no reason,” said prosecutor Manuela Comodi. “They killed for no reason and for this they should be given the maximum sentence.”

Speculation has been rife that Knox would be whisked home to the US if she is freed from the Umbrian prison where she has been held for nearly four years, while her family have fought a ceaseless media campaign for her release. She was sentenced to 26 years in prison after the first trial, while Sollecito was given 25 years. Rudy Guede, an Ivorian drifter with a criminal record, is also serving time for taking part in Ms Kercher’s murder. He has also maintained his innocence.

Ms Kercher, from Surrey, who was studying at Leeds University, was on a year-long exchange programme in Perugia, a cobble-stoned town popular with foreigners studying Italian, when she was murdered the night after Halloween in 2007. Her family’s lawyer has described her as sunny young woman “full of life” who was killed in a brutal assault during which the 21-year-old was held down by her assailants. Her body was found with more than 40 wounds and her throat had been slit.

Ms Kercher’s mother, Arline, could not attend most of the trial for health reasons and the rest of her family could not afford to attend, family lawyer Francesco Maresca said.

“They (the family) will look into your eyes just one time and with one gaze they will ask you to confirm the truth,” Mr Maresca told the jury of two professional and six lay judges.

Knox and Sollecito deny any role in the murder and say they spent the night of the crime in the Sollecito’s apartment. Sollecito’s father told Reuters his son, who began dating Knox a week before the murder, was “very scared” but “hopeful of the right verdict” after a forensic review cast major doubt on key pieces of evidence.