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Meredith Kercher

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Meredith Susanna Cara Kercher (born February 1986 in Southwark, United Kingdom) was an English woman who was stabbed to death the night of November 1, 2007 in Perugia, Italy. Kercher had been part of the Erasmus student exchange programme, and had gone to Italy in order to complete her degree course.

Death

Meredith Kercher was stabbed to death on November 1. Judge Claudia Matteini, in her deliberations on the detainment of the three prime suspects in Kercher's murder, found the following:

It is possible to reconstruct what happened on the evening of November 1. Sollecito, Raffaele, and Knox, Amanda, spent the entire afternoon smoking hashish. In the evening, around 8.30pm, while Knox found herself at the house of Sollecito, she received a message from Diya Lumumba who ... confirmed the appointment that evening, having obviously agreed beforehand that the girl would provide him with help in having an encounter with her friend Meredith.

Raffaele Sollecito, bored with the same old evenings, and wanting to experience extreme sensations, intense sexual relations which break up the monotony of everyday life, went out with Amanda and met Lumumba at Piazza Grimana at 9pm. They went together to the apartment on via della Pergola 7, to which only Amanda had the key. It was roughly at this time that both Sollecito and Knox switched off their mobile phones until the following morning.

A short while later, Meredith returned, or she could have already been there. She went into her bedroom with Patrick, after which something went wrong, in the sense that Sollecito in all probability joined them and the two began to make advances, which the girl refused. She was then threatened with a knife, the knife which Sollecito generally carried with him and which was used to strike Meredith in the neck.

The three, realising what had happened, quickly left the house, creating a mess with the intention of simulating a break-in, spreading blood everywhere, and in an attempt to clean up drops of blood in the bath, on the ground and in the sink.

On November 2, 2007, at 12.35pm, persons from the Postal Police of Perugia went to Via della Pergola 7 in order to trace Filomena Romanelli, since the same morning Mrs Lana Elisabetta had found in the garden attached to her house, in Perugia, Via Sperandi 5b, two mobile phones, one of which one had a Vodaphone Sim card belonging to the same Romanelli.

On reaching the destination, the agents found two youths outside the house identified as Knox, Amanda Marie, who lived at that address, and Sollecito, Raffaele. They said they were waiting for the Carabinieri military police, whom they had called that morning when they had become aware of a window with glass broken and suspected a theft.

Filomena's room was empty. Filomena arrived shortly thereafter and confirmed that no theft had occurred. The police tried Meredith Kercher's door, which was locked from inside. The Perugia Postal Police broke open the door and discovered Ms. Kercher's body. Kercher, 21, was found in her bed under a duvet, partially clothed and with her throat cut. The cut appeared to be a stab wound. It had not hit the carotid artery, so her death was slow and agonized, according to the pathologist.

She had celebrated Halloween with friends in the Erasmus programme the night before and had headed home. There was evidence on her body that she had sex not long before her death, but the coroners did not establish any evidence that she had been raped. The two mobile phones, found close to her home in Perugia, carry her fingerprints and an as yet unidentified print. The six-and-a-half hour post-mortem also showed that Kercher had been killed with a small penknife or a piece of glass.

Mobile phone records established where all three suspects were at 8.30 on the night of 1 November, when they switched their phones off; they established that they switched them on again early the next morning.

Pathologist Dr. Luca Lalli established death between 10pm and midnight 1 November 2007. Kercher had dined with a friend, heading home before or after 9pm. The post-mortem found bruising on Ms. Kercher's lips, gums, left cheek and chin, injuries compatible with being forced into a prone position, as well as with a face pushed to the floor to hold her still . The post-mortem also revealed no trace of drink or drugs in her system. On the night she died she had supper with girlfriends at their house nearby and watched a DVD of the soppy romantic movie The Notebook. Around 9pm she said she was tired and needed an early night and went home.

Police examined photographs on her Facebook page and say the internet will help provide clues. The case received international attention.

Investigation

Three people have been held under arrest in connection with the case, Amanda Knox, 20, a female American student from Seattle, Washington, her Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, 24, and Diya "Patrick" Lumumba,38, a Congolese man who runs a bar in the town, and for whom Ms Knox sometimes worked. Mr. Lumumba has a Polish wife and a small son. He claims to be a grandson of Patrice Lumumba, African revolutionary, and later first prime minister of Republic of Congo in 1960, assassinated in 1961. Police believe a footprint in the blood in the house "is exactly compatible" with one of Sollecito's shoes.

Police claim to have found a fourth fingerprint in blood on a cushion at the scene and are now seeking a fourth suspect. As of 10 November 2007 a fourth suspect in the killing of Ms. Kercher was identified by police. The police believe him to be identified by footage from three car park security cameras overlooking the building. He was walking quickly away from the apartment on the night of the murder. They have not yet named the fourth man, a North African "musician". Police believe he is also the man seen with a young woman in a nearby launderette at 1:30pm the next day. Witnesses said he acted "strangely", bundling a large quantity of clothes and shoes into a single washing machine.

According to police, Knox broke down under interrogation and said that she heard screaming then blocked her ears, and felt confused. She stated that Lumumba was in the bedroom with Meredith at the time of the screams. Police also say that she has continued to change her story. A pen knife, which is compatible with evidence of the murder weapon, has been reportedly found in Sollecito's home.

Initial Judicial findings

Claudia Matteini, the investigating judge, has identified the murder weapon as a flick knife belonging to Raffaele Sollecito. Judge Matteini said the knife was used first to threaten and then to kill Ms. Kercher. Matteini found clear evidence that Ms. Kercher had been forced to have sex against her will. She surmised the knife had been intended as a threat, but the threat had got out of hand, causing a deep, mortal wound. Included in her hypothesis is that Ms. Knox and Mr. Sollecito had been seeking "new sensations", while Mr. Lumumba wanted sex with a desirable girl who refused him, Ms. Kercher. Police believe the murderers were under the influence of drugs.

In police-intercepted phone calls between Ms Knox and Mr Sollecito after the murder, Ms. Knox told Sollecito, "I can't do this any more," presumably referring to the pressure she felt under police interrogation. Ms. Knox maintains she did not participate in the murder. Mr. Sollecito claims to have been in his own flat the entire night of the murder.

Tributes

Kercher's family travelled to Italy and visited the place where Meredith's friends in Perugia commemorated her, on the steps of Perugia Cathedral. Her father left a rose and a condolence note stating "Love you forever Meredith, all my love. Dad". There was a candlelit vigil on the night of Monday 5 November in Perugia in memory of Meredith.The students of her university, the University of Leeds, commemorated her as well. The Facebook community dedicated several pages and a huge number of messages and comments to her memory.

References

  1. "Meredith Kercher was worried by US flatmate's 'strange men'". The Times. 2007-11-08. Retrieved 2007-11-08.
  2. "Meredith Kercher: Judge's report". The Times. 2007-11-09. Retrieved 2007-11-09. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. "Three arrested over student's murder". Yorkshire Post. 2007-11-08. Retrieved 2007-11-08.
  4. ^ "Meredith's flatmate 'heard her die'". The Guardian. 2007-11-08. Retrieved 2007-11-08.
  5. "Suspect drowned screams of flatmate". ONE NEWS. 2007-11-08. Retrieved 2007-11-08.
  6. "Judge considers ruling on Meredith suspects". Mirror.co.uk. 2007-11-06. Retrieved 2007-11-08.
  7. ^ "Candlelight Vigil For Meredith". Your Local Guardian. 2007-11-08. Retrieved 2007-11-08.

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