Accused watch cartoon trio re-enact murder

A prosecutor in Italy yesterday demanded that Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito serve life sentences for the murder and sexual assault of British exchange student Meredith Kercher.

He also called for Knox, an American, to spend the first nine months of her sentence in isolation during daylight hours.

Giuliano Mignini requested the maximum penalty - life means more than 30 years - after an aggressive two-day summing up in which he accused Knox, 22, of nursing a drug-fuelled "hatred" for her housemate Kercher, who was found dead in her bedroom, semi-naked and with her throat slashed, two years ago.

Telling the court that Knox was "narcissistic, aggressive, manipulative, transgressive, with a tendency to dominate" and "easily given to disliking people she disagreed with", Mignini also asked that Sollecito, her former boyfriend, who was described as "notably cold" and dominated by Knox, spend the first two months of his sentence in day isolation.

"Each of them should get what is expected," he said. Ivory Coast-born Rudy Guede has been jailed for 30 years after admitting his role in the murder.

After Mignini spoke, Knox rose to tell the court: "Meredith was my friend and I did not hate her."

Knox, close to tears, added in a cracked voice: "To hurt someone who was kind to me is absurd. And I had no relationship with Rudy, I did not frequent him. What has been said is pure fantasy. It is not the truth, it is not the reality."

Despite protests from defence lawyers, the prosecution showed an animated film reconstruction of their version of the murder. Jury members and Judge Giancarlo Massei watched as animated likenesses of Knox, Sollecito, 25, and Guede, 22, entered the house Knox shared with Kercher on the outskirts of Perugia.

Resembling Second Life avatars, the cartoon trio attacked Kercher in her bedroom as photos flashed up on screen showing the wounds and bruises found on her body. In the courtroom Knox turned away from the screen but Sollecito watched as the screen turned red when Kercher received the fatal stab wound to the neck.

Earlier, Mignini talked the jury through his reconstruction. On the night of November 1, Knox and Sollecito were in an aggressive mood thanks to a mix of dope and alcohol and entered the house after meeting Guede.

Finding Kercher at home alone, Knox had a chance, said Mignini, to take revenge against her housemate, "who was too serious and too sober-minded for her taste. The hatred grew and grew in Knox but that night this hatred had the possibility to explode".

Kercher "showed her disapproval over the umpteenth man brought home by Knox, particularly at that hour", said Mignini. Guede went to the bathroom as Knox and Sollecito started to argue with Kercher in her room. It is likely that Knox, "to vent her resentment against Kercher, pushed her violently against the cupboard", said Mignini.

Guede emerged from the bathroom and joined in, eager to compete with Sollecito to have sex with Kercher. When she fell to the ground, the three tried to undress her and Knox pulled out a knife while Guede began to sexually abuse her, said the magistrate. As Sollecito pulled at her bra strap, Knox stabbed her for the first time.

Pulling out his smaller knife, Sollecito did the same, said Mignini.

As it became clear Kercher "did not want to submit to sexual violence, 'the game' had to be brought to an end". Knox began to strangle Kercher as Sollecito continued to stab, prompting Kercher to let out the "terrible" scream that neighbour Nara Capezzali heard.

At this point, Knox delivered the fatal blow, plunging her knife into Kercher's neck, said Mignini.

Knox and Sollecito claim they spent the night of the murder at Sollecito's house in Perugia, having sex, smoking dope and watching a film.

The summing up also focused on crucial and hotly contested scientific evidence, including an alleged trace of Sollecito's DNA found on Kercher's bra strap and DNA linked to Kercher and Knox found on a knife at Sollecito's house.

"The forensic work was state of the art, with absolutely reliable results," said the prosecutor, who denied that there was too little DNA on the alleged murder weapon to identify Knox.

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