Student killing accused weeps as life sentence demanded

The agonisingly drawn-out melodrama that is the trial of the American student Amanda Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito for the murder of a British student, Meredith Kercher, yesterday entered its emotional final stages.

Ten months after the case opened in a court in the historic Umbrian city of Perugia, the prosecutor Giuliano Mignini finally arrived at the logical conclusion to his closing address: a plea for the defendants to be given Italy's harshest sentence, life imprisonment.

At these words, Ms Knox, a Seattle student whose erratic behaviour has in turn beguiled, infuriated and appalled onlookers, took a deep intake of breath.

She then addressed the court, saying the accusations against her were "pure fantasy", and, as she fought back tears, added, in Italian: "Meredith was my friend, I didn't hate her."

Earlier in his closing argument, Mr Mignini said that Ms Knox wanted to get back at Kercher for saying she was unhygienic and promiscuous.

"Amanda had the chance to retaliate against a girl who was serious and quiet," Mr Mignini said. "She had harboured hatred for Meredith ... the time had come to take revenge on that smug girl."

Ms Knox, who has denied wrongdoing, appeared to be weeping as Mr Mignini described the wounds on Kercher's body. She looked discouraged and kept her head down.

Her lawyer, Luciano Ghirga, sitting next to her, at one point held her hand. She was hugged and comforted by lawyers during breaks.

Mr Mignini contended that Ms Knox, Mr Sollecito and Rudy Hermann Guede n who is now appealing his conviction last year for the killing n met at the apartment where Kercher was killed on 2 November 2007. He said Kercher and Ms Knox started arguing, and the three then attacked Kercher.

He described what he called "an unstoppable crescendo of frenzied violence", which began when Ms Knox and Mr Sollecito tried to take off Kercher's clothes and threatened her.

At one point, Ms Knox hit Kercher's head against a wall, then tried to strangle her, as Mr Sollecito held her and Guede sexually assaulted her, he alleged.

Mr Mignini said Ms Knox used a knife to cut Kercher's throat, while Mr Sollecito used another knife to threaten her.

According to prosecutors, a knife with Kercher's DNA on the blade and Ms Knox's on the handle was found at Mr Sollecito's house. Defence lawyers argue that the knife is too big to match Kercher's wounds and the amount of what prosecutors say is Kercher's DNA is too low to be attributed with certainty.

Prosecutors also maintain Mr Sollecito's DNA was found on the clasp of Kercher's bra, although his defence team contends that the evidence might have been inadvertently contaminated during the investigation.

Mr Mignini said Ms Knox and Mr Sollecito staged a burglary in the apartment by breaking a bedroom window, to sidetrack the investigation. A rock was found in a bedroom, and witnesses testified shattered glass was found on clothes on the floor, suggesting the window was broken after the room was ransacked.

"The key to the mystery is in that room," Mr Mignini said, adding that it would be nearly impossible to climb through the window without getting cut and leaving blood on the shattered glass. He said the window was an unlikely choice for a burglar, and nothing in the flat was reported missing.

Ms Knox's lawyer, Carlo Dalla Vedova, said Mr Mignini's reconstruction failed to present solid evidence. Ms Knox, 22, maintains she spent the night of the murder at Mr Sollecito's house in Perugia.

Mr Sollecito, 25, has said he was home working at his computer that night. He said he does not remember if Ms Knox spent the whole night with him or just part of it. A verdict is expected early next month.

- THE INDEPENDENT