Kercher accused blames others

7:58pm Saturday 25th October 2008

Leeds University student Meredith Kercher was murdered by former lovers Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito, the lawyers representing a third suspect have said.

Rudy Hermann Guede, 21, did not kill Miss Kercher or commit any sexual violence, his legal team told reporters after the final speech for his defence in Perugia, Italy.

The semi-naked body of Miss Kercher, 21, was found on November 2 last year in the room she was staying in on her year abroad in the Umbrian hilltop town.

Her throat had been slit and Ivorian Guede, American Knox, 21, and Italian Sollecito, 24 have been accused of killing her in a bungled sex game.

But lawyer Nicodemo Gentile dismissed the prosecutor's version of events as "fantasy" and described his client Guede as "a good boy, just like any other".

He did not take drugs, as has been reported, and the theory that he teamed up with Knox and Sollecito to commit the brutal slaying was incorrect, he said.

He explained the presence of Guede's DNA on the cuffs of Miss Kercher's sweatshirt as the result of contamination after it had been kicked around the floor during the investigation.

Guede has admitted he was in Miss Kercher's house the night she was murdered but, like the other two suspects, he denies any wrongdoing.

Guede is on trial in a fast track process, separate from Knox and Sollecito, which he requested because he feared a pact between the former lovers to frame him.

Judge Paolo Micheli will reach a verdict early next week. He will decide at the same time whether Knox and Sollecito should stand trial for the murder.