British student Meredith Kercher, 21, was murdered in her Perugia home on the evening of Nov. 1, 2007. Police first came to see Kercher because her cell phone was discovered a quarter mile away from her home.
When police arrived on Nov. 2, roommate Amanda Knox and boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were standing outside the house while Kercher’s body lay inside. A judge’s report says Kercher died a slow and painful death, most likely drowing in her own blood after a stab wound to the neck.
Kercher, on exchange from Leeds University, was doing post-graduate work studying political history and lived with Knox and two Italian students. Reports say Kercher was annoyed at Knox’s sloppy habits around the house and was scared by some of the people Knox was bringing into the house.
"; dtl_Italy_who[i++] = new Array("","Amanda Knox","","http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com/j/msnbc/Sections/TVNews/Dateline%20NBC/_Stories/2007/December/Italy%20Murder/whos_knox.standard.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "left", "", "MySpace", "298", "229", "#000000", "", "", "", ""); dtl_Italy_who[i-1].body = "Amanda Knox
An American student from Seattle, Amanda Knox was on exchange from the University of Washington, where she was studying German and Italian.
She shared a house in Perugia with victim Meredith Kercher and got a job waitressing at Patrick Lumumba’s bar Le Chic. Knox, then 20, first told police she had spent the night of the murder at her boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito’s house. Later she offered a different story, telling police she had brought her boss Lumumba back to her house the night of the murder. Knox said she saw Lumumba enter Meredith's bedroom and then later heard her roommate screaming.
Knox has since recanted this story, insisting that her first account of that night is the accurate one.
Knox is currently awaiting trial, scheduled for January 2009.
";
dtl_Italy_who[i++] = new Array("","Raffaele Sollecito ","","http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/j/msnbc/Sections/TVNews/Dateline%20NBC/_Stories/2007/December/Italy%20Murder/who_sollecito.standard.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "left", "", "AP", "298", "229", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
dtl_Italy_who[i-1].body = "Raffaele Sollecito
The son of a prominent Italian doctor, 23-year-old Raffaele Sollecito was studying computer engineering at the University of Perugia.
He met girlfriend Amanda Knox at a concert only a few weeks before Kercher’s murder. Sollecito claims that he spent the entire night of the murder at his apartment watching the movie \"Amelie\" and surfing the Internet. But investigators dispute that.
They say a bloody footprint at the crime scene matches the sole of one of his shoes and that a knife from his kitchen contains the DNA of the victims and Amanda Knox.
He has been charged with murder and is awaiting trial.
"; dtl_Italy_who[i++] = new Array("","Rudy Hermann Guede","","http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/j/msnbc/Sections/TVNews/Dateline%20NBC/_Stories/2007/December/Italy%20Murder/who_guede.standard.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "left", "", "AP", "298", "229", "", "", "", "", ""); dtl_Italy_who[i-1].body = "Rudy Hermann Guede
A street hustler from the Ivory Coast, Rudy Hermann Guede moved to Italy when he was five years old.
Police first suspected Guede, 20, after finding a bloody left-hand print on a pillowcase beneath Kercher’s head. They also found his DNA on Kercher and on tissue paper from her bathroom. Guede says he was with the victim that night but that another man - a stranger - had killed her.
Police have called Guede’s story “implausible.” Guede requested a fast-track trial, separate from Knox's trial, in which he was convicted of murder and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
He could possibly testify in Knox's trial in early 2009."; dtl_Italy_who[i++] = new Array("","Patrick Lumumba","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Sections/TVNews/Dateline%20NBC/_Stories/2007/December/Italy%20Murder/whos_lumumba.standard.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "left", "", "Dateline NBC", "298", "229", "", "", "", "", ""); dtl_Italy_who[i-1].body = "Patrick Lumumba
The owner of Le Chic, a small bar where Amanda Knox worked, Patrick Lumumba was born in the Congo but has lived in Perugia for almost 20 years. Lumumba, 38, is a reggae singer and well known on Perugia’s active nightlife scene.
Police initially considered Lumumba a suspect after Amanda Knox told them she saw her boss go into Kercher’s bedroom the night she was murdered. Knox later recanted her story before a judge, saying she made it all up.
No physical evidence has tied Lumumba to the crime scene, and he says he’s never been to Knox and Kercher’s house.
He is no longer in police custody and has been exonerated of charges. He is now suing Knox for allegedly implicating him in the murder.
"; dtl_Italy_who[i++] = new Array("","Perugia","","http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Video/071221/x_30_dtl_nowakblog_071221.300w.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "left-NW", "", "", "222", "296", "#000000", "", "", "", ""); dtl_Italy_who[i-1].body = "Perugia
Perugia is the capital city of the region of Umbria in central Italy. It's famous for its chocolate and rolling countryside. Amanda Knox and Meredith Kercher attended the University of Foreigners here during the study abroad semester.
Click here to watch a tour of Perugia with American student Zach Nowak.";
dtl_Italy_who[i++] = new Array("","More","","","","", "", "", "", "", "left-NW", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
dtl_Italy_who[i-1].body = "
For the full story, click here.";
// END editorial data