Post-mortem carried out on British student murdered in Italy

An Italian coroner conducted a post-mortem examination tonight on the body of a British university student found dead with a knife wound in her neck in her bedroom last week, and said the exam yielded “interesting” details.

The parents of Meredith Kercher apparently decided not to have their own consultant present during the autopsy on their daughter’s body, Perugia medical examiner Luca Lalli told reporters.

The autopsy should help authorities determine if Kercher was sexually assaulted.

Lalli later told journalists, after finishing the autopsy, that “interesting elements” had emerged from the procedure which he would discuss with investigators. He did not elaborate.

When called for more details from the autopsy, the coroner did not answer his mobile phone. It was not clear when results would be made public.

Kercher was found dead on Friday in her rented room near the university when police came to return a cell phone that had belonged to her, according to Italian news reports.

Lalli has said he noted a knife wound on her neck when he first saw her half-naked body on Friday.

Kercher had been enrolled for a year of study in Perugia, an Umbrian city 105 miles north of Rome that is known for its university for foreigners.