Meredith murder: Second post mortem decision due

A court in Perugia will decide today whether to authorise a second post mortem examination on the body of murdered British exchange student Meredith Kercher.

A decision is expected this morning after lawyers and experts gathered yesterday before the town’s public prosecutor, judge Claudia Matteini, to discuss whether results from the original autopsy are sufficient to more accurately establish the time and cause of Miss Kercher’s death.

If a second examination is ruled out, it could clear the way for the 21-year-old’s body to be buried.

After two hours of discussions yesterday, the lawyer representing the Kercher family, Francesco Maresca, said they were “just waiting to be able to have a funeral.”

The Leeds University student from Coulsdon, Surrey, was murdered at her home in Perugia on the night of November 1.

Three people are currently in custody in connection with the killing: Miss Kercher’s American housemate Amanda Knox, 20, Italian Raffaele Sollecito, 23, and 20-year-old Rudy Hermann Guede, an Ivorian with joint Italian nationality who is awaiting extradition from Germany.

A fourth man, Congolese bar owner Diya “Patrick” Lumumba, 38, was released from custody last week but remains a suspect in the case.

All four deny sexually assaulting and murdering Miss Kercher.

Legal representatives for all four suspects attended yesterday’s hearing, as did state-appointed experts and the lead investigator in the case, Giuliano Mignini.

Mr Mignini has urged experts not to go back to the body.

The hearing was originally requested by Lumumba’s lawyers, who want to more accurately establish the time of Miss Kercher’s death in order to corroborate an alibi.

The original post-mortem examination said Miss Kercher died between 9pm and 11pm on the night of November 1.

She was found with her throat slit and had apparently had a violent sexual encounter.

A review of the original examination – or a new autopsy – would re-examine both of these findings, with state-appointed experts reporting back on February 2, 2008.

Lawyers representing Sollecito have also asked that experts examine whether three knives found at their client’s house would have been capable of producing the injury which killed Miss Kercher.

Francesco Sollecito, Raffaele’s father, appeared on Italian television yesterday to protest his son’s innocence.

Mr Sollecito told Canale 5: “He has absolutely nothing to do with this story. Raffaele has told me that on that night he stayed at home, ate dinner and was then using the computer before he went to bed.”