Witness spotted suspects after Kercher murder

A prosecution witness has testified he saw the two suspects accused of killing a British woman in Italy in a basketball court near the site of the murder at the time the victim is believed to have died.

Homeless Antonio Curatolo said today that US student Amanda Knox and her former Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were “chatting, at times animatedly,” from about 9.30pm to “shortly before midnight”.

The witness said the basketball court in Perugia, Italy, is a few dozen yards away from the apartment where Leeds University student Meredith Kercher was killed in 2007.

Miss Kercher, 21, is believed to have died between 9pm and 11pm on November 1, 2007, based on the post-mortem examination and the accounts of friends with whom she had eaten dinner that night, court documents say.

Prosecutors allege that Miss Kercher was killed during what began as a sex game, with Sollecito holding her by the shoulders from behind while Knox touched her with the point of a knife. They say a third man, Ivory Coast national Rudy Hermann Guede, tried to sexually assault Miss Kercher and then Knox fatally stabbed her in the throat.

Guede was convicted of murder in a separate trial last year and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Sollecito, 25, has maintained he was at his own apartment the night of the murder, watching a movie on his computer, though one witness testified earlier in the trial there was no sign he used it during the hours Miss Kercher was killed. The American has insisted she was not in her apartment during the slaying.

A second witness testified today that he saw Knox, Sollecito, Guede and Miss Kercher walk out of the apartment that the Briton was sharing with Knox on October 30, 2007, two days before the killing.

Fabio Gioffredi said he was “99 % sure” he saw Guede. “They were all dressed in dark clothes, except for Amanda, who was wearing a red coat, with big buttons, 60s-style,” Mr Gioffredi said.

Later today, Sollecito denied ever meeting Guede and told the court his defence will show evidence he was not with them that night.

The trial continues.