The sister of Meredith Kercher, the British student murdered in Italy four years ago, has written to Italian judges hearing an appeal by her convicted killers, expressing scepticism about new forensic evidence that casts doubt on their guilt.
In an impassioned letter, Stephanie Kercher appears to align the victim's family decisively with the view that American student Amanda Knox and her Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, took part in the murder. Their appeal resumes on Monday, with a decision expected at the end of this month.
On 29 June, two court-appointed experts dismissed as unreliable evidence crucial to the prosecution case. The experts, both university professors, said it was not clear that DNA traces on the alleged murder weapon belonged to the victim. They added that a sample belonging to Sollecito, found on Kercher's bra clip, might have got there after the crime.
According to an Italian translation of her letter, Stephanie Kercher wrote: "It is extremely difficult to understand how evidence gathered with care and presented as valid at the original trial now risks becoming irrelevant." She reminded the judges that both prosecution and defence had involved their own scientific consultants, adding: "Remember too all the other evidence that has been submitted up till now in this trial – 10,000 pages of evidence."
Meredith Kercher, 21, was found dead with her throat slashed in Perugia in 2007. Knox and Sollecito were accused of killing her, with prosecutors claiming she refused to take part in an orgy. It later emerged that fingerprints at the scene belonged to Rudy Guede, an Ivory Coast-born drifter, who was also convicted.
Stephanie Kercher said her family was awaiting the appeal's resumption "with anxiety and great agitation". Her family's lawyer confirmed the authenticity of the letter, published on the website of the Mediaset television network.
