Trial of the Century: The Story of Amanda Knox

The Prosecution Begins

Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images

The prosecution presented the case as follows: on the night of the murder, Amanda Knox had attacked Meredith Kercher in her bedroom, banging her head repeatedly against a wall. Knox, along with Rudy Guede and Raffaele Sollecito, removed Kercher’s jeans, while Guede proceeded to sexually assault her.

As Kercher struggled, the prosecution argued, Knox cut her with a knife before inflicting the fatal stab wound to the throat. They pointed to minute traces of Sollecito’s DNA on Kercher’s bra clasp that had been removed from her, while the back strap of the bra was covered in DNA belonging to Guede. They believed that afterward, Knox staged a burglary, which would account for the missing credit cards and cash taken from Kercher’s handbag. Both Sollecito and Knox pleaded not guilty.