Roommate testifies in Kercher murder trial
An American student and the British woman she is accused of killing were friendly at first but then drifted apart, their roommate testified today.
Filomena Romanelli took the stand in the trial of Amanda Knox and Knox’s Italian former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, who are charged with murder and sexual violence in the killing of Meredith Kercher. Both deny wrongdoing.
Ms Kercher was found stabbed to death November 2, 2007, in the apartment she shared with Knox and Romanelli in Perugia, where the American and the Briton were exchange students.
In her testimony, Ms Romanelli said Knox and Ms Kercher were initially close, in part because they both spoke English.
“They had interests in common, at the beginning they surely had a good relationship, there was no reason not to get along,” Romanelli said.
“It seemed like along the way they didn’t really go separate ways, but they developed personal interests that they pursued individually,” she said.
While Ms Kercher was dedicated to her studies, Knox was someone with “quite a lot of interests”, Ms Romanelli said.
“She liked music, sports, yoga, languages,” she said. “Sometimes she had unusual attitudes, like she would start doing yoga while we were speaking, or she would play guitar while we were watching TV.”
Knox and Sollecito were in court today, and appeared to follow proceedings closely.
On the day Kercher’s body was found, Ms Romanelli said she received a call from Knox in which the American said she had found the apartment’s main door open and drops of blood in one of the bathrooms.
“She told me that there was something strange in the house,” said Ms Romanelli, who had been out of the house at the time. She said Knox had told her on the phone that she had taken a shower at the house and was leaving to fetch Sollecito.
Prosecutors allege that Ms 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 defendant in the case, Ivory Coast national Rudy Hermann Guede, tried to sexually assault Kercher, and then Knox fatally stabbed her in the throat. Guede, who had also denied wrongdoing, was convicted last year and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Sollecito has maintained he was in his own apartment in Perugia and that he does not remember if Knox spent part or all of the night of the murder with him. Knox initially told investigators she was in the house when Kercher was killed and covered her ears against the victim’s screams. Later, Knox said she was not in the house.
Prosecutors say Knox’s DNA was found on the handle of a knife that might have been used in the killinh, while Ms Kercher’s DNA was found on the blade. The knife was found at Sollecito’s house.
During her testimony, Ms Romanelli testified that the knife hadn’t come from the apartment she shared with Knox and Ms Kercher.
Giacomo Silenzi, an Italian man who used to date Ms Kercher, had been expected to take the stand today, but his testimony was delayed until next week. Hearings are scheduled for Friday and Saturday.
