Rudy Guede denied a claim in court on Monday that he said that 24-year-old prisoner Amanda Knox was not present during the murder of British student Meredith Kercher. This may be bad news for Knox, who is currently going through an appeal process.
After Guede left the court on Monday, a shocked Knox stood up and stated, he knows we weren't there.
This week is the beginning of Knox's and former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito's appeal. Knox has been in Italian prison for the past 3 1/2 years, and is currently serving a 26 year sentence. Sollecito, who was also convicted of taking part in Kercher's murder, is serving 25 years in prison. They were sentenced 18 months ago.
Guede, the 24-year-old immigrant from the Ivory Coast, admits that he was with Kercher the night she was murdered, and DNA evidence shows that there was a sexual encounter between Kercher and Guede. Guede is serving a sixteen year sentence for his role in the murder of Kercher.
This week is important in the case against Knox because Guede is denying that he told Mario Alessi, a convicted child murderer, that Knox and Sollecito were innocent.
Alessi has stated that he and a friend went to Kercher's home and made advances towards Kercher. After she denied them, they held a knife to her throat.
Guede denies the claims made by Alessi, but armed robber Marco Castelluccio backed Alessi
A recent testimony from a Mafia mobster told the court that his on-the-run brother is responsible for the death of Kercher, and that Knox is innocent. Luciano Aviello is only one of five convicts who are backing claims that Knox and her former boyfriend are innocent.
Aviello, 42, told the court that his brother stabbed Meredith after trying to rob the house she and Knox lived in. He stated: My brother told me he put his hand to her mouth but she struggled. He said he got the knife and stabbed her.
Kercher was found semi-naked, with her throat slit.
Experts are now re-examining the DNA which played a vital part in the case against Knox. The DNA however has been criticized for being weak and inconclusive.
Amanda Knox, the U.S. student convicted of killing her British flatmate in Italy, arrives in the courtroom for a trial session in Perugia.
REUTERS/Giampiero SpositoKnox, the U.S. student convicted of killing her British flatmate in Italy, arrives in the courtroom for a trial session in Perugia.
REUTERS/Giampiero SpositoRudy Guede, the Ivorian youth accused of complicity, along with Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito, in the November 2007 murder of British student Meredith Kercher, attends a trial session in Perugia June 27, 2011. The appeal by U.S. student Knox against her conviction for the 2007 murder of her British housemate resumed in Italy on Monday, with Knox telling Guede to "tell the truth", after he insisted she was guilty.
REUTERS/STRINGER Italy.REUTERS/STRINGER ItalyAmanda Knox, the U.S. student convicted of killing her British flatmate in Italy three years ago, leaves the court after a trial session in Perugia November 24, 2010. Knox and former lover Raffaele Sollecito returned to court on Wednesday to appeal their conviction for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher. ReutersA view of the house where British student Meredith Kercher was killed in November 2007, in Perugia December 22, 2009. Rudy Guede, the Ivorian youth accused of complicity, along with Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito, in the murder of Kercher was sentenced to 30 years in jail in October 2008 but his appeal has seen his sentence reduced to 16 years. REUTERS/Alessandro BianchiAmanda Knox, the U.S. student convicted of killing her British flatmate in Italy three years ago, speaks to her lawyer Della Vedova in the courtroom before a trial session in Perugia.
REUTERS/Giampiero SpositoAmerican university student Amanda Knox's mother Edda (R), sister Deanna (C) and stepsister (L) arrive at the Perugia jail December 5, 2009. REUTERS/Alessandro BianchiBritish student Meredith Kercher's family members leave at the end of news conference following the verdict of the murder trial session that found American student Amanda Knox guilty in Perugia
REUTERS/Max RossiJailed murder suspect Amanda Knox of the U.S. gives evidence at her trial for murder in Perugia June 13, 2009. Knox and Raffaele Sollecito of Italy are on trial for the November 2007 murder of British student Meredith Kercher. REUTERS/Daniele La MonacaAmerican university student Amanda Knox looks on during a break in the murder trial session in Perugia December 3, 2009. Defendants Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito are on trial for the 2007 murder of British student Meredith Kercher. REUTERS/Max RossiItalian university student Raffaele Sollecito talks to his lawyer during a murder trial in Perugia December 3, 2009. Defendants Amanda Knox and Sollecito are on trial for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher in November 2007. REUTERS/Max RossiAmanda Knox,the U.S. student convicted of killing her British flatmate in Italy in 2007, waves as she leaves the court in Perugia
REUTERS/Giampiero SpositoThe family of murdered student Meredith Kercher leave the church following her funeral in Croydon, south London.
REUTERS/Kieran Doherty
