Kercher murder account 'not credible'
30-year-term should be upheld, prosecutor says
19 November, 12:44
(ANSA) - Perugia, November 18 - An Italian prosecutor on Wednesday asked an appeals court to uphold the 30-year conviction of an Ivory Coast man for the rape and murder of British exchange student Meredith Kercher in 2007 in Perugia.
Prosecutor Pietro Catalani argued Rudy Guede, 22, had taken part in the crime and had raped the victim.
Catalani said Guede's earlier account of the night of the murder had not been credible.
Guede claimed he had been listening to his I-pod in the bathroom when he heard Meredith scream and saw a male assailant flee with Amanda Knox, a US student in the dock in a separate trial with her Italian ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito.
"He is not credible," said Catalani, arguing that the "progressive" wounds on Kercher's body could not have been inflicted in a single attack of the kind described by Guede.
Guede's trial was adjourned until December 21.
Knox, 22, and Sollecito, 25, are expected to get their verdicts early next month.
Prosecutors in the Knox trial say she, Sollecito and Guede killed Kercher after a sex game went wrong.
Knox is accused of holding a knife to Kercher's throat while Sollecito pinned her arms down and Guede tried to have sex with her.
According to prosecutors, the Seattle-born Knox dealt the blow that slit Kercher's throat. photo: Kercher
