Sollecito and Knox speak on final day of trial

by Susan Marie Kovalinsky | December 3, 2009 at 08:16 am

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"The first thing to say is that I am not calm," she said. "I am afraid of being defined as something I am not and by actions that are not mine. I'm afraid of having the mask of a murderer forced on to my skin." ~Amanda Knox, Perugia , Italy: Before the court, Dec. 3 (Associated Press wire)

Amanda Knox was the last to speak on this, the final day of the Meredith Kercher murder trial in Perugia, Italy. Looking paler and more tense and anxious in the eleventh hour as her fate hangs in the balance, and speaking in a trembling voice, Knox addressed the court in Italian, insisting she is no killer.

(See Now Public Stories on Amanda Knox).

Now, the prosecutor is telling the jury that "no motive is needed" to believe that Knox and her lover, Raffaele Sollecito, killed British student Meredith Kercher in November of 2007.
To see the ABC VIDEO coverage, follow this link.

Knox, who was just 20 at the time of her arrest in November 2007, could face 30 years in prison if convicted. Her defense insists that forensics cannot conceivably lead to conviction.
For forensic analysis which is pro-Knox and defense, link here also.

Amanda Knox's co-defendant told the jury in their Italian murder trial today that he had no motive to help kill Knox's roommate, but a prosecutor countered that a motive isn't necessary for conviction and said there is a lot of unexplained violence these days.

Raffaele Sollecito, who was Knox's boyfriend at the time of the murder, spoke on the final day of the 11-month long trial. Knox could be the last person to speak as the trial winds up. In Italy, defendants have the last word.

Sollecito, 25, is accused of helping to kill Knox's British roommate Meredith Kercher in a booze and drug-fueled furythat was allegedly sparked by Kercher's criticism of Knox's cleanliness and her habit of bringing boys home. Prosecutors described Sollecito as a follower of the then-20-year-old Knox, calling him "Amanda-dependent.

Sollecito softly told the court today that he was living through an "absurd affair about which I know nothing."

"I would like to understand today, because it is not at all clear, why I should have participated in a murder," he said. "Not having found a motive to explain what made me kill, they said I was a sort of dog on a leash – Amanda-dependent.

I had only known her [Knox] for a few days. I certainly cared for her, but they were the very first days (of our relationship) and there was no dependent relationship there. If Amanda had asked me to do something I did not agree with, I would have said no. Imagine if she asked me to do something as terrible as killing a girl," he said.

Sollecito ended his defense by saying, "I did not kill Meredith. I was not in that house that night. I hope the real murderer comes forward and confesses. I still have faith in justice. For me it represents everything. Thank you for listening to me."

It was the latest assault by the defense on what they said was an unconvincing motive, that Knox got Sollecito and another man, Ivory Coast native Rudy Guede, to help kill her "prissy" roommate who had criticized her. One prosecutor described Knox as so full vengeance that she was a "coiled spring."