The Murder of Meredith Kercher

In November 2007, British exchange student Meredith Kercher was found dead in the bedroom she shared with American student Amanda Knox in Perugia, Italy. The case became internationally famous largely because of the lengthy legal saga that followed.

Investigation and early trials

Knox, her Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, and Rudy Guede, an acquaintance of the household, were all charged in connection with the murder. Guede was convicted in a separate fast-track trial in 2008 and sentenced to 16 years, later reduced on appeal. Knox and Sollecito were convicted of murder in 2009.

Years of appeals

Knox and Sollecito's convictions were overturned on appeal in 2011, then reinstated at a retrial in 2014, before Italy's highest court definitively exonerated both of them in 2015, citing an "absolute lack of biological traces" connecting them to the crime scene.

Current status

Guede was released early in 2021 after serving part of his sentence. Knox and Sollecito remain the only defendants ever exonerated in the case; Guede remains the only person convicted of Kercher's murder.