The tragic murder of British university student Meredith Kercher, has often been overshadowed by the proceeding media frenzy surrounding her first alleged (and now exonerated) killer: Amanda Knox.
On November 2, 2007, 21-year-old Meredith Kercher was found dead in her room in Perugia, Italy, where she was living while studying abroad. Her body was discovered beyond a locked bedroom door, covered by a quilt on the floor of her bedroom, mortally wounded by stabbing. It was a grizzly scene discovered by her housemates, including a 20-year-old Knox.
Investigators zeroed in on Knox, with whom the press had also developed an obsession. The media ran with conspiracy theories about what actually happened to Meredith, including one particularly outlandish suggestion that Knox, her boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, and a third person, Rudy Guede, had killed Meredith in a “sex game gone wrong”.
But while the media frenzy took off, the investigation into Kercher’s death was plagued by police bungles, crime scene contamination and a lack of forensic evidence. As a result, there continues to be a lot of mystery around what actually happened to Kercher.
As we now know, Knox and Sollecito were eventually acquitted in 2015, with courts concluding—once and for all—that neither were involved in Meredith’s death.
But what of Rudy Guede?
Guede remains the only person still convicted of Meredith Kercher’s murder. But why did his trial play out so differently? Why did investigators still pursue Knox and Sollecito, despite a lack of conclusive DNA evidence? It’s a question currently being tackled in the Knox-produced Hulu series, The Twisted Tale Of Amanda Knox. But while the series offers a dramatic re-telling of events, here’s what we actually know about who killed Meredith Kercher.
Who Killed Meredith Kercher?
Skip to a section:
- Who is Rudy Guede?
- The Investigation Into Rudy Guede
- Whose DNA Was Found On Meredith Kercher?
- What Actually Happened To Meredith Kercher?
- The Investigation Of Amanda Knox & Raffaele Sollecito
- Where Is Rudy Guede Now?
Who Is Rudy Guede?
Rudy Guede is known as the man who killed Meredith Kercher. Prior to this, Guede was known to police for conducting petty thefts and burglaries.
Only five days before Kercher’s murder, Guede had been caught inside a local nursery school in Perugia, attempting to steal a laptop and mobile phone. He had defecated in a corner—a piece of evidence that was used in the case of Meredith Kercher, after his faeces was also found in a toilet in her home.
Guede was born in Côte d’Ivoire, but moved to Perugia as a child. He was fostered by a local family as a teen, during which time he was well-known in the town for his basketball skills. However, Guede was asked to leave the family after he becoming involved in petty crime. Guede’s relationship with his parents isn’t really known.
Guede was something of a drifter. He had been known to frequent some local bars in Perugia, but little else was known outside his life of petty crime. He had reportedly briefly met Amanda Knox weeks prior to Meredith’s murder while visiting Knox and Kercher’s downstairs neighbour. Knox didn’t really recall meeting him.
Guede was convicted of murdering Meredith Kercher on October 28, 2008. He was simultaneously convicted of sexual assault and theft, and sentenced to 30 years in prison. Guede ultimately served a total of 13 years before being released to serve three additional years of community service.
The Investigation Into Rudy Guede
The initial investigation into Meredith Kercher’s death focused largely on Knox and Sollecito. It wasn’t until around November 20—more than two weeks after Meredith’s murder—that DNA evidence linked Rudy Guede to the crime scene.
By this stage, Guede had fled to Germany, where he was arrested and extradited back to Italy. Guede would claim to prosecutors that he was “scared” he would be wrongly pursued because of his race, which is why he left Italy. The courts dismissed these claims.
After Guede’s arrest, he requested a fast-tracked trial—a viable legal option in Italy which allows the accused to access a lesser sentence.
Guede has always denied murdering Kercher, suggesting that he was on the toilet when another person (a “shadowy figure”) entered the apartment and killed her. He claimed he had been invited to the apartment by Kercher, whom he had kissed the night before, and that any sexual contact between the two had been consensual.
However, a barrage of DNA evidence tying Guede to the murder scene ultimately led to his conviction.
In terms of evidence against Guede, the prosecution alleged his DNA was all over the scene. In particular, the bloodied handprint discovered on Kercher’s pillow was a match for Guede.
Whose DNA Was Found On Meredith Kercher?
To date, Rudy Guede’s was the only DNA found on Meredith Kercher and at the murder scene. This contradicts earlier theories about DNA found around the apartment and on Meredith’s bra.
Guede’s DNA was found in various places around the murder scene. His DNA was reportedly found on a vaginal swab, as well as on her bra, handbag and clothing. A key piece of evidence included a bloodied handprint (matching Guede’s) which was found on Kercher’s pillow. Guede had also used a toilet in the apartment, leaving his faeces in the bowl.
Early in the investigation, prosecutors attempted to allege that a kitchen knife was the murder weapon in Kercher’s death. The knife handle allegedly had Knox’s DNA on the handle, but forensic examination later concluded there were no traces of Meredith’s blood, nor did it match the wounds inflicted on Kercher. Knox’s DNA was also found throughout the apartment, which should have been expected given she lived there. As for the murder scene, none of Amanda Knox’s DNA was actually found in Meredith’s room.
Another piece of oft-discussed DNA evidence is that of Raffaele Sollecito’s DNA being found on Meredith’s bra clasp. However, his defence attorneys and forensic experts found multiple people’s DNA on the bra, suggesting it was most likely contaminated when moved around the crime scene.
What Actually Happened to Meredith Kercher?
Rudy Guede continues to deny that he murdered Meredith Kercher. Without his cooperation, we may never know what actually happened to Meredith, and why she was killed. Per the investigation, prosecutors claimed Rudy Guede killed Meredith Kercher after an alleged burglary and sexual assault escalated. There had been signs of a struggle and evidence of physical violence, plus there was evidence of a break-in and Kercher’s mobile phones were later found dumped in a neighbour’s garden.
As for Meredith Kercher’s cause of death, an inquest conducted by a UK court concluded, based on autopsy results, that she died of “haemorrhagic shock from stab and incised wounds to the vasculature of the neck.” Kercher suffered severe blood loss after the deep knife wound in her neck, which ultimately led to her death.
The Investigation Into Amanda Knox & Raffaele Sollecito
When reviewing the facts of the case, it can be a head-scratcher as to why police honed their investigation on Knox, given the lack of evidence tying her and Sollecito to the murder scene. Over the years, a number of reasons have been suggested regarding why exactly the case honed in on Knox, and why prosecutors pursued her conviction. Media pressure and perhaps a trial-by-jury certainly had something to do with it, as was the thesis of the 2016 Netflix documentary, Amanda Knox.
As Knox has said herself has often maintained, she should have been a footnote of this investigation. “I would love for Kercher’s case to become known as ‘The murder of Meredith Kercher by Rudy Guede’ because it would ‘place me as the peripheral figure I should have been, the innocent roommate’,” Knox wrote on Medium in 2021.
Looking back on the events of the investigation, it does sound a little odd.
Police initially arrested and charged Knox after she exhibited, what they deemed to be, strange behaviour. You might remember news stories about Knox doing cartwheels in the police station when she and Sollecito were brought in for questioning, for example. Another oft-cited stretch was that Knox and Sollecito were seen kissing on the street as police conducted their first investigation following the discovery of Meredith’s body.
Then there was Knox’s interrogation. Knox maintains that the police interrogation was not valid, and even won a human rights case to this effect in 2023. However, police often used Knox’s alleged blaming of local bar owner, Patrick Lumumba, as evidence of her guilt. During her interrogation, Knox accused Lumumba of murder, but shortly after said she produced this theory due to the stress of the police interrogation. (Knox was later successfully sued by Lumumba who, after spending two weeks in prison, was cleared of any wrongdoing.)
A times during Knox’s trial, police would allege that Knox’s DNA found on a kitchen knife in Sollecito’s apartment suggested evidence of a murder weapon. The prosecution would even claim that Knox was the one who delivered the “fatal blow”. This has since been discredited by Knox’s defence team, and further forensic testing.
As for motives, the prosecution’s pursuit of Knox and Sollecito originally alleged that the couple—who had been dating for less than a week—had taken part in a “sex game gone wrong”, that resulted in Kercher’s killing. They later revised this to suggest that Knox and Kercher had been fighting about money.
Knox and Sollecito were first convicted of the murder in December 2009, after already serving two years in prison. Both received a 25-year jail sentence, though Knox received an additional year for making allegations against Patrick Lumumba. In October 2011, these convictions were overturned on appeal, and Knox returned home to the United States. In 2013, a retrial was ordered by Italy’s highest court, resulting in another conviction in 2014, again giving Knox the larger sentence of 28.5 years. However, in March 2015, Italy’s Supreme Court of Cassation finally declared that Knox and Sollecito were acquitted citing both a lack of evidence and failures in the investigation process.
In 2023, Knox won a case with the European Court of Human Rights, in which she successfully alleged that Italian police violated her rights during their investigation of Meredith Kercher’s death.
Where Is Rudy Guede Now?
Rudy Guede ended up serving 13 years in prison for the murder of Meredith Kercher. While initially being handed a 30-year sentence, this was soon reduced to 26 years. Upon appeal, this was reduced again to 16 years.
In 2021, Guede was released for good behaviour, and allowed to serve the rest of his 16-year sentence as community service.
In 2023, Guede was placed under surveillance after a girlfriend accused him of sexual assault and violence. At the time of publishing, Guede is expected to return to a court in Rome in November, charged with sexual assault of his ex-girlfriend.
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