February 11, 2009 3:52 PM
- Text
Report: DNA Links American To Italy Murder
(CBS/AP)
Italian investigators have found the DNA of a murdered British college student, and her roommate - an American woman who's been detained in the case - on a knife belonging to the American's boyfriend, British media reported Thursday.
Amanda Marie Knox, 20, of Seattle, her Italian boyfriend, and a Congolese immigrant have been jailed as suspects in the case since soon after police in the city of Perugia discovered the partially-nude body of her roommate in a pool of blood at their apartment on November 2.
Meredith Kercher, 21, was found with her throat cut.
Britain's Sky News and the British Broadcasting Corp. both reported Thursday that police sources had confirmed DNA from a knife belonging to Knox's 23-year-old boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, matched samples taken from Kercher's body, and Knox herself.
Investigators have not confirmed that the knife, removed form Sollecito's home, was the murder weapon.
All three suspects have denied involvement in Kercher's death. They are being held as suspects, but have not been charged with any crime. Under Italian law, they can be held for up to one year while prosecutors decide if there is enough evidence to bring formal charges.
According to the BBC, police were pursuing several other key pieces of potential evidence, including Sollecito's computer hard drive.
Lawyers have claimed that the Italian and Knox were not at the apartment she shared with Kercher at the time of the murder, but were instead at his home, online.
Police were examining the hard drive in an attempt to prove that Sollecito was not on the Internet as he claims he was, the BBC said.
The report also said investigators were scrutinizing hair samples found in Kercher's left hand, and images from a security video camera that monitors the entrance to the two girls' apartment building.
The body of Kercher, who prosecutors believe was murdered after refusing to take part in an extreme sex game, was flown back to the U.K. on Sunday. She was from the county of Surrey, in southern England.
An Italian newspaper reported over the weekend that forensic traces found in Kercher's apartment suggested that a fourth person may have been involved in the killing. La Repubblica said police discovered DNA in the apartment's bathroom that did not match any of the three suspects.
Amanda Marie Knox, 20, of Seattle, her Italian boyfriend, and a Congolese immigrant have been jailed as suspects in the case since soon after police in the city of Perugia discovered the partially-nude body of her roommate in a pool of blood at their apartment on November 2.
Meredith Kercher, 21, was found with her throat cut.
Britain's Sky News and the British Broadcasting Corp. both reported Thursday that police sources had confirmed DNA from a knife belonging to Knox's 23-year-old boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, matched samples taken from Kercher's body, and Knox herself.
Investigators have not confirmed that the knife, removed form Sollecito's home, was the murder weapon.
All three suspects have denied involvement in Kercher's death. They are being held as suspects, but have not been charged with any crime. Under Italian law, they can be held for up to one year while prosecutors decide if there is enough evidence to bring formal charges.
According to the BBC, police were pursuing several other key pieces of potential evidence, including Sollecito's computer hard drive.
Lawyers have claimed that the Italian and Knox were not at the apartment she shared with Kercher at the time of the murder, but were instead at his home, online.
Police were examining the hard drive in an attempt to prove that Sollecito was not on the Internet as he claims he was, the BBC said.
The report also said investigators were scrutinizing hair samples found in Kercher's left hand, and images from a security video camera that monitors the entrance to the two girls' apartment building.
The body of Kercher, who prosecutors believe was murdered after refusing to take part in an extreme sex game, was flown back to the U.K. on Sunday. She was from the county of Surrey, in southern England.
An Italian newspaper reported over the weekend that forensic traces found in Kercher's apartment suggested that a fourth person may have been involved in the killing. La Repubblica said police discovered DNA in the apartment's bathroom that did not match any of the three suspects.
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