Meredith Susanna Cara Kercher, a 21-year-old British student from Coulsdon, South London, was on an exchange year at the University of Perugia, Italy, studying European politics and Italian after transferring from the University of Leeds. She shared a flat at Via della Pergola 7 in Perugia with two Italian women and an American exchange student, Amanda Knox, who had moved in shortly after Kercher.
On the evening of 1 November 2007, an Italian public holiday, Kercher had dinner with friends and parted from them around 8:45 pm near her flat. She was not seen alive again. Knox, who said she had spent the night at Sollecito's flat, returned to Via della Pergola 7 the next morning and found signs of disturbance, including blood in the shared bathroom. Kercher's locked bedroom door was later forced open by a friend of flatmate Filomena Romanelli, and Kercher's body was discovered on the floor of her room, covered by a duvet.
An autopsy conducted by pathologist Luca Lalli found 16 bruises and seven cuts, including a fatal neck wound, and injuries interpreted by reviewing pathologists as consistent with sexual violence. Investigators initially focused on Knox and Sollecito, who were both taken into custody, along with bar owner Patrick Lumumba, whom Knox named during interrogation before he was released after being found to have an alibi. Bloodstained fingerprints at the scene were later matched to Rudy Guede, an Ivorian-born man who had lived in Perugia since childhood and had a history of break-ins; he was arrested in Germany.
Guede was tried separately in a fast-track procedure and, in October 2008, was found guilty of the sexual assault and murder of Kercher, receiving a 30-year sentence later reduced on appeal to 24 years and then, through an automatic fast-track reduction, to 16 years. He was released from prison in November 2021 after serving roughly 13 years, having also undertaken day release and community service in the preceding years.
Knox and Sollecito were tried before the Corte d'Assise of Perugia and, on 5 December 2009, were convicted of murder, receiving sentences of 26 and 25 years respectively. On appeal, a court-ordered review found significant flaws in the DNA evidence, and on 3 October 2011 Knox and Sollecito were acquitted and released after almost four years in custody; Knox's separate conviction for slandering Lumumba was upheld and increased. In 2013, Italy's Supreme Court of Cassation annulled the acquittal for "manifest illogicalities," ordering a retrial, which took place in Florence and resulted in renewed convictions in 2014. On 27 March 2015, the Supreme Court of Cassation quashed these convictions, ruling that Knox and Sollecito were innocent of murder and that no further trial should be held, citing "sensational investigative failures" and the absence of any biological trace linking them to the crime scene. Knox's slander conviction concerning Lumumba was upheld.
A funeral for Kercher was held at Croydon Minster on 14 December 2007, followed by burial at Mitcham Road Cemetery. The University of Leeds later awarded her degree posthumously, and a scholarship fund in her name was established in Perugia.
Amanda Knox & Meredith Kercher: What Really Happened? Part 1
People
Rudy Guede
CONVICTED
Found guilty in October 2008 in a fast-track trial of the sexual assault and murder of Meredith Kercher; sentence ultimately reduced to 16 years; released in 2021.
Amanda Knox
EXONERATED
Convicted of murder in 2009, acquitted in 2011, reconvicted in 2014, and finally declared innocent of murder by the Supreme Court of Cassation on 27 March 2015; her separate conviction for slandering Patrick Lumumba was upheld.
Monica Napoleoni
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Perugia Mobile Squad Detective Superintendent who led early investigative theorizing that the crime scene break-in was staged.
Patrick Lumumba
ACQUITTED
Bar owner named by Amanda Knox during interrogation; arrested and detained, then released after 20 November 2007 when charges were not pursued against him following Guede's identification.
Raffaele Sollecito
EXONERATED
Convicted of murder in 2009, acquitted in 2011, reconvicted in 2014, and finally declared innocent of murder by the Supreme Court of Cassation on 27 March 2015.
Luca Lalli
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Pathologist from Perugia's forensic-science institute who performed the autopsy on Kercher's body.
Meredith Kercher
VICTIM
21-year-old British exchange student murdered in her Perugia flat on 1 November 2007.
Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.
British exchange student Meredith Kercher was found murdered in her Perugia flat on 2 November 2007. Rudy Guede was convicted of her sexual assault and murder in a fast-track trial. Kercher's roommate Amanda Knox and Knox's boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were separately convicted, then acquitted, reconvicted, and finally acquitted and declared innocent by Italy's Supreme Court of Cassation in 2015.
Where did the murder happen?
Via della Pergola 7, Perugia, Italy.
Who was convicted?
Rudy Guede (Found guilty in October 2008 in a fast-track trial of the sexual assault and murder of Meredith Kercher; sentence ultimately reduced to 16 years; released in 2021.).
