Meredith suspect "stunned"
Thursday, 13 Dec 2007 12:09
Amanda Knox says she is "stunned by [the] senseless tragedy" of Meredith Kercher's murder
The former flatmate of Meredith Kercher, Amanda Knox, says she is "stunned by [the] senseless tragedy" of her murder.
Ms Knox, among four people suspected of involvement in Ms Kercher's death, told Italian newspaper La Repubblica that the 21-year-old UK student was a "sweet and sensitive girl".
Ms Kercher, from Coulsdon, Surrey, was killed in her Perugia flat she shared with Ms Knox, 20, on November 1st.
Her partially-clothed body was discovered the following day, with police saying her throat had been cut and that she had been subject to a violent sexual attack.
Italian prosecutors have suggested that more than one person killed Ms Kercher, and that her killers knew her well.
But Ms Knox, who has been in custody for more than a month and can be held for up to another year, has denied any involvement in Ms Kercher's murder and insists she did not have a blazing row with her shortly before her death.
"It's not true we argued every day," she said to La Repubblica in a written answer from behind bars. "I liked living with her."
The American student admitted that since moving to Italy she had been "intoxicated by freedom".
"Sometimes I did things that I regret now," she continued.
"But they were all just a product of my youth and enthusiasm for life. They certainly did not come from [a] dark and wicked side of my personality."
The Italian boyfriend of Ms Knox, 23-year-old Raffaele Sollecito, has also been arrested in connection with Ms Kercher's murder.
Ms Knox said that her relationship with Mr Sollecito was "one of the most intense" of her life.
"In those terrible days after the discovery of what had happened, we supported each other, both stunned by [the] senseless tragedy of Meredith's death."
As well as Ms Knox and Mr Sollecito, Italian police investigating Ms Kercher's murder have arrested Ivorian-born Rudy Hermann Guede, 20, and barman Patrick Diya Lumumba, 38, who has since been released from custody but not cleared.
All four deny any involvement in Ms Kercher's death.