American student denies Perugia murder

An American student suspected in last year’s killing of her British flatmate proclaimed her innocence again today during a hearing…

An American student suspected in last year’s killing of her British flatmate proclaimed her innocence again today during a hearing in the Italian town of Perugia to decide if she must face trial.

Sky TG24 TV, without citing sources, said Amanda Knox cried as she spoke, and contended she had been pressured by police during interrogations.

Lawyers for MS Knox and for other suspects were in the courtroom.

Italian TV showed a brief, partial view of Ms Knox, a 21-year-old student from the University of Washington, as she given a microphone to address the court. Only  her hands, busily gesticulating as she addressed the court, could be seen. There  was no audio.

The session is the latest hearing to determine if Knox and her former Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, should stand trial for the murder of Meredith Kercher, whose body was found in her bedroom in a pool of blood. The killing took place last November in Perugia, a university town that attracts many foreigners.

A third suspect, Rudy Hermann Guede, from the Ivory Coast, is being tried, at his lawyers' request, in a fast-track trial attached to the same court proceedings.

All three suspects have repeatedly denied wrongdoing in Ms Kercher's killing.

AP