Post date: Oct 05, 2011 5:4:24 PM
Family of murdered student Meredith Kercher return home from Perugia, asking for peace from the media waiting outside their home, as they absorb the not-guilty verdict for Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito.
LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (OCTOBER 5, 2011) ITN - The family of murdered British student Meredith Kercher appealed for peace on Wednesday (October 5) as they emerged from their home having just arrived back from Perugia and were surrounded by reporters.
"As we've said it's been a long few days, recently, and we have just got back so we would appreciate a little peace," said sister, Stephanie Kercher.Kercher's body, with more than 40 wounds and a deep gash in her throat, was found in 2007 in the apartment she shared with U.S. student Amanda Knox in the Umbrian hill town of Perugia, Italy where both were studying.
Knox and her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were acquitted by an Italian appeals court.
Arline Kercher, Meredith's mother, said the family would first wait for the court's written explanation of Monday's (October 3) verdict.
"I don't really know at the moment, we've just had the verdict but no explanation at the moment so we'll have to wait for that. It's been a difficult few years," she said.
The acquittal of Knox and Sollecito leaves Rudy Guede, an Ivorian drifter and drug dealer, as the only person convicted of the killing which investigators believe was committed by more than one person.
DNA evidence used to convict Knox and Sollecito was discredited by experts but questions remain over who, other than Guede, was involved in the attack in which Kercher was pinned down and stabbed.
The Kerchers have maintained a low profile throughout the trial. Knox's supporters ran a well-organised campaign to convince the wider public of her innocence.
The victim's family has refrained from any criticism of Knox or Sollecito but has said repeatedly that Meredith has been forgotten in the media frenzy over the young American.