PERUGIA, Italy - An Italian appeals court yesterday upheld the guilty verdict of a man convicted of murdering a British student but cut his prison sentence to 16 years.
Lawyers said the eight-member jury emerged from more than four hours of deliberations and upheld the conviction on charges of murder and sexual violence for Rudy Hermann Guede. Guede, who is from Ivory Coast, denies killing Meredith Kercher and last year was sentenced to 30 years in a fast track trial he had requested.
Also convicted in the case, but in a separate trial, were Amanda Knox, the US student who was the victim’s roommate in Perugia, and Raffaele Sollecito, Knox’s boyfriend at the time of the 2007 slaying. Knox and Sollecito deny wrongdoing and are expected to appeal their convictions. They were sentenced earlier this month to 26 and 25 years in prison, respectively.
Kercher, a Leeds University student, was found in a pool of blood with her throat slit on Nov. 2, 2007, in the bedroom of an apartment in the central Italian town. Prosecutors believe she was killed the night before in a drug-fueled sex game involving Guede, Knox, and Sollecito.
Guede, who was arrested in Germany shortly after the killing, has admitted being at the scene of the crime the night of the murder but said he did not kill Kercher. He was in court yesterday when the verdict was read and told reporters afterward: “I’m not happy because I’m innocent.’’
Kercher family lawyer Francesco Maresca said he was satisfied that Guede was found guilty but was surprised that the sentence was cut by almost half.
He said the ruling recognized some extenuating circumstances for Guede but it will be necessary to wait for the court’s reasoning, expected within 90 days.