Meredith Kercher Was Not Murdered by Amanda Knox or Her Boyfriend — Here's Who Did It

In November 2007, The New York Times made an interesting point about Amanda Knox, the then-20-year-old American exchange student who was accused of killing her roommate while they were studying abroad in Italy. No one knew who Knox was before the murder. Meredith Kercher was fatally stabbed in the flat she shared with Knox and two other Italian women. Kercher, a British exchange student, was "found under a blood-soaked duvet cover on her bed with her throat slashed," per the outlet.

There are many twists and turns in this story. Eventually, Knox and her Italian boyfriend, 24-year-old Raffaele Sollecito, were convicted of Kercher's murder under the guise of some sort of sex game gone wrong. They were released four years later, after their convictions were overturned by an appeals court, which cited a lack of DNA evidence connecting the former couple to the crime. So, who killed Meredith Kercher? Here's what we know.

One month after Kercher was killed, The Telegraph reported that 20-year-old Rudy Guede was being extradited to Italy from Germany, where he ended up following the murder. Guede told authorities that he had been hanging out with Kercher the evening of the murder, but the two had "only kissed." Law enforcement found Guede's bloody fingerprint on a piece of toilet paper, as well as his DNA on Kercher.

Guede's DNA was found after a vaginal swab was performed on Kercher's body, per CNN. He then told authorities that he and Kercher did have sex, but another man killed her while Guede was going t≥o the bathroom. He was charged with Kercher's murder, along with Knox and Sollecito, and requested a speedy trial. In October 2008, Guede was found guilty of rape and complicity and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. It was reduced to 16 years on appeal. He was released in 2021 for good behavior.

Back in November 2021, Guede's lawyer confirmed to the BBC that his client was getting released from prison, a decision that deeply upset Kercher's family. In the year leading up to his release, Guede had been volunteering for the charity Caritas and worked as a librarian at the Viterbo criminological studies center. He repeatedly turned down requests for interviews by the media, saying he wanted to be "forgotten by the world."

Exactly four years after Guede was released from prison, he will be back in court for a different trial. According to Sky News, the 38-year-old has been charged with sexually assaulting an ex-girlfriend. The incident allegedly occurred in the summer of 2023. Since Guede's ex came forward with the allegations, he has been banned from having any contact with her, including via social media. He has been ordered to wear an ankle monitor and was served a restraining order by his ex-girlfriend.

Knox commented on Guede's arrest on an episode of her podcast Hard Knox. She was asked by a listener if there was any compassion for Guede, as Knox was able to find some for her Italian prosecutor. The short answer is no. "He is a generally a bad dude," said Knox. The fact that not a ton of media attention has been focused on Guede's sexual assault charge has angered Knox because she believes it is "suggestive of the crimes he committed against Meredith."