Latest News on Amanda Knox Trial: Ex-Boyfriend Raffaele Sollectio Takes New Girlfriend to See Perugia 'Murder House'
Raffaele Sollecito, the former boyfriend of Amanda Knox, took his new girlfriend to the house where he and Knox were judged to have murdered British student Meredith Kercher.
The Italian newspaper La Nazione reported that Sollecito, an Italian citizen who was sentenced to 25 years in jail for the murder of Kercher, went to the house in Perugia last Thursday evening with his latest girlfriend, Greta Menegaldo.
His father confirmed that the visit occurred. He told Italian media that he saw "nothing wrong" with his son going to visit the property.
"If Raffaele wanted to show his girlfriend the ordeal he went through, I can't see anything wrong with that," he said, adding that his son "has absolutely nothing to do with that crime".
One resident, who goes by the name Enea, told La Nazione: "I'm telling the truth; I couldn't believe it ... when I saw them up close, it was Sollecito," reported The Local.
Knox and Sollecito were convicted for the second time in January for the murder of Kercher, 21, in Perugia in 2007.
Knox was sentenced to 28 years in prison for killing Kercher with Sollecito.
Kercher was found dead with her throat slit in the house she shared with Knox in Perugia on Nov. 2, 2007.
Knox and Sollecito were previously convicted of murdering Kercher in 2009, and were sentenced to 25 and 28 years respectively. They were then acquitted and released in 2011 after the case was overturned in an appeals court. Knox returned home to Seattle, where she stayed when the case went to retrial last September. Then, in late January, an Italian appeals court reconvicted Knox and Sollecito of slaying Kercher.
"I am frightened and saddened by this unjust verdict," Knox wrote after the ruling. "Having been found innocent before, I expected better from the Italian justice system."
The U.S. Supreme Court must now confirm Knox's guilty verdict before Italy can apply for her extradition back to the country.
Rudy Guede, who Knox and Sollectio both pegged as Kercher's murderer, is serving a 16-year sentence for murdering and sexually assaulting Kercher.
During Guede's trial, he said he was at the murder scene, but that he was in the bathroom at the time of Kercher's attack. He said he saw "someone resembling Sollectio" fleeing the scene and "Knox outside the house" on the night of the murder. Guede's lawyer, Valter Biscotti, said Guede is now eligible for day release, and has been given permission to study history at an Italian university.
Both Knox and Sollecito maintain their innocence and are seeking an appeal of the convictions.