Timeline: Kercher murder case reaches high court
Italy's top court is Wednesday considering whether to uphold the convictions of American Amanda Knox and her Italian former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher. The Local brings you the key dates in the case.
2007
November 2nd: The half-naked body of Leeds University exchange student Kercher is found in a pool of blood in the cottage she shared with Knox in Perugia, central Italy. Her throat had been slit and she suffered multiple stab wounds.
November 6th: Police arrest Knox, Sollecito and Patrick Lumumba, a bar owner. Knox says she was in the house and that Lumumba committed the murder. She later said she made the statement under duress.
November 20th: Police in Germany arrest Ivorian immigrant Rudy Guede, who had fled Perugia, after DNA evidence linked him to the murder scene. He is extradited to Italy. Lumumba is released and exonerated.
2008
October 28th: Guede is sentenced to 30 years in jail for the murder and sexual assault of Kercher. His sentence is later reduced to 16 years on appeal.
2009
January 16th: Knox and Sollecito go on trial for murder.
December 5th: Knox and Sollecito convicted, sentenced to 26 and 25 years respectively.
2010
March 22nd: The ruling from Guede's appeal says he sexually assaulted Kercher but did not kill her. It says that she was killed during a violent sexual assault involving Guede, Sollecito and Knox.
November 24th: Appeal hearings for Knox and Sollecito begin in Perugia.
2011
July 25th: Experts tell the court DNA evidence is likely to have been contaminated due to late collection and use of dirty gloves.
October 3rd: The appeal court acquits Sollecito and Knox, who returns immediately to the United States.
2012
February 14th: Italian prosecutors appeal the acquittal.
2013
March 26th: Italy's highest court overturns the appeal verdict and orders a retrial.
September 20th: The retrial begins in Florence, with Knox tried in absentia.
2014
Jan 30th: Appeal court reinstates Knox and Sollecito's murder convictions and increases her prison sentence to 28 years.
2015
March 25th: Italy's top court decides whether to uphold the convictions definitively, or order a re-run of the appeal hearing.
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2007
November 2nd: The half-naked body of Leeds University exchange student Kercher is found in a pool of blood in the cottage she shared with Knox in Perugia, central Italy. Her throat had been slit and she suffered multiple stab wounds.
November 6th: Police arrest Knox, Sollecito and Patrick Lumumba, a bar owner. Knox says she was in the house and that Lumumba committed the murder. She later said she made the statement under duress.
November 20th: Police in Germany arrest Ivorian immigrant Rudy Guede, who had fled Perugia, after DNA evidence linked him to the murder scene. He is extradited to Italy. Lumumba is released and exonerated.
2008
October 28th: Guede is sentenced to 30 years in jail for the murder and sexual assault of Kercher. His sentence is later reduced to 16 years on appeal.
2009
January 16th: Knox and Sollecito go on trial for murder.
December 5th: Knox and Sollecito convicted, sentenced to 26 and 25 years respectively.
2010
March 22nd: The ruling from Guede's appeal says he sexually assaulted Kercher but did not kill her. It says that she was killed during a violent sexual assault involving Guede, Sollecito and Knox.
November 24th: Appeal hearings for Knox and Sollecito begin in Perugia.
2011
July 25th: Experts tell the court DNA evidence is likely to have been contaminated due to late collection and use of dirty gloves.
October 3rd: The appeal court acquits Sollecito and Knox, who returns immediately to the United States.
2012
February 14th: Italian prosecutors appeal the acquittal.
2013
March 26th: Italy's highest court overturns the appeal verdict and orders a retrial.
September 20th: The retrial begins in Florence, with Knox tried in absentia.
2014
Jan 30th: Appeal court reinstates Knox and Sollecito's murder convictions and increases her prison sentence to 28 years.
2015
March 25th: Italy's top court decides whether to uphold the convictions definitively, or order a re-run of the appeal hearing.
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