Courtroom Drama in Perugia: Verdict Due in Meredith Kercher Murder Trial

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Guede is the only suspect who has admitted to having been at the scene of the crime that night. He claims that he had diarrhea and was sitting on the toilet when the murder was committed. In October 2008, Guede was sentenced to 30 years in prison. He did not implicate Knox and Sollecito at the time, but now, in the appeal proceedings, Guede has testified for the first time that he saw Knox and Sollecito running away from the crime scene together.

Sollecito is sitting only a few meters from his former girlfriend. His laptop is open and he hunches over documents without looking at the prosecutor. He doesn't even make eye contact with Knox anymore. Sollecito has not testified during the trial. The two defense teams have successfully prevented any of the defendants from incriminating the others.

The defense attorneys repeatedly argue that the only evidence is circumstantial, and that there is no clear proof, no confession and no motive. They owe their most important victory to sloppy forensics work. For instance, although investigators found traces of Sollecito's DNA on the victim's bra clasp, it had been lying around the crime scene for days after the murder. In addition, the officers did not change their gloves when handling the evidence. These are serious mistakes.

Key Questions

Giulia Bongiorno, a top attorney and the legal expert of Italia Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's People of Freedom party, is a member of the defense team. She has already successfully defended former Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti against charges of Mafia involvement. But even such highly paid legal wizards have no answers to certain key questions.

Neither Knox nor her boyfriend Sollecito has an alibi for the time of the murder. Prosecutors have evidence that both turned off their mobile phones at the same time, before the murder, and then switched them on again in the early hours of the morning -- even though both testified that they had slept in until 10 a.m.

In Italy, the circumstances accompanying a crime are often taken more seriously than in Germany, particularly when the defendants contradict themselves. Knox had initially stated -- under pressure from the female police officers who had questioned her, she later claimed -- that she had seen Patrick Lumumba, her boss at a bar called "Le Chic," at the crime scene that night. As a result of this statement, Lumumba, who was later found to be innocent, spent 10 days in prison.

The Italian newspapers provided detailed accounts of Knox's behavior immediately after the murder of her roommate, of how she turned cartwheels and did the splits in the waiting room at the police station. Her behavior in the courtroom was also not helpful to her case. She flirted with journalists and seemed more interested in her appearance than the charges.

'A Disgusting Death'

The jurors were astonished when Knox was asked to explain the details of her description of the murder in her first interrogation, and why she was able to imitate Kercher's screams as she was being killed. Knox, speaking in the slang of college students, said: "It was a disgusting death. I imagined it was a slow death, a death that was shocking, yucky, disgusting."

But Knox's Madonna-like face is also appealing to would-be helpers and protectors. People who identify with her say that she couldn't have committed the murder.

A global group called "Friends of Amanda Knox" is working tirelessly to uncover the supposed machinations of what it calls the "witch trial of Perugia." The "Inquisitor," Giuliano Mignini, was attacked so vehemently in the press that he has filed libel actions against two American journalists. The fight over who has the authority to interpret the meaning of certain Internet sites is being bitterly waged. In the eyes of Knox's supporters, the more overwhelming the circumstantial evidence is, the subtler the conspiracy against her must be. Knox's parents, who are divorced, have even hired a PR consultant to help them prepare for their television appearances.

Taken Its Toll

The announcement of the verdict is expected at the end of this week, after a long trial that has taken its toll on everyone involved, not just the defendants.

Two of Sollecito's lawyers gave up their shared office after a dispute, and several forensic scientists who were called to testify left in protest against the defense's strategy. Kercher's mother only manages to cope by taking psychiatric medication, while her husband, a journalist, has been forced to write a book about the case to cover their legal fees.

Knox's parents have been ruined financially because of their legal costs and the costs of traveling between Seattle and Perugia. When they are in Perugia, they stay in a cheap hotel and live off of convenience food they have brought with them.

In an interview on US television, Knox's father said he believes Amanda will be home by Christmas. Few people would share his view.

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• Part 1: Verdict Due in Meredith Kercher Murder Trial
• Part 2: No Confession and No Motive