Amanda Knox slams community service release of Meredith Kercher’s killer

Amanda Knox has slammed the early prison release of Meredith Kercher’s convicted killer and decision to allow him to finish his term through community service saying, ‘I wish that he had been fully held accountable for what he did.’

Rudy Hermann Guede, 33, is the only person serving time for the murder of Kercher, 21, who was found sexually assaulted and stabbed to death in her bedroom in Perugia, Italy in 2007.

In 2008 Guede, who was 20 at the time of the killing, was found guilty of the sexual assault and murder of Kercher and was sentenced to 30 years in prison after his DNA was found at the scene. His sentence was later reduced to 16 years on appeal.

In 2017 he was granted partial prison release to go to school and get a master’s degree and work in the library of a criminology center, which has since been shuttered due to the coronavirus pandemic.

On Friday he was granted permission to continue the remainder of his term, slated to end March 2022, through community service. 

‘I continue to this day to be shocked that he is the forgotten killer. The one who was quietly tucked away, convicted of a lesser crime, and does not have to live with the burden of forever being associated with Meredith’s death,’ Knox said on Good Morning America on Monday.  

Amanda Knox is speaking out following the prison release of Rudy Hermann Guede on community service saying: ‘I do wish that he had been fully held accountable for what he did and that he acknowledged what he did’

Rudy Hermann Guede, 33, is the only person serving time for the murder of Meredith Kercher, 21

British student Meredith Kercher, 21,  was found sexually assaulted and stabbed to death in her bedroom in Italy in 2007

Rudy Hermann Guede, 33, (left) is the only person serving time for the murder of Meredith Kercher, 21, (right) who was found sexually assaulted and stabbed to death in her bedroom in Italy in 2007

Kercher’s case drew massive media attention, much of which centered on her housemate Knox, now 33. 

Knox and her then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, 36, were convicted of Kercher’s murder in 2009 before being acquitted, convicted again and then finally definitively cleared in 2015. 

‘I do know that many, many people have suffered a great deal because of what he did,’ Knox said on the morning show. 

Knox, who is now an advocate for the wrongfully convicted, says that she’s had to carry the burden of his crime.

‘I do wish that he had been fully held accountable for what he did and that he acknowledged what he did,’ Knox said. 

Born in the Ivory Coast and raised in Italy from a young age, Guede was the only person to be given a final conviction in Kercher’s case, though Italy’s top appeals court stated in 2014 that he did not act alone. 

Guede denies murdering Kercher. 

Guede pictured being escorted by Italian penitentiary police officers as he leaves Perugia's court after a hearing on September 26, 2008

Guede pictured being escorted by Italian penitentiary police officers as he leaves Perugia’s court after a hearing on September 26, 2008

Since his day release from Viterbo prison started he’s been volunteering with a Catholic charity and a food kitchen.       

‘He will continue with his studies and will also carry on his work with Caritas (Italian charity). He will live in an apartment in central Viterbo that has been made available for him,’ Guede’s lawyer Fabrizio Ballarini said.

‘We are very satisfied with the decision which has come about because of my client’s desire and intelligence and who did not waste his time while in prison but put it to good use and studied hard.’

Ballarini insists Guede is ‘calm and socially well-integrated’ after years of good conduct and behavior.   

Guede is completing a master’s in historical sciences at Roma Tre university, Ballarini told local outlet Umbria24. 

Kercher's case drew massive media attention, much of which centered on her housemate Knox. Knox and her then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, 36, were convicted of Kercher's murder in 2009 before being acquitted, convicted again and then finally definitely cleared in 2015. Knox pictured being escorted into court on September 26, 2008

Kercher’s case drew massive media attention, much of which centered on her housemate Knox. Knox and her then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, 36, were convicted of Kercher’s murder in 2009 before being acquitted, convicted again and then finally definitely cleared in 2015. Knox pictured being escorted into court on September 26, 2008

Kercher, from Coulsdon, Surrey, was killed just two months after moving to Italy for a study abroad programme at Perugia’s prestigious university.

Her body was found partially undressed on the floor of her bedroom after her flatmate Knox reportedly noticed blood and a broken window in the flat and became concerned. 

Kercher had been stabbed multiple times and sexually assaulted. 

Guede’s fingerprints were found at the scene along with a palm print in blood belonging to him. 

He admitted to having been at the apartment but has always denied killing or sexually assaulting Kercher. 

He said he had gone into a ‘state of shock’ after finding her dead after he returned from the bathroom.

Following the murder, Guede fled by train to Germany where he was arrested days later.  

Knox and Sollecito both spent four years in prison after their convictions. Knox was also convicted of defamation for wrongly accusing Patrick Lumumba, a bar owner, of the murder. Pictured: Knox and Sollecito in 2007

Knox and Sollecito both spent four years in prison after their convictions. Knox was also convicted of defamation for wrongly accusing Patrick Lumumba, a bar owner, of the murder. Pictured: Knox and Sollecito in 2007

Knox and Sollecito both spent four years in prison after their convictions. Knox was also convicted of defamation for wrongly accusing Patrick Lumumba, a bar owner, of the murder. 

Lumumba spent two weeks in jail, only being released when someone came forward with an alibi. 

Knox and Sollecito were acquitted in 2011 only to be convicted again in 2014 by a Florentine appeals court. 

The appeals court ruled that the injuries inflicted on Kercher’s body could not have been inflicted by Guede alone. 

However in 2015, Italy’s highest court overturned the decision in a final ruling, saying Knox and Sollecito’s convictions were the result of ‘stunning flaws’ in the investigation.