DNA Link In Meredith Case

The man who was arrested in Germany nearly three weeks after he left Perugia in Italy following the murder of the British student Meredith Kercher had sex with her on the night she died, DNA tests have revealed.

Rudy Hermann Guede, 20, who has dual Italian and Ivorian nationality, was arrested on Tuesday and Italian police have now said that DNA taken from his toothbrush matched samples found on Ms Kercher’s body and on toilet paper in the house where she was murdered.

The scientific evidence emerged after it was revealed that Amanda Knox, the American student who is also a suspect, told police after she was arrested that she was “very confused” about who had cut her housemate’s throat but insisted that she was not the killer.

In a rambling three-page statement, leaked to the Italian press, Ms Knox appears to have tried to redirect police suspicion to her Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito.

The day before, she had accused Diya “Patrick” Lumumba, a Congolese bar owner.

Mr Lumumba, who spent two weeks in prison, was released this week for lack of evidence.

Police suspect that Ms Knox named Mr Lumumba as the killer to cover up for Mr Guede, whom they began looking for after a fingerprint found in the house was not that of any of the three suspects in custody at the time.

Last night’s results showed Mr Guede’s DNA matched that found on a tampon which indicated that Ms Kercher had what was described as “violent” sex on the night she died.

It also matched the DNA found on toilet paper in the bathroom.

Mr Guede had earlier admitted being in the house on the night of the murder but said an Italian man he did not know had committed the crime.

One of Mr Guede’s lawyers, Vittorio Lombardo, said the test results did not mean his client was guilty. He said: “These results need to be carefully looked at. Rudy has not denied being in Meredith’s house, and the tests do not say that the sex was not consensual.

“Rudy maintains he was in the bathroom when Meredith was killed, and these tests do not show anything which contradicts that.”

Ms Kercher, 21, from Coulsdon, South London, was found dead on November 2 in her bedroom at the house she and Ms Knox shared with two Italian women. No trace of Mr Lumumba’s DNA was found there.

(BMcC)