Meredith Kercher’s killer Rudy Guede is placed under ‘special surveillance’ over claims he abused an ex-girlfriend

• Rudy Guede was convicted of killing Meredith Kercher in Italy
• He was freed after just 16 years behind bars
• Guede, 36, is now under 'special surveillance' following abuse claims

By Perkin Amalaraj[1]

Published: 22:20, 9 February 2024 | Updated: 02:03, 10 February 2024

A Rome court has ordered that the man convicted in the 2007 murder of British student Meredith Kercher, who was freed three years ago, be placed under 'special surveillance' for allegedly abusing a former girlfriend, Italian media reported on Friday.

The order came after the former girlfriend filed a complaint last summer against Rudy Guede, a 36-year-old Ivorian convicted of the murder of Miss Kercher.

Miss Kercher's murder in the university city of Perugia gained international notoriety after her American roommate, Amanda Knox[2], and Miss Knox's then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were placed under suspicion.

Both were initially convicted but Italy[3]'s highest court threw out the convictions in 2015 after a series of flip-flop decisions.

Guede was originally convicted in a fast-track trial procedure in 2008. He has denied killing Kercher, and was freed in November 2021 after serving most of his 16-year prison sentence.

Rudy Guede, a 36-year-old Ivorian, (pictured) was convicted of the murder of Miss Kercher

Meredith Kercher (pictured) was a British student at the University of Leeds

Amanda Knox (pictured) was convicted of killing Meredith, but later had the conviction overturned

In December Guede was banned from being within 500 metres of the woman and forcing him to wear an electronic bracelet.

Under the new ruling, Guede will be banned from having any contact with his former girlfriend, including via social media.

She was not identified in the reports and La Presse news agency did not clarify the date of the order.

Guede will also have to inform police any time he leaves his city of residence, Viterbo, in central Italy, the ANSA news agency said.

Guede has denied all the allegations against him, according to reports. His lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment.

He was charged with the abuse allegations in December.

Sollecito, the formerly-accused ex-boyfriend of Knox, said at the time[4]: 'It seems Guede has not changed.'

'I don't follow Guede's life, but certainly in light of what happened today it seems to me that he hasn't changed.

Knox, her former Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito and Ivorian Rudy Guede were convicted and jailed in 2009 for Meredith's murder

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

Raffaele Sollecito (pictured) said upon hearing the news of Guede's abuse charged that he had not changed one bit

'What he was before entering prison, what we read in the documents, is sadly reconfirmed and equally sad. We see that he has not repented.'

Guede was found guilty after his DNA was discovered on Kercher's body despite his claims that he was in the bathroom listening to music when she was killed.

He was freed on parole in 2021 following good behaviour in prison and has been living in the town of Viterbo where he works as a researcher and librarian at the Centre for Crime, Judicial and Sociological studies.

He has also been studying for a Master's in Historical Sciences at Rome Tre university.

Following his release from prison, Guede said: 'The sentence I had to serve in the name of the law has ended. Now I am left marked by the judgement of strangers, by the slanted glances as I pass.'

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

Knox and Sollecito were accused of killing Meredith

Guede has since told Kercher's parents in a letter that his hands were stained with her blood because he was trying to save the British student

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 in her bedroom, partially undressed, with 47 stab wounds.

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.

Guede has since told Kercher's parents in a letter that his hands were stained with her blood because he was trying to save the British student.

'If my hands are stained with blood it is because I tried to save Meredith,' Guede wrote in the letter, according to La Repubblica.

'Fear took over and I ran away like a coward leaving [her] perhaps still alive.

I will never stop regretting this.'

ItalyAmanda Knox[5][6]

References

1. ^ Perkin Amalaraj (www.dailymail.co.uk)
2. ^ Amanda Knox (www.dailymail.co.uk)
3. ^ Italy (www.dailymail.co.uk)
4. ^ said at the time (www.dailymail.co.uk)
5. ^ Italy (www.dailymail.co.uk)
6. ^ Amanda Knox (www.dailymail.co.uk)