Amanda Knox's desperate plea to Meredith Kercher's killer: 'Stop blaming me'
Amanda Knox, 33, has urged the convicted killer of British student Meredith Kercher to stop blaming everyone else and tell the truth about what happened on the night her friend died.
The statement came after it was revealed that Rudy Guede, 34, was freed from prison on Tuesday after 16 years.
While behind bars, he maintained that although he was present on the night of the murder, he did not kill her.
Twenty-one-year-old Meredith, from Coulsdon in Surrey, had been sexually assaulted and died after she was stabbed repeatedly and her throat was cut at the house that she lived in in Italy.
The 34-year-old man was arrested for the 2007 murder and sex assault in Perugia, Italy, after a court heard that his fingerprints were found at the scene as well as a bloody palm print that was later found to belong to him.
News of his early release was announced this week after Guede's prison sentence was slashed from 30 years to 16 years by magistrates in 2009.
He continues to maintain his innocence.
"I want to write to Meredith’s family and apologise for not saving her life. I should have called an ambulance when I found her dying," Guede has said.
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Amanda Knox to Rudy Guede: 'Restore my reputation'
Meredith's housemate Amanda Knox and Knox's then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were also convicted of being involved in her death, but Italy’s highest court cleared them in 2015 after a series of flip-flop decisions.
Amanda, however, has slammed Guede's statement.
"Guede holds a tremendous power to heal others harmed by his actions. He has the power to tell the truth, to take responsibility, to stop blaming me for the rape and murder of Meredith Kercher, which a wealth of evidence shows he committed alone," she said this week.
"Were he to actually acknowledge his responsibility, it would bring closure to the Kercher family, it would end the murky speculation around this case, it would restore my wrongly damaged reputation, and that of Raffaele.
"His honesty would also end the slanted media coverage, which endlessly repeats the phrase 'the only person who remains convicted of killing British student Meredith Kercher' which is true, but implies that there were multiple responsible parties.
"There were not. Guede acted alone. And if he were to admit to his actions, then the media could simply refer to him without this convoluted phrasing: 'Rudy Guede, the man who killed Meredith Kercher and blamed an innocent American girl'.
"Guede could do all that right now. He could ask for forgiveness. And if he did, if he showed true remorse and signs that he was committed to an honest life and to making amends for his terrible crimes, I would applaud him, wish him well, and urge others to see his humanity.
"People change. Has Rudy? They say the truth will set you free. Today he's free, and he has yet to tell the truth, allowing others to continue bearing the burden of his guilt."
In the days following Meredith's death, Guede fled Italy to Germany, where he was arrested and extradited. He was found guilty after a fast-track trial that was held behind closed doors.
"It’s the conclusive moment of a very sad affair," his lawyer, Fabrizio Ballarini, said on his release.
"First thoughts must go to the victim and her family. Rudy has undergone an excellent course of re-education."
Australscope
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