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Knox Trial: No Trace Of Kercher's DNA On Knife

Knox Trial: No Trace Of Kercher's DNA On Knife

Forensic testing on a knife allegedly used to kill Meredith Kercher has found Amanda Knox's DNA but none of the victim's genetic material, Italian news reports say.

The new testing was ordered as part of a retrial of Knox and her co-defendant and former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, who are accused of murdering the English student in Perugia in 2007.

The kitchen knife was found at Sollecito's home, and prosecutors say the blade is consistent with the wounds sustained by Ms Kercher.

The new testing found traces of Knox’s DNA where the handle meets the blade. This is not seen as crucial because the American student was dating Sollecito at the time and used to go to his home.

But the forensic experts of Rome's Carabinieri police detected none of Miss Kercher's genetic material.

The forensic report was leaked to the Italian press, and will be discussed at the next hearing on November 6.

The finding is seen as a boost to Knox’s defence team, which has long rejected the prosecutors' theory that the knife was used to kill Kercher.

However, prosecutors are expected to argue that a separate trace on the knife that had been tested previously indicate the presence of Kercher's DNA.

Today marks the 6th anniversary of the murder of the 21-year-old British student in her apartment in Italy, but there is still no clear picture of what happened on the night of November 1, 2007.

Prosecutors say Knox, who was Miss Kercher's roommate, killed her with Sollecito during a drug-fuelled sex game that went wrong.

Another man, Ivorian Rudy Guede, has already been sentenced and is serving a 16-year jail term. A court found that Guede had not acted alone.

Knox and Sollecito have always maintained their innocence, saying they spent the night at Sollecito's house.

Knox has said Miss Kercher was a friend whose death had shocked her.

Knox and Sollecito were originally convicted of the murder, but were acquitted on appeal in October 2011.

Then last March Italy's Supreme Court overturned the acquittal and ordered a retrial, which is currently underway in Florence.

Knox, who went back to America in October 2011, is not attending the trial, and is not required to under Italian law.

Sollecito has not attended either but plans to be in court at the next hearing, according to his family.