Meredith Kercher killer Rudy Guede is charged with beating up his ex-girlfriend six months after leaving prison: Raffaele Sollecito – acquitted over the Brit’s death – says ‘it seems he has not changed’
Meredith Kercher's killer was accused of beating up his ex-girlfriend six months after being released from an Italian prison for the murder of the British university student.
Ivorian drifter Rudy Guede, 36, was released in June after serving 13 years for the gruesome murder and sexual assault of 21-year-old Kercher in Perugia, Italy, in November 2007.
Kercher was found half-naked and with her throat slit in the bedroom of her home in the hilltop town – just weeks after arriving abroad for a year studying at the University of Leeds.
Guede was originally sentenced to 30 years for her murder, but this was later reduced to 18 years and with good behavior he was released on parole in 2021 and given a job at a local library in Viterbo, where he now lives.
He was released from prison in June, but it has now emerged that he is accused of assaulting his 23-year-old ex-girlfriend.
While awaiting trial, a local prosecutor has allowed him to wear an electronic tag and not go within 500 meters of his partner. Prosecutors had requested the measure of house arrest.
Raffaele Sollecito, who was acquitted of the Briton's murder along with Amanda Knox, said “it seems like Guede hasn't changed” after he was accused of assaulting his girlfriend.
Ivorian drifter Rudy Guede, 36, (pictured in 2016) was released from prison in June after serving 13 years for Meredith's brutal murder – although he always denied any involvement
Ivorian drifter Rudy Guede, 36, was released from prison in June after serving 13 years for the gruesome murder and sexual assault of 21-year-old Kercher (pictured) in Perugia, Italy, in November 2007
In the photo: Rudy Guede recently seen during the day release in Italy in 2021
“I don't follow Guede's life, but especially in light of what happened today, it seems to me that he hasn't changed,” Sollecito said. La Stampa.
“What he was before he entered prison, what we read in the documents, is unfortunately reconfirmed and equally sad. We see that he has not repented,” Sollecito added.
Guede was convicted in 2008 of the murder in which Kercher's American housemate Amanda Knox was also jailed, but was then sensationally acquitted along with her then Italian boyfriend Sollecito.
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 murdered.
He was released on parole in 2021 after good behavior in prison and lives in the city of Viterbo, where he works as a researcher and librarian at the Center for Crime, Judicial and Sociological Studies.
He also studied for a master's degree in historical sciences at Rome Tre University.
After his release from prison, Guede said: “The sentence I had to serve in the name of the law has ended. Now I am marked by the judgment of strangers, by the sideways glances as I walk by.'
Kercher, from Coulsdon, Surrey, was murdered just two months after moving to Italy for a study abroad program at the prestigious University of Perugia.
Her body was found in her bedroom, partially undressed, with multiple stab wounds.
Guede's fingerprints were found at the scene, along with a palm print in blood that belonged to him.
He admitted to being in the apartment but has always denied killing or sexually assaulting Kercher.
He said he was left in a “state of shock” after finding her dead after returning from the bathroom.
After the murder, Guede fled by train to Germany, where he was arrested days later.
Kercher, from Coulsdon, Surrey, was murdered just two months after moving to Italy for a study abroad program at the prestigious University of Perugia (pictured: in an undated photo released in November 2007)
Knox and Sollecito both served four years in prison after their convictions. Knox was also convicted of defamation for falsely accusing Patrick Lumumba, a bar owner, of the murder. Pictured: Knox and Sollecito in 2007
Knox is escorted to court on September 26, 2008
He was charged with murder and assault and given a 30-year prison sentence, which was later reduced to 16 years by an appeals court.
Knox and Sollecito both served four years in prison after their convictions. Knox was also convicted of defamation for falsely accusing Patrick Lumumba, a bar owner, of the murder.
Lumumba spent two weeks in prison and was only released when someone came forward with an alibi.
Knox and Sollecito were acquitted in 2011, but were convicted again in 2014 by a Florentine appeals court.
The appeals court ruled that the injuries to 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.
This is a breaking news story, more to come…