Meredith Kercher's killer Rudy Guede to stand new trial over ‘sexual assault' of ex-girlfriend in Italy
Rudy Guede, 38, is once again set to stand trial in November after being accused of mistreatment, personal injury and sexual violence.
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Guede served just 13 years of his 16-year jail sentence after he was convicted of killing Ms Kercher in 2007.
He was released early from prison in 2021 for good behaviour.
During his time in prison, Guede started dating a 25-year-old woman, who later ended their relationship in 2023 and pressed charges against him, according to local Italian media.
Guede has been placed under a "special surveillance" regime since last year, when police began their investigation into the alleged sexual assault, Sky News reports.
According to a Rome court ruling, Guede must inform the police anytime he leaves Viterbo, his city of residence.
He has been fitted with an electronic ankle tag and was banned from having any contact with the woman behind the sexual assault allegations.
Carlo Mezzetti, his lawyer, told CNN that Guede was innocent and feared he would not get a fair trial given his previous conviction.
Some 100,000 photos, thousands of chats and audio messages between Guede and the unnamed victim are among the evidence set to be presented in the trial, according to the media outlet.
Ms Kercher, 21, from Coulsdon, Surrey, was found half-naked with her throat slit in Perugia, Italy, in September 2007.
The exchange student from the University of Leeds had been stabbed 47 times.
Ms Kercher shared her flat with her American roommate, Amanda Knox.
Ms Knox was convicted alongside her then-boyfriend, Italian Raffaele Sollecito - but they both were fully acquitted by Italy's Supreme Court in 2015 following a sensational legal battle.
Though Ms Knox remains convicted of slander for accusing her former nightclub boss Patrick Lumumba of Ms Kercher's murder in 2007.
At the time of Guede's release, Ms Knox said that Guede has been "able to cause harm to more young women" since his release.
She wrote in a post on X: "Guede was never held fully accountable for murdering Meredith, as he was only convicted of rape and of 'participating in the murder.'
"Essentially he was charged with being an accomplice for a crime he committed alone. He was sentenced to 30 years.
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"On appeal, that was reduced to 16. He was released on 'good behavior' after serving 13 years..."
Knox has since gone on to become an author and journalist and has spoken openly about her treatment during the ordeal.
In 2020, Knox told Good Morning America how she felt she was carrying the burden of Guede's crime.
"I continue to this day to be shocked that he is the forgotten killer," Knox said.
"The one who was quietly tucked away, convicted of a lesser crime, and does not have to live with the burden of forever being associated with Meredith's death.
"I do know that many, many people have suffered a great deal because of what he did.'
Timeline of Meredith Kercher saga
November 1, 2007 – The murder of Meredith Kercher: British exchange student Meredith Kercher, 21, is found dead in the apartment she shares with Amanda Knox in Perugia, Italy. Her throat is slashed, and signs suggest she may have been sexually assaulted.
November 6, 2007 – Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito arrested: Amanda Knox, her Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, and Patrick Lumumba, Knox's boss at a local bar, are arrested in connection with Kercher's murder. Knox accuses Lumumba of the killing during a police interrogation.
November 20, 2007 – Patrick Lumumba released: Lumumba is released after police find no forensic evidence linking him to the murder. He was falsely implicated by Knox during a contentious interrogation.
December 6, 2007 – Rudy Guede arrested in Germany: Rudy Guede, a 20-year-old Ivorian man, is arrested in Germany and extradited to Italy. His DNA is found on Kercher's body and at the crime scene.
October 28, 2008 – Guede convicted of murder: Guede opts for a fast-track trial and is convicted of Kercher's murder. He is sentenced to 30 years in prison, later reduced to 16 on appeal.
January 16, 2009 – Knox and Sollecito trial begins: Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito stand trial for the murder of Kercher. Prosecutors allege a sex game gone wrong, while the defence argues that Guede acted alone.
December 4, 2009 – Knox and Sollecito convicted: Knox and Sollecito are found guilty. Knox is sentenced to 26 years in prison; Sollecito receives 25 years.
November 24, 2010 – Appeals process begins: Knox and Sollecito appeal their convictions. A key focus is the forensic evidence, including DNA found on a knife and a bra clasp.
October 3, 2011 – Knox and Sollecito acquitted: An appeals court overturns their convictions, citing errors in the forensic investigation. Knox is freed and returns to Seattle.
March 26, 2013 – Italy's Supreme Court orders retrial: Italy's Court of Cassation annuls the acquittals, ordering a retrial for Knox and Sollecito.
January 30, 2014 – Knox and Sollecito reconvicted: Knox and Sollecito are reconvicted in their retrial. Knox, now in the U.S., is sentenced to 28.5 years in prison.
March 25, 2015 – Final acquittal: Italy's Supreme Court definitively acquits Knox and Sollecito of Kercher's murder, citing lack of evidence and glaring errors in the investigation.
November 2021 – Rudy Guede released: Rudy Guede, the sole person definitively convicted in connection with Kercher's death, is released from prison after serving 13 years.
2023 - present – Knox's slander conviction: Despite her acquittal, Knox is convicted of slander for falsely accusing Patrick Lumumba.
2023: The European Court of Human Rights rules that Knox's rights were violated during her 2007 interrogation.
June 2024: An Italian court upholds her slander conviction, a decision confirmed by Italy's high court in January 2025.
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BBC News
41 minutes ago
- BBC News
I've never seen a case like Constance Marten and Mark Gordon's - it was jaw-dropping
I've reported on many criminal cases, but nothing like Constance Marten and Mark Gordon's. Their trials were extraordinary.A couple who were twice in the dock over the death of their baby, they appeared to be completely in love and still fiercely united. And yet they had utter contempt for the court caused chaos across their two trials, which both overran by months. At one point, the Old Bailey's most senior judge accused them of trying to "sabotage" and "manipulate" their retrial. It nearly collapsed a number of behaviour - from refusing to turn up to court and claiming to be ill, to sacking countless barristers and Gordon's trousers even being misplaced one day - left His Honour Judge Mark Lucraft KC exasperated on many one point he said two teenagers, who had been in his court the previous week, were "rather better behaved" than Marten, adding: "And they pleaded guilty to murder."Over the last 18 months I've sat through Marten and Gordon's two criminal first, which started in January 2024, resulted in the pair being found guilty of concealing the birth of their baby, Victoria, of perverting the course of justice and child in late June, the jury in that trial was dismissed, unable to decide on one of the two, more serious charges about Victoria's death.A second trial began almost nine months later. They have now both been found guilty of manslaughter by gross their case is over, we can report some of the remarkable moments when jurors were not in court. At times what happened across the trials was jaw-dropping. 'Will you stop flirting with me' Marten and Gordon were highly unusual defendants. They would often talk during proceedings - as if completely unaware they were on trial. They knew their conversations were disruptive, but they didn't seem to day, while a witness was giving evidence, Marten sent a note to the judge asking: "Could I nip out for a coffee as we're falling asleep?"The judge said it "doesn't look good" if defendants aren't interested in the evidence. They were, of course, on trial over the death of their was obvious from the moment I first saw Marten and Gordon that they were still very much in love. They presented as a couple in court, rather than as co-defendants. "Will you stop flirting with me," Marten said loudly to Gordon one day after the judge left her 38th birthday, they had a lingering embrace in the dock. "Where's my present," she playfully appeared fixated on each other. "Obsession" was how Gordon described his love for Marten to police, saying he would have done anything for while giving evidence in their retrial, as if reading an open love letter to court, he declared "it was love" between him and his "noble" and "beautiful" wife."She was one of the best things that ever happened to me in my life." Marten and Gordon were often excited to see each other when they were brought up from the cells. Her face would light up when he appeared at the dock door. Sometimes she would blow Gordon were affectionate. They hugged and kissed on the cheek. Sometimes they tenderly stroked each other's hand. When Marten became tearful Gordon put his arm out to comfort proceedings, sitting with a dock officer between them, Gordon would often try to catch Marten's eye and smile. She would frequently lean towards him, with her chin resting on her the end of the day, before being led back to their cells, they'd sometimes say "love you" to each other. It seemed like they looked forward to coming to court, a place they got to spend time together. But there was a sense of chaos before the couple's first trial began in the early weeks of 2024. Marten and Gordon's legal representation kept changing - a running theme throughout their protracted they sacked. Others withdrew. Sometimes they didn't have lawyers at all. It caused unending trials like this, involving serious charges, a defendant would typically have two barristers representing them. Marten got through an extraordinary her first appearance at the Old Bailey, in March 2023, to the end of the second trial, more than two years later, she had been represented by 14 had she got through so many?"Because she thinks she's entitled and doesn't listen to instructions," a source close to one of her former legal teams told the also changed his legal team and ended up representing caused significant delays - the couple's first trial overran by about three months, while the second overran by nearly two months. 'She is not running this trial' Their "antics", as the judge put it, got increasingly worse as the second trial went on and repeatedly didn't turn up, meaning many court days were lost and jurors were hugely one of them would say they weren't well enough to come to court, only to be assessed as being medically fit to do so."Constance Marten is not running this trial," Judge Lucraft said firmly one day after she refused again to come to spent days complaining about her tooth pain. Court days were lost because of it. On one of those days she was found to be "medically fit" but "refused" to come."She is on trial for extremely serious offences and I've bent over backwards," the judge said. "I've given her more latitude than I suspect I ought to in some situations.""In my view this is a complete sham," he said later referring to Marten's absence. Despite Marten's complaints of tooth pain, she declined treatment. There were other highly unusual refused to attend court one day after she had become "very argumentative and abusive to the staff in prison", according to the note from HMP judge expressed his frustration again and again."This trial has had so many delays and quite frankly it is an insult to this court and to the jury", he said one day without jurors in the that particular day, the judge asked for Marten to join on a remote link from prison to explain why she wasn't at said she had been "lied on" and had asked to see a nurse but none were available."I am happy to come to court," she told the judge, "but yesterday at the Old Bailey I was abused for three hours by a guy in the cells next to me, shouting I am a baby killer."One day Gordon, who normally wore a shirt and tie, turned up in a blue and yellow prison escape suit - used to spot runaway prisoners. On another occasion it emerged his court trousers had gone judge, who said he could not be allowed in court in prison wear, remarked: "It would be a great shame to lose any more time through a lack of trousers." 'Don't touch me man' Marten and Gordon repeatedly ignored the judge's instructions not to speak to each other during breaks in their he started coming into court before they were brought up from the cells to stop it from happening, with a warning that if they didn't, he would put them in different day Marten repeatedly exhaled so loudly during the evidence that the whole courtroom heard."Huffing and puffing at the back of the court is not the way these proceedings are done," said the unimpressed judge. Other days she yawned complained of feeling tired and said she had never experienced anything like travelling to court and back. "There are women locked in a metal cage in a van." The chaotic lives of a couple who killed their baby daughterCourt papers reveal Marten and Gordon's failures as parentsMark Gordon is a psychopath, says woman he raped when he was 14Watch: How police traced Constance Marten and Mark Gordon Sometimes Marten and Gordon would abruptly blurt things out from the dock when they took issue with the were rude to some of the dock officers: When one tried to separate them after they tried to hug in the dock, Gordon kicked off."Don't touch me, man," said an irate Gordon amid the commotion before telling the dock officer to "shut up" when the judge and jury weren't in the the first trial, Gordon refused to return to the dock unless a dock officer was changed and then demanded to speak to the cell we heard loud arguing in the corridor behind the dock door between Marten and Gordon and dock officers. 'Deliberate attempt to sabotage' One of the most explosive moments in the couple's retrial happened when Marten was giving evidence. She suddenly blurted out to the jury that her husband had a "violent rape conviction".We all knew about Gordon's previous conviction. But the jury didn' ensure he received a fair trial, an order preventing the media from reporting Gordon's previous offences was put in place. It was never mentioned in front of the was a jaw-dropping moment, which set off an unforeseen chain of events."This is plainly a deliberate attempt by the defendant to sabotage the trial," the judge said after the jury was ushered out of the prosecutors, Joel Smith KC, described it as a "deliberate attempt to take a wrecking ball" to the the claimed Mr Smith had already told the jury about the conviction. He hadn't. She said she had been exhausted and later blamed her "agonising toothache"."I'm extremely tired and I am irate that this word 'deliberate' keeps being expounded in this courtroom," she said. From then on it was difficult to keep up with the flurry of twists and turns that followed. Gordon initially wanted the jury discharged in his judge agreed. He said he had "little choice" and that Gordon would be tried next year. But the case against Marten would continue "alone", he decided during legal then quickly changed his mind. "I can't do another year in prison," he pleaded with the judge. "I really beseech the court to allow this trial to continue," he the end, the case against Gordon continued. But the couple's behaviour appeared increasingly number of barristers in court started to dwindle. Marten sacked her lead barrister but kept her junior. Not long after, Gordon's barristers withdrew their said he had sacked them and then declared that he was representing himself with the help of a solicitor. She also eventually retrial had entered a whole new dimension. Unlike at the first trial, when Gordon would often sit looking zoned out with his eyes half shut, now he appeared problem was he wasn't a trained lawyer. It became hugely complicated. He often went on lengthy the jury in the room he would flip flop between complaining that things were "not fair" to turning the charm on, telling the judge that he was "tolerant", "kind", "patient" and gracious".Other days he would shout at the judge as he left the complained that he didn't have the same access as barristers. He wanted a desk, power to make legal applications and Archbold, a criminal law book running to more than 3,000 repeatedly asked for more and more time to get his head around the case. It led to huge delays."Do you want me to adjourn for three years while you do a law degree?" the judge said to him one times Gordon appeared overwhelmed. He even pleaded for a royal intervention, describing the monarch as "compassionate and merciful"."I ask the King in his mercy and those who work for him to help me," he the weeks went by, the judge warned Gordon a number of times that he might still remove him from the retrial because of the continued delays."It's simply him manipulating the system," the judge said on one occasion. One of the most gripping and unusual moments of the retrial was when Gordon cross-examined a barrister would be expected to be forensic, but there was a tenderness in how he asked questions."Who was hands on and gentle with the kids?" he asked. "Both of us… especially you," she replied."Was the baby always a priority?" "Absolutely, that's why we did what we did," Marten responded. "Our number one priority was Victoria. We were doing what we were doing for her."Marten cried when Gordon asked her about their four other children who had been taken into care. "Alright, babes," he said trying to comfort was a marked change in her demeanour questioned by her husband she spoke softly, but when she was cross-examined by the prosecution she bristled and became increasingly strident, before cutting short her time on the stand. 'I'm actually happy' When it came to the moment of the verdicts, the courtroom filled. There was silence. "Would the defendants please stand," the clerk said. They of gross negligence manslaughter for Gordon, the jury foreman told the court. Marten shook her head and crossed her of the same for her. She looked intensely at her partner. He leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes."It's a scam," Marten later shouted from the dock."It was an unfair trial," Gordon said told a dock officer: "I'm actually happy with the result because I will win the appeal."He then thanked the court usher. "It's been a pleasure."Up until the very last moments of their case Marten and Gordon were still disrupting, doing things their way. A couple who were so fixated on each other, they were unable to grasp what the jury was sure of: that it was their chaotic and dangerous choices that ultimately led to the death of their baby, Victoria. Additional reporting by Claire Ellison, Levi Jouavel and Daniel Sandford.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Grief-stricken widow of Universal Store CEO allegedly stabbed to death reveals new details about their lives
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Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Dad of British backpacker murdered in the Aussie outback makes urgent plea to his killer - who has just hours to live
The father of Peter Falconio has made a desperate plea to his son's killer Bradley John Murdoch to confess where he dumped the body before he dies. On July 14, 2001, British backpacker Peter Falconio and his then-girlfriend Joanne Lees were driving between Alice Springs and Darwin in their VW Kombi campervan. Murdoch signalled at their car, instructing the pair to pull over on the Stuart Highway, north of Barrow Creek. Once stopped, Murdoch shot Peter in the head and tried to abduct Ms Lees, but she miraculously escaped. Murdoch was found guilty in the NT Supreme Court in 2005 and was sentenced to life in prison, but he never divulged the whereabouts of Peter's body. Last month, it was revealed the now 76-year-old was dying from throat cancer and had been transferred out of jail and to palliative care at Alice Springs Hospital. Prison insiders told Daily Mail Australia the former hulking brute is just a shrunken shadow of his former self as he sees out his final hours in his hospital deathbed. He 'is acknowledging people are there, but very limited in talking,' the insider said. Peter's dad, Luciano Falconio has broken his silence on the 24th anniversary of his son's murder after hearing reports Murdoch has 'a couple of days to live'. The 83-year-old made a heartbreaking plea for a deathbed confession so that he and his wife can finally bury their son more than two decades after his death. 'It is very significant, I wish I could find him and make an end to it, bury him.... I know what happened but I don't know where he is,' Mr Falconio told News Corp. 'I still hope, yeah I still hope, but I don't know, if we (will) live long enough.' Murdoch has always denied killing Peter and protested his innocence throughout the murder trial. After arriving in Australia via Southeast Asia, Peter and Ms Lees visited Uluru and Alice Springs before driving 200km north to the Ti-Tree Roadhouse to watch the sunset. They set off again, bound for the tourist attraction Devil's Marbles, before noticing a white 4WD with a green canopy following them. Behind the wheel was Murdoch, who persuaded the pair to pull over at about 7.30pm after signalling there were flames supposedly coming from the back of their van. Murdoch shot Peter in the head when he exited the van before threatening Ms Lees into the back of his vehicle. Murdoch bound Ms Lees hands behind her back with cable tie restraints and bundled her into the back of his van. While Murdoch disposed of Peter's body, Ms Lees managed to escape from under the canopy before hiding in bushland for five hours. At about 1am, believing Murdoch had given up looking for her, she came out and stopped a passing road train, whose driver took her to Barrow Creek Roadhouse. The only trace of Peter was a small bloodstain on the asphalt of the highway where the shooting took place. Murdoch was arrested shortly after being acquitted in South Australia over the abduction and rape of a 12-year-old girl. During his trial, Murdoch disputed the DNA evidence found on Ms Lees' T-shirt and on the gearstick of the couple's van - which was found dumped about 80 metres into the bushes off the highway near Barrow Creek the morning after the murder. Despite extensive searches, including a five-day operation in 2019 when police emptied an outback well, Peter's final resting place remains a mystery. Peter's dad, Luciano Falconio (pictured with his wife Joan) has made a desperate plea for Murdoch to make a deathbed confession on the whereabouts of his son's body so that he and his wife can bury him Speaking from their home in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, Mr Falconio said he and his wife, Joan, have been tormented for years not knowing where their son is. 'It is important (to find Peter)...but we won't find anything today. It's 20-odd years so it's (the feeling is) not particularly any different,' Mr Falconio said. Mr Falconio also said he had no ill-will towards Australians, thanking them for their support over the years. A reward of up to $500,000 has been offered for information leading to the location of Peter's body. Acting Commander Mark Grieve made the announcement on June 25 that an additional $250,000 was added to the reward already on offer. 'NT police still hold out hope someone may be able to assist in… this search,' Acting Commander Grieve said. 'A fresh reward for information (on the case) up to $500,000 for information that leads to the discovery of Peter's body.' Despite almost two decades since Mr Falconio's death, Mr Grieve said it was 'never too late to reach out and start that conversation with police'.
