ROME – Italy’s highest criminal court has overturned the acquittal of Amanda Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend in the 2007 slaying of her British roommate and ordered a new trial.
The Court of Cassation ruled this morning that an appeals court in Florence must re-hear the case against Knox and Raffaele Sollecito for the murder of 21-year-old Meredith Kercher.
Kercher’s body was found in November 2007 in her bedroom of the house she shared with Knox and other roommates in an Italian university town where the two women were exchange students.
Prosecutors alleged Kercher was the victim of a drug-fuelled sex game gone awry.
Here’s a look at key dates in the murder case of British roommate Meredith Kercher.
Nov. 2, 2007: The body of Kercher, 21, is found in her apartment in Perugia, Italy. Investigators say she was killed the night before.
Nov. 6, 2007: Knox is arrested with then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito and Diya “Patrick” Lumumba, the Congolese owner of pub where Knox occasionally worked.
Nov. 20, 2007: Lumumba, implicated by Knox statements to police, is released from jail for lack of evidence.
Dec. 6, 2007: Ivory Coast national Rudy Hermann Guede is extradited from Germany and jailed on arrival in Italy.
Oct. 28, 2008: Judge indicts Knox and Sollecito on murder and sexual assault charges. Guede, who was granted a fast-track trial, is convicted of murder and sexual assault and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Jan. 16, 2009: Trial of Knox and Sollecito opens in Perugia.
June 12, 2009: Knox takes stand; tells court she was shocked by Kercher’s death, offers alibi, says police beat her into making false statement.
IN-DEPTH: Key players in Amanda Knox murder trial
Dec. 4, 2009: Court finds Knox guilty of murder and sexual assault, sentences her to 26 years in prison. Sollecito is convicted of same charges and sentenced to 25 years.
Dec. 22, 2009: Appeals court upholds Guede’s conviction but cuts sentence to 16 years.
Nov. 24, 2010: Appeals trial for Knox and Sollecito opens in Perugia.
Dec. 16, 2010: Italy’s highest criminal court upholds Guede’s conviction and 16-year prison sentence.
June 29, 2011: Independent forensic report ordered by the appeals court finds much of the DNA evidence used to convict Knox and Sollecito is unreliable.
Oct. 3, 2011: Appeals court clears Knox, Sollecito of murder convictions, orders them freed immediately
March 26, 2013: Italy’s highest criminal court overturns acquittal of Knox and Sollecito, orders new trial.
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