Rudy Guede’s Sentence Dramatically Reduced

On December 22, 2009—just three days before Christmas—Rudy Herman Guede’s sentence was reduced from 30 years to 16. Guede was originally convicted back in October 2008, for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher. He opted for a fast-track trial and was sentenced to 30 yrs. His appeal to the Corte d'Appello took only two days. An eight member jury took four hours, upholding his conviction; however, his sentence was dramatically reduced. As he left the courtroom after the appeal Guede said, “I'm not happy because I am innocent.” The Corte d'Appello reported that the ruling took into account some extenuating circumstances for Guede. However, we will have to wait for the court to officially publish their reasons for reaching this decision. This process is expected to take up to 90 days.

Meanwhile Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were also convicted in a separate trial that ended at the beginning of this month. Guede’s cohorts in the murder—Knox jailed for 26 years and Sollecito for 25—still await their appeals, which are scheduled to take place towards the end of 2010.

Looking forward: Guede's reduction is a shocking blow for the convicted couple, because it validates the courts theory that Knox and Sollecito were the masterminds behind this crime.

Looking back: I also suspect that Knox and Sollecito’s recent guilty verdict played a part in the appeal reduction.

During the appeal Prosecutors restated their original position that "Guede, Knox and Sollecito were high on drugs when they murdered Kercher after she refused to join in a sex game." Francesco Maresca, Kercher’s family lawyer, said that he was “Surprised” with the reduction in the sentence. “He could have saved her. He could have acted to save her, then he wouldn’t be here asking forgiveness,” replied Francesco Maresca at the appeal. Meanwhile, prosecutor Pietro Catalani said, “He [Guede] is not credible.” Adding that wounds on Meredith’s body suggest it took far longer for her to die than Guede’s testimony indicated.

Possible Reasons for Reduction

So, the question still remains at this point, what was the courts reduction based on? Until the detailed report is released, we will only be able to speculate. Below are a few reasons why the ruling may have been reduced:

Guede’s original story was that he met up with Kercher at the apartment where they had made a date for that night. He claims that he was “hooking-up” with Kercher when the burrito he had eaten earlier needed his immediate attention. He rushed into the bathroom and listened to his iPod as he sat on the toilet. "I heard Meredith's and Amanda's voices, arguing about some money missing," he told the appeal court. "I was listening to music but halfway through the third track I heard a piercing scream." When he came out of the bathroom he was confronted by an Italian man [Sollecito] with a knife, who he struggled with. Guede did report that his fingers were cut from the altercation. He then said that he heard a woman’s voice and saw a silhouette of what appeared to be Knox in the doorway. Before they rushed off, Guede claims that they screamed that they would pin the murder on the black guy.

Sollecito’s bank account was found empty when checked by police, while Knox was found with the exact same amount of money in her possession that Kercher had withdrawn from her account before the murder. Guede’s prints were found all over the crime scene, while Knox and Sollecito’s prints were not. However, an apparent clean-up had taken place after the murder, that much is confirmed. Moreover, Knox’s prints were not found anywhere in an apartment that she had lived-in for the previous two months; except for one latent print found on a cup in the kitchen. How could that be without a clean-up? There were also 19 prints found in Meredith's room that were unidentifyable, because they had been smeared as if wiped clean by someone.

Then there are the five barefoot, bloody prints in the house that were wiped clean, which were only found after using the chemical luminol. My book will give a detailed forensic analysis of these prints; providing evidence that two of the barefoot bloody prints belonged to Knox and two belonged to Sollecito. Hence, disproving the 'Lone-Wolf-Theory.'

Lets not forget the five traces of blood found throughout the apartment that had a mix between Knox and Kercher's genetic profiles. The relatively large sample left on the sink facet in the bathroom located next to Meredith's bedroom was only found to be Knox's blood.

Meredith’s boyfriend—who lived in the flat downstairs—had left her the keys to their flat so that she could water his Marijuana plant and tend to their disfigured cat. Those keys were never found, but were used to get into the flat and smear blood down there to make it look like the boys downstairs were involved. Guede simply did not have enough time to do the extensive cleaning that appears to have taken place; as he was witnessed at a disco just hours later.

There was no break-in on the night of the murder, as claimed by Knox and Sollecito. The window found broken in Filomena’s room (roommate of the girls), was clearly staged. The room had been ransacked before the window being broken, as indicated by the broken glass found ON TOP OF the clothes that had been thrown around the room. Undeniably there is no sign suggesting a different hypothesis. Moreover, in order to break into this window, one would have needed a very high ladder, and this window is in direct view of the open road, which is illuminated at night by the car park across the street. So, someone let Guede in the house willingly, and there is no medical sign that sexual violence occurred.

Italy’s trial of the century is far from concluded. In the meantime, we will need to wait for the courts explanation on the sentence reduction in order to give a more accurate account of the ruling. Guede, from Ivory Coast, is currently celebrating his 23rd birthday today behind bars. Since he has already served two-years, he will now only spend another fourteen-years in jail. Aside from the fact that 21-yr-old Meredith Kercher was violently murdered, we may never really know exactly what happened at Via della Pergola 7 on the night of November 1, 2007. But you can safely bet that all three were involved somehow.