Amanda Knox given fresh hope following key witness's confused statement

Amanda Knox given fresh hope following key witness's confused statement

Amanda Knox has been given fresh hope in her appeal after a key prosecution witness appeared to be confused over the night he saw her at the murder scene.

Amanda Knox arrives in Perugia's court of Appeal during a session of her appeal against her murder conviction Photo: GETTY

By Nick Pisa 3:22PM GMT 26 Mar 2011

Knox, 23, is serving 26 years for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher, 21, who was found partially clothed and with her throat cut in her bedroom in the house they shared.

Tramp Antonio Curatolo originally told the court in the first trial that he had seen Knox and her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, 25, by the house the night Miss Kercher was murdered because he recalled "youngsters waiting for buses."

However the appeal has already heard from bus firms that no transport was provided the night the murder took place on 1st November 2007 because it was a bank holiday in Italy.

Mr Curatolo, a self confessed heroin addict who is currently serving 18 months for drug offences, told the court he had slept rough in a square close to the murder scene in Perugia for the last eight years.

He said: "I saw both defendants. They were talking in the (nearby) Piazza Grimana. I think it was Halloween night because people were dressed up.

"The following day I saw the police and some men dressed in white. Halloween I think is the 1st or 2nd November.

"I am certain I saw the defendants the night before I saw the police in the house."

This is crucial to Knox and Sollecito's appeal and his apparent confusion was instantly picked up by defence lawyer Giulia Bongiorno who is representing Sollecito, who was given 25 years.

Mr Curatolo's testimony has always been called into question by defence teams and appeal judge Claudio Pratillo Hellmann allowed him to be recalled as part of the attempt to have the conviction overturned.

The tramp's conflicting evidence came just days after a leaked DNA report from two court-appointed independent forensic experts also gave hope to Knox after it emerged there was "insufficient DNA" to convict her.

However Francesco Maresca, the Kercher family's lawyer, insisted that Mr Curatolo was reliable and said: "He confirmed and repeated exactly what he had told the first trial.

"So as far as we are concerned he remains perfectly reliable."

Madison Paxton, Knox's friend, said: "It went really well for us and we are feeling really good right now. Curatolo kept referring to Halloween and he may well have seen them that night but it's irrelevant.

"If you are going to put two young people behind bars for longer than they have been alive then you need to be a very good reliable witness and he is not."

When asked how Knox was feeling Miss Paxton replied: "As the trial goes on and hope grows for her I can see her falling apart – she has been here before and knows the dangers of hoping for something that doesn't happen.

"Amanda knows this is her last chance."

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