9:41am UK, Friday December 11, 2009

Damien Pearse, Sky News Online

Convicted Meredith Kercher killer Raffaele Sollecito has spoken from his jail cell – and insisted Amanda Knox is a “sweet girl” and not a murderer.

Raffaele Sollecito says Knox is ‘not capable’ of murder

Raffaele Sollecito and his former lover Knox were convicted last week of sexually assaulting and murdering the Briton.

Leeds University student Meredith, 21, was stabbed to death in Perugia, Italy, in November 2007.

American Knox, 22, was jailed for 26 years and Italian Sollecito, 25, was jailed for 25 years.

Speaking through his lawyer, Luca Maori, to Italian newspaper Il Messaggero, Sollecito said: “Amanda is a very dear person to me even if we were only together for a short while.

“She is also living a nightmare – we both find ourselves in a tremendous situation.

“I am not in love with Amanda but I feel close to her as she is my companion in a misadventure.

“Amanda is not capable of killing anyone – it’s impossible and absurd. She is such a sweet girl.”

Knox’s promise of “hot sex” as they shopped for underwear after the murder had been misinterpreted, he said.

“We went to buy underwear because all Amanda’s stuff had been seized,” he told the newspaper.

“Everything that’s been said is wrong. It was only a joke.

“Yes, it was about the underwear and Amanda, but it was only a joke.”

The incident has been cited as an example of Knox’s unemotional response to the discovery of her house mate’s body.

Prosecutors said Sollecito held Meredith down while Knox stabbed her to death with a six-inch kitchen knife after what started as some kind of extreme sex game.

The two committed the killing along with small-time drug dealer Rudy Guede, 22, who was jailed for 30 years last October.

Knox and Sollecito are both planning to appeal against the verdicts.