Jury deliberating in appeals trial of Ivorian convicted of murdering British student in Italy

Appeals verdict expected in Kercher murder

PERUGIA, Italy — An Italian jury began deliberating Tuesday in the appeals trial of a man convicted of murdering a British student and sentenced to 30 years in jail.

Rudy Hermann Guede of Ivory Coast denies killing Meredith Kercher and has appealed his conviction. A verdict by the eight-member jury is expected later Tuesday.

Also convicted in the case, but in a separate trial, are Amanda Knox, the U.S. student who was the victim’s roommate in Perugia, and Raffaele Sollecito, Knox’s boyfriend at the time of the 2007 slaying.

Knox and Sollecito deny wrongdoing and are expected to appeal the their convictions. They were sentenced earlier this month to 26 and 25 years in prison, respectively.

Guede, who was arrested in Germany shortly after the killing, has admitted being at the scene of the crime the night of the murder, but said he did not kill Kercher.

His lawyers have requested that the verdict be overturned and he be acquitted.

According to the ANSA news agency, defense attorney Valter Biscotti likened Guede to Sam Sheppard, the U.S. doctor who was first convicted and later acquitted of killing his wife in 1954 and whose case inspired the movie and television series “The Fugitive.”

Prosecutor Pietro Catalani asked the court Tuesday to uphold the guilty verdict.