Student from Seattle to remain in jail in Italian death probe

PERUGIA, Italy — The University of Washington student detained in Italy for the killing of her British housemate could remain in jail for up to one year while the investigation into the death continues, a lawyer on the case said.

An Italian judge ruled today that there was enough evidence to keep Amanda Knox, a 20-year-old who was studying Italian in Perugia, and two men in custody as suspects in the November 1 killing of Meredith Kercher, 21, of London.

Knox's Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, 24, and Diya "Patrick" Lumumba, 38, who she worked for, will also remain in jail.

All three have denied involvement in Kercher's death.

Kercher's body was found in the house that she, Knox and two other women shared in the central Italian city that is largely made up of international students. Kercher, who was stabbed in the neck, apparently died fighting off a sexual attack, police have said.

Police said no weapon has been found.

Luca Maori, one of Sollecito's lawyers, said the defense team was "perplexed" by the judge's decision and was already planning an appeal.

"We didn't expect it," Maori told reporters.

Under Italian law, suspects can be kept behind bars without being charged if a judge rules there is enough evidence to jail them and there is a chance they might flee, repeat the crime or tamper with evidence. Depending on the course of the investigation, prosecutors may later seek to indict the suspects and put them on trial.

An Italian attorney who has been hired to represent Knox said "we maintain her innocence, and the prosecutor maintains she contributed to the crime."

Knox's family, in a statement released Thursday, said the "events that have unfolded in Perugia, Italy, over the last few days regarding our daughter, Amanda, have shocked and devastated our family."

"We love our daughter very much and certainly stand by her through this ordeal. We know she is probably frightened and upset about what has happened, and needs all the support her family can give her."

Knox graduated from Seattle Preparatory School in 2005, and was studying Italian and German at the University of Washington in Seattle, where her family is from. She went to study in Italy at the beginning of the school year at the University for Foreigners in Perugia, according to UW spokesman Norm Arkans.

Kercher was in the third year of her European-studies degree at the University of Leeds and had gone to Italy on a one-year exchange, a university spokeswoman said.

Kercher's sister, Stephanie, said Kercher "was pursuing her dream, and we can take some comfort in knowing that she has left us at what was a very happy time in her life."

-Seattle Times staff reporter Christina Siderius contributed to this report