Kercher suspect 'fell into trap'

Raffaele Sollecito denies involvement in the murder of Meredith Kercher

One of the suspects in the murder of UK student Meredith Kercher has proclaimed his innocence, saying he fell into a trap made by his own hands.

Raffaele Sollecito, boyfriend of fellow suspect Amanda Knox, wrote to a magazine in his Italian hometown Bari.

In his letter he described returning to his girlfriend's house to find a "big mess" and the dead body of Ms Kercher.

Meredith, 21, from London, was murdered last November in the house she shared with Knox and others in Perugia, Italy.

The Leeds University exchange student's throat had been slit and she was partially covered by a duvet.

One morning you return to her house and find a big mess. The problems begin Raffaele Sollecito

The letter emerged as Mr Sollecito's lawyers prepared to challenge the case against him in court on Friday.

He questioned a justice system in which "people who have killed their family avoid spending a single day in jail, thanks to psychiatric tests, while I who am innocent until proven otherwise have my freedom ludicrously limited in a way that not even those who have already been convicted have to endure."

His only hope, wrote Mr Sollecito, 24, lay in "the truth" being uncovered.

'A big mess'

He describes his version of the events that started with him meeting fellow suspect Ms Knox, 21, from Seattle, and ended with the two of them being jailed.

He wrote: "Consider for one moment what it's like to be in my position: you meet a girl at a concert, she lives with friends and from that day you go out more and more, you spend untroubled days together... You can't ask for any more from life.

"Then one morning you return to her house and find a big mess.

"The problems begin: the police arrive, break down the locked door of a bedroom and discover the lifeless body of one of her friends.

"From then on they suspect everyone and everything, including you.

"And you, thinking you are helping them, fall into a trap you have made with your own hands."

Mr Sollecito, Ms Knox and third suspect Rudy Hermann Guede, 21, originally from the Ivory Coast, have been accused of killing Meredith in a bungled sex game.

Ms Knox and Mr Sollecito have been in jail since November, while Mr Guede was arrested later in Germany and extradited to Italy in December

A judge is expected to decide early next week whether Mr Sollecito and Ms Knox will stand trial for the murder.

Mr Guede is being tried behind closed doors in a fast-track process, the result of which is also expected next week.

All three suspects deny being involved in the murder.