Report: Italian mobster claims brother, not Knox, killed Kercher
SEATTLE -- In a bizarre twist in the Amanda Knox case, an Italian mobster now claims his brother murdered Meredith Kercher, and not Knox or her former boyfriend.
The Daily Mail in England broke the story with a headline that blares: "'Foxy Knoxy is innocent, my brother killed Meredith': mafia supergrass comes forward as sensational new witness."
In Britain, "supergrass" is slang term used to refer to an informer. The newspaper reports Luciano Aviello, who is currently serving a 17-year sentence for his connection to the mafia, told Knox's lawyers his brother, Antonio Aviello, killed Kercher, and asked him to hide the bloody knife and Kercher's keys.
"The real killer is my brother Antonio. The others are innocent," Luciano Aviello told the newspaper. "I had everything under a little wall behind my house, and covered it with soil and stones. I am happy to stand up in court and confirm all this."
Kercher, who was 21, was found semi-naked with her throat cut in the bedroom of the house she shared with Knox in Perugia, Italy in 2007.
Luciano Aviello, who is from Naples, said he and his brother were living in Perugia the year Kercher was killed.
Knox, a former University of Washington student and Seattle resident, was convicted of murder in December. She has been sentenced to 26 years in prison. Knox's former boyfriend, Rafaelle Sollecito, was also convicted of murder.
The Daily Mail reports the mobster apparently wrote to the Italian court three times during last year's trial, but was never questioned. The newspaper says Knox's attorneys have interviewed and videotaped Aviello's statement to be presented during her appeal in October.
But investigators face one immediate hurdle: Antonio Aviello is nowhere to be found.
The Daily Mail in England broke the story with a headline that blares: "'Foxy Knoxy is innocent, my brother killed Meredith': mafia supergrass comes forward as sensational new witness."
In Britain, "supergrass" is slang term used to refer to an informer. The newspaper reports Luciano Aviello, who is currently serving a 17-year sentence for his connection to the mafia, told Knox's lawyers his brother, Antonio Aviello, killed Kercher, and asked him to hide the bloody knife and Kercher's keys.
"The real killer is my brother Antonio. The others are innocent," Luciano Aviello told the newspaper. "I had everything under a little wall behind my house, and covered it with soil and stones. I am happy to stand up in court and confirm all this."
Kercher, who was 21, was found semi-naked with her throat cut in the bedroom of the house she shared with Knox in Perugia, Italy in 2007.
Luciano Aviello, who is from Naples, said he and his brother were living in Perugia the year Kercher was killed.
Knox, a former University of Washington student and Seattle resident, was convicted of murder in December. She has been sentenced to 26 years in prison. Knox's former boyfriend, Rafaelle Sollecito, was also convicted of murder.
The Daily Mail reports the mobster apparently wrote to the Italian court three times during last year's trial, but was never questioned. The newspaper says Knox's attorneys have interviewed and videotaped Aviello's statement to be presented during her appeal in October.
But investigators face one immediate hurdle: Antonio Aviello is nowhere to be found.
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