Murdered student had sex with killer, police say

A post-mortem examination was conducted yesterday on the body of the murdered Surrey student Meredith Kercher as mystery continued to surround her death last Thursday in the Italian city of Perugia.

The coroner who carried out an autopsy on the 21-year-old political science student told journalists waiting at the local hospital that "interesting" details had emerged from his investigation but gave no clues as to what they were.

Ms Kercher, who was in the Umbrian capital on a one-year study programme, was found dead on Friday, killed by a single, powerful knife slash to her throat.

Police discovered her semi-naked body, covered by a duvet, on her bed when they called to return her two mobile phones which had been found in a nearby park. The door of her room was locked, a window was broken, and blood stains were found in the bathroom. Detectives believe they now have a clear idea of her movements on the night she died. She went to the home of student friends in the evening to watch a video but left no later than 9.30pm, saying she was sleepy and wanted to go to bed.

One theory is that she had made a date at her house with a man she had perhaps met during Halloween festivities the previous night. Whoever he was – if it was a man, as seems overwhelmingly likely – she knew him and let him into the front door of the pretty villa where she lived with three other female students, a few yards from the main university building. Her three housemates were all away on Thursday evening, and spent the night elsewhere.

Leaks from the police inquiry indicate that the police are confident that she had sex with the man before being killed. There were no signs that she submitted to intercourse after a struggle, though it is possible she was forced to agree after he pulled a knife. One theory is that after being forced to have sex she told the man that she would sue him for rape – whereupon he killed her.

Perugia was still in shock yesterday. Local residents mixed with British journalists in the car park that overlooks the villa where she was killed, and where forensic officers were still gathering potential evidence.

A local academic said: "The thing about Perugia is that it is a place where students from all over the world come and let their hair down because it has always been such a safe place. This horrible murder puts that reputation at risk."

A local newspaper highlighted the danger to the city's lucrative market in visiting students with the headline, "Female students flee the city".

The report claimed that a number of female English students, including friends of the murdered woman, had cut short their stay and returned home.