'Saint' or 'she-devil?' Court must rule on Amanda Knox murder appeal

(AP)

A lawyer told a court in Italy yesterday that appearances were deceiving, and the angelic-looking Amanda Knox, the US student convicted of killing her British room-mate Meredith Kercher, was a "she-devil" who deliberately accused an innocent man.

Carlo Pacelli, representing a man implicated early on in the 2007 murder in Perugia, told the appeal hearing that Knox was "both a [saint] and a demonic, satanic, diabolical she-devil" who was "devoted to lust, drugs and alcohol".

Knox, however, is hoping that her sentence will be overturned next week after new testimony called into question DNA evidence used to convict her.

Knox at the time of the crime "was an explosive mix of drugs, sex and alcohol," he insisted. "She is a spell-casting witch, a virtuoso of deceit."

Pacelli cited testimony by Kercher's friends alleging tensions between Kercher and Knox over the American's alleged promiscuity and bad bathroom hygiene. He insisted Knox deliberately accused an innocent man to cover up her own crime.

AP