Lack of motive cited in coed murder case

PERUGIA, Italy, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Lawyers for Amanda Knox say the U.S. exchange student had no motive for killing her British roommate Meredith Kercher in Italy last November.

Her defense attorneys said Knox was at her Italian boyfriend's apartment on the night Kercher, 21, was found stabbed to death in the Umbrian town of Perugia, The Daily Telegraph reported Wednesday.

Prosecutors allege Kercher was killed during a violent sex game by Knox, 21, her boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, 24, and Ivory Coast-born drifter Rudy Guede, 21.

Guede has already been charged with murder and is undergoing a separate, fast-track trial.

An Italian judge is deciding whether Knox, a student at the University of Washington, will face trial for murder. She has been in an Umbrian jail since her arrest last November.

Her lawyers say the case should be thrown out because of unreliable witnesses and inadequate DNA evidence.

"Our detailed analysis shows there's no proof," said defense attorney Carlo dalla Vedova. "The evidence is insufficient and contradictory."