Italian suspect to attend verdict in coed's killing

FLORENCE, Italy, Jan. 29 (UPI) -- An Italian man charged with killing a British college student will attend a fourth trial's conclusion in person, his father said.

Raffaele Sollecito, charged in the 2007 stabbing death of Meredith Kercher, will be in a Florence courtroom to hear a panel of judges issue the fourth verdict in the case Thursday.

Sollecito's codefendant, U.S. resident Amanda Knox, said she will watch the verdict from her Seattle home with her mother but will not return to Italy because she is too "afraid," ANSA news agency reported Wednesday.

Knox and Sollecito, who were dating at the time, are charged with stabbing Kercher, Knox's roommate while studying abroad in Perugia, Italy. Prosecutors have wavered in offering various accounts of how and why they say the pair killed Kercher -- sexual assault, a mutual sex game gone awry, an argument over cleaning the bathroom -- and the pair were acquitted once already on appeal after serving four years in prison.

If the judges at the midlevel Florence court again convict Sollecito and Knox, the pair will have the option of a fifth trial before Italy's top appeals court.