With a verdict just days away over the sex murder of British student Meredith Kercher, defence lawyers for American accused Amanda Knox and her boyfriend have resumed their closing arguments.
Co-defendant Raffaele Sollecito "raised the alarm and waited for the investigators on the doorstep of the house of the crime," said lawyer Giulia Bongiorno. "Would a killer do that?"
Knox, wearing jeans and a long-sleeved white top with a motif of small black hearts, looked tense as she entered the courtroom.
She and Sollecito have been held since a few days after the slaying of the 21-year-old exchange student from Coulsdon, south of London, on November 1, 2007.
Kercher was found the next day semi-nude in a pool of blood with her throat cut in the house she shared with Knox, now 22, in the medieval city of Perugia, a university town in the Umbrian hills of central Italy.
Bongiorno added that the prosecution failed to establish any link between Sollecito and Rudy Guede, a day labourer from Ivory Coast who was convicted separately of the sensational crime and sentenced to 30 years in jail.
"It is certain that the two did not know each other at the time of the crime," she said, adding: "The only link between them is the charge sheet."
Bongiorno, who has defended top Italian politicians such as Giulio Andreotti, was also to focus on the possibility that DNA evidence allegedly linking her 25-year-old client to the crime was contaminated.
The prosecution is seeking life terms for both Knox and Sollecito. Lawyers for Knox, of Seattle, Washington, present their final arguments on Tuesday and Wednesday.
While protesting his innocence, Guede, who worked as a casual labourer, opted for a so-called "fast-track" trial limited to evidence from the probe.
Prosecutors have said hard facts incriminate Knox and Sollecito, who both deny murdering Kercher. They have portrayed Knox as the driving force in a "crescendo of violence" leading to the brutal death.
The Kercher family is seeking $40.5 million in damages from Knox, Sollecito and Guede.
Knox also faces a defamation suit from her former employer, Congolese bar owner Patrick Lumumba, who was held for two weeks after she accused him under interrogation.
Her landlady is also seeking damages, having been unable to rent out the cottage dubbed the "house of horrors" after the murder.
Knox's parents reportedly face a defamation action lodged against them by Perugia police for an interview with the Sunday Times in which they charged that interrogators "abused" her and denied her the assistance of a lawyer.
Knox charged that aggressive police questioning -- including by a woman officer who allegedly hit her twice on the back of the head -- led her to accuse Lumumba of the murder.
She testified that she spent the night of the murder with Sollecito at his flat, where she said they smoked marijuana, had sex and watched a movie.
Two judges and six jurors will decide the fate of Knox and Sollecito.
The jury is expected to begin deliberating on Friday and reach a verdict that evening or the following day.
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