Read the judge's report

Meredith Kercher died an agonisingly slow death after having her throat cut as she was violently sexually assaulted, an Italian judge said yesterday.

In her report on the inquiry so far, Claudia Matteini said that a flick knife “always carried” by Raffaele Sollecito, 24, had been used to slash the 21-year-old British student’s neck after she had been subjected to “extreme sexual experiences”.

Confirming the detention of Mr Sollecito, his American girlfriend Amanda Knox, 20, and Diya “Patrick” Lumumba, 37, Judge Matteini said that the knife was used first to threaten and then kill Ms Kercher.

She said that because the blade had missed the carotid artery, “death was preceded by a relatively slow agony”. It was not yet established who had dealt the mortal blow.

The judge said there were “grave indications of guilt” in all three cases and that her hypothesis was that Ms Knox and Mr Sollecito had been seeking “new sensations”, while Mr Lumumba had wanted to have sex with “a girl he desired but who refused him”. Police said they believed that the murderers had acted under the influence of drugs.

Giuliano Mignini, the investigating magistrate leading the murder inquiry, confirmed that police were looking for a fourth person. This follows reports that police had found a fingerprint on Ms Kercher’s “blood soaked pillow” which did not match those of the three existing suspects.

Judge Matteini said that Mr Lumumba’s alibi did not stand up, since he claimed to have opened his bar “about 5 or 6” in the evening whereas witnesses had reported seeing it closed at 7. He had also tried to “cover his tracks” after the murder by using different mobile phones, the report said.

She said that Mr Sollecito’s claim not to have been at the house was untrue since his footprint had been found in Ms Kercher’s blood. He and Ms Knox had spent “the entire afternoon” before the murder “smoking hashish” and had then met Mr Lumumba and gone to the house where Ms Kercher was alone.

Records examined by police show intense mobile phone traffic between Ms Knox and Mr Sollecito after the murder. In one intercepted phone call, Ms Knox told her boyfriend: “I can’t do this any more.”

Officers called her in for a dawn interrogation at which she “crumbled” and changed her story. She still maintains, however, that she did not take part in the murder. Police believe that Ms Knox held Ms Kercher down while she was killed, pushing so hard on her face that she left an imprint of her fingers on Ms Kercher’s skin. They also suspect that Mr Lumumba had “intimidatory” sex with Ms Kercher, aided by Ms Knox.

Police are investigating a text message predicting Ms Kercher’s death two days before she died. The message, to a man in Rome, said: “For me, tomorrow or tonight Meredith dies.”

Ms Kercher’s body is expected to be flown back to Britain this weekend.

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