Knox Prosecutors Seek the Max: Life in Prison

PERUGIA, Italy, Nov. 21, 2009 — -- The prosecutors in the Italian murder trial of Amanda Knox wrapped their case today and requested life in prison, with nine months of daytime solitary confinement, for the 22-year-old American who they believe knifed and strangled her British roommate in a grisly 2007 murder.

In his final remarks to the jury before requesting life in prison for Knox, prosecutor Giuliano Mignini described her as a narcissist, someone prone to aggressive anger, manipulative, theatrical and lacking in empathy.

After listening quietly while taking deep breaths to the request to jail her for life, Amanda Knox asked to speak. She wanted to say some things that were very important to her, she told the court.

"Meredith was my friend," Knox said, her voice cracking briefly with emotion. "I did not hate her, and it is absurd to think I would have hurt someone who was so nice to me."

Knox added that the accusations against her were "pure fantasy."

In the Italian legal system, the defendant has the right to make a statement at any time during the proceedings.

Outside the courtroom, Knox's lawyer, Luciano Ghirga, said that a request for daytime solitary confinement, as the prosecutor seeks for Knox, "is made for Mafia bosses, not for a 20-year-old with no police record." He told reporters that the prosecutor's request was "foreseeable, but very harsh -- but this is what was requested, and this is what we will challenge."

Seattle student Knox is standing trial, along with her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, 25, for sexually assaulting and murdering British exchange student Meredith Kercher, 21.

The prosecution also asked for life in prison for Sollecito, with two months of daytime solitary confinement. Knox faces a tougher sentence because she is also accused of slander.

A third person, Rudy Guede, 22, was convicted to 30 years in prison for his role in the murder last October, in a short-track trial which reduced his life sentence. All three young people say they did not kill Kercher.

Kercher's body was found Nov. 2, 2007, in the house she shared with Knox in the university town of Perugia, Italy. She was found partly undressed and died from a combination of knife wounds to her throat and strangulation, according to coroners.