Italian Prosecutor: Knox Hated Murder Victim

An American student accused of fatally stabbing her British roommate in Italy had a growing hatred for the victim and killed her in retaliation during a drug-fueled sex game, a prosecutor contended Friday in closing arguments at her murder trial.

Lead prosecutor Giuliano Mignini argued that Amanda Knox, together with her ex-boyfriend and co-defendant Raffaele Sollecito and a third man convicted in a separate trial last year, killed Meredith Kercher under "the fumes of drugs and possibly alcohol." Knox and Sollecito tried to cover up their crime by staging a burglary, he contended.

Knox, of Seattle, wanted to get back at Kercher for saying she was not clean and for calling her promiscuous, Mignini argued.

"Amanda had the chance to retaliate against a girl who was serious and quiet," Mignini said. "She had harbored hatred for Meredith, and that was the time when it could explode. The time had come to take revenge on that smug girl."

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Knox, who has denied wrongdoing, appeared to be weeping as Mignini described the wounds on Kercher's body. Her lawyer, Luciano Ghirga, sitting next to her, at one point held her hand. Looking discouraged and keeping her head down, she was hugged and comforted by lawyers during breaks.

Mignini recalled previous testimony by Kercher's friends, in which the Briton reportedly expressed surprise and irritation at Knox's behavior. Knox has denied having major problems with Kercher and has said in the past she was shocked at the death of a woman she considered a friend.

Knox and Sollecito are charged with murder and sexual violence in the 2007 killing in the central Italian town of Perugia. Sollecito also maintains he is innocent.

Ivory Coast citizen Rudy Hermann Guede is appealing his conviction and 30-year sentence handed down after the fast-track trial he requested.

Mignini contended that Knox, Sollecito and Guede met at the apartment where Kercher was killed on Nov. 1, 2007, shortly before the slaying, likely to settle some drug issues with Guede, who was known in Perugia for dealing drugs. According to the prosecutor, Kercher and Knox started arguing and then the three brutally attacked the Briton.