ITALIAN authorities are hunting a Bulgarian woman believed to hold vital clues to the murder of British student Meredith Kercher – a shocking new twist nearly two decades after the the crime.
The mysterious woman, who was in Perugia at the time of the killing, allegedly fled just days after Meredith’s death, according to former prosecutor Giuliano Mignini.
21-year-old Meredith was stabbed to death in November 2007.Credit: Alamy
Authorities are hunting a Bulgarian woman believed to hold vital clues to the murderCredit: Refer to Source
Mignini, who led the original , revealed he had received information from a “reliable” source about the woman – who could be either a key suspect or witness.
The tip-off came from a resident of Perugia, the Italian university city where 21-year-old Meredith was stabbed to death in November 2007.
“It’s someone I’ve never considered before,” Mignini told Italian newspaper La Stampa, describing the new lead as potentially “very important for the whole case.”
He added: “There are indications that this person may be implicated.”
The source said the Bulgarian woman left the country shortly after the murder, though her destination remains unknown.
Authorities are now trying to track her down, hoping she can shed light on one of the most infamous crimes in recent memory.
The discovery has blown the case wide open, reigniting questions about whether everyone involved in Meredith’s death has truly been brought to justice.
Meredith, from Coulsdon, , was studying abroad from the University of when she was brutally killed in the Perugia home she shared with fellow student .
Her throat had been slashed in what prosecutors described as a violent and sexually motivated attack.
Knox, then a 20-year-old American student, was initially convicted of the murder, along with her then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito.
Both spent around four years behind bars before being fully acquitted in 2015 after a long and chaotic legal saga that captivated the world.
The only person ever definitively convicted was Rudy Guede, a drifter from the Ivory Coast, whose was found at the scene.
but released in 2021 after serving 13.
He now faces new charges of sexually assaulting a 25-year-old Italian woman from the town of Viterbo, north of .
His new trial is set to begin in Perugia this week.
Rudy Hermannn was named a fourth suspect in the Meredith Kercher murderCredit: Handout
Weeping Amanda Knox said ‘I’m a victim’ after being found GUILTY in Meredith Kercher murder slander case after retrialCredit: Sky News
Knox, then a 20-year-old American student, was initially convicted of the murder, along with her then-boyfriend Raffaele SollecitoCredit: AFP
Meanwhile, Mignini – now retired – said justice for Meredith had still not been achieved.
“I confess, it’s a story that, 18 years later, I can’t stomach: there has been no justice,” he said. “It’s a story that has left a lot of bitterness. I’ll be honest: when I think of that poor English girl, I feel a certain regret.”
He described Knox as a “narcissist” but admitted she was “more intelligent” than Guede or Sollecito.
As a father of four daughters, Mignini said it had been “tough to demand a heavy jail sentence for Ms Knox,” who was just 20 at the time of her first trial.
He maintains there may be others still at large who were involved in the killing.
Timeline of Meredithy Kercher murder
- 1–2 November 1- 2, 2007: Meredith Kercher, a British student, is killed in her flat in Perugia, Italy. Her body is discovered on 2 November.
- November 6, 2007: Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito are arrested. Rudy Guede is later arrested and tried separately.
- October 2008: Rudy Guede is convicted in a fast-track trial and sentenced to 30 years (later reduced on appeal to 16).
- December 2009: Knox and Sollecito are convicted of Kercher’s murder.
- October 2011: Knox and Sollecito are acquitted on appeal and released.
- March 2013: Italy’s Supreme Court annuls the acquittal and orders a retrial.
- January 2014: The Florence appeals court reconvicts Knox and Sollecito.
- March 2015: Italy’s Supreme Court definitively acquits Knox and Sollecito.
- 2019: The European Court of Human Rights rules Italy violated Knox’s rights during her initial interrogation.
- November 2021: Rudy Guede is released on probation; his sentence formally concludes in 2023.
Meredith’s family has asked for more information about the Bulgarian woman, saying they want to understand the new lead.
Their lawyer, Francesco Maresca, said: “Once again, after so much time, people are talking about new hypotheses and other people who may have been involved, and on all this the family asks for more information.”
He added that the family remained focused on keeping Meredith’s memory alive, despite the years of headlines dominated by Amanda Knox.
“We remember once again Meredith’s lovely smile and her happiness at arriving in a country where she should have been studying , art and beauty and where instead she met her end,” Maresca said.
Knox, now married with two children, has repeatedly insisted on her innocence.
Last year she said she had been “unjustly accused for 17 years” and had not killed anyone.
She was, however, convicted of slander after wrongly naming her former boss Patrick Lumumba as the killer.
Lumumba, who ran a local bar where Knox had worked part-time, was jailed for two weeks before being cleared.
The case recently resurfaced in the spotlight thanks to a new eight-part TV drama charting Knox’s ordeal through the .
In March, Knox also faced backlash after urging Meredith’s grieving family to buy her new memoir, Free, which details her experience behind bars.
She claimed she had been groped and propositioned by guards, and said the book was about “overcoming trauma.”
“I hope that they read my book because I really honour Meredith’s memory in the book,” Knox said.
“But I also believe that honouring her past and story does not mean erasing my own.
“I am a person who is continuing to pursue justice in this case but a bigger issue that I try and speak to in Free is how we all overcome the traumas that are in our lives, regardless of whether or not we get what we deserve.”
Now, with Italian authorities actively searching for the Bulgarian woman linked to the murder, the case that shocked the world may finally be facing a dramatic new chapter.
Meredith’s family has asked for more information about the Bulgarian woman, saying they want to understand the new leadCredit: PA:Press Association
The case recently resurfaced in the spotlight thanks to a new eight-part TV drama charting Knox’s ordeal through the courtsCredit: AFP 
