Amanda Knox's knife DNA casts doubt on murder weapon in Italy case

Florence, Italy In the third Italian murder trial of U.S. student Amanda Knox, a court-appointed expert testified Wednesday that the alleged murder weapon shows a new DNA trace that belongs to Knox and not the victim.

That testimony bolsters the defense, which claims the kitchen knife was not the weapon used in the bloody 2007 slaying of Knoxs British roommate, 21-year-old Meredith Kercher.

Another piece of DNA on the knife blade initially attributed to Kercher was disputed on appeal.

Expert Andrea Berti testified Wednesday that the minute new DNA trace from the knifes handle showed considerable affinity with Knoxs DNA, while not matching those of Kercher, Knoxs co-defendant Raffaele Sollecito or Rudy Guede, an Ivorian man who has been convicted separately in the brutal slaying.

Knox defense lawyer Luca Maori told the Associated Press after the hearing that expert testimony backs their argument that Knox had used the knife found in Sollecitos kitchen solely for preparing food. He also noted that the new DNA trace was from the knife handle where another DNA piece linked to Knox had been located.

It means that Amanda took the knife exclusively for cooking matters, to keep in the kitchen and to use it, Maori said.

Maori said the traces very existence also indicated the knife had not been washed.

It is something very important, he said. It is absurd to use it for a murder and put it back in the drawer.

The DNA evidence on the knife found in a drawer at Sollecitos place has been among the most hotly contested evidence in the original trial and now in two appeals.

Knox and Sollecito were convicted in 2009 of murdering Kercher, and sentenced to 26 and 25 years in jail, respectively. The conviction was overturned on appeal in 2011, freeing Knox to return to the United States where she remains for the latest appeal.

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Amanda Knox's knife DNA casts doubt on murder weapon in Italy case