Press Association
Friday 12th March 2010
The parents of American student Amanda Knox have been placed under investigation for alleging that Italian police abused Knox before she was arrested for the killing of her British roommate.
Curt Knox said that he and his ex-wife received notice of the investigation on Friday, as they arrived in Italy for the final hearings in their daughter's case. He said he found the timing "odd".
Italian news agency ANSA said Knox's parents were placed under investigation for alleged defamation stemming from an interview they gave to the Sunday Times in June 2008 in which the father alleged police had physically and verbally abused his daughter during questioning. Police have denied harming her.
Knox, of Seattle, and Italian Raffaele Sollecito, are accused of murdering 21-year-old Meredith Kercher in a drug-fuelled sex game.
Ivorian Rudy Hermann Guede, has already been convicted in a separate trial, but is appealing against the court`s decision. They all deny wrongdoing.
Prosecutors have asked the eight-member jury to give Knox and Sollecito a life sentence. A verdict is expected next week.
The body of Miss Kercher, from Coulsdon, Surrey, was found in the apartment she shared with Knox in Perugia on November 2, 2007.
