Convicted murderer at Amanda Knox’s appeals trial in Italy claims he can clear her

Perugia, Italy - A convicted child killer testified Saturday at the trial of appeal for Amanda Knox, saying that a cellmate had told the American student had nothing to do with slaying his British roommate.

Witness Mario Alessi, who is serving a life sentence for one of the most shocking crimes of Italy, the kidnapping and murder of a toddler abducted from his home Italy, was called by defense lawyers. His credibility was immediately challenged in court.
Knox was convicted of sexually assaulting and murdering British student Meredith Kercher in the house the two shared in Perugia, and sentenced to 26 years in prison. His co-accused and former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito of Italy, was also convicted and sentenced to 25 years.

They deny wrongdoing and are appealing to their convictions.

Also been convicted in a separate Rudy Hermann Guede was a Ivorian whose conviction was upheld by Italy's highest criminal court. Guede also denies wrongdoing, but admitted to Knox and Kercher be flat on the night of the murder on November 1, 2007.

Alessi is held in the same prison as Guede. He testified that the Ivorian told him that Knox and Sollecito are innocent, speaking in conversations from prison in November 2009. It was about a month before Knox and Sollecito have been convicted in the first trial and while Guede had already been convicted and was appealing.