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Student's post mortem under way Autopsy on killed Briton finished
(about 7 hours later)
A post mortem examination on the body of murdered British exchange student Meredith Kercher has got under way. Police in Italy have completed an autopsy on the body of murdered Briton Meredith Kercher.
Miss Kercher, 21, from Coulsdon, south London, was found with a deep cut to her throat at her apartment in the Italian town of Perugia. She was found dead in the bedroom of her Perugia flat on Friday morning with a deep cut to her throat.
Police discovered the partially clothed body of the University of Leeds student under a duvet on Friday. Police are working on a theory that the 21-year-old student may have known her killer and might even have met him at a Halloween party on Wednesday night.
Results from the examination are expected to tell Italian police whether she had been sexually assaulted. The autopsy took seven hours to complete, while police continued to examine the student house.
A Perugia medical examiner said initial checks showed Miss Kercher was probably stabbed in the neck with a knife. "We've completed our work and there are interesting elements which I must now discuss with the magistrate," pathologist Luca Lalli said, without elaborating.
Missing key Results from the examination are expected to tell Italian police whether Miss Kercher had been sexually assaulted.
Police carried out a detailed search of the apartment on Saturday. Earlier, officials said initial checks showed she was probably stabbed in the neck with a knife.
Officers are said to be examining her mobile phone which was found in a nearby garden, and a second phone found near her body. There are reports of a footprint in the blood found in the bedroom, and police are said to be looking at a fingerprint on one of the woman's two mobile phones found in a nearby garden.
They have also discovered traces of blood outside the house.
Meredith Kercher was on a study year in Perugia
On Saturday night plain clothes policemen were seen in the student bars around the city, interviewing anyone who may have seen Miss Kercher on Halloween night.
They believe she may have left a friend's house on Thursday night to see a man she had met the previous night.
Miss Kercher, from Coulsdon, south London, was found dead partially clothed under a duvet in her locked bedroom.
Police think the killer left through the front door and smashed the bedroom window to make it seem like a break-in.
But there are other lines of inquiry. Perugia has a high number of heroin addicts, and the student house is close to an underground car park used by dealers.
An English teacher from the university told the BBC that a former housemate complained last term that addicts were often seen in a nearby street and syringes had been found in the garden.
Torch procession
On Monday night hundreds of students and local residents are expected to join a torch-lit procession through the city streets in memory of the dead student.
Police are also keen to trace an Italian boyfriend and a missing key used to lock Miss Kercher's bedroom door.Police are also keen to trace an Italian boyfriend and a missing key used to lock Miss Kercher's bedroom door.
Local reports say traces of blood have been found by police in a bathroom at the apartment. Miss Kercher's father John has said he will be flying to Italy. He has been quoted as saying he plans to identify his daughter's body "as soon as possible", but neither the police nor the British Embassy gave any further details on when he would arrive.
They also recovered a bloodstained handkerchief from close to the property.
Police discovered Miss Kercher's body in her locked bedroom
Miss Kercher's father John said he was due to fly to Italy, and the Foreign Office said it was working with Italian officials.
He has been quoted as saying he plans to identify his daughter's body "as soon as possible", but neither the police nor the British Embassy gave any further details on when he would arrive.
An embassy spokesman said: "We cannot discuss family travel plans."
Police said Miss Kercher had watched a film at a friend's house on Thursday evening but returned home alone to the apartment she shared with three others.
BBC Rome correspondent Christian Fraser said the door to the bedroom in which she was found had been locked from the inside and it is thought the murderer may have left through a broken window.