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Italy frees man convicted of 2007 murder of Meredith Kercher

Italy Student Slain
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ROME (AP) — The only person convicted in the 2007 murder of British student Meredith Kercher has been freed after serving most of his 16-year prison sentence.

Italian news agencies LaPresse and ANSA quoted attorney Fabrizio Ballarini as saying Rudy Guede's planned Jan. 4 release had been moved up a few weeks by a judge and he was freed on Tuesday.

In an email to the Associated Press, Ballarini said Guede will continue working in the library at the Viterbo-based Center for Criminology Studies.

The murder in the university city of Perugia gained international notoriety after Kercher's American roommate Amanda Knox and Knox's then-boyfriend were placed under suspicion.

Both were initially convicted but Italy's highest court threw out the convictions in 2015 after a series of flip-flop decisions.

Guede has denied killing Kercher.