Decades on, investigators seek new suspect in British student Meredith Kercher’s murder.

ROME -- Nearly two decades after the murder of 21-year-old British exchange student Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italian prosecutors have reopened the investigation after Giuliano Mignini, who led the original investigation in 2007, told Sky News: “There may still be a culprit who took part in the murder and who has not been discovered yet.”

Authorities are now seeking an unnamed Bulgarian woman who reportedly left Italy just days after the murder, judicial sources say. Judge Mignini said that the search follows the emergence of "crucial" new evidence from what he describes as a “reliable source.” While some reports suggest the woman may be linked to the murder, Mignini emphasizes that she may not be a suspect, but a key witness. It remains unclear whether she had any personal connection to the victim or the previously accused.

In October 2008, Kercher’s flatmate of three months, American exchange student Amanda Knox, went on trial alongside her Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, for the murder of Kercher in Perugia Nov. 1, 2007. Despite major inconsistencies in the circumstantial and DNA evidence, both were initially convicted. They were later acquitted and fully exonerated by Italy’s Supreme Court, which described the investigation as a major miscarriage of justice, riddled with “stunning flaws”. 

Rudy Guede, the only person so far convicted defintively in the case, was sentenced in 2008 for sexual assault and murder. Since his release, Guede has faced further allegations, including sexual assault, mistreatment, and stalking, from a 25-year-old woman in Viterbo. This has raised serious concerns about the capacity of the Italian parole system to safeguard vulnerable women from convicted sex offenders.

In an interview with La Stampa, Mignini said that he still feels that Meredith has not been given the justice she deserves: “I confess, it’s a story that, 18 years later, I can’t stomach: there has been no justice. I’ll be honest: when I think of Kercher, I feel a certain regret,” he said. 

However, questions have been raised about the timing of this renewed focus on the case. In August, the mini-series “The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox” was released, drawing criticism for its romanticised portrayal of the trial. Critics have pointed to a certain gratuitousness in producing yet another dramatisation in addition to existing memories, documentaries and several podcasts, which have already dissected the trial for global audiences, often with little consideration for Kercher or the impact on her family. 

With femicide rates climbing and media attention still fixated on scandal, the Kercher case is a sobering reminder of the systemic failures that continue to put women in Italy at risk.