‘Knox threatened me with knife on night Meredith was killed’, says new witness

A new witness in the case of murdered British student Meredith Kercher has come forward to claim he saw two of the prime suspects brandishing knives near the scene.

Albanian Hekuran Kokomani, 34, has told police that American suspect Amanda Knox threatened him with an eight-inch blade on the murder night in Perugia, Italy.

He added that he recognised the three suspects – Meredith’s housemate Knox, 20, her Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, 23, who also allegedly had a knife, and African Rudy Guede, 21, close to the home where Meredith, 20, was found.

Kokomani claims he did not go to police immediately because lawyers and relatives of Knox and Sollecito were trying to buy his silence and he fled the country.

He said he encountered Knox and Sollecito as he was parking his car.

‘She started screaming and pulled a big knife out of the bag she was carrying. Later I heard people were looking for me to offer me €100,000 not to speak to the police. I was scared.’

Suspects: Amanda Marie Knox and Raffaele Sollecito. A new witness claims Knox threatened him with an eight-inch blade

Meredith, of Croydon, was found semi-naked and with her throat cut in her bedroom nearly eight months ago.

It has also emerged from phone intercepts that Sollecito’s relatives had talked about trying to recruit politicians to get police in the case transferred.

Last night Sollecito’s father Francesco said: ‘I don’t know anything about this.’

A prosecutor wants the three suspects charged with murder.