Kercher's body was found on the floor of her bedroom, with blood in various locations around the room.[58]:10 There were three cuts on her neck as well as bruises suggesting she might have been strangled. There were also signs of sexual assault.[58]:110 The coroner determined the cause of death was combined blood loss and suffocation.[59]
DNA matching Guede's was found both on and inside Kercher's body[28][60] and on her shirt, bra and handbag.[61] A bloody handprint found on a pillow under Kercher's back was also matched to Guede.[28][62] The prosecution argued that a severed piece of Kercher's bra, including its metal hooks, revealed traces of both her DNA and that of Sollecito.[58]:235 Knox's lawyers later argued that DNA evidence had been contaminated during the investigation at the crime scene and when the investigators accidentally moved the evidence during the 47-day delay in retrieving the samples.[63] A June 2011 report by court appointed forensic experts concluded that there was not enough DNA on the bra clasp to retest, that the collection of the bra clasp evidence did not conform to internationally accepted procedures, and the collection was "in a context that was highly suggestive of ambient contamination".[64][65]
Luminol revealed footprints in the flat which the prosecution argued were compatible with the feet of Knox and Sollecito.[58]:373[66] A consultant for Knox's defence, however, testified that work status reports showed, "in contradiction to what was presented in the technical report deposited by the Scientific Police, and also to what was said in Court, that not only was the Luminol test performed on these traces, but also the generic diagnosis for the presence of blood, using tetramethylbenzidine...and this test...gave a negative result on all the items of evidence from which it was possible to obtain a genetic profile."[58]:256 Nevertheless, the judge did not accept this view and concluded that the traces revealed with Luminol in Knox's bedroom, the corridor and Filomena's room had originated from Knox's bloody feet.[58]:382
Knox's DNA was matched to the handle of a kitchen knife recovered from Sollecito's flat, and the prosecution stated that Kercher's DNA[67] was on the blade.[68] A June 2011 report by court appointed forensic experts concluded that the previous results indicating that Kercher's DNA was on the knife blade appeared "unreliable because not supported by scientifically valid analytical procedures".[64][65] Prosecution witnesses stated that the knife could have made one of the three wounds on Kercher's neck.[34][69] Carlo Torre, a professor of criminal science based in Turin,[70] hired by Knox, testified that all three wounds originated from a different knife that had a blade one quarter the size of that recovered from Sollecito's flat.[71] During her trial, Knox's lawyers argued that she had used knives for cooking at Sollecito's apartment.[72]
There was no forensic evidence directly indicating that Knox had been in the bedroom in which Kercher was murdered.[53] Knox's fingerprints were not found in Kercher's bedroom, nor in her own bedroom.[28][73] Investigators argued that a break-in had been staged at the flat, partly because the window seemed to have been broken after the room had been ransacked.[74]
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