Diya "Patrick" Lumumba was freed due to lack of evidence just hours after another suspect was arrested in Germany. Police detained Rudy Hermann Guede, 20, for travelling without a ticket on a train near Wiesbaden.
Claudia Matteini, the same judge who remanded Mr Lumumba in custody two weeks ago, ordered his release on Tuesday afternoon following a request from state prosecutors.
"He was jailed with the shame of being a monster and today he comes out with his head held high," his lawyer Giuseppe Sereni, who escorted him from prison, told Italian news agency Ansa.
As 38-year-old Mr Lumumba left custody in Perugia, he said: "I am happy to be going home. I thank God."
Detectives began a manhunt for Guede after finding a bloody fingerprint on a pillow in the apartment where Miss Kercher was killed which did not match the three people in custody.
In a bizarre video clip he posted on the YouTube website, Guede appears gurning and moaning at the camera, before saying: "I'm a vampire, I'm Dracula. I'm going to suck your blood."
A spokesman for German prosecutors in Koblenz, who have taken over Guede's case, said he would appear in court on Wednesday, and a judge would rule whether or not he can be kept in custody on the Italian warrant.
If the judge orders him to be detained, Koblenz prosecutors will begin preparing a case for his extradition.
Perugia police chief Arturo de Felice said he would be deported to Italy as soon as possible, insisting: "It's a matter of days, only days." Italian prime minister Romano Prodi thanked the German police for their help, according to the Corriere della Sera newspaper.
yahoo november 20th 2007 11.20 pm
Nessun commento:
Posta un commento