Knox 'showed no emotion' after murder of Meredith

Several British students who were friends with the victim, Meredith Kercher, during their stay in this central university town also talked about a problematic relationship between the her and defendant Amanda Knox.

Miss Knox, a 21-year old from Seattle, and Raffaele Sollecito, a 24-year-old Italian who was her boyfriend at the time of the November 2007 killing, are being tried on charges of murder and sexual violence.

Robyn Carmel Butterworth told the packed courtroom that she was among several students waiting to talk to officers in Perugia's police station shortly after Miss Kercher's bloodied body was found.

"I found Amanda's behaviour very strange and I found it quite difficult to be around her," said Miss Butterworth, who was called to the stand by the prosecution. "She had no emotion. Everybody was upset and she didn't seem to show any emotions."

Describing the group of friends at the police station, Miss Butterworth added that: "We were all crying. I didn't see her crying."

The witness, whose testimony in English was translated into Italian by a translator, said Miss Knox and Mr Sollecito were fooling around as they waited to see police.

"I remember Amanda sticking her tongue out at Raffaele,"

she said. "They were talking and joking, kissing and cuddling."

Witness Amy Frost, who was also at the police station, said Miss Knox "made faces", such as crossing her eyes and sticking her tongue out. She was "giggling" and kissing Mr Sollecito, said Miss Frost.

Both Miss Knox and Mr Sollecito have denied any wrongdoing. They have been jailed since a few days after the killing and both appeared in court escorted by police.

The witnesses also testified as to how they learned of their friend's death and what the defendants were saying at the police station.

According to Miss Butterworth, Miss Knox said: "How do you think I feel? I found her" and that Miss Kercher was "in the closet covered by a blanket". Miss Kercher was found with a stab wound in the neck in a pool of blood under a quilt in her bedroom.

The witnesses, some breaking into tears as they recalled their friend, testified that there was a complicated relation between Miss Kercher and Miss Knox. They said Miss Kercher complained that Miss Knox did not always keep the bathroom clean and that she was not comfortable with a bag of condoms and a vibrator kept by Miss Knox in the bathroom they shared.

"Amanda was quite open about her sex life," said witness Sophie Purton.

Miss Butterworth described the relationship as a "bit awkward".

"It wasn't always smooth," she said.

Miss Knox, asking to make her first statement to the court since the beginning of the trial a month ago, did not comment on her relationship with Miss Kercher. Speaking Italian and sounding confident, she said she wanted to clarify that the pink, rabbit-shaped vibrator she kept in the house was a "joke".

"It was a present from a friend before I came to Italy," she said, adding that she was confident that "everything will come out and that everything will work out".

Mr Sollecito told the court in an earlier hearing that he was the victim of what he called a judicial mistake.

Prosecutors allege that Miss Kercher was the reluctant object of a sex game by the three suspects that ended violently.

Mr Sollecito has maintained that he was in his own flat in Perugia and that he does not remember if Miss Knox spent part or all the night of the murder with him.

Miss Knox initially told investigators she was in the house when Miss Kercher was killed and covered her ears against the victim's screams.

Later, Miss Knox said she was not in the house.

A third resident in Perugia, Ivory Coast national Rudy Hermann Guede, was convicted last year of the same charges and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Guede, who had also denied wrongdoing, had requested and received a fast-track trial.