The father of murdered student Meredith Kercher has revealed how his 'world ended' the moment he discovered his daughter had been brutally murdered in Italy.
John Kercher had been trying to get hold of the 21-year-old all day after he heard reports that a British student had been killed in Perugia.
But it was only when a journalist called the family home that he learnt of his beloved daughter's death.
He revealed: 'The call eventually came from the foreign desk of the Mirror newspaper, from a young girl I hadn't spoken to before.
'That call ended my world as I knew it..... I shall never forget her words.'
"The name going around Italy is Meredith." I dropped the phone. I didn't believe it. Not my beautiful Meredith,' he revealed.
The chilling details have been released in a new book written by Mr Kercher called Meredith: Our Daughter's Murder and the Heartbreaking Quest for the Truth.
He writes: 'I hadn't been able to get through to Meredith on her mobile, which was very unusual, but I tried to keep calm by telling myself the victim couldn't possibly be Meredith.'
The book release on April 26 gives the Kercher family first chance to tell their side of the story before Knox's version of events is published by HarperCollins, rumoured to have paid £2.5million for the rights.
Miss Knox's book, scheduled to be released next year, is being touted as a 'full and unflinching account of the events that led to her arrest in Perugia and her struggles with the complexities of the Italian justice system.'
Miss Kercher's sister Stephanie has appeared on Italian TV before but the family rarely give interviews.
Mr Kercher. a writer and journalist, did not attend court when Miss Knox and Mr Sollecito were acquitted last October although her mother, sister and brother were there.
Miss Kercher, from Coulsdon in Surrey, was a University of Leeds student studying Italian in Perugia when her body was found in the house she shared with Miss Knox.
Her throat had been slit and her semi-naked body was partly covered by a duvet.
Miss Knox and her boyfriend were originally sentenced for 26 years after the first trial heard they had carried out the crime with the aid of a third man, Ivory Coast drifter Rudy Guede, 24.
However, the conviction was overturned and the appeal court ruled that Guede carried the murder out on his own.
He remains in prison for the murder.
The Kercher family has shown remarkable stoicism since the overturned convictions but have vowed to continue their search to find out what happened to their daughter.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2127592/Kercher-father-reveals-moment-told-daughters-brutal-murder-upcoming-book.html#ixzz1rfAGDWTR
John Kercher had been trying to get hold of the 21-year-old all day after he heard reports that a British student had been killed in Perugia.
But it was only when a journalist called the family home that he learnt of his beloved daughter's death.
John Kercher (left) the father of Meredith Kercher (right) has written a book in memory of his daughter
'That call ended my world as I knew it..... I shall never forget her words.'
"The name going around Italy is Meredith." I dropped the phone. I didn't believe it. Not my beautiful Meredith,' he revealed.
The chilling details have been released in a new book written by Mr Kercher called Meredith: Our Daughter's Murder and the Heartbreaking Quest for the Truth.
He writes: 'I hadn't been able to get through to Meredith on her mobile, which was very unusual, but I tried to keep calm by telling myself the victim couldn't possibly be Meredith.'
Booked: Amanda Knox (left) and former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito (right) are both writing memoirs
The front cover of a new book written by the father of Meredith Kercher
Miss Kercher's sister Stephanie has appeared on Italian TV before but the family rarely give interviews.
Mr Kercher. a writer and journalist, did not attend court when Miss Knox and Mr Sollecito were acquitted last October although her mother, sister and brother were there.
Miss Kercher, from Coulsdon in Surrey, was a University of Leeds student studying Italian in Perugia when her body was found in the house she shared with Miss Knox.
Her throat had been slit and her semi-naked body was partly covered by a duvet.
Miss Knox and her boyfriend were originally sentenced for 26 years after the first trial heard they had carried out the crime with the aid of a third man, Ivory Coast drifter Rudy Guede, 24.
However, the conviction was overturned and the appeal court ruled that Guede carried the murder out on his own.
He remains in prison for the murder.
The Kercher family has shown remarkable stoicism since the overturned convictions but have vowed to continue their search to find out what happened to their daughter.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2127592/Kercher-father-reveals-moment-told-daughters-brutal-murder-upcoming-book.html#ixzz1rfAGDWTR
