Three years after study-abroad murder

Three years after Meredith Kercher's brutal stabbing death, the sordid events of Nov. 1, 2007 remain a riddle, churning ugly disputes on several continents. The convictions of American roommate Amanda Knox, Italian student Raffaele Sollecito, and drifter Rudy Guede offer few answers. Only more rancor, more anger on the Internet. Meanwhile, all three defendants proclaim their innocence. Their verdicts are under appeal.Here are some things we know for sure about Meredith Kercher:

She was beautiful and bright. She came to Perugia, Italy, on scholarship to learn the language and the culture, thrilled to have won a spot in the prestigious Erasmus program.Meredith died one day after a joyous Halloween, a holiday she'd always loved.She called her parents every day. When they came to Perugia to testify in June 2009, they rejected the hideous rhetoric launched in her name:We are here not with hate but to have justice and to understand what exactly happened to Meredith, who was a wonderful person and who was in Perugia simply to study.
After the verdict, her brothers said they longed for the day when they could remember her as she was, not as a murder victim.

Their lawyer, Francesco Marcesca, said last week that the Kerchers are aware of the movies being made about the case and the new Amanda Knox book written by an Italian politician. They will follow the appeals, but are focused on memories of Meredith, a Leeds University student who would've graduated by now and moved into the working world, like the friends who said goodbye after watching The Notebook with her three years ago. She was only 21.We are confident, her family said,that all her friends will remember on this anniversary each in their own way but privately. We are going to commemorate with a visit to her grave, bringing flowers and spending a little time with her.