On the evening of 1 November 2007, there was no one at home at the upstairs
flat in which Kercher and Knox lived. One of her Italian flatmates had left
town and Knox was at Sollecito's flat. The four Italian men who shared the
downstairs flat had also left town.[5]:41
At about 6.00 that evening, Kercher began dinner with with three other
English women at one of their homes and watched a DVD of The Notebook.[31]
Kercher said that she felt tired and that she wanted to retire early for the
night. She borrowed a history book, and left to walk home with one of her
friends, Sophie.[32] Parting company with Sophie at about 8:55 pm, she
walked the remaining 500 yards (460 m) to her flat alone.[31]
Knox was expecting to work at Le Chic pub that night, but at 8:18 pm[31] her
employer, Patrick Lumumba, sent her a text message stating that she was not
required because business was slow. She responded by text at 8:35 pm.[31]
When a friend arrived at Sollecito's flat around 8:40 pm, Knox opened the
door.[33]
According to early investigations and post-mortem examination, Kercher died
in the flat between 9 and 11 pm,[31][32] later revised to between 9 pm and 4
am.[34]
At 12:07 pm the next afternoon, Knox called Kercher's UK mobile phone,
ringing for 16 seconds. Knox testified that Kercher had always carried that
phone since she expected calls about her mother's recent illness. One minute
later, she called her flatmate, Filomena, telling her that she had returned
to the flat and found the front door open, and blood in the small bathroom.
Knox called Kercher's second mobile phone and called the first phone again.
The flatmate called Knox back three times. During the final call, which
commenced at 12:34 pm, Knox said that the window in Filomena's's room was
broken and that the room was a mess. At 12:47 pm, Knox called her mother in
Seattle, who told her to call the police. Sollecito then made two calls to
the emergency number 112, at 12:51 and 12:54 pm. He reported a break-in,
blood, a locked door and a missing person.[5]:57-61 However, before the
Carabinieri (National Guard) arrived in response to these calls, two
officers of the Post and Communications Police arrived at 12:35 pm to
investigate the discovery of Kercher's mobile phones near another house.[35]
[36] Knox and Sollecito were outside and told the police that they were
waiting for the Carabinieri, that a window had been broken and that there
were spots of blood in the bathroom.[5]:61-62
As Knox showed the two officers the room with the broken window, the locked
door and the blood in the bathroom, the flatmate she had called earlier
arrived with three friends. The mobile phones were confirmed as belonging to
Kercher. The Carabinieri had not yet arrived and the Post and
Communications Police officers were reluctant to break down the locked door.
Around 1:15 pm, one of the flatmate's friends kicked it open. Kercher's
body was on the floor, covered by a duvet soaked in blood. The officers
ordered all present to leave the flat,[5]:62-65 and the cottage was secured
as a crime scene.