Lawyers defending American student Amanda Knox over the gory sex murder of her British housemate Meredith Kercher in central Italy took the floor on Tuesday with a verdict just days away.

"We have waited patiently for this moment, especially Miss Knox," said Carlo Dalla Vedova.

The 22-year-old Knox, wearing a black turtle neck with her hair pulled back in a single French braid, looked upbeat as she entered the courtroom.

Her co-defendant and former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito (25) in a white turtleneck and grey trousers, chatted with a lawyer before proceedings began.

Dalla Vedova complained that the sensational media coverage of the trial, which sparked lurid headlines especially in Britain, "took the focus off the tragedy suffered by Meredith's family."

"The protagonists in this trial have all suffered great pain," he said.

Sollecito and Knox have been in custody since a few days after the murder of the 21-year-old exchange student from Coulsdon, south of London, on 1 November 2007.

Kercher was found the next day semi-naked in a pool of blood with her throat cut in the house she shared with Knox in the medieval city of Perugia, a hilltop university town in Umbria, in central Italy.

Prosecutors say Kercher refused to join in a drug-fuelled sex game in which Knox was the driving force, conducting a "crescendo of violence" that led to Kercher's brutal death from multiple stab wounds to the neck.

A sole killer?

Sollecito's lawyer Giulia Bongiorno argued on Monday that all evidence pointed to a sole killer, Rudy Guede, a day labourer from Ivory Coast convicted separately of the grisly crime.

While protesting his innocence, Guede opted for a so-called "fast-track" trial limited to evidence from the probe.

The prosecution is seeking life terms for both Knox and Sollecito.

Prosecutors have said hard facts incriminate the pair, who both deny murdering Kercher.

Kercher's family is seeking 25-million euros in damages from Knox, Sollecito and Guede.

Knox also faces a defamation suit from her former employer, Congolese bar owner Patrick Lumumba, who was held for two weeks after she accused him under interrogation.

Her landlady is also seeking damages, having been unable to rent out the cottage dubbed the "house of horrors" after the murder.

Knox's parents reportedly face a defamation action lodged against them by Perugia police for an interview with the Sunday Times in which they charged that interrogators "abused" her and denied her the assistance of a lawyer.

Knox charged that aggressive police questioning ? including by a woman officer who allegedly hit her twice on the back of the head ? led her to accuse Lumumba of the murder.

Two judges and six jurors will decide the fate of Knox and Sollecito.

The jury is expected to begin deliberating on Friday and reach a verdict that evening or the following day.