Italian police investigate fatal stabbing of British student

· Threatening phone call led to discovery of body
· Valuable items in victim's room are left untouched
Italian police are investigating the death of a British student who was yesterday found with a deep cut to her throat in a house in the city of Perugia. A spokesman for the British embassy in Rome named her as Meredith Kercher, 21.

Forensic science experts were last night combing the house for clues as to how Ms Kercher died. Police earlier questioned her friends as they tried to piece together her final hours.

Nicola Miriano, the chief prosecutor of Perugia, said murder was "the most credible hypothesis". But he added that he did not want to rule out other explanations until he had the results of the forensic investigation.

According to Italian media reports, the dead woman was found lying on her bed covered by a duvet. A window in the cottage in Viale Sant'Antonio, not far from the city centre, was reportedly broken. But the door to the victim's room was locked. Computers and gold objects in the house had been left untouched.

Ms Kercher shared the house, which is close to the city's university, with three other women students - an American and two Italians. She had arrived in Perugia in August to study Italian under a university exchange programme. According to one report, she had an Italian boyfriend.

A spokeswoman for the University of Leeds confirmed that Ms Kercher was in the third year of a four-year European studies degree, and had gone to Italy on a one-year exchange as part of the European Union's Erasmus programme.

"We are deeply shocked at this terrible news, and our thoughts are with Meredith's family and friends," she said. "A member of staff is on their way to Italy to provide support to her fellow students."

For various reasons, none of her flatmates had slept at the house on Thursday night. Ms Kercher was reported to have watched a film at the home of some friends, whom she left at around 9pm.

Police went to her house to return a mobile phone, which was one of two that had been found by an elderly woman living nearby.

The woman answered a call on one of the phones, and received a threatening message. She reported the matter to the police who identified the owner of the phone as Ms Kercher and found out her address.

When they got to the house, they were let in by two of her flatmates who had just returned and were unaware that anything was wrong. After finding blood stains in the bathroom, the police decided to break down the door of Ms Kercher's locked bedroom.

Reports last night said that further bloodstains were discovered on the frame of the broken window, and a handkerchief was found near a railing by a road that runs near the house.

Ms Kercher's friends paid tribute to her last night on the popular internet social networking site Facebook.

Rachel Sampson wrote: "Meredith, words cannot express how I feel right now. I'm thinking of you and can't believe that one minute we were celebrating Halloween together, and then the next you're gone. You're in my thoughts and prayers."

Another, Karen Coupar, wrote: "Love you now and always, the memories that we have made together will always stay in my heart! xxxxx."

Photographs posted on the site on Thursday show her at a Halloween party in Perugia, dressed as a vampire with fake blood coming from her mouth.

In a recent message to a friend, she said she was enjoying Perugia, where she studied modern history, political theory and the history of cinema.

"I'm having a good time thanks, it's starting to get really cold now, but the chocolate festival is on at the moment, so a good excuse to drink a lot of hot chocolate," she wrote.

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