In an interview with US broadcaster NBC News broadcast yesterday, Sollecito said he had been planning to take a trip outside Italy if acquitted, and turned back from Austria as soon as he learned he had been convicted a second time for the 2007 slaying of Meredith Kercher.
He said he checked into the first hotel once back in Italy because he was tired. Police found him there Friday morning, and confiscated his passport and ID papers, as called for by the court.