United States student Amanda Knox, currently on trial for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher, sent a birthday card to her Italian former boyfriend and fellow defendant on Thursday.
Knox sent a card saying 'Happy Birthday Raffaele' to Raffaele Sollecito, who turned 25 as he celebrated his second birthday in custody since Kercher's murder in November 2007.
Exchange student Knox, 21, met Sollecito, who was also studying at Perugia University, two weeks before the murder, and the pair's short romance has come under intense media scrutiny.
The Italian media has continued to detail glances the two exchange in court despite both defendants having declared the relationship over.
Sollecito completed his degree in prison and earlier this week travelled to a jail in Verona to attend an interview for a further degree in computer studies, specialising in virtual reality.
Puglia-born Sollecito asked for a small statue of Italy's favourite saint, Padre Pio, from his family for his birthday, which was delivered by his lawyers Thursday when they visited him in jail.
Lawyer Luca Maori said Sollecito ''was missing his family, his friends and his home'' as he celebrated his second birthday behind bars.
Kercher, 21, was found semi-naked and with her throat slit in the house she shared in Perugia with Seattle-born Knox and two Italian women.
A third defendant, Ivory Coast national Rudy Guede, 21, was sentenced to 30 years for sexually assaulting and murdering the British exchange student at a separate trial in October.
The prosecution claims Kercher was killed when all three defendants tried to force her to participate in ''a perverse group sex game''.
Prosecutors say Knox was responsible for cutting Kercher's throat while Sollecito and Guede held her down.
Knox, 21, and Sollecito, 24, are also charged with the theft of 300 euros, two credit cards and two mobile phones belonging to Kercher as well as simulating a crime to make it look like an intruder had broken into the house.
The defendants deny the charges against them.
Their legal teams are set to argue that Guede broke into the house and carried out the attack single-handedly while Knox and Sollecito spent the night at Sollecito's house.
Last week a Perugia court heard evidence from a grocer who testified that Knox had entered his shop at 7.45 on the morning following the murder.
Knox says she was asleep at Sollecito's house until mid-morning.
The trial, which began in January, continues on Friday.
It is being held in stages and is expected to last until the summer.
