Three face Kercher murder charges

Italian prosecutors have requested the indictment of three suspects for the murder of 21-year-old British exchange student Meredith Kercher, judicial sources said today.

The murder of Meredith Kercher, found dead at home with her throat slashed on November 2 last year, shocked the Umbrian town of Perugia where she lived. The twists and turns of the police investigation have been followed closely in Italy and Britain.

The suspects facing possible indictment include Kercher's American flatmate, Amanda Knox and Knox's boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, an Italian. They were arrested shortly after the murder and have been held in a jail in Perugia.

The third suspect, Rudy Hermann Guede, was extradited back to Italy on Dec. 6 after fleeing to Germany after the murder. He is from the Ivory Coast.

Investigators suspect all three may have been involved in the killing and say they have evidence that they were in Kercher's flat the night she was murdered.

The suspects deny involvement.

A judge must now call a preliminary hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence to go to trial.

The case has resonated around Europe, where thousands of young people like Kercher study under the Erasmus exchange programme. Perugia is a choice destination for such students.