Fourth Meredith murder suspect faces extradition within 10 days

The so-called "fourth suspect" in the Meredith Kercher murder case, Rudy Hermann Guede, is expected to be extradited to Italy within 10 days, after appearing in court in Koblenz yesterday. He told the German court he was innocent, but he did not attempt to fight extradition.

Mr Guede, who moved to Perugia from Ivory Coast when he was five, was arrested on a train in Germany on Tuesday.

He is wanted by police in Perugia because fingerprints found on Ms Kercher's blood-soaked pillow, and on toilet paper in her flat's lavatory, matched prints taken from him after he was arrested for possession of drugs.

None of the other suspects in the case have mentioned him as playing a role in the events that led to Ms Kercher's throat being slashed.

Yesterday Raffaele Sollecito, boyfriend of Amanda Knox, Ms Kercher's flatmate, denied all knowledge of Mr Guede. But it emerged that Ms Knox in testimony to the police before her arrest had mentioned Mr Guede as one of a number of people who had visited her flat in the past.

Mr Guede has admitted having visited the flat, but denies he was there during the evening in question, between 1 and 2 November.

Meanwhile the third suspect in the case, the Congolese bar owner Patrick Lumumba, has vented his fury at Ms Knox. In a statement to Italian papers released by his lawyers, he said: "I asked myself, why has Amanda done this to me? I helped that girl find work. I don't think I'll ever forgive her."

He went on: "The lawyers say that in her first interview, Amanda didn't mention me at all.

"So something occurred to me – the day before we were arrested, on November 5, I ran into her outside the university for foreign students. I was talking to a lecturer, who asked me whether I knew anyone who spoke good English and Italian to deal with all the media inquiries about Meredith's death. At that moment Amanda arrived and I suggested her. She said no, and went away smiling. Perhaps at that moment she decided to involve me."

Mr Lumumba has been freed from jail because several witnesses attested that he was working in his bar on the night in question.