Fourth suspect is named in murdered student probe
Police believe Rudy Hermann Guede, aged 20, was the fifth person in the student’s flat in Perugia on the night she was killed, according to reports.
A bloody fingerprint on Ms Kercher’s pillow is said to have led detectives to Guede, who is thought to be on the run having left Perugia for Milan after Ms Kercher’s death.
The 21-year-old, originally from the Ivory Coast, was reportedly adopted by a family living in Perugia, although they are said to have ceased all contact with him.
Italian press reports also said that Guede has previous convictions for drug-dealing and that a warrant has been issued for his arrest.
The news agency Ansa said the suspect used to play for a basketball team in Perugia and it was reported that he was popular with foreign students in the city.
Ansa also published a picture of Guede’s passport on its website and his passport picture was broadcast by Sky TG24.
Ms Kercher, aged 21, was found with her throat cut in her bedroom in the central Italian town of Perugia on November 2. Her body was discovered under a duvet at a house she shared with three other women in the Viale Sant’Antonio, not far from the city centre.
Police believe she was murdered after refusing to take part in an extreme sex game and have made three arrests, including the victim’s flatmate Amanda Knox, aged 20. Knox, her Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, aged 23, and Congolese bar owner Diya “Patrick” Lumumba, aged 38, have all been remanded in custody for up to a year.
They are suspected of sexually assaulting and killing the Leeds University exchange student from Coulsdon, Surrey. All three deny involvement in her death.
