Indictment Sought In Italy Student Slay

Prosecutors on Friday requested the indictments of an American and two other suspects on charges of murdering a British college student in Italy.

Prosecutors in Perugia requested that Amanda Knox, 21, of Seattle; her former Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito; and Ivory Coast citizen Rudy Hermann Guede be tried in connection with the death of Meredith Kercher. The prosecutors spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity as required by their office.

Kercher, a 21-year-old student from Leeds University in England, was found dead in November from a stab wound to the neck in the house she shared with Knox in the university town of Perugia, in central Italy.

All three suspects have denied any wrongdoing.

Knox's lawyer, Luciano Ghirga, said the request had been expected and did not offer further comment.

A judge will now have to decide whether to grant the prosecutor's request and order the three to stand trial. A date for the hearing has not been set.

Knox and Sollecito have been jailed since November. Guede was arrested in Germany in November and extradited to Italy the following month.

Prosecutors say the three suspects strangled and stabbed Kercher, according to a court document that notified defense lawyers last month that the investigation was closed. The document said Guede engaged in sexual violence with Kercher, with the help of Knox and Sollecito.