Kercher’s body was found in the apartment she shared with Amanda Knox in Perugia, Italy, in November 2007. The 21-year-old’s throat had been slashed.
Knox was arrested along with her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito. They, and Guede, were formally charged the following summer. All three were convicted, but Knox and Sollecito the conviction has been overturned in 2015.
Prosecutors argue that Kercher was murdered after refusing to participate in a drug-using sex game played by Knox, Sollecito, and Guede.
Guede, a native of Ivory Coast, requested a separate expedited trial, fearing that Knox and Sollecito had made a pact against him.
He was found guilty of murder in October 2008 and sentenced to 30 years in prison. His sentence was reduced to 16 years after an appeal in December 2009.
Knox and Sollecito, who assert they have left the apartment on the night Kercher was killed, convicted of murder in December 2009; Knox was sentenced to 26 years in prison and Sollecito 25.
The rulings mark the beginning of a lengthy legal story for Knox and Sollecito.
