Italian police release photo of 4th suspect in case of slain British student

ROME — Italian police released a photograph today of a man identified as the fourth suspect in the slaying of a British student in central Italy.

Police in Perugia identified the man as Rudy Hermann Guede, an Ivory Coast native, and said the man had been named as a suspect in the case. Italian news reports said that an international arrest warrant had been issued for Guede, who is believed to have left Perugia.

Three suspects have been arrested in connection with the slaying of Meredith Kercher — her American roommate, University of Washington student Amanda Marie Knox; Knox's Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito; and Congolese pub owner Diya "Patrick" Lumumba.

Kercher, 21, was found dead Nov. 2 in her apartment in Perugia. She had been sexually assaulted and stabbed, police said.

Investigators found a bloody fingerprint on Kercher's pillow and on toilet paper that did not belong to any of the three suspects in custody, Italian news reports said.

The jailed suspects have all denied wrongdoing.

They were arrested Nov. 6. and their attorneys have asked a court to review the decision. A date for a new hearing on the detentions is expected to be announced this week.