Timeline of slaying in Italy

Nov. 1, 2007

21-year-old British student Meredith Kercher is found dead in the bedroom of the apartment she shared in Perugia, Italy, with 20-year-old University of Washington student Amanda Knox. The cause of death is a stab wound to the neck.

Nov. 4, 2007

A postmortem of Kercher's body reveals evidence of sexual activity before her death. Police allege she was killed fending off a sexual assault.

Nov. 6, 2007

Knox, her Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, 23, and nightclub owner Diya Lumumba, 44, are arrested by Italian police. All three claim to be innocent of the crime. Knox gives conflicting statements, at first claiming she was not at home when the murder occurred and later that she was in her room covering her ears to drown out Kercher's screams. Knox asserts that Lumumba was in the room with Kercher at the time of her slaying. Sollecito says he was at home at the time.

Nov. 9, 2007

An Italian court rules that Knox, Sollecito and Lumumba can remain in jail for up to one year during the investigation.

Nov. 15, 2007

Investigators reveal that both Knox's and Kercher's DNA was found on the knife believed to be the possible murder weapon.

Nov. 20, 2007

An Italian citizen originally from the Ivory Coast, Rudy Guede, 21, considered a fourth suspect in the case, is apprehended in Germany. Police say Guede's bloody fingerprints were found at the crime scene. Meanwhile, Lumumba is released from custody because of a lack of evidence, although at one point Knox had accused him of the killing.

Nov. 22, 2007

Guede acknowledges he was in the victim's room the night she was killed, but he maintains his innocence and suggests an unnamed Italian man committed the crime.

Nov. 27, 2007

Investigators reveal that a drop of Knox's blood was found in the bathroom of her apartment, which had otherwise been cleaned. The blood places Knox at the crime scene.

Dec. 17, 2007

Knox is questioned for six hours by Italian prosecutors and continues to maintain her innocence.

Jan. 10, 2008

Police report that Sollecito's DNA was found on Kercher's bra. Police also found traces of Guede's DNA in the apartment, meaning that DNA evidence now places all three suspects at the scene of the crime.

Jan. 31, 2008

Police reveal that "mystery" DNA, belonging to none of the three suspects, was found on Kercher's bra.

March 6, 2008

A coroner's report states that it cannot be determined whether the victim was raped before the slaying.

April 1, 2008

A court rejects requests for release of Knox, Sollecito, and Guede. All three are ordered to remain in jail until they are either charged or released.

Sept. 16, 2008

In the first of a series of three pretrial hearings, the three suspects appear before a judge, who approves a request to fast-track Guede's trial.

Oct. 28, 2008

Guede is convicted in Kercher's murder and ordered to serve 30 years in prison. Knox and Sollecito are ordered to stand trial in the slaying.

— Seattle Times news sources

Time line compiled by Seattle Times news researcher Gene Balk.