PERUGIA, Italy - A judge in Italy has ruled that UW student Amanda Knox and her former Italian boyfriend will stand trial for the murder of Meredith Kercher.

Francesco Maresca, a lawyer for the victim's family, says a judge on Tuesday indicted Knox, of Seattle, and Raffaele Sollecito on charges of murder and sexual violence in the slaying of Kercher in Perugia last year. The trial will start Dec. 4.

AP

A third suspect, Rudy Hermann Guede of Ivory Coast, was sentenced to 30 years in jail after his defense requested a fast-track trial.

Kercher, a 21-year-old student from Leeds University in England, was found dead Nov. 2 in the apartment she shared with Knox. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled and her throat had been cut. Prosecutors say she was killed by the three suspects during a sex game.

While prosecutors argued they should stand trial, Knox's legal team argued that there was not enough good evidence in the case.

Knox's lawyers insisted there was insufficient evidence to link her to the murder and said Italian police did a sloppy job gathering evidence.

Judge Paolo Micheli emerged with a verdict after almost 12 of hours of deliberations. All the proceedings were held behind closed doors.

Lawyers for Knox and Sollecito, who were jailed shortly after the slaying, had asked that their clients be granted house arrest if indicted. Lawyers leaving the court house in Perugia said Micheli did not rule on the request and a decision is expected in the coming days.

Prosecutors allege that Kercher died during what began as a sex game, with Sollecito holding her by the shoulders from behind while Knox touched her with the point of a knife and Guede tried to sexually assault her. Prosecutors say Knox then fatally stabbed Kercher in the throat.

Guede has acknowledged being in the house, saying he was in the bathroom when Kercher was attacked and that he rushed into the bedroom to try to rescue her. Scared, he immediately fled the scene, he said.

Sollecito, 24, has said he was in his own apartment in Perugia and that he doesn't remember if Knox spent part or all of that night with him.

Knox, 21, initially told investigators she was in the house when Kercher was killed, and covered her ears against the victim's screams. Later, Knox said she wasn't in the house.

Prosecutors say Knox's DNA was found on the handle of a knife that might have been used in the slaying, while Kercher's DNA was found on the blade.

They say they found Sollecito's DNA on the victim's bra, although Sollecito's defense team says the bra bore multiple DNA traces and charge the evidence might have been inadvertently contaminated during the investigation.