Judge: Knox invited in coed's assailant

PERUGIA, Italy, Jan. 27 (UPI) -- American exchange student Amanda Knox invited in a migrant who took part in the 2007 slaying of Knox's roommate in Italy, a judge has concluded.

Knox, 21, of Seattle, and former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, 24, are on trial in Perugia, Italy, for the November 2007 slaying of Knox's roommate and fellow foreign exchange student, Briton Meredith Kercher. A third alleged attacker, African immigrant Rudy Guede, 22, has already been sentenced to 30 years in prison for his part in Kercher's slaying.

Prosecutors allege the three conspired to force Kercher to participate in group sex at the roommates' cottage and that Knox stabbed her to death when she refused.

Judge Paolo Micheli, in a report released Monday detailing his reasons for convicting Guede, concluded that Guede "entered the house because he was let into it by someone else, and that someone could only be Amanda Knox," The Times of London reported. Micheli's report concluded Sollecito held Kercher down while Guede attempted to rape her and Knox held a knife to her throat.

Knox and Sollecito maintain their innocence, saying they were elsewhere when Kercher died.