Convict : Small time drug dealer Rudy Guede , 29 , is currently serving a 16-year sentence for the murder . The only person convicted for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher has declared that he will seek a retrial , following the sensational exoneration of Amanda Knox . Small time drug dealer Rudy Guede , 29 , is serving a 16-year sentence for the murder in Perugia , Italy . The Ivory Coast national 's DNA was found all over the bedroom where Miss Kercher was found half-naked , her throat slit in 2007 , in the cottage she shared with Knox . Knox and ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito served four years for the murder , which prosecutors claimed was a sex game gone wrong , before being conclusively cleared last month by Italy 's highest court . The Supreme Court 's ruling throws a new lifeline to Guede , who was convicted by the same court of being an accomplice to a murder 'committed in the company of others ' . Lawyers for Guede are likely to argue that the two sentences are incompatible , forcing a revision of his conviction . Speaking from prison in Viterbo , where he is described as ' a model prisoner ' Guede claimed that his conviction is rendered 'impossible ' by the exoneration of Knox and ex boyfriend Sollecito . He said : 'Look at me : I committed the impossible crime . How can I be the accomplice in a murder without any accomplices ? ' Guede who is now halfway through his sentence said : ' I want a retrial . ' He said his lawyers are waiting for the reasoning behind the innocent sentence of the Supreme Court , to be published which will be within 90 days of the Knox verdict . ' I am convinced that we will find elements to overturn the verdict , ' he said . Cleared : Amanda Knox and her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito served four years for Meredith Kercher 's murder before being conclusively cleared by Italy 's highest court last month . Tragic : Meredith Kercher was found half-naked with her throat slit in the cottage she shared with Knox . Already the overturning of Knox and Sollecito 's guilty sentences has left the Kercher family 'shocked ' and with many unanswered questions . If Guede too were absolved , on a judicial technicality , it would leave no one paying for their daughter 's murder . The Italian justice system is currently being overhauled because of its cost , contradictions and inefficiency . It has a backlog of around nine million legal cases . The Supreme Court , which hears 80,000 appeals a year , 100 times more than comparable countries , upholds only a fraction of convictions . The state were forced to pay €84million in compensation for miscarriages of justice and legal delays in 2011 . Raffaele Sollecito ( centre ) speaks during a press conference in Rome flanked by his lawyers Giulia Bongiorno ( left ) and Luca Maori after being acquitted of murdering British student Meredith Kercher last month . Amanda Knox vowed to return to Italy just two days after being cleared of murdering British student Meredith Kercher . She is pictured ( left ) speaking after last month 's decision and ( right ) after her initial acquittal in 2011 . Guede , who lives on a wing for violent sex offenders said that Knox and Sollecito had been 'fortunate ' . But he told La Repubblica newspaper that the granting of their appeals had given him fresh hope . He said : 'Destiny has been less kind to me but I will not lament . Today I have a new reason to go on . ' The 29-year-old , who came to Italy from Agou in Cote-d'Ivoire aged 7 , has almost finished a degree in history from Rome Tre university . Once freed he wants to find a job in Italy and move forward . ' I want to prove to everyone that I am not a monster and forget my past . ' He said his only mistake was to opt for a fast track trial . He said : 'Here in Italy the fast track trial is seen as an admission of guilt . But I thought I would be able to prove my innocence straight away . ' Guede is eligible for day release this year .
Rudy Guede , 29 , is currently serving a 16-year sentence for the murder . Ivorian says he will now seek a retrial after seeing Amanda Knox cleared . Knox and ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito served four years for the murder . But the pair were sensationally cleared by Italy 's highest court last month .