Amanda Knox
The former US college student speaks out in Italy
AMANDA KNOX, WHO WAS TWICE convicted – and twice acquitted – of murdering her British flatmate in 2007 has broken down in tears while recounting the details of her trials.
“To the world, I wasn’t a suspect innocent until proven guilty, I was a cunning, psychopathic, dirty, drugged-up whore who was guilty until proven otherwise,” she told a conference on criminal justice in the city of Modena on June 15. It was her first time in Italy since she was freed from prison in 2011.
The murder case made headlines throughout the world. Knox, now 31, was accused of murdering 21-year-old Meredith Kercher in the Italian city of Perugia in 2007. Kercher’s semi-naked body, with more than 40 stab wounds and a deep throat wound, was found in the apartment she shared with Knox.
Knox has always maintained her innocence, but was found guilty for the first time in 2009 and sentenced to 26 years in prison. At the time, prosecutors alleged Kercher was murdered after refusing to join in an orgy. Speaking at the conference, the former US college student, who spent four years in prison, said she was afraid she would
be “molested, derided, framed, that new accusations will be directed against me for telling my truth”. She also revealed she contemplated suicide while behind bars.
Rudy Guede, whose fingerprints were found at the scene, is serving a 16-year sentence for Kercher’s murder.
Knox said she wanted to meet again with prosecutor Giuliano Mignini, so that he could see “I am not a monster, I simply am Amanda”. Now an author and journalist, a fired-up Knox took aim at the media for the way she was treated her during her trials. “My innocence didn’t save me because the media created a story … and people liked that story,” she said. “I was the dirty man-eater, Foxy Knoxy.”
Not everyone is happy Knox is speaking out about her experiences. Controversial English journalist and TV presenter Piers Morgan lashed out on Twitter, saying: “Out of respect for Meredith Kercher’s poor family, Amanda Knox should stop her self-pitying ‘all about me’ victim tour – and shut up.”
Knox responded: “Says the guy who’s begged me to be on his show multiple times, and I’ve turned him down every time.”
Added Morgan: “I think we all know why you might wish to avoid interviews with British TV journalists, especially those like me who once worked with Meredith’s father. Mine would start with this question: your lies sent an innocent man, Patrick Lumumba, to jail, so what else did you lie about?”
Knox had originally accused bar owner Lumumba, now 42, of killing Kercher, but later said she was pressured by police into making the allegation. The Kerchers’ lawyer, Francesco Maresca, said Knox’s public appearances were painful for the family. “All these insistences and appearances are only ever done to keep the attention on herself,” Maresca said. “The murder is a tragic memory for the Kercher family. They lost their daughter and sister in such a terrible way. It’s also an injustice for them as they still don’t know the full truth.”•