Daily Mirror

Meredith was my best friend

Knox blasted for essay on tragic Brit

- BY CHRISTOPHE­R BUCKTIN US Editor chris.bucktin@mirror.co.uk

AMANDA Knox has described Meredith Kercher as “her closest friend” and complained she was never allowed to mourn her death.

The American, 30, spoke out in an essay published on the 10th anniversar­y of the British student’s murder, but critics accused her of cashing in.

Knox, who served four years in jail for the killing before being cleared, said Meredith was like a “big sister”.

But she said her thoughts were now “buried beneath the horrific photos and crime scene footage I saw, the slurs I was called” and the “death threats I received (and still receive)”.

Knox continued: “But despite all this, these memories still feel very close, in part because Meredith was my closest friend in a new and exciting time in our lives.” Meredith, from Coulsdon, South London, was aged 21 when she was found knifed in the flat she shared with Knox in Perugia, Italy, on November 1, 2007.

Knox and then lover Raffaele Sollecito, 33, were convicted of murder but later exonerated. Rudy Guede, 30, is serving a 16-year sentence for murder.

Now a journalist in Seattle, Knox added: “There are some people who believe I have no right to mourn Meredith. They believe that I had something to do with her murder – I didn’t.”

Her words on WestsideSe­attle.com sparked criticism. Patrick Dileo wrote on Twitter: “The public is tired of her trying to make a living out of the death of that poor girl.” Another added: “Still making money out of it, Amanda?”

 ??  ?? MURDERED Meredith Kercher
MURDERED Meredith Kercher
 ??  ?? 10 YRS LATER Amanda Knox talks of impact
10 YRS LATER Amanda Knox talks of impact

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