‘Foxy’ knocks killer’s release
Rips ‘grave injustice’
Following his release from prison over the weekend, Amanda Knox ripped the man convicted of fatally stabbing her British roommate in Italy some 13 years ago, saying he’s the “forgotten killer.”
Knox, 33, told ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Monday she was dismayed by the early release of Rudy Guede, 33, who was sentenced in 2008 to 30 years in prison for killing British exchange student Meredith Kercher after she was found sexually assaulted and slain in Perugia, Italy, in November 2007.
“I do know that many, many, many people have suffered a great deal because of what he did, and I continue to this day to be shocked that he is the forgotten killer,” Knox said. “The one who was quietly tucked away, convicted of a lesser crime and does not have to live with the burden of being forever associated with Meredith’s death.”
Knox, from Seattle, was studying overseas in Italy when she and her thenboyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were accused of murdering Kercher in a supposed sex game gone wrong. The two were found guilty, but their conviction was overturned in 2015 after an eight-year legal saga.
Guede, an immigrant from the Ivory Coast whose DNA was found at the crime scene, was convicted in a separate trial from Sollecito and Knox, dubbed “Foxy Knoxy” by the press.
He was the only person serving time for the murder, and his original sentence of 30 years was later reduced to 16 years.
Guede was granted partial prison release in 2017 to pursue a master’s degree and to work in the library of a criminology center before being allowed Friday by an Italian court to serve the remainder of his term, which ends in March 2022, on community service.
Knox, meanwhile, said she was disturbed that the “burden” of Guede’s crime continues to impact her more than a decade later.
“I am the one who has been condemned to live with his infamy,” Knox told “GMA.” “And while I can’t say that I wish him suffering or imprisonment, I do wish that he had been fully accountable for what he did and that he acknowledged what he did, and I don’t know if that will ever happen.”
Knox continued: “The only reason you know I exist is because [of ] what he did, and that is a grave injustice.”
Guede, who has denied murdering Kercher, will live in Viterbo, Italy, where he’ll continue working with a charity, his attorney, Fabrizio Ballarini, has said.
“We are very satisfied with the decision which has come about because of my client’s desire and intelligence and who did not waste his time while in prison but put it to good use and studied hard,” Ballarini told Britain’s Sun newspaper.