Foxy Knoxy ‘will never go back’ for murder retrial
Italian court quashes American’s acquittal
AMANDA Knox is unlikely ever to return to Italy, despite the country’s highest court ordering her to face a retrial for the murder of Meredith Kercher.
Yesterday’s ruling by the Supreme Court in Rome means the case will be tried again next year.
Judges accepted that there were ‘contradictions’ in the case, quashing the acquittal of 25-year- old Knox and her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, 29.
In a dramatic turnaround, the pair, who both spent four years behind bars before they were cleared, were told they must stand trial again for the murder of the 21-year-old British student. Knox, who has rebuilt her life in her home town of Seattle, Washington, cannot be compelled by Italian law to appear at the retrial and might not face extradition for years, if at all.
Her lawyer Carlo Dalla Vedova said: ‘Amanda does not intend to come back for the retrial. Her home is in Seattle and she doesn’t need to be here.’ He added that the decision to order a new trial was shocking. ‘She thought that the nightmare was over,’ he said on the steps of the courthouse. ‘But she’s ready to fight.’
‘It’s painful to receive this news’
Within minutes of the ruling, Knox issued a statement condemning it. The girl known worldwide by her self-awarded nickname ‘Foxy Knoxy’ said: ‘It was painful to receive the news that the Italian supreme court decided to send my case back for revision when the prosecution’s theory of my involvement in Meredith’s murder has been repeatedly revealed to be completely unfounded and unfair.
‘I believe that any questions as to my innocence must be examined by an objective investigation and a capable prosecution. The prosecution responsible for the many discrepancies in their work must be made to answer for them, for Raffaele’s sake, my sake, and most especially for the sake of Meredith’s family.’
Knox and Sollecito spoke on the phone soon after yesterday’s verdict. Sollecito’s current girlfriend Annie Achille said: ‘They will see what can be done.’ She added that her boyfriend, who turned 29 yesterday, is ‘destroyed’ and not talking to anyone. Meredith Kercher, from Coulsdon, Surrey, outside London was in Italy as an exchange student from Leeds University. She was found dead in 2007, in the cottage she shared with Knox in the picturesque hilltop town of Perugia.
Her throat had been slit and her seminaked body had been covered with a duvet. After a lengthy trial in Perugia, Knox and Sollecito were convicted of the murder in December 2009 and sentenced to 26 and 25 years respectively,
But two years later the pair were freed after an appeal court found that the case had been botched.
A third suspect, Rudy Guede, whose DNA and bloody footprints were found all over the crime scene, is serving a 16year prison sentence, reduced from 30 years on appeal.
Meredith’s family welcomed yesterday’s judgment. Her sister Stephanie said: ‘We are never going to be happy about any outcome because we have still lost Meredith, but we obviously support the decision and hope to get answers from it. There are still so many unanswered questions. All we have ever wanted to do is do what we can for Meredith and to find out the truth of what happened that night.’
Knox had rejoiced after her conviction was sensationally overturned in 2011. She fled Italy within hours, returning home to the US, where she quickly embraced life as a free woman. She now shares a flat with boyfriend James Terrano, a classical guitarist, and is studying at the University of Washington in Seattle, where she can be near her parents and three sisters.
The former student is preparing for the publication next month of a memoir for which she has been paid a reported €2.9million.
Sollecito remained in Italy and is studying robotic surgery at the University of Verona. He has already released a book about his experience. In it he said that he and Knox were still in touch. Sollecito’s lawyer Giulia Bon-
Knox getting €2.9m for memoir
giorno said: ‘We are still strong. This is not a sentence in itself: this is just an annulment.’
Knox’s appeal against her conviction for slander – for having falsely accused her boss Patrick Lumumba of the murder – was rejected. She has already served the three-year prison sentence for that conviction, but was ordered to pay Lumumba €4,000 in costs.
The retrial will be held in Florence, with different judges, to avoid accusations of prejudice.