Meredith Kercher murder controversy
East Ilsley author’s fascination with true crime leads to publication of Amanda Knox – Crime, Trial, Release and Controversy. Helen Saxton asks ‘Can any of us who weren’t there that fateful night ever really claim to know what happened?’ Arts editor TRISH
AUTHOR and playwright Helen Saxton, who was born, grew up and lives in East Ilsley (with her partner, three children, three cats and a dog, has been fascinated by the worlds of true crime and fictional whodunnits from a very young age,
She is well-known locally for her work with Compton Players, who won the new Original Playwrighting Award 2022 at the Oxfordshire Drama Network Drama Festival for her courtroom drama In Her Defence, which she adapted and performed as a two-hander at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Helen, now 50, spends her days creating unique team building experiences based around solving murders and has just had a true crime book published based on the Meredith Kercher murder case. Amanda Knox – Crime, Trial, Release and Controversy is the first major publication about the case since Amanda and Raffaele Sollecito’s final exoneration and Rudy Guede’s release from prison. It explores the wildly differing opinions on the outcome and discusses the portrayal of the suspects in the media.
In November 2007, the body of
For many, Amanda was, and remains, the central character in this story. Why? And why the controversy?
British student Meredith Kercher was discovered in her bedroom in Perugia, Italy. She had been brutally killed.
Over the course of the next eight years one man, Rudy Guede, would be convicted of her murder and two other suspects, Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito, would be convicted, acquitted and convicted again for their part in the crime, before having their convictions overturned for the final time in 2015. Almost two decades on from this horrific event Rudy Guede is now a free man, released in 2021 after spending 13 years in jail. Amanda Knox is married with a daughter and Raffaele Sollecito has slipped into relative obscurity.
For many, Amanda was, and remains, the central character in this story. Why? And why the controversy? Through piecing together a timeline of events and investigating the conflicting opinions found in the countless books, articles, films, documentaries and discussions which have emerged over the years, Helen takes the reader on a journey to find out.
Including interviews with often unwavering web forum users where posters pit allegations of corruption, coerced confessions, and flawed procedures against those of wilful deceit, callous disregard for life, damning forensics and inappropriate behaviour,
Helen investigates if confirmation bias plays a part and asks the ultimate question; can any of us who weren’t there that fateful night ever really claim to know what
happened?
She gives a unique insight into the world of internet forums, including revealing interviews with members, examines which pieces of key evidence cause the most controversy, and why and investigates confirmation bias by proposing various versions of events based on different interpretations of the evidence.
It took Helen about 18 months to write and publish the book.
“I started writing a different book during lockdown about six different cases, one of which was this one. “When looking for a publisher I found Pen & Sword who were interested in a book just about
Amanda Knox, so I started adapting the chapter to a full length book in January 2022 and delivered it to them in January 2023 and then another year later and it’s out.” Amanda Knox – Crime, Trial, Release and Controversy by Helen Saxton is published by Pen & Sword Books Ltd www.pen-andsword.co.uk
RRP £20; available on Amazon, but if you buy direct it’s currently £14 at https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/ Amanda-Knox-Hardback/p/24393 Visit newburytoday.co.uk/ lifestyle/drama-award-for-comptonplayers-9260089/ to read about Helen’s drama award for
Defence.