"Foxy Knoxy"
Amanda Knox's Trial in Italy By Alexandria Miller
"If being a young woman having fun while exploring her independence and sexuality is a crime, then we are all guilty" -Amanda Knox
In 2007 American Amanda Knox became quite a “celebrity” after her conviction and trial for the murder of her British roommate, Meredith Kercher, in Italy. Before all this fame Amanda Knox was a normal American living in an average middle class neighborhood in Seattle, Washington with her family. She was was born on July 9, 1987. Knox’s mother Edda Mellas was a math teacher and her father Curt Knox was a vice president of finance at Macy’s. The couple divorced when Knox was very young. Knox was the oldest of three, having two younger sisters Deanna and Ashley. At a young age Knox began playing soccer and was given the nickname “foxy knoxy”. No one knew it but this would be a nickname that would make national headlines and haunt Amanda Knox in years to come.(bio.com)
In 2005, Knox graduated from Seattle Preparatory High School. That following fall Knox started college at the University of Washington hoping to achieve a degree in linguistics. Knox became the average college student. She had a great social life, was on the dean’s list, worked several jobs to support herself, and dreamed of studying abroad. For her junior year of college Knox planned to spend the year in Perugia, Italy at the University of Foreigners to further her education in linguistics. The school roomed Knox with Meredith Kercher, a British student from London. The two instantly became close friends. The new friends began exploring their new home, Perugia, together and even attended a classical music festival together.(bio.com) At this festival Knox and Kercher met Raffaele Sollecito. He was a 23 year old Italian computer engineering student who would soon become Amanda Knox’s boyfriend. The two began falling in love. Knox’s social life was better than she would have ever thought. Knox also began looking for a job because she needed to support herself. She was hired for a part time job by Patrick Lumumba at a local pub called Le Chic.(bio.com) Life was looking really good for young Amanda Knox. Little did she know her whole life was about to drastically change.
On November 1, 2007 Knox slept over her boyfriend’s house instead of going to work. The next day when the couple returned to Knox’s apartment the residence seemed to be broken into. The front door was wide open, windows were broken, and there was blood all over the bathroom. Yet Knox did not call the cops right away. Knox attempted to call her roommate Kercher, she did not answer. Knox did not call the police right away. She called her mother, who was asleep in America, who talked her into calling the police. The Italian police sent out two postal police officers to investigate the crime scene. During the investigation the police discovered that Meredith Kercher was stabbed to death on her bedroom floor.(bio.com)
Knox and Sollecito were taken by police and both interrogated for five days. Knox was urged by her family, especially her mother, to return to America. Knox chose to stay in Perugia, Italy because she wanted to meet Kercher’s family. We now know that during the investigation there was no interpreter present for Knox and that she was harassed and abused by police while in custody. The love of Knox’s life Sollecito turned against her by changing his statement to the police stating that he believed Knox could have left his apartment the night of November 1st while he was sleeping. (bio.com) This lead Knox to sign a confession stating that she had returned to the apartment on November 1st and watched her boss Lumumba stab her roommate to death. Italian police arrested Knox and Sollecito on November 6, 2007. Several weeks later DNA evidence pointed fingers to Rudy Guede, a man who was visiting a friend under Knox and Kercher’s apartment on the night of the murder. During his interrogation, Guede admitted to being at the murder scene, stated that he did not murder Kercher, but that both Knox and Sollecito were not involved.(bio.com) This did not help Knox or Sollecito at all.
Over the course of the next year Guede, Knox and Sollecito were all put on trial. Guede was tried in October of 2008, and was found guilty of the murder and rape of Meredith Kercher. He received the verdict of 30 years in prison. (bio.com) Even though Guede was charged, both Knox and Sollecito were jointly put on trial. During this trial, Knox was personally targeted by the prosecutor, Mignini, for her ‘social life’, which was described as a life full of drugs, alcohol and sex. After an extremely long and what seemed to be an unending trial, on 29 December 2009, Knox was convicted and sentenced to 26 years behind bars and Sollecito received 25 years. (bio.com) The couple's romance and old life seemed nothing more than a distant memory.
Although Knox and Sollecito’s lawyers filed appeals in April 2010, the court began the process in December 2010. There was clearly not enough evidence against the two to keep them in prison for the murder of Meredith Kercher. It was not until two years after the first trial that Knox and Sollecito were proven innocent. Knox and her family left Italy as fast as possible. (bio.com) After about four years Knox was finally back in her hometown of Seattle, Washington. She was more than ready to get her life back.
In March of 2013 Knox’s nightmare became a reality once again. The Italian Supreme Court overturned the appeals of both Knox and Sollecito, forcing them to stand trial once again for the murder of Meredith Kercher. The new trial began on September 30, 2013. Knox being all the way in America made no attempt to return back to Italy for the trial while Sollecito was present from start to finish. In February 2014 the Italian Supreme Court came up with their new verdict. The former couple was found guilty once again for the murder of Meredith Kercher. Knox’s sentence which was originally 26 years turned into 28 years. (bio.com) It was frightening news for young Knox as her life was being taken away from her once again. In March 2015, the Italian Supreme Court overturned the verdict of both Knox and Sollecito. (bio.com) That June a final trial confirmed that the two were innocent. After hearing this verdict Knox stated "I am tremendously relieved and grateful".(bio.com) This was a huge relief for Knox and her family. After nine long traumatic years Knox’s nightmare was officially over.