She said she felt she had been “hit by a train” and “could not believe” what was happening. Once again, Amanda Knox was found guilty for the 2007 murder of British student Meredith Kercher in Perugia, when both were there to study Italian literature. Immediately after the sentence, which she followed on the internet from her home in Seattle, Ms. Knox went to the local studios of ABC News for an exclusive interview.
A Florence court of appeals found her and her Italian ex boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito guilty after an earlier sentence of 26 and 25 years followed by an absolution.
She said she would never want to return to Italy, where she already had spent four years behind bars, but she will fight “to the end” to prove she is innocent. This time, the 27-year old former exchange student received a jail sentence of 28 and a half years, while Sollecito got 26 years.
The latest verdict, which increases the punishment, is the fourth ruling on the case, which is now expected to go to the Italian supreme court. The court has 90 days to write its arguments behind the jury’s ruling. Once completed, lawyers have 90 days to appeal.
“Having been found innocent before, I expected better from the Italian justice system. The evidence and accusatory theory – she said in the interview – do not justify a verdict of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. …There has always been a marked lack of evidence”.
Knox has always denied murdering the Britain Kercher, who shared the guest house with her in Perugia, and has maintained she is not guilty in a written statement to the Florence court sent by mail: “I must repeat to you I’m innocent. I did not rape, I did not steal, I did not kill Meredith”.
Sollecito, whose new sentence is 26 years, made a spontaneous declaration to the court, saying that the charges against him were “absurd”: “For me, it’s a nightmare beyond imagination”.
The case has dragged on for more than six years, frustrating attempts by Kercher’s family to discover the truth about Meredith’s death. She was found with more than 40 stab wounds and a deep gash in her throat.
To date, Ivory Coast-born Rudy Guede, who involved Meredith in a sex game and tried to escape to Germany after the murder, is the only person in jail with a definitive sentence.
Many aspects of the crime remain unexplained, and are the cornerstone of Amanda and Raffaele’s attempts to prove their innocence.
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