Amanda Knox claims she was groped by a prison guard while locked up over the killing of British student Meredith Kercher.
Meredith, aged 21 and a student at Leeds University, was discovered murdered in her bedroom at the apartment she shared with Knox in the charming Italian town of Perugia on November 2, 2007.
American student Knox, who was 20 years old at the time, and her Italian boyfriend Sollecito, then 23, were apprehended four days post the incident and were later found guilty in two separate trials.
However, both verdicts were dismissed due to the absence of any substantial evidence connecting them to the crime, leading to their eventual vindication by Italy’s top court in 2015.
Police also arrested Rudy Guede, who ran a local bar. His bloody fingerprints and DNA found at the crime scene ensured his conviction for murder, and he served 14 years of his 30-year prison sentence behind bars.
Knox, now 37, said she was groped by a guard in a bathroom, who grabbed her by the waist and tried to kiss her while she was locked up. She spent four years in jail in Perugia, Italy.
She told The Sun: ‘He interrogated me about my underwear, my sex life, and propositioned me for sex’.
She said another officer asked her for sex while she was locked up and she was forced to strip naked for a search by a male doctor.
Amanda Knox was falsely convicted of Meredith’s murder and served four years in prison
Meredith Kercher, from Coulsdon, Surrey, was killed just three months after moving to Italy for a study abroad programme at Perugia’s prestigious university (pictured: in an undated photo released in November 2007)
‘A male doctor minutely examined my neck, my hands, my genitals and pointed out details for a photographer, reassuring me that they were only looking for signs of sexual violence,’ she said.
Knox and her boyfriend at the time Raffaele Sollecito were convicted in their first trial of killing Kercher but after another round of flip-flop verdicts, they were ultimately exonerated by Italy’s highest court in 2015.
Speaking with People, Knox said she feels ‘haunted by the spirit of Kercher, who was found murdered in their home in Perugia, Italy, in November 2007.
She told the outlet: ‘For that reason, I’ve described it as feeling haunted by Meredith, but not in that bad way that people sort of project on to me.
‘More in this benevolent spirit who is reminding me of the value of life, the privilege it is to live and the privilege it is to fight for your life. Because she fought for hers.’
Despite being freed and declared innocent, Knox told the outlet that she has never been allowed to fully live her life.
Knox is seen in this picture arriving at court in Perugia in January 2009 after she was charged with the murder of Kercher
Meredith Kercher was found behind the locked door of her bedroom, in the apartment she shared with two young Italian women and Amanda Knox
She added: ‘There’s always this subtext, like ‘Look at Amanda living her life while Meredith is dead’.’
It was Knox that had discovered Kercher’s bedroom door locked and blood in their bathroom, but after cops in Italy noticed her acting odd she became a suspect.
At the time, Amanda put the blame on her boss at a local bar she worked at, Patrick Lumumba, who had a solid alibi, which only increased police suspicions.
After an immense investigation and trial, Amanda, who was 20 years old at the time was convicted for the crime in 2009.
She was sentenced to 26 years in prison for faking a break-in, defamation, sexual violence, and murder.
The defamation conviction was upheld by Italy’s highest court over her comments about Lumumba.
Knox shared a video of herself weeping after the conviction was upheld, saying it was ‘disappointing’.
She also added on X: ‘I’ve just been found guilty yet again of a crime I didn’t commit’.
Her lawyers said she accused Lumumba during a long night of questioning and under pressure from police, who they said fed her false information.
The European Court of Human Rights found that the police deprived her of a lawyer and provided a translator who acted more as a mediator.
Rudy Hermann Guede, from the Ivory Coast, was eventually convicted of murder after his DNA was found at the crime scene.
Guede was freed in 2021, after serving most of his 16-year sentence.
Knox returned to the US in 2011 after being freed and has established herself as a global campaigner for the wrongly convicted.
