Amanda Knox

On November 1, 2007, British student Meredith Kercher (age 21) was found murdered in the house she shared with Amanda Knox and other students in Perugia, Italy. Kercher had been sexually assaulted and her throat was cut. The case would become an international media sensation spanning nearly a decade, ending in the definitive acquittal of Amanda Knox and her then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito. [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2013/08/27/world/europe/amanda-knox-fast-facts/index.html)

Amanda Knox, born on July 9, 1987, in Seattle, Washington, was a 20-year-old student at the University of Washington who had traveled to Perugia for a year abroad. She was studying languages and had only known Kercher for five weeks before the murder.

Knox and her boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were arrested on November 6, 2007, just five days after the murder, based largely on the results of an intense interrogation of Knox in which she named Patrick Lumumba, her employer at a local bar, as the murderer. Lumumba was later released without charge when his alibi was confirmed. Italian prosecutors and police constructed a theory involving a sex game gone wrong.

Rudy Guede, an Ivorian national with prior criminal convictions, was also arrested. Guede's DNA was found extensively at the crime scene. He was convicted through a fast-track process in 2008 and sentenced to 30 years, later reduced to 16. [The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/27/amanda-knox-acquitted-italy-supreme-court)

The case against Knox rested on contested forensic evidence, including a bra clasp allegedly bearing Sollecito's DNA that had been left on the floor for weeks, and a kitchen knife supposedly with Knox's DNA on the handle and Kercher's on the blade. Defense experts challenged the chain of custody and collection methods of both items.

After being convicted, spending four years in Italian prison, and successfully appealing her conviction, Knox was definitively acquitted by Italy's Supreme Court of Cassation on March 27, 2015. [NPR](https://www.npr.org/2015/03/27/395572384/amanda-knox-acquitted-by-italian-supreme-court)

On December 4, 2009, after a year-long trial, Knox was convicted of murder, sexual assault, and other charges and sentenced to 26 years in prison. Sollecito was sentenced to 25 years. Italian prosecutor Giuliano Mignini's theory held that Knox and Sollecito had participated in a group attack with Guede.

On October 3, 2011, following an appeal that included independent DNA review — which undermined the original forensic evidence — Knox and Sollecito were acquitted and their convictions overturned by the Perugia Court of Appeal. Knox was freed and returned to Seattle. [AP News](https://apnews.com/article/amanda-knox-acquitted-italy-2011)

Italy's Supreme Court unexpectedly reinstated the conviction in March 2013, ordering a new trial. In January 2014, a Florence court reconvicted Knox and Sollecito. Knox was sentenced to 28.5 years, Sollecito to 25 years.

On March 27, 2015, Italy's Court of Cassation (Supreme Court) definitively and finally acquitted both Knox and Sollecito of Kercher's murder. The court's written ruling noted insufficient, contradictory, and unreliable evidence. [BBC](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32072967)

The case sparked significant debate about Italian investigative practices, media coverage, wrongful convictions, and how female defendants are portrayed in criminal trials. Knox has since become an advocate for criminal justice reform. [Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/amanda-knox-definitively-acquitted-by-italys-highest-court/2015/03/27/8ef68572-d45c-11e4-8fce-3941fc548f1c_story.html)