Amanda Knox Returns to the United States

Just after she was acquitted for the murder of her flatmate after a court appeal, the young American returned to her country to her greatly anticipated arrival.

“Amanda is free to make a fortune,” was the Daily Mail of London’s Tuesday headline, after the verdict of acquittal which permitted young American Amanda Knox and her ex-boyfriend, Italian Raffaele Sollecito, to regain freedom after 1,448 days of imprisonment.

Not long after she was freed, Amanda returned to her hometown of Seattle on Monday morning. Still visibly showing signs of stress from the last few days, the young woman declared herself “really overwhelmed right now” during a brief press conference organized at the airport, where she was welcomed by rounds of applause. Wearing a ponytail, black pants and a grey cardigan, the young girl continued to say, between tears: “My family is the most important thing to me right now, and I just want to be with them. Thank you for being there for me.”

In a letter sent before her departure, she thanked those Italians who had supported her for the last four years “through an unjust imprisonment” and have “always believed her innocent” of the murder of her British flatmate, Meredith Kercher, found raped and with her throat cut at the age of 21 in her bedroom in Perugia on Nov. 1, 2007. To her lawyers, she said that she was glad that “the nightmare has finally come to an end: I am not a pervert, a man-eater, the Sharon Stone of Basic Instinct. I have tolerated the intolerable. I have suffered from not being believed. I want to get my ‘joie de vivre’ back.”

In the United States, a new life awaits the “heroine,” away from the claws of the Italian judicial system. As well as plans for a book, a television storyline and a film script, exclusive million-dollar interview contracts have already been signed by her parents. America quivered at her trial, which was re-broadcasted over television. The “Amanda Clubs” have expanded. In Seattle, dozens of parents and friends joined together in wild applause when local television channels rebroadcast the live verdict. The State Department sent its thanks from Washington to the Italian judicial system for its “consideration” in this affair.

“The forgotten victim”

The British press gives homage to Meredith Kercher, the “forgotten victim.” The Kercher family, who came to Perugia, commented on the verdict with dignity. Stephanie and Lyla, her sister and brother, said that they “believe in the Italian system of justice” and “respected the sentence,” but are not able to grant their forgiveness until all culprits have been condemned. David Cameron, the Prime Minister, addressed them with a message of support.

The prosecution speaks of a “denial of justice” and is counting on an appeal being lodged. “Never has justice been subject to such media pressure. We cannot go further than before in this way.”

In appeal, it would be necessary to take back the evidence produced during the two trials and, if possible, identify the accomplices of the only person charged in this affair, Rudy Hermann Guede of the Ivory Coast, who is sentenced to 16 years of imprisonment. The magistrates remain convinced that the murder was committed “by more than one person.”