UPDATE: Amanda Knox Found Not Guilty
Today, Amanda Knox, a convicted murderer, will receive the verdict on her appeal with an Italian court, following four years in jail for a crime she insists she didn’t commit.
“I’ve lost a friend in the worst, most brutal, most inexplicable way possible,” said a tearful Knox told an Italian appeals court, of her murdered roommate, Meredith Kercher. “I’m paying with my life for things that I didn’t do.”
Knox, 24, was originally sentenced to 26 years in prison and her boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, 27, sentenced to 25, when they were convicted of sexually assaulting and killing, Meredith Kercher, in the apartment the two girls shared in Perugia—Kercher, 21, was murdered in November 2007.
Both Knox and Sollecito have maintained their innocence and according to CBS, earlier, Knox pleaded for freedom during a 10-minute address in which she insisted she was innocent.
“She had her bedroom next to mine, she was killed in our own apartment. If I had been there that night, I would be dead,” Knox said. “But I was not there.”
Today the verdict will be read—The jury is expected to emerge around 2 p.m. Eastern at the earliest and the verdict will be broadcast live.
The trial stems back to November 1, 2007, when Kercher was found dead in the apartment she shared with Knox. Knox insisted she wasn’t home at the time of the murder, instead at Sollecito’s flat, which he allegedly confirmed.
As far as evidence connecting Knox to the crime, prosecutors reportedly insist that a 30cm kitchen knife was found at Sollecito’s house and had DNA from Kercher on the blade and Knox’s DNA on the handle, (the knife was reportedly not considered the murder weapon, which has never been found). Knox’s DNA was also reportedly found on Meredith’s bra, though many say the forensics on both were questionable and are not reliable evidence.
A third person was also convicted in connection with the murder. Rudy Guede, an Italy resident, was also arrested and sentenced to 16 years. He denies the crime also but allegedly admitted that he was in the house on the night of the murder and claimed that he was in the bathroom and found a dead Kercher when he emerged. Following an investigation reportedly, DNA evidence linked him the crime too.
Check out the livestream of Amanda Knox Trial.
