48 Hours - Amanda Knox: The Untold Story

Episode Date: June 15, 2023

This classic episode of 48 Hours, which last aired on 10/8/2011, tells the story of Amanda Knox, an American exchange student who was convicted, along with her Italian boyfriend, Raffaelle Sollecito, of murdering Amanda’s British roommate, Meredith Kercher in 2007. Knox and Sollecito were ultimately acquitted. 48 Hours correspondent Peter Van Sant reports.Watch all-new episodes of 48 Hours on Saturdays, and stream on demand on Paramount+.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to this podcast ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app today. Even if you love the thrill of true crime stories as much as I do, there are times when you want to mix it up. And that's where Audible comes in, with all the genres you love and new ones to discover. Explore thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. Listening to Audible can lead to positive change in your mood, your habits,

and even your overall well-being. And you can enjoy Audible anytime, while doing household chores, exercising, commuting, you name it. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free 30-day Audible trial and your first audiobook is free. Visit audible.ca. In 2014, Laura Heavlin was in her home in Tennessee when she received a call from California. Her daughter, Erin Corwin, was missing. The young wife of a Marine had moved to the California desert

to a remote base near Joshua Tree National Park. They have to alert the military. And when they do, the NCIS gets involved. From CBS Studios and CBS News, this is 48 Hours NCIS. Listen to 48 Hours NCIS ad-free starting October 29th on Amazon Music. Amanda Knox. Amanda Knox. Amanda Knox. Amanda Knox. Amanda Knox.

Thank you to everyone who's believed in me, who's defended me, who's supported my family. Being able to get up when you want, step in the grass when you want, she's almost kind of reborn in a way. At night, he called me up to his third floor in an empty office. He was fixated on the topic of sex. Now I realized that he was testing me to see if I reacted badly. He wanted to get a reaction or some information from me. She's developed quite the fear, a fear of people that she never had before.

How do you lock up a 20-year-old girl for four years for something that she didn't do? When he looked in the eyes of Amanda Knox, he thought that she was evil. When he looked in the eyes of Amanda Knox, he thought that she was evil. 54 mistakes in the gathering of the DNA in that room. We've got to find out why and how this happened. I lost one of my daughters for a while. It's not going gonna happen again. Amanda Knox, The Untold Story. Hot shot Australian attorney Nicola Gaba was born into legal royalty.

Her specialty? Representing some of the city's most infamous gangland criminals. However, while Nicola held the underworld's darkest secrets, the most dangerous secret was her own. She's going to all the major groups within Melbourne's underworld, and she's informing on them all. I'm Marcia Clark, host of the new podcast, Informants Lawyer X. In my long career in criminal justice as a prosecutor and defence attorney, I've seen some crazy cases, and this one belongs right at the top of the list. She was addicted to the game she had created. She just didn't know how to stop. Now, through dramatic interviews and access,

I'll reveal the truth behind one of the world's most shocking legal scandals. Listen to Informant's Lawyer X exclusively on Wondery+. Join Wondery in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And listen to more Exhibit C true crime shows early and ad-free right now. As a kid growing up in Chicago, there was one horror movie I was too scared to watch. It was called Candyman.

It was about this supernatural killer who would attack his victims if they said his name five times into a bathroom mirror. But did you know that the movie Candyman was partly inspired by an actual murder? I was struck by both how spooky it was, but also how outrageous it was. Listen to Candyman, the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder, early and ad-free, with a 48-hour plus subscription on Apple Podcasts. The welcome home signs in Seattle say it all. My family is the most important thing to me right now, and I just want to go and be with them. And Amanda Knox is doing just that,

reconnecting with family, friends, and adjusting to freedom. Her dad, Kurt Knox. We've now kind of woken up and realized that the nightmare is over. Living for four years inside a concrete and steel prison and now being able to kind of just look around, smell the air, makes a huge difference. It's almost hard to believe that days earlier, her face was filled with fear,

as Amanda Knox stood up in court with the whole world watching to deliver the most important speech of her young life. I am not what they say. In fluent Italian, she spoke forcefully and emotionally, proclaiming her innocence in the murder of her roommate, Meredith Kircher. Perversion, violence, and disrespect for life and for the person do not belong to me.

And I did not do the things they suggest I would have done. I did not kill. I did not rape. I did not steal. I was not there. I was not present in this crime. But I wasn't present in this crime. More than ten hours later, the tension was almost unbearable. A judge read the verdict. Not guilty. Amanda was quickly rushed from the courtroom.

It was the end of a long and difficult road for her family. I watched Amanda, and I saw her slump, and I went, no. And then our attorney that speaks English turned around and said, she's free. Couldn't tell you, couldn't be better. Her family had sacrificed everything to be near her. And so did one very determined best friend, 24-year-old Madison Paxton. Madison moved to Perugia last year and played a crucial behind-the-scenes role

as morale booster and confidante, as Amanda prepared for her new trial. Your spunkiness and the nature of your relationship with Amanda, you've really encouraged her to stand up and fight. Oh yeah, very much so. I remind her that you can be mad, that you should be mad, and that it's fine for you to defend yourself. Just about every Tuesday and Saturday for the past 10 months, Madison took a 15-minute bus ride and then set out on a 20-minute walk to see her best friend in prison. Her visits provided much-needed human contact during times of desolation and despair. I remember one time when I visited her and she just had an eyelash, and so of course I just brushed it off. And the letter I got from her a few days later, she wrote how much it meant to her that I brushed off her eyelash.

Just because it's like a kind, friendly, physical gesture, and that just doesn't exist for her anymore. Madison kept a video diary at 48 hours request. I don't know, she's beyond heartbroken. She's, she is depressed. She's, she's absolutely terrified. The powerful entries provide us with an inside look at what Amanda was thinking and feeling while trapped behind bars.

And Amanda, she's just like, why do people feel they have a right to make these presentations about my life when I've never met them and they don't know me? And I turned to her and I was like, babe, because you're a character to them. You're not a person, you're a character. Our investigation reveals an incredible story of how police and a powerful prosecutor twisted the evidence to fit their theory of the crime. And it started on November 2nd, 2007, with the murder of her 21-year-old British roommate. with the murder of her 21-year-old British roommate. Police say Meredith Kirscher was found partially clothed and had been left in a pool of blood with a deep cut to her throat. Amanda had no idea how quickly she would turn from witness to suspect. Her troubles began with a kiss

that would be played over and over again on Italian TV. Investigative journalist and CBS News consultant Bob Graham. And from right at the beginning, with those series of kisses, Amanda Knox was demonized in the Italian mind. Yes, it showed a callousness, it showed a disregard for this moment when her flatmate had been murdered. And if Amanda could be so cold, prosecutor Giuliano Menini thought, that meant she could also be involved. Amanda's mother, Etta Mellis, had a very different view. It's not passionate kissing. It's comforting and consoling behavior. She was devastated. You can tell she's in shock.

Ironically, Amanda's eagerness to stay in Perugia and help the police was backfiring on her. She had the opportunity on several occasions to leave the country. Her aunt in Germany phoned and said, Amanda, your mom says you should get out of the country. And she said, no, I want to stay here. I want to help solve my flatmate's murderer. Amanda was interrogated for a total of 50 hours over four days. No attorney. None of the questioning was recorded. And these are people who are trained to break mafia suspects.

Yeah, they break mafia. And here they had a little 20-year-old yoga hippie from Seattle who thought that everybody was wonderful and just wanted to go have coffee together. The brutal interrogation ended with Amanda confessing, putting herself at the scene, and implicating another person. Her boss at a local bar where she worked, Patrick Lumumba. Author Nina Burley has been studying the case. She signed a statement that says, I see myself in the house.

Patrick is with me. Patrick Lumumba, he has gone into Meredith's bedroom. And I can hear her screams. The statement Amanda signed implicated Patrick with a bizarre and awkward line. I confusedly remember that he killed her. I take offense with the word confession, because Amanda never says that she participated in the murder of her friend. She never confesses to being part of that crime, ever.

There were many troubling details about that so-called confession. But it was all the police chief of Perugia needed to arrest Amanda, Raffaele, and Patrick Lumumba for the murder of Meredith Kircher. And he had the nerve to say, case closed, we've solved this murder, that's okay if you've got the evidence. In fact, none of the forensic evidence,

including the DNA testing, had even come back. But the prosecutor insisted his gut and Meredith's near naked body told him how the murder had occurred during a drug fueled orgy. And Amanda was the ringleader. Amanda was presented as extremely attractive, having lots of sex, decided one night to act on these completely diabolical urges and bewitched two men into attacking her roommate. And the world's media ate it up. Amanda's beauty, did that play a role in all of this? World's media ate it up.

Amanda's beauty, did that play a role in all of this? It definitely tells more papers if you have two beautiful, beautiful women, and then headlines that there was some attempt at an orgy between them. To Prosecutor Menini, an orgy that led to a satanic killing. In the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Peru and New Zealand, lies a tiny volcanic island. It's a little-known British territory called Pitcairn, and it harboured a deep, dark scandal. There wouldn't be a girl on Pitcairn once they reach the age of 10

that would still have heard it. It just happens to all of us. I'm journalist Luke Jones and for almost two years I've been investigating a shocking story that has left deep scars on generations of women and girls from Pitcairn. When there's nobody watching,

nobody going to report it, people will get away with what they can get away with. In the Pitcairn Trials, I'll be uncovering a story of abuse and the fight for justice that has brought a unique, lonely Pacific island to the brink of extinction. Listen to the Pitcairn Trials exclusively on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Have you ever wondered who created that bottle of sriracha that's living in your fridge?

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The fate of Amanda Knox has always been inextricably linked to prosecutor Giuliano Menini. His worldview is evil walks on this earth. There are people in his community who are practicing occult rituals who maybe worship the devil. Nina Burley, author of The Fatal Gift of Beauty, says that the closer Menini looked at Meredith Kircher's murder... A body has been found. It's very spooky. It's the night after Halloween. The more he began to see, not only evidence, but the specter of the supernatural.

It happened on a Thursday night. That's when the witches held their Sabbath. Witches? The Sabbath? It sounds laughable, but Nina says Manini sees the face of evil everywhere. I think that when he looked in the eyes of Amanda Knox, he thought that she was evil. To Menini, a staunch Catholic with a medieval mindset, Amanda Knox was a sinner who took part in a satanic orgy that resulted in the murder of an innocent. This is ridiculous. This is absolutely insane, and it's unfounded. Amanda's friend, Madison Paxton. The claims that they put against Amanda, that she was so sexually powerful

that she could manipulate these two men who she didn't even really know, it tells you a lot more about the person making the claims than about the person those claims are made against. But Menini did not back down. Not even when he was forced to release Patrick Lumumba, who had a solid alibi. he was forced to release Patrick Lumumba, who had a solid alibi. And not even when the DNA evidence came back and seemed to exonerate Amanda and Raffaele. There is nothing in that room, out of all those 400 samples, that places Amanda or Raffaele in that room.

You can't go into a room and selectively just clean up your DNA and leave everybody else's DNA there. It's impossible. It can't be done. A bloody fingerprint found at the scene gave Menini a new suspect, Rudy Gade, an African immigrant who is known to have confronted people with a knife. He was hanging around with these students and partying with them and pretending to be like them, but he wasn't like them at all. And in order to keep up with them,

he started apparently getting involved in breaking and entering. Gaudet was tracked down, arrested, and charged with Meredith's murder. His bloody fingerprint is there. Absolutely. His footprint is there. Yep.

DNA. Absolutely. And he fled to Germany. And he admits he was there. He admits cradling her body as she was bleeding to death, feeling bad about it. So bad that he ran out of there carrying her money. He felt so bad that he went to a disco and partied. He felt so bad that he disappeared to Germany to let other people take the rap for it. That's how bad he feels.

to Germany to let other people take the rap for it. That's how bad he feels. Even with Gade in custody, Menini refused to believe that only one person was responsible. He believes deeply in conspiracies. Conspiracy is part of his investigative DNA. Menini believed he was in possession of the murder weapon, a kitchen knife,

found in the apartment of Raffaele Selecito, Amanda's boyfriend. The Roman scientific police claimed they found an infinitesimal amount of DNA on the handle related to Amanda and an infinitesimal amount of DNA on the blade relating to Meredith. infinitesimal amount of DNA on the blade relating to Meredith. All that was left for Menini was to establish a link between Rudy Gaudet, Amanda, and Raffaele. The police began pressuring Gaudet. First statement from Rudy Gaudet, Amanda had nothing to do with it. Those are his own words. Following statements, he's moving her more into the story.

He gets up and says, she did have something to do with it. She was there. And was the instigator. And was the instigator. In 2008, Gade went on trial first. He was convicted of killing Meredith Kircher and sentenced to 30 years in prison. and sentenced to 30 years in prison. Menini told the court that Gade had expressed remorse, and later, his sentence was reduced to 16 years. The stage was set.

Amanda and Raffaele's trial began in January 2009, and by then, Menini had another piece of evidence that reportedly had Raffaele's DNA on it. A piece of Meredith Kircher's bra that had been cut off by the killer. Menini barreled ahead with his prosecution, convinced that Amanda, Raffaele, and Rudy Gaudet all conspired and took part in the murder of Meredith Kircher. all conspired and took part in the murder of Meredith Kircher. And the press, Graham says, played a key role.

I don't just blame the prosecutor and the police in this. I also attribute a lot of blame to the media. They bought the lies. They helped create the perception that existed, that Amanda Knox was the she-devil and Raphael Salaschito was her slave. At nearly every turn, Amanda was losing the publicity war. After the kiss came this videotape showing Amanda shopping for quote-unquote sexy underwear a day or two after Meredith's murder, never mind that all her clothes were locked up at the crime scene. The public was fed a diet of untruths, myths, rumors, falsehoods, lies about Amanda Knox

and Raphael Salaschito. Menini spun a fantastic tale for jurors, filled with graphic details about the violent sex orgy on the night Meredith was murdered. It was made up. It was fantasy. An Italian magazine created these drawings based on Menini's theory, showing Amanda plunging a knife into Meredith. In December 2009, after a trial that lasted nearly a year, a smiling Amanda Knox walked into the court at nearly midnight, convinced the jury had seen the truth and that she'd soon be going home. She did not think for a single moment that she was actually going to be convicted. It never really fully entered into any of our minds that it could actually happen.

It's, I mean, like, she very ideally thought that the truth was enough. But the jury found a different truth. Amanda was found guilty of killing Meredith Kircher and sentenced to 26 years. Raffaele got 25 years. It's a complete miscarriage of justice, and it's a travesty to the Italian judicial system.

Amanda, trapped in an Italian prison, soon had a more immediate problem. A prison official she feared was on the prowl for sex. 48 Hours has learned just how frightening those first dark days in prison were for Amanda Knox. Right from the beginning, she was terrified that she might be sexually assaulted. Right from the beginning, she was terrified that she might be sexually assaulted. This is a letter that came to me from Amanda.

Investigative journalist Bob Graham read Amanda's letter detailing cruel manipulation and incidents of sexual intimidation. She described how a high-ranking prison administrator ordered her into his office alone at night to talk about sex. He was fixated on the topic of sex, with whom I'd done it, how I liked it, if I would like to do it with him. When I realized that he really wanted to talk to me about sex, I would try to change the subject. Amanda writes that she was particularly frightened because the administrator, quote, acted as if he was the king of the castle. Therefore, I thought he was perhaps trying to support the

prosecution's theory that she really was a sex-crazed she-devil who killed Meredith during a violent orgy. I realized that he was testing me to see if I reacted badly, to understand me personally. He wanted to get a reaction or some information from me. I did not get the seriousness of the situation. The intimidation reportedly ended after Amanda's lawyers complained. What does this letter say to you about what she's been going through? It says at a time when she was clearly traumatized by the murder of her flatmate and here she was being pressured in a prison system, a system that at least she should have had some some degree of of safety and there was this guy a senior officer in this prison now pressing her about sex

pressing her do you want to have sex with me bob graham spoke with the administrator who admitted he and amanda discussed the topic sex, but claims she brought it up. Madison Paxton says Amanda stood her ground, showing remarkable strength. It's still her life, and the only way that the prosecution wins is if she becomes some broken, bitter person who relies on the free and abundant tranquilizers

at the prison. She's never done that, and she's beyond determined to not do that. Her focus was the appeal, and she soon had a world-renowned ally. This case horrifies me. I'd like to say it shocks me, but I've seen others like it. horrifies me. I'd like to say it shocks me, but I've seen others like it. Psychologist and professor Saul Kassin is an expert on police interrogations. What you're saying to him is not on record. Your signature? On record. On his own initiative, Kassin filed a report with the Italian court on Amanda's behalf. It outlines some of the psychological reasons why Amanda could have confessed to a murder she did not commit.

Amanda Knox, like everybody, has a breaking point. She reached her breaking point. Eight or ten or twelve police officials in a tag team manner come in and interrogate her. Their goal is a confession and they're not leaving that room without it. At her first trial, Amanda told the court just how badly the Italian police had intimidated her. I was very, very scared because they were treating me so badly. I didn't understand why. They told me that I was trying to protect someone, but I wasn't trying to protect anyone. But they continued to call me a stupid liar. She's obviously in a state of grief or shock. She is accused.

She's called a liar when she denies having any involvement. She's in a foreign place, and she's being interrogated in a language in which she's not fluent. And what does that do to someone? She's confused. She's disoriented. Hour after sleepless hour passed, with no food, no water, no bathroom breaks, and no attorney. During that brutal interrogation, Amanda's mother says it was the police who first brought up the name Patrick Lumumba, Amanda's boss. They had discovered that Amanda had exchanged text with him

the night of the murder. Amanda's last message said, See you later. See you later is an American way of saying goodbye. Yeah. But in Italian, it's not, is it? No, they took that to mean, we're making an appointment to get together later tonight.

That's the way they interpreted it. They kept saying, you said this thing to Patrick, we know that you left the house, we know. I just said his name. She didn't know it at the time, but the moment she named Patrick Lumumba would seal Amanda's fate. She described it in the letter to Bob Graham. So I said, Patrick.

Nearly all the police officers leapt up. They hugged each other and would often search for Patrick. In the meantime, I just cried. I curled up into a ball and bawled my eyes out. I don't know how long I cried. I was so tired. I couldn't think. Hours later, Amanda signed that confession

that placed her in the house where Meredith was killed. I believe Amanda's confession is false. I believe Amanda is innocent. If she was there, wouldn't she have known that Patrick wasn't there? Wouldn't she have known that Rudy was there? The reason she didn't know those things is that she wasn't there. She later recanted, but it was too late. The damage done, she was officially under arrest. Three years after the murder, Amanda is ready to attack all the prosecution's evidence head on at her appeal.

The confession, the eyewitnesses, and the DNA. eyewitnesses and the DNA. You can't even put into words, as we sit here and talk to you, what it must be like for her. I mean, our lives are not on the line. Her life is. It's going to be put in somebody else's hands again. And the prosecution would not go down without a fight. Amanda Knox. With all the brouhaha over Amanda Knox, it's sometimes easy to forget the murdered woman at the centre of this case. Meredith still leaves quite a big hole in our lives.

Meredith Kircher, seen here in this music video. I'll be on my way. But Amanda's father, Kurt, says his thoughts are never far from the Kircher family. They've experienced the worst thing that a parent could ever experience at the loss of a child. You know, you can't even describe what they must be going through as well. The ordeal was still far from over for any of the families. Meredith's, Amanda's, or Raffaele Selecito's. It was back to court as Amanda and Raffaele appealed their murder convictions.

We know she's innocent. She knows that she's innocent. She's not afraid of the truth. A lot had changed in Perugia since the first trial ended. If we were to walk up to an average person here in Perugia and ask them, describe Amanda Knox, what would they say after all of this media blitz? Three years ago, everyone would have said, she is evil, she is the killer.

Now, I think you would get a pretty strong number of people who would say, well, perhaps she's not the person that we thought she was. That attitude carried into this second trial, which was presided over by a new judge. He started the appeals trial with a very clear statement, and that was, the only thing we know for certain is that Meredith Kircher is dead. True to his word, this judge asked independent experts to review the key DNA evidence in the case. What they discovered shocked most observers. 54 mistakes in the gathering of the DNA in that room.

That's shoddy work. That's appalling work. During the first trial, Prosecutor Menini had said a kitchen knife found in Raffaele's house had Amanda's DNA on the handle and Meredith's on the blade. Damning if true. Meredith Kirch's DNA was not on the blade. Not on the blade? Not on the blade. Indeed, Amanda Knox's was on the handle, but she never doubted it. And why was Amanda's DNA on the handle?

Because she cooked in Raffaele's house. Her DNA was on the handle and rye bread residue was on the blade. So obviously she had been using that knife to cut bread in Raffaele's house. residue was on the blade. So obviously she had been using that knife to cut bread in Raffaele's house. And then there was that small clasp from Meredith's bra supposedly containing Raffaele's DNA. The bra clasp, the one piece of evidence that Prosecutor Minini said definitely put Raffaele Selecito in the murder room. What happened to that piece of evidence? Again, thrown out. Thrown out. Contaminated. In this police video, crime scene technicians collect this key piece of evidence six weeks

after the murder. Using dirty gloves, they pick it up and then place the bra clasp back on the floor. Go back to the phrase, the forensics will tell us everything. And it did. And it does. There is zero evidence against Knox. And zero evidence against Selechidel. In fact, not a single text, email, or phone call has ever been found that links Amanda and Raffaele to Rudy Gaudet. I'm a vampire. I'm Dr. Who has admitted holding a blood-soaked Meredith in his arms the night of the murder. And important witnesses from the first trial appeared to be discredited this time around.

One of the biggest witnesses was a homeless guy who was a drug addict who said that he saw Amanda and Raffaele arguing, nervously standing around above the house around the time that the murder would have occurred. Well, come to find out in the appeal, this guy's a heroin addict. He could barely walk to the witness stand. The judge even stopped the questioning and basically just said, you're out of here.

I've heard enough. Take him away. Things were looking up for Amanda, but she couldn't help but worry, said her friend, Madison Paxton. As things start to slowly look better with the trial, it kind of hurts to hope because we know what it felt like the first time that they were convicted. And you have this acknowledgement in your head that's like, wow, this would actually genuinely destroy her if she was convicted again. In some ways, it's easier psychologically to be filled with despair. Does that make sense? One irony in this case is that the Italian authorities actually did a great job.

In less than three weeks, they had the person who murdered Meredith Kircher. Indeed. They arrested Rudy Gade and they had the evidence against him. Absolutely. They'd also dug a hole so deep that they couldn't get out of it. That was the problem. And pride, vanity, whatever it was, ensured they just kept digging. But Menini would not let go of his theory that Gade did not kill Meredith by himself,

but had help from Amanda and Raffaele. So as prosecutor Menini watches his case collapse around him, what does he do during the course of this appeal? He says that her sentence should be lengthened to life. Exactly. It's mind-boggling. They're not going to give it up easily. I mean, there's a reason why vendetta is an Italian word. After nearly four years in prison, Amanda was itching to get outside again. She said today, she was like, Madison, it's been three years since I've been able to walk outside past 3 p.m.

I miss walking at night. I miss stars. I miss that so much. But Amanda would never see those stars again if prosecutors had their way. In closing arguments, prosecutors dismissed all questions about their forensic evidence and stood by their witnesses. Nothing, they said, had changed. Amanda and Raffaele were still guilty of murder. What do you expect for tomorrow? I don't know.

As the verdict nears, the world's media has now descended on Fumujo. As the final act of this four-year saga came to a head, it was clear that Amanda Knox was no longer the trusting 20-year-old hippie from Seattle, but instead, a 24-year-old prisoner. A lot of people have noticed she's lost weight. There's so much concern on her face.

Are you worried? Well, of course, as a mom, you're worried. You look at her and you know she's suffering. You know she's lost weight. so much concern on her face. Are you worried? Well, of course, as a mom, you're worried. You look at her and you know she's suffering. You know she's lost weight. She tells you she can't eat, she can't sleep because of the stress. Of course, it breaks your heart to watch that as a parent and know that she's dealing with all of that.

Yeah. Just as he did with the infamous kiss, Menini, in his rebuttal, attacked Amanda and Raffaele's behavior, saying they did not react appropriately when gruesome crime scene photographs of Meredith Kircher were shown in court. You sit there and you want you want to yell out lies but you have to sit and quietly and remain composed. You watch your daughter being tortured, you know, emotionally tortured sitting there having

to listen to that stuff. How are you feeling today, Mr. Knox? But then, Raffaele and Amanda got their turn. The jurors were riveted as Raffaele removed a plastic bracelet. A hush fell over the courtroom as a visibly shaken Amanda began to speak. And if I were there that night, I would have died. Like you. The only difference is that I wasn't there. I was with Raffaele.

After thanking Raffaele for his support, Amanda addressed her so-called confession. My absolute trust in the police has been betrayed. And I'm paying with my life for things I haven't done. As she ended her dramatic speech, three jurors were in tears. I want to go home. she ended her dramatic speech. Three jurors were in tears. privata dalla mia vita dal mio futuro per qualcosa che non ho fatto perché io sono innocente e E... E... Noi meritiamo la libertà. Perché non abbiamo mai fatto qualcosa per dimeritarlo. That night, the first verdict gave everyone pause.

Guilty. Amanda had slandered her former boss, Patrick Lumumba. She was sentenced to three years, time served. Oltre rimborso forfettario, rispieze generali... But then, the verdict Amanda longed for. Assolve entrambi gli imputati dai reati loro scritti ai capi A, B, C, e D. She and Raffaele's murder convictions overturned. The emotional upheaval of her lost years was etched on her face. Her former boyfriend, Raffaele, stayed calm, as did the family of Meredith Kircher, who were in the courtroom. Meanwhile, the streets of Perugia exploded.

An extraordinary scene out here. The crowd surged forward. There was great disappointment. You can still hear some whistling. People are quite upset. Upset that she was found not guilty. It was time for Amanda to make her last trip back to prison. And this time, she had company. Sitting next to her was the boy-turned-man who had been with her on every step of this journey, Raffaele Selecito. They were actually able to both sit in one of the cars

that took them back to the prison. It kind of, to me, kind of became you're now a human being again versus you're a prisoner. Amanda was crying so much that Raffaele, you know, was telling her, we're free. You know, hey, why are you crying? At the prison, Amanda said goodbye to some of her guards, including one who showed Amanda a touch of humanity.

There was actually a female guard there that actually put money on Amanda's account one time, you know, because it was kind of that motherly thing. They're reminding me to speak in English because I'm having problems with that. She missed a lot during her four years in prison, and now that she's free, Amanda is focused once again on her future. Maybe in five years, she may be an advocate for people that have been wrongfully convicted, trying to have them feel what she felt and let it be known that there still is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Ruby Catté was released from prison in 2020. Ruby Gatay was released from prison in 2020.