2 May 2013

Knox proclaims innocence as Italy orders retrial

9:02 pm on 2 May 2013

Amanda Knox, the American student convicted, then acquitted, of murdering flatmate Meredith Kercher in a violent sex attack is proclaiming her innocence as an Italian court demands a retrial.

The court has overturned Ms Knox's acquittal of the British woman's murder in Perugia in 2007. The 25-year-old has yet to decide if she will return to Italy from the US for the case.

Italian prosecutors say Meredith Kercher died in a brutal sex game involving Ms Knox and her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito. The 21-year-old exchange student had been stabbed in the neck and was found on the floor of the flat in November 2007.

Amanda Knox has written a book about the case called Waiting to Be Heard and is protesting her innocence on the back of its release.

A third person, Rudy Guede, from the Ivory Coast but who was living in Italy, was convicted over the killing in a separate trial and is serving 16 years in prison.

In her only New Zealand broadcast interview, Amanda Knox told Radio New Zealand's Nine to Noon programme on Thursday that all the DNA evidence from the crime scene points to him.

"There is a lot of DNA evidence in this case and it all belongs to Rudy Guede. There is no DNA trace of me in that crime scene.

"And if I committed this murder it would be impossible for me to not leave any trace or to go back and clean up my DNA but leave copious quantities of someone else's.

Amanda Knox also defends the way she acted when Meredith Kercher's body was found.

"I was creeped out by what I experienced, by what I saw, and so I feel like my reaction was normal.

"What I understand people being confused about is as soon as Meredith's body was found how, for instance, my Italian roommate was in the driveway crying and wailing compared to me.

"I was standing there simply looking lost and being hugged by Raffaele ... and I see how that comparison is confusing to people."

Ms Knox also describes her four years spent in an Italian jail and says she knows people still think she is guilty.

"What I want is for people to judge me on the correct information and I want people to understand where I'm coming from. And I hope that in reading my book people will get a better sense of who I am as opposed to how I've been portrayed in the media so far."

No date has been set yet for the retrial and Ms Knox can't be forced to return to Italy. However, she has told overseas media that she is considering going back to face the court.