{"id":3505,"date":"2018-02-01T01:44:38","date_gmt":"2018-02-01T06:44:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.pages.roanoke.edu\/?p=3505"},"modified":"2018-02-01T01:44:38","modified_gmt":"2018-02-01T06:44:38","slug":"rc-buzzes-with-excitement-as-amanda-knox-shares-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/?p=3505","title":{"rendered":"RC Buzzes With Excitement as Amanda Knox Shares Story"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written by Bradley Bommarito<\/em><\/p>\n

A harrowing story of murder, police misconduct, and false imprisonment that has captivated millions was shared with an auditorium of Roanoke College students, faculty, and community members last Wednesday night. <\/span><\/p>\n

Olin Theater was filled to capacity for one of the spring semester\u2019s most publicized events- \u201cTruth Matters: A Conversation with Amanda Knox.\u201d \u00a0The event was so popular, in fact, hundreds of people were turned away from the venue by Campus Safety officers 20 minutes before the 7:30 p.m. start time. \u00a0After introductory remarks, Knox took the stage and launched into her captivating story.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI remember the small details of that moment. \u00a0I remember how our footsteps echoed on the polished cement floor,\u201d said Knox, who began her tale with a vivid description of her incarceration.<\/span><\/p>\n

Knox was arrested on Nov. 6, 2007 in Perugia, Italy, for the murder of her flatmate Meredith Kercher and a few related charges. \u00a0She alleges that she endured physical and psychological abuse by police interrogators in the days leading to her arrest. \u00a0Without access to a translator or lawyer for most of the interrogation period, Knox was bullied into changing her story several times, thereby incriminating herself.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe controversy was so tantalizing. \u00a0The story was so good. The truth didn’t matter,” said Knox.<\/span><\/p>\n

The case became a media circus that was seen as a miscarriage of justice. \u00a0Prosecutors focused obsessively on Knox\u2019s sex life and accused her of being a drug-using \u201cshe-devil.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy sexual history was spun into a deviancy by the prosecutors and the media,\u201d said Knox. \u00a0\u201cI was depicted as such a whore, so jealous of Meredith\u2019s body that I raped and killed her for it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Prosecutors won the case based on questionable DNA and circumstantial evidence. \u00a0On Dec. 5, 2009, Knox and her boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were convicted of murder and sentenced to 26 years and 25 years in prison, respectively.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe guilty verdict felt as if suddenly I had been submerged, because I could only hear the sounds of my family weeping and ringing in my ears,\u201d said Knox.<\/span><\/p>\n

After years of fighting a foreign criminal justice system that was already biased against her, the conviction left Knox feeling crushed and empty.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t just a bitter pill to swallow,\u201d said Knox. \u00a0\u201cIt was an existential crisis. \u00a0I had to accept that the new emotional default setting of my life was sadness.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

About eight months of Knox\u2019s sentence was served in solitary confinement. \u00a0Knox was confined to her cell for 22 hours per day, released only for bathing and meals. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was tired, I was scared, and I couldn\u2019t deal with this uncertainty anymore,\u201d said Knox.<\/span><\/p>\n

She received a maximum monthly visitation allotment of 6 hours per month. \u00a0Her family stayed in Italy for various periods of time, ensuring that there was always someone for Knox to visit with. \u00a0Shortly after the trial, Knox was informed by her father that it could take years for an appeal.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe cried and he held me, and I knew I was in deep trouble because I had never seen my dad cry before,\u201d said Knox.<\/span><\/p>\n

Knox was eventually mainstreamed with other prisoners. \u00a0She spent her time writing letters to family and friends, reading books, and helping other prisoners attain literacy. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPrison is a dead environment where you become devalued. \u00a0I started reading all the existential literature, especially Camus,\u201d said Knox.<\/span><\/p>\n

After an appellate trial that began in Nov. 2010, Knox and Sollecito were found not guilty of the murder the following October. \u00a0Knox\u2019s family promptly took her back to their home in Seattle, Wa.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m thrilled to be back in the world, free to live my life,\u201d said Knox.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her legal troubles, however, did not end with the 2011 acquittal. \u00a0While Knox struggled to put her life back together, Italy\u2019s Supreme Court set aside the appeal and tried the case once again. \u00a0Ultimately, she and Sollecito were permanently acquitted on March 25, 2015 due to serious procedural mistakes and investigative misconduct.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor most people, I didn\u2019t exist before the crime happened and I didn\u2019t exist after I was acquitted. \u00a0I pay my bills and take out the trash like everyone else,\u201d said Knox.<\/span><\/p>\n

Knox is now a freelance journalist, author, and host of an upcoming television series about those who have been wrongfully convicted. \u00a0She is also a political activist that works with the Innocence Project and similar nonprofit organizations.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf I\u2019ve learned anything, you can\u2019t uncover the truth by masking reality. \u00a0The truth is complicated and messy sometimes,\u201d said Knox.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now 30 years old, she lives in a one-bedroom apartment in Seattle with her boyfriend and three cats.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou have one life, and you\u2019d be surprised by how much pain you can suffer as long as you find meaning in it,\u201d said Knox.<\/span><\/p>\n

Knox concluded her talk by thanking the audience and all those who supported her through difficult times.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI had a lot of help from my family, friends, and people like you that wanted to see me in person. \u00a0My final word- thank you,\u201d said Knox.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by Bradley Bommarito A harrowing story of murder, police misconduct, and false imprisonment that has captivated millions was shared with an auditorium of Roanoke College students, faculty, and community members last Wednesday night. Olin Theater was filled to capacity for one of the spring semester\u2019s most publicized events- \u201cTruth Matters: A Conversation with Amanda…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3506,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/knox.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3505\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brackety-ack.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}