10 years after the murder of British student Meredith Kercher, who was studying abroad in Italy, her American flatmate and cleared murder suspect, Amanda Knox, has written a letter of mourning.
Kercher was just 21 when she was found dead in her bedroom of the house she shared with Knox in Perugia, Italy, on November 1, 2007.
Knox and her Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were charged and convicted of the murder. The case was widely publicised and Knox was given the name ‘Foxy Knoxy.’
She spent four years in an Italian prison before being acquitted on appeal in 2011, however, the decision was then reversed, and Knox was again found guilty. She and Sollecito were cleared for the final time in 2015.
“Ten years ago tonight, my friend was raped and murdered by a burglar when she was home alone in the apartment we shared while studying abroad in Perugia, Italy,” the letter, which was published in the Westside Seattle begins.
Knox describes the pair’s friendship as they lived together in a foreign city.
“I remember the last time I saw her, ten years ago today, slinging her purse over her shoulder and waving goodbye to me on her way out to meet up with her British friends.”
“My memories of Meredith are buried beneath the horrific autopsy photos and crime scene footage I saw, the slurs I was called, the death threats I received (and still receive), the false accusations I fought, the years of wrongful imprisonment I endured, the multiple trials and slanderous headlines that juxtaposed our names and faces, unfairly interlocking her death with my identity,” Knox wrote.
“I hate it that my memories of her are buried beneath the years of suffering Raffaele and I endured in the wake of her murder. And it’s depressing to know that mourning her comes at the price of being criticized for anything I say or don’t say today.”
“But most depressing of all is that Meredith isn’t here, when she deserves to be. She is painfully missed by everyone who loved her. I miss her, and I’m grateful for the memories of our time together.”
Read the letter in full here.
