The long-running saga of Amanda Knox, an American exchange student accused of killing her British roommate, Meredith Kercher, captivated the world and became one of the most contentious legal battles of the 21st century. The case garnered attention not only for the brutality of the crime but also for the sensationalism surrounding Knox's life and trial. What began as a gruesome murder in the Italian city of Perugia in 2007, spiralled into years of legal battles, media scrutiny, and public fascination. Despite being exonerated of the crime, Knox's legal troubles have continued to make headlines, even as late as 2024.
Here’s a comprehensive timeline of the major events in Amanda Knox's case:
Amanda Knox, a 20-year-old University of Washington student, arrives in Perugia, Italy, to study abroad. She shares a cottage with Meredith Kercher and two other Italian women. The apartment is located in a "bad" neighbourhood of the city, known for its association with drug activity.
Knox meets 23-year-old Raffaele Sollecito, a computer science student, at a classical music concert. The two begin a brief but intense relationship. Sollecito later visits Knox at her part-time job as a bartender at the Le Chic bar.
Meredith Kercher, 21, is found murdered in her bedroom. Knox returns to the apartment to find the door locked and the bathroom covered in blood. Police break down the door to find Kercher's body, with her throat slashed.
Knox, Sollecito, and the bar owner, Diya “Patrick” Lumumba, are arrested following a lengthy interrogation. Knox signs a confession stating that Lumumba killed Kercher, but her defence later claims she was coerced into making the statement.
A knife with traces of Kercher’s DNA on the blade and Knox’s DNA on the handle is found at Sollecito’s home, adding to the prosecution’s case.
Rudy Guede, a 20-year-old Ivorian student, is arrested after his DNA is found at the crime scene. Guede claims to have had consensual sex with Kercher but denies killing her. He later becomes the only person convicted of the murder.
The clasp, retrieved from Kercher’s room nearly seven weeks after the murder, bolsters the prosecution’s assertion that the suspects engaged in a dangerous sex game with Kercher. The discovery also supports the defence’s criticisms of a sloppy investigation and contaminated crime scene.
Guede is sentenced to 30 years in prison after choosing a "fast-track" trial, while Knox and Sollecito are ordered to stand trial for the murder of Meredith Kercher.
After 14 months in jail, the trial of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito begins. The court allows media coverage but bans live television broadcasts. The trial becomes an international spectacle.
Knox testifies that she spent the night of the murder at Sollecito's house, where they smoked marijuana, made love, and slept. She refutes the claim that she and Kercher didn’t get along and asserts that her confession was coerced by police.
Guede testifies against Knox and Sollecito during his separate appeal, claiming that he saw the two arguing with Kercher before an unidentified man killed her.
At the conclusion of a trial that saw more than 50 hearings and dozens of witnesses called, the defendants are convicted of Kercher’s murder. Knox is sentenced to 26 years in prison, and Sollecito receives a 25-year sentence. Additionally, the two are ordered to pay more than $7 million to Kercher’s family, and Knox is ordered to pay Lumumba around $60,000 for defamation.
Knox and Sollecito’s appeal opens with Guede testifying against his former two co-defendants. He also denies a claim by another convict that Guede had confided to him that Knox and Sollecito were innocent.
Two court-appointed experts testify that the key evidence, such as the knife and the bra clasp, is unreliable or contaminated, further undermining the prosecution’s case.
In a dramatic turn, an Italian appellate court overturns the convictions of Knox and Sollecito, citing flaws in the evidence and the handling of the case. The two are freed, and Knox’s emotions spill over as she is released from prison.
Italy’s Court of Cassation orders a retrial for Knox and Sollecito, reopening the case after the appeals court had overturned their convictions. Knox voices her frustration, calling the decision unfair.
The retrial begins in Florence without Knox and Sollecito in attendance. Knox, legally in the United States, is relieved she doesn’t face extradition unless the court ruling is upheld.
The Florence court reconvicts Knox and Sollecito, increasing Knox's sentence by two-and-a-half years. The decision is met with disappointment from Knox, who is in Seattle, and anger from Sollecito, who is in Italy.
The Court of Cassation finally puts an end to the case by fully exonerating Knox and Sollecito of the murder of Meredith Kercher. Knox expresses her relief and gratitude, but she is still left with the stigma of the years-long ordeal.
The European Court of Human Rights orders Italy to pay Knox more than $20,000 for her unlawful detention and harsh interrogation methods during the investigation. Knox expresses her gratitude for the ruling, advocating for reforms in police interrogation procedures.
Despite her earlier exoneration, Knox faces another legal battle in 2024 when she is reconvicted of slander. The charges stem from her initial false confession during her interrogation, where she wrongly accused her boss, Patrick Lumumba, of being involved in the murder. Although the conviction is separate from the Kercher case, it keeps Knox in the headlines. A panel of judges and jurors finds her guilty of slander, delivering a blow to her hopes of fully clearing her name.
Amanda Knox faces a final opportunity to clear her name of the last remaining criminal allegation when Italy's highest court hears her appeal on Thursday regarding a slander conviction. This conviction stems from Knox’s false accusation against a Congolese bar owner, Patrick Lumumba, during the investigation into the 2007 murder of her British flatmate, Meredith Kercher.
Knox’s defence team has argued that she was coerced into making the accusation during long hours of intense interrogation, without access to a lawyer and with misleading information provided by the police. The European Court of Human Rights had previously ruled that Knox’s rights were violated during this process, and the new trial was ordered as a result.
Despite the arguments in her favour, Lumumba, who was falsely implicated by Knox, made it clear that he hopes the slander conviction remains intact. Speaking outside Italy's Cassation Court, he expressed his belief that the conviction "should stay with her for the rest of her life."
Both sides presented their arguments during a two-hour hearing, and although deliberations are set to begin shortly, the court’s final verdict remains uncertain. The ruling will likely bring a close to the highly publicised 17-year legal saga that began with the brutal murder of Meredith Kercher in Perugia in November 2007. Knox and her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were convicted of the crime, only to have their convictions overturned and later reconvicted, before finally being fully exonerated by Italy’s highest court in 2015.
Knox, now watching the verdict unfold from her home, has expressed that she is “confident and respectful of the justice system.” Her lawyer, Carlo Dalla Vedova, told reporters that she remains hopeful, adding that Knox believes “this story will end today.”
In a recent episode of her podcast, Labyrinths, Knox shared her frustration with living under the shadow of a crime she did not commit: “I hate the fact that I have to live with the consequences for a crime I did not commit,” she said.
While the slander conviction does not carry any additional jail time for Knox—having already served nearly four years during the investigation and initial trials—her defence remains focused on exonerating her of all criminal wrongdoing. “Living with a false conviction is horrific, personally, psychologically, emotionally,” she explained on her podcast. “I’m fighting it, and we’ll see what happens.”
Knox, who returned to the United States in 2011 after her release following an appeal in Perugia, has since become a vocal advocate for those wrongfully convicted. She hosts a podcast with her husband and is preparing to release a memoir titled Free: My Search for Meaning.
Despite the ongoing legal battles, Knox’s case has remained in the public eye, and the final ruling on her slander conviction could put a decisive end to the saga. The implications of the verdict will not only affect Knox personally but could also further illuminate the broader issues surrounding wrongful convictions and police misconduct in high-profile cases.
In a final twist to this complex and tragic story, Patrick Lumumba, the man wrongfully accused by Knox, has emphasised that Knox has never apologised to him for the harm caused by her false accusation. Lumumba’s life and business were irreparably affected by the accusation, and he relocated to Poland with his wife.
