In what feels like an endless series of plot twists related to this case, Amanda Knox‘s legal saga in Italy continues. The American, who became a household name 17 years ago when she was accused of murdering her British roommate Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy, just lost her latest appeal in an Italian court. 2z15v

In 2007, Knox was a 20-year-old exchange student living her best study abroad life in Perugia when her world turned upside down. Her roommate, Meredith Kercher, was tragically found murdered in their shared apartment. Knox and her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were accused of the crime in what prosecutors bizarrely described as a “sex game gone wrong.”

What followed was a complex set of legal reversals that would test anyone’s resilience. Knox and Sollecito were initially convicted in 2009, then acquitted on appeal in 2011. And just when Knox thought she could finally enjoy a decent cup of Seattle coffee again, Italy’s highest court ordered a retrial. I bet you’ll never guess what happened next. They were found guilty again in 2014, but—shock, horror—the Supreme Court of Italy overturned their convictions in 2015, citing “stunning flaws” in the investigation.

How does this new verdict affect Amanda Knox? z1i1e

At this point, you might be wondering, “If she was exonerated, why is she back in Italian court">Labyrinths, Knox says the slander conviction still disturbs her. For some, she believes, it’s “proof that I am a liar…and that I’ve never told the full truth about what happened to Meredith.” Knox has been perma-cast as a supervillain when all she wants is to rebrand.

As Knox’s legal team prepares for another potential appeal, one thing’s apparent: her story is far from over. In an era where true crime dominates our streaming services, Knox’s story remains one of the most gripping—and polarizing—narratives of our time. It’s a sobering reminder that in the court of public opinion, verdicts can linger long after the gavel falls.

Certain crimes etch an enduring impression on public consciousness. Lingering in memory for years, these cases thrust everyone involved into the spotlight, transforming them from anonymous figures into unforgettable names. The 2007 murder of Meredith Kercher in the university town of Perugia, Italy, is a prime example. Beyond rattling public sentiment across three countries, the media spectacle around the suspects almost eclipsed the memory of the victim.

In the lineup of suspects, one name dominated the headlines like no other. Hailing from Seattle, Amanda Knox found herself initially convicted of murder alongside her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito. Her journey became a widely publicized legal battle that culminated in her acquittal and freedom. However, well before that resolution, the case took on international proportions. Her figure became a focal point for media scrutiny, casting an overpowering shadow that penetrated the courtroom throughout the trial.

A 21-year life undone 5o2a4x

Meredith Kercher, born in Southwark, South London in December 1985, was just 21 when she was tragically murdered. A student of European politics and Italian language at the University of Leeds, her ion for Italy landed her in Perugia in 2007 as an exchange student. In her shared cottage apartment lived two Italians, Filomena Romanelli and Laura Mezzetti, and an American, Amanda Knox.

On the night of Nov. 2, 2007, Meredith Kercher suffered a brutal demise in her own home. Her lifeless body, partially undressed, was discovered in her room. Investigations uncovered a horrifying sequence of events — she had been ruthlessly stabbed 50 times, sexually assaulted, and violently beaten. Her death allegedly resulted from a vicious throat cut inflicted with a sharp knife. The autopsy report suggested she may have been held by the neck and threatened with a knife to her throat. The police, describing the crime scene as shocking, found her in a pool of blood.

Amanda Knox, Meredith Kercher’s roommate and friend, later told the police about the open front door and dried blood she spotted upon returning home the next morning. But it was her boyfriend at the time, Raffaele Sollecito, who sounded the alarm. Soon after the body was found, Knox and Sollecito were taken into custody as the main suspects.

An (almost) certain sentence 6k2n71

In the early stages of the investigation, Knox initially placed herself at Sollecito’s home during the tragedy. However, she later changed her story, asserting that she was at her place and had heard Patrick Lumumba, the owner of the bar where she worked, assaulting her roommate. Then she revised her once again, blaming investigators for pushing her into that version. Lumumba, with a solid alibi, walked free after spending two weeks in prison. He later pursued legal action against Knox for libel.

Soon after the murder, Knox and Sollecito were arrested. Knox’s foggy story was dismissed as dishonest, while Sollecito found himself tied to the crime with his DNA on the victim’s bra and a bloody Nike footprint near the body. A 6½-inch kitchen knife discovered at his place also raised suspicions, bearing both Knox and Kertcher’s DNA.

“My statements […] were made under the pressures of stress, shock, and extreme exhaustion. Not only was I told I would be arrested and put in jail for 30 years, but I was also hit in the head when I didn’t a fact correctly,” justified Amanda Knox in her media statement on Nov. 6.

A new figure emerged in the murder case soon after: Rudy Guede, 20, Ivory Coast native, whose palm print was found on a pillow at the crime scene, as well as his DNA on the victim’s body and in the bathroom. Among the trio, he was the sole confessor to being in the house that night, consistently claiming that an unidentified assailant took the girl’s life while he was away from the room.

Closing the first chapter of investigations and court hearings on July 11, 2008, prosecutors charged Knox, Guede, and Sollecito with murder. Guede got a guilty verdict and a 30-year sentence, later trimmed to 16 years on appeal in 2009.

Fast forward to 2009, when Knox and Sollecito faced their first trial. The media circus ensued, with global reporters flooding the courtroom. Outside, crowds gathered with posters in hand. The jury ultimately pronounced both guilty on all counts, with Knox receiving a 26-year sentence and Sollecito 25 years. Applause reportedly echoed from the crowd outside upon hearing the sentence.

A legal rollercoaster 121522

In 2014, the sentence appeared rock-solid, immune to change. However, in a surprising turn of events the Italian Supreme Court completely overturned the verdict merely one year later. In March 2015, both Sollecito and Knox were absolved of all charges and set free. The entire sentence, as per the court’s perspective, was whimsical. The judge concluded that forensic investigations were marred by serious missteps and glaring errors, rendering the accusations inissible.

Securing a victory in a European Human Rights Court case against the Italian government, Knox was awarded £16,000 in reimbursement for the unfair treatment she endured during investigations. Reaffirming her stance, she insisted that Italian police exerted pressure and neglected proper procedures. She also reiterated being slapped by cops, although this allegation has never been substantiated.

“I was interrogated for 53 hours over five days, without a lawyer, in a language I understood maybe as well as a ten-year-old. When I told the police I had no idea who had killed Meredith, I was slapped in the back of the head and told to ‘!,” she shared on her blog.

Raffaele Sollecito also found full exoneration from the murder charges after spending almost four years behind bars. Despite seeking £400,000 to offset his legal costs, he received no compensation due to the perceived inconsistency and falsehoods in his early statements during the investigation.

Rudy Guede stood as the sole person convicted in the case, as per the judicial truth, for single-handedly killing Meredith Kercher after a sexual assault. In 2021, he was granted permission to complete the remainder of his sentence through community service.

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17 years have come and gone, and Amanda Knox has long been a free woman. But what’s she been up to lately?

Behind bars, Amanda Knox dreamt of freedom, family, and a career – dreams she’s now living. Since her 2011 return home, she has partnered with the Innocence Project, striving to address wrongful convictions. Beyond advocacy, Knox has ventured into journalism, authoring the memoir Waiting to Be Heard, and hosting the podcast “The Truth About True Crime with Amanda Knox.” In 2020, she married activist and poet Christopher Robinson, and the couple expanded their family with the arrival of two children.

Despite securing her freedom, Amanda Knox still grapples with the lingering impact of the 2007 case. She’s immersed in a legal battle to overturn the slander conviction tied to wrongly accusing Perugia bar owner Patrick Lumumba. Active on social media and in the press, Knox consistently addresses the wrongful conviction and its profound impact on her life and relationships. In a 2016 Netflix documentary, she reflected on how the case has molded her character. Skepticism about her innocence persists among many.

As she recites in the documentary opening: “Either I’m a psychopath in sheep’s clothing, or, I am you.”

Two subjects of true-crime controversies have spoken out about the true-crime trend in media. In the 1990s, Vili Fualaau was sexually abused by his late teacher, Mary Kay Letourneau, and around 2009, Amanda Knox was involved in an Italian murder case that saw the American student convicted twice, but then acquitted.

Fualauu’s true-crime critique, speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, comes amid director Todd Haynes’ 2023 film May December, based on Fualaau and Letourneau’s relationship. Letourneau, who died from cancer in 2020, sexually abused Fualaau for years in the 1990s when Fualauu was Letourneau’s teenage student. Fualauu and Letourneau married and had children together. They were divorced when Letourneau died, but at his ex-wife’s request, Fualauu visited his former teacher on her deathbed.

May December producers have said their film is inspired by the Letourneau story but called it a “jumping off point,” not the true story of Fualauu and Letourneau’s relationship. Having seen the film, Fualauu told THR:

“I’m offended by the entire project and the lack of respect given to me — who lived through a real story and is still living it … If they had reached out to me, we could have worked together on a masterpiece. Instead, they chose to do a ripoff of my original story.”

via The Hollywood Reporter

Amanda Knox spoke out on X 1i4u3n

In the aftermath of Vili Fualauu’s 2023 comments regarding Haynes’ film May December, Amanda Knox, whose ordeal in Italy stemming from the 2009 murder of British student Meredith Kercher inspired the 2021 Matt Damon film Stillwater, shared the THR story on X, and said she ed Fualauu’s position. Knox was studying with Kercher in Italy, and Kercher’s murder case captured headlines around the world as Knox was convicted twice for the crime. She was finally acquitted after several appeals.

In her post sharing the THR article, Knox wrote:

“It’s the entitlement that really gets me. The feeling that someone else’s life, their mistakes, their trauma, their STORY is just free for the taking because it was in the news. This happened to me back in 2021 with the film Stillwater.“

via Amanda Knox/X

In her X thread, Knox added she’s invited Damon and the Stillwater producers to debate the ethics of fiction based on true-crime stories, but no one accepted, she said, adding:

“I haven’t seen May December, and I withhold any judgment about its merits as a film. I also am not offering any opinions about Mary Kay Letourneau or Vili Fualaau. However, you morally judge them is beside the point.”

via Amanda Knox/X

As Knox points out in her thread, similar points were made about Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, the hit 2022 dramatized Netflix series about the infamous Milwaukee serial killer. Several living relatives of Dahmer’s victims spoke out at that time about the content of the show, according to The Guardian.

The Lifetime Network is known for its inspiring made-for-TV movie dramas. The network has been retelling these stories since the 1980s and has hundreds of movies in its catalogs. We scanned the archives to find the best of the bunch and compiled the 10 best Lifetime movies based on true stories.

The Gabby Petito Story 23bc

When beautiful young Gabby Petito — who was enjoying van life with her fiance, Brian Laundrie — simply disappeared, friends and family frantically searched for answers. And as she had been documenting her journey on social media, it seemed the entire nation became invested in her story and her whereabouts. Then, when it was revealed that her fiance was behind her disappearance, things took a very dark turn.

The Gabby Petito Story captured all the intense storylines around the case. The movie featured Skyler Samuels as Gabby Petito, and Brian Laundrie was played by Evan Hall. This portrayal of the true-life tragedy of Gabby Petito is a must-watch for any true crime aficionado and is sure to leave you on the edge of your seat.

Murdaugh Murders: The Movie 2x2i2s

The downfall of the Murdaugh family is too shocking to be believed. The Murdaughs first made headlines with a boating accident in 2019. The youngest Murdaugh son Paul was found to be responsible for the death of 19-year-old Mallory Beach, resulting in a scandal that rocked the family’s good name.

When all was said and done the patriarch of the family, Alex Murdaugh, would stand convicted for the murder of his wife and son. He would also face legal charges for massive fraud of his clients through his law firm. The premiere of Lifetime’s Murdaugh Murders: The Movie has been much anticipated by the public. With Bill Pullman playing Alex Murdaugh, we know we are in for a riveting reenactment. The movie is said to go behind the scenes of the real case with a never-before-seen perspective and details.

Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story 5a3yz

In a true testament to the human spirit, Homeless to Harvard tells the story of Liz Murray, whose parents were drug addicts with mental health issues that often left her and her sister in deplorable states of neglect, ultimately resulting in homelessness. Somehow through it all Murray was able to not only get into college, but make it into one of the most prestigious universities in the world.

The Lifetime portrayal features Thora Birch as Liz Murray with Kelly Lynch as her mother, Jean Murray, and has the real Liz Murray make a cameo appearance as a social worker. Murray became an author and speaker and has even been featured on Oprah.

The Story of Natalee Holloway 6h2g1i

The Natalee Holloway case became a cautionary tale for high school and college students the world over. Natalee was an Alabama high school graduate bound for college and a future career in medicine. She had her whole life to look forward to, when suddenly during her graduation trip to Aruba, she simply disappeared. The last person to see her alive was a young Dutch national, Joren Van DerSloot. He would become known as one of the most notorious criminals worldwide.

The Lifetime movie The Story of Natalee Holloway tells the story of America’s missing daughter, played by Amy Gumeneck, and her mother Beth Holloway, played by Tracy Pollen. The movie captures the emotional roller coaster of court systems and media that Beth and her family experienced to try to find their daughter, and distills the essence of the Natalee Holloway case and how her legacy lives on through her mother’s determination.

Amanda Knox: Murder On Trial in Italy 12h1g

Lots of students take advantage of their time in college to study abroad and see the world. Amanda Knox was one such student, although most students don’t find themselves at the center of a worldwide investigation and scandal at the end of their study abroad experience. Knox would find herself on trial for the murder of her friend and roommate in Italy, Merideth Kercher, in this Lifetime Original.

With Hayden Panettiere as Amanda Knox and Marcia Gay Harden as her mother, Edda Mellas, the Hollywood heavy hitters certainly drew extra attention to the made-for-TV movie, but the case itself was already quite infamous. Knox was accused of murdering her roommate in a sex game gone wrong and was convicted of the crime twice (she has since been acquitted). Amanda Knox: Murder On Trial in Italy follows her ordeal that began with Italian olive field daydreams and ended in Italian jail cell nightmares.

Drew Peterson: Untouchable 45486u

In the true-life tale of what happens when good cops go bad, the Drew Peterson story shocked the nation with this law enforcer’s criminal disregard for human life and the law. Peterson was an Illinois cop who became the prime suspect in the disappearance of his third wife and the eventual murder of his fourth wife. The story follows how the cop was “protected by his own” and allowed to get away with murder. He eventually was caught however and his heinous crimes were brought to light. But despite his arrest and trial, Peterson believed and proclaimed himself to be “untouchable.”

The reenactment drew big Hollywood names, with Rob Lowe playing Peterson and Kaley Cuoco playing his fourth wife Stacy Peterson. Lowe perfectly depicts the real Peterson’s eerily calm, callous, and almost mocking demeanor. Cuoco also captures the essence of his former wife Stacy, whose disappearance still leaves a hole in the community and in the hearts of those who loved her.

Bad Romance: The Vicky White Story 694o5g

In one of the most unbelievable true crime stories ripped from the headlines, Bad Romance follows prison guard Vicky White’s forbidden romance with inmate Casey White. The events would culminate in the corrections official’s complicity in the inmate’s escape. In a story of forbidden romance, manipulation, crime, and love on the run, The Vicky White Story is one you will not want to miss.

The movie stars Wendi McLendon-Covey as Vicky with Rossif Sutherland (half-brother of Kiefer Sutherland) as Casey White. It tells the story of not only how the romance began but all the details and planning behind one of the most notorious escapes in history.

Abducted: The Carline White Story 1z1p3n

The Carline White story made headlines as one of the few missing children cases that was actually solved. In the unbelievable true story, White solved her own kidnapping case after realizing she was the infant taken from a Harlem hospital in 1987. She was reunited with her parents, 23 years after her kidnapping.

Abducted: The Carline White Story stars Keke Palmer as Carline White with Sherri Shepard as Joy White and Aunjuanue Ellis as Ann Pettway. In a true story of human resilience and the bonds of love, White’s arduous journey to self discovery had us captivated from beginning to end.

Jodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret 655zt

Love hurts, and sometimes kills. In the shocking true story of Jodi Arias, convicted murderer of Travis Alexander, a case of unrequited love has disastrous consequences. Arias and Alexander were tied in a strange web of love, religion, and sex that ended with Travis being stabbed 30 times, shot, and having his throat slit.

Physical proof, pictorial evidence taken by Arias herself, and a variety of other factors eventually led to her conviction. The Lifetime portrayal has Tania Raymonde playing the bombshell seductress Jodi Arias, with Travis Alexander being played by Jesse Lee Soffer. The movie follows Arias and Alexander’s tumultuous romance, entanglement, and eventual criminal ending. It also explores components of Arias’ trial and conviction.

I Am Elizabeth Smart 4vs2c

The name Elizabeth Smart is well-known the world over. After being kidnapped from her home at the age of 14 and held captive for nine months, Smart’s amazing return and recovery continue to amaze the public. Smart was a young, quiet girl belonging to a religious family who disappeared from her bed on the night of June 5th, 2002. An extensive search for the girl immediately ensued but it would be nine long months until her family would know the truth. Smart was taken by deranged former criminal and self-proclaimed religious leader Brian David Mitchell and his wife Wanda Eileen Barzee. The couple wanted to include Smart as an additional wife for Mitchell. Smart’s unbelievable escape allowed her to return to her family and tell the tale of her kidnapping.

I Am Elizabeth Smart does have an actor portray Elizabeth, yet viewers get a glimpse of the real Elizabeth Smart herself as she not only makes cameos but is also the narrator of her own story. Alana Boden plays Smart in the reenactments with Skeet Ulrich playing Brian David Mitchell. Her horrific experience and incredible escape make for the stuff of engrossing fiction, but Smart’s story is all too real.

This current trend of true crime, both in fictional and documentary form, shows no signs in letting up in Netflix’s latest outstanding film, Amanda Knox. Of all the massively popular examples of this genre, most notably the podcast Serial and Netflix’s series Making a Murderer, this movie is the most aware of its place within this cultural landscape, and therefore takes on a perspective that is as much about the murder case itself as it is about the media circus that surrounded it, calling into question the audience that hungers for sensational stories as enablers of the types of injustice that occurred here. We’re introduced to the subject, Amanda Knox herself, right away through narration that seems scripted (it might not be for all I know), in which she states plainly what has become the tagline for Netflix’s promotional campaign: “Either I’m a psychopath in sheep’s clothing, or I’m you.” The film doesn’t really hide whose side it’s on, and the outcome of the case’s long trial and appeal process is public knowledge, so there’s not as much of a question of “did she do it” the way there is with someone like Adnan Syed (if you’re like me and block out news stories like this, it still unfolds in a way that keeps you guessing, which is nice. Like a long overdue reward for not watching CNN). The details at the center of the story are that Meredith Kercher was a visiting British student killed in Perugia, Italy in 2007, and Amanda Knox, who was her roommate at the time, was charged and convicted of the murder along with her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito. The news that a young American woman was accused of murdering a young British woman in Italy is apparently a story that tabloid media thrives on, and thus the case became an international phenomenon. Providing perspective on the story in portrait-style talking head segments are three other key figures involved at the time: Sollecito himself, Nick Pisa, a reporter who became famous for sensational headlines and publishing Knox’s prison diary, and Giuliano Mignini, the local prosecutor who investigated the case. The candidness with which all four of these interviewees speak is remarkable. They’re all fascinating characters to observe, and one of the joys of this movie is seeing them reveal themselves as it goes along. The highlight of all of it has to be Pisa’s beautiful, detailed description of what the job of a good, professional journalist entails, spoken with absolute bafflement at the fact that people expected him to live up to these standards. It’s reminiscent of Errol Morris’ achievement in getting Donald Rumsfeld to expose himself and all his hypocrisies in The Unknown Known. In fact, there’s a lot of Morris in this movie’s style, from the Philip Glass-like score that draws us into a trance-like state of bewilderment and fascination, to the direct address style of the talking heads, who are framed and lit like moving portraits, every detail of their faces so clear that any hint of deceptiveness is as plain as their noses. The retrospective nature of it has a Thin Blue Line feel, but is also an important facet of what it’s trying to depict in regards to the immediacy of news cycles and desperate need for media to seek out whatever salacious details they can rope viewers in with. There’s no doubt that Morris has spawned a generation of documentarians emulating his style of filmmaking, but this is probably the strongest imitation there has been to this point. If it ended with imitation it would be a noble effort, but the movie takes this demonstrably gripping mode and infuses it with beautifully devastating critiques of the Italian justice system specifically but also justice systems in general, given the current genre it recognizes it belongs to. It shows that this type of injustice doesn’t only happen in America, although there is a certain Americanness to the way the law can be influenced by cultural reactions. To the Italian system’s credit, they did rule against what seemed to be the wishes of the Italian populace, of which the film interestingly decides to include footage. The prosecutor is given enough metaphorical rope to hang himself when he proclaims his certainty of Knox’s guilt because he believes he can see it in her eyes. Fortunately, that’s not enough to maintain a guilty verdict in the Italian courts. The retrospective aspect of the documentary is all a part of its clear mandate of seeking truth rather than views or clicks. Amanda Knox’s story is no longer a timely one, but the distance that we have from it is what allows for a deeper look, and one that has implications on today’s media landscape, whether it’s in the realm of sensational crime reporting or presidential campaign coverage. For sheer craftsmanship and watchability alone, Amanda Knox is a must-see offering on Netflix; for its exposure of the workings of justice systems and media culture, it’s an essential piece of work worth sharing and discussing.

Suspect her? Or believe her? That’s the question posed to you, I and all other Netflix subscribers with the first duelling teasers for documentary Amanda Knox. Pegged for a world premiere at Toronto International Film Festival, co-directors Rod Blackhurst and Brian McGinn are the brains behind the feature, one that will chronicle the Amanda Knox case “from the inside out.” In doing so, the filmmakers have opened up access to never-before-seen archival material, along with interviews with the key people involved in the case that gained notoriety circa 2007. Amanda Knox, her former co-defendant and ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, Italian prosecutor Giuliano Mignini and Daily Mail reporter Nick Pisa are all among the interviewees on board, and today’s first snippets tee up the allegations made against Knox almost a decade ago. For the uninitiated, she was twice convicted and twice acquitted by Italian courts of the brutal killing of her British roommate Meredith Kercher under questionable circumstances, and while it doesn’t fall into the same bracket per se, Netflix will no doubt have one eye on Making a Murderer as a bar to potentially sur. After premiere at TIFF 2016 tomorrow, September 9, Amanda Knox will then open against Marvel’s Luke Cage on September 30. It’ll be catering for a totally different audience, as the teasers below prove, but it’ll be fascinating to see how Netflix subscribers take to Blackhurst and McGinn biting documentary. Mette Heide (India’s Daughter) is attached to produce.