'I WANT A RELATIONSHIP'
Amanda Knox says she contacted family of murdered ex-roommate Meredith Kercher insisting ‘it could have been me’
AMANDA Knox has said that she has tried to contact the family of her murdered ex-roommate Meredith Kercher, insisting "it could have been me."
The woman, who was wrongly accused of murdering the 21-year-old Brit in Italy, said she wants a relationship with Meredith's family 14 years after her tragic death.
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She said she finds herself thinking "oh my god, it could have been me," and that she puts herself in Meredith's mum's shoes now that she is a mother herself.
In September 2007, Meredith moved to Perugia in central Italy where she was studying at the city's prestigious university.
The exchange student from Leeds University was murdered two months later.
Knox, 34, and her former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were later jailed - before eventually being released from prison in 2011.
The second conviction was overturned by the Italian Supreme Court in 2015.
And a local man, Rudy Guede, was then convicted of the murder after his DNA was found on the British girl's body and in the room where she died.
When asked if she had spoken to her former roommate's family yet, Amanda said: "No, not yet. Not yet is my sort of position because like I know that it's a complicated situation.
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"I know that at least in the past like it's unclear to me at this point how they feel about me.
"And I don't want to like force a relationship on them if it's traumatic for them.
"So I have sent messages to them through intermediaries telling them I want to have a relationship with you. I want to talk to you. And I'm waiting to see if that's something that they want too.
"I want the same thing that they want. I want to know the truth. I want to know what happened to Meredith.
"I want her to be recognised for who she was, and I want their suffering to be recognised for what it is. And I want them to get the closure that they deserve. I want that too.
"That's why I have really complicated feelings about her killer, Rudy Guede, because I've spent time in prison now too. Because he's out."
Speaking on the American podcast Call Her Daddy, Knox said that she frequently thinks about her former roommate: "'I'm especially thinking about that now that I've had a daughter because like on the anniversary of her death for the past many, many years, 14 years.
'I WANT A RELATIONSHIP'
"I've always sort of put myself in her shoes, and thinking like 'oh my god, what must it have been like? What were her last moments ever as a person. Horrible, horrible moments. Thinking 'oh my god, it could have been me'.
"And this year I couldn't help but put myself in her mum's shoes, and thinking 'oh my god, if that happened to my baby'. What do you do?
"I can totally understand how her mum would have willingly taken her daughter's place if she could, but she couldn't."
This comes as Amanda Knox blasted critics who claim she's "profiting" off the murder of former roommate Meredith Kercher, moaning that "people forget I'm a human being".
Guede was released from prison nearly a year ago after being convicted in 2008 for the killing of the 21-year-old Brit in Perugia, , in November 2007.
Knox was acquitted by the Italian supreme court in 2015 but critics have accused the now author and podcaster of using her experiences to make money.
The 34-year-old said earlier this year: "People seem to believe that there can only be one true victim.
"So my suffering is constantly compared by others - not by me – to Meredith’s.
"I’m told that I’m profiting off Meredith’s death by having a career in any way relating to my experiences. It’s all very frustrating."
Knox, who is now an activist against wrongful conviction, added: "I exist only through the lens of Meredith's murder in some people's minds.
TRAGIC MURDER
"They forget that I'm a human being with my own life and my own experiences and I've literally had nothing to do with Meredith's murder, except that I was her roommate at the time."
Guede, a drifter convicted of murdering the university exchange student, was released from jail last year.
He will finish his sentence doing community service for charities in Viterbio, near Rome.
Knox and her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were also convicted of murder but were released in 2011 following an appeal.
The Sun on Sunday previously revealed how Guede was on day release and working at a local library as we pictured him smirking while cycling to and from jail.
Guede was originally given 16 years but will serve the final years doing community service for local charities after his lawyer struck a deal with judges.
He was the only person handed a final conviction in connection to the case.
In 2010, Italy's top appeal court upheld a 16-year sentence for him in a ruling intriguingly stating that he did not act alone.
Guede will fully complete his sentence in March 2022.
Knox would be later acquitted twice of the crime after spending four years in an Italian prison.
She returned to the US after her murder conviction for the killing of Meredith was overturned.
Because Knox refused to return to Italy, she was retried and convicted again but the Italian supreme court overturned her second conviction in 2015.
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Knox now lives in with her husband and musician Colin Sutherland and has featured in a Netflix series about her case.
She also returned to Italy in 2019 to appear at a criminal justice festival, where she reportedly told the crowd “she fears more charges” despite being cleared.
HOW YOU CAN GET HELP
Women's Aid has this advice for victims and their families:
- Always keep your phone nearby.
- Get in touch with charities for help, including the Women’s Aid live chat helpline and services such as SupportLine.
- If you are in danger, call 999.
- Familiarise yourself with the Silent Solution, reporting abuse without speaking down the phone, instead dialing “55”.
- Always keep some money on you, including change for a pay phone or bus fare.
- If you suspect your partner is about to attack you, try to go to a lower-risk area of the house – for example, where there is a way out and access to a telephone.
- Avoid the kitchen and garage, where there are likely to be knives or other weapons. Avoid rooms where you might become trapped, such as the bathroom, or where you might be shut into a cupboard or other small space.
If you are a victim of domestic abuse, SupportLine is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 6pm to 8pm on 01708 765200. The charity’s email support service is open weekdays and weekends during the crisis – [email protected].
Women’s Aid provides a - available every day from 10am-6pm.
You can also call the freephone 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.
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Amanda Knox blasts move to free Meredith Kercher's killer Rudy Guede
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