In 2007, in Perugia, Italy, American college student Amanda Knox became the prime suspect in the murder of her roommate, British exchange student Meredith Kercher. The case made headlines around the world, and the subsequent trial led to Knox being convicted of the murder alongside her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito. Yet both were innocent. So what led the Italian police to conclude that Knox was a murderer, and the pair being sentenced to over two decades of prison time? Knox, who executive produced a new scripted series about the events, The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox, first told her story in the 2016 Netflix documentary Amanda Knox. From directors Rod Blackhurst (John Wayne Gacy: Devil in Disguise) and Brian McGinn (Chef’s Table), it features interviews with Knox and Sollecito.
The documentary tells the story of the 2007 murder of Knox’s roommate, Meredith Kercher, in Perugia and the case’s subsequent investigation and trial. The documentary interviews Knox and Sollecito about the events surrounding the murder and their lives since their exoneration.
Yes, the film documents Knox’s story and her rise to notoriety after Perugia police charged her with Kercher’s murder.
In 2007 Knox was studying abroad in Perugia, Italy, where she shared an apartment with three roommates, including Kercher, a British exchange student. After spending the night with her boyfriend, Italian student Sollecito, Knox returned home to find the front door open and blood in the bathroom. Knox called the police, who found Kercher’s body in her locked bedroom, where she had been stabbed to death.
Police observed Knox as being unconcerned about the murder, which they deemed suspicious. When she was initially interviewed, police claimed Knox implicated herself and her employer, bar owner Patrick Lumumba. This led to the arrests of Knox, Lumumba, and Sollecito — who claimed he couldn’t remember whether Knox was with him the evening in question — on suspicion of murder. However, Lumumba had an alibi and was released. Soon after, the bloody fingerprints of Rudy Guede, a known burglar, were found at the scene of the crime. Guede was arrested after Knox and Sollecito, and tried for Kercher’s murder. In Knox and Sollecito’s joint trial in 2009, both were convicted and sentenced to 26 and 25 years, respectively. In 2010, an appeal led to Knox and Sollecito’s case being reexamined due to contested DNA evidence and Knox’s having been excessively interviewed by police. In 2011, both Knox and Sollecito were found not guilty. In 2015, they were exonerated.
No, it is not based on a book. However, Knox has written two memoirs based on her experiences, Waiting to Be Heard: A Memoir and Free: My Search for Meaning.
Since her exoneration, Knox has published two memoirs and has hosted a video series called The Scarlet Letter Reports, which deals with gendered public shaming. Knox is an executive producer on The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox, a scripted miniseries about her court case. She lives in Washington State with her husband and two children.
The documentary is set in Perugia, Italy, where Knox was studying abroad as an exchange student and where Kercher’s murder took place. Both of Knox’s trials also took place there as well.
