While Amanda Knox and her co-defendant Raffaele Sollecito were acquitted last week of the 2007 murder of Meredith Kercher, she now says that there is no happy ending to her story.
Amanda Knox spent almost four years in Italian prison, finally returning home to Seattle in 2011, but even then her fight was not over.
In an open letter to the Seattle Times, Amanda Knox described being “almost entirely lost” at times during her fight. She spoke of “so many years of trial and uncertainty.”
But her own ordeal is not what bothers her the most about the whole situation.
“I am acutely aware, however, that this story does not have a happy ending. Unlike a wrongful conviction, which can be overturned, nothing will ever bring Meredith Kercher back to her family and loved ones.”
Because she feels she has been given a new lease on life, but knows the weight of her story, Amanda Knox vows to use her freedom to help others.
“Whatever the future holds for me, I know that I must give back. I survived because my dear family gave up their lives to be with me in Italy, because scores of friends donated their resources, because my lawyers worked tirelessly to bring attention to the evidence that exonerated me, because strangers — from world-renowned DNA experts to former FBI crime-scene investigators to everyday citizens — saw the injustice in my case and spoke out, and because kind residents of Seattle gave me jobs to help me financially while I tried to clear my name. I will do everything I can to pay forward all everyone has done for me.
“I am all too aware of how lucky I am to have received such strong support. I am also aware that countless other wrongfully convicted persons do not have such support. I will work to give a voice to those individuals. I will do this because I know how a wrongful conviction can destroy one’s life and because we best honor crime victims by ensuring that the actual perpetrators are brought to justice.”