Amanda Knox rose to International notoriety following the murder of her then-roommate, British student Meredith Kercher, in Italy in 2007. A 20-year-old Amanda, and her Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, would quickly become prime suspects in the savage murder, serve time in jail, and ultimately become the subjects of a gross miscarriage of justice. Knox's reputation was tainted, with thousands of Americans and Italians fighting for her to remain locked up. Perhaps an equal amount of supporters came to her defense, pointing out that the evidence was largely circumstantial and nothing concrete actually tied the young couple to the crime.

In late 2016, Knox appeared in a Netflix special, aptly titled Amanda Knox, which re-awoke the public's interest in the case. The special, which points out the flaws associated with the Italian judicial process, features Amanda candidly answering questions about her alleged lack of involvement in the murder. The interesting thing about this case, is that although there is zero physical evidence that ties Amanda to the scene of the crime, her nonchalant demeanor has always raised major suspicions...and still does.

The world seems to love a scandalous murder case (hello, O.J Simpson) and the Amanda Knox case is no different. For close to a decade, we have collectively been enthralled by the mystery and sensationalism that this case has provided. There are certainly a few things that weren't brought to our attention during the trial, so let's review The 15 Things Amanda Knox Doesn't Want You To Know.

15 Her Criminal Record Has Not Affected Her Love Life

Despite having a very dramatic past, Amanda's love life has not suffered, both in and out of prison. While she was "on the inside" she reportedly had many affairs with fellow women inmates, bragging that she was able to seduce them into doing whatever she wanted. Later, she was engaged to musician Colin Sutherland, a member of NYC based rock band The Johnny Pumps. The engagement was short-lived, and Amanda is now dating her current beau, novelist Christopher Robinson, whom she has been with for over a year. The couple live together in Seattle, where they are occasionally spotted holding hands on nights out. There has been some speculations that her honey's motives might be dishonest. He seemed to have entered the picture right when Amanda's Netflix documentary was set to air, and by the looks of it, he is happy to draw attention to himself by wearing leopard pants at the airport. Time will tell if this is a media stunt or true Knoxy love!

14 She Secretly Adores The Attention...Even The Negative Attention

It's no surprise that Amanda Knox enjoys the spotlight. From the time of her original conviction, it was clear that Foxy Knoxy was to become our generation's poster girl for passionate crimes. From late 2007, through 2009 when her first trial commenced, tabloids, TV programs and news stations broadcasted her face on the regular. Her recent "comeback" is more proof that Amanda missed being in the limelight. Maybe she's not a murderer, but she's certainly narcissistic. A visit to her personal blog gives us some insight into the "real" Amanda. She is extremely intelligent, she knows how to write and she seems to have a sense of entitlement when it comes to media attention. Amanda certainly seems to be one of those  "even bad attention is good publicity" types. She has a strange obsession with fame, even if it came at the expense of being tied up in a horrid crime.

13 She's An Atheist

Amanda recently wrote a candid blog post about her religious beliefs...or rather, her lack of belief. A very interesting account of how religion dictates how countries' are run, and a fair bit of criticism towards the new American political administration are included in her rant. Believing in science and empirical logic seems logical, but the truth is, only 3.1% of the American population consider themselves part of the "non-believer" category. Amanda points out how our views of God skew our understanding of trust and morality. She's not wrong. Perhaps her experiences in Italy, a highly religious country, affected her belief system as well. Close to 90% of Italians identify as Catholic, leaving very little room for flexibility when it comes to traditional views of crime and punishment. Her blog entries on the subject are definitely worth reading, you can find them published on her personal webpage.

12 She Has A Lot in Common With O.J Simpson

Despite some obvious differences, Amanda Knox and O.J Simpson have quite a few things in common. They were both accused of murdering someone (or some people, in O.J's case) with a knife. They were both subjected to long, media-centred trials that took the world by storm. They were also both ultimately found innocent and allowed to walk free. In O.J's case, we know he did it, and it's only slight consolation that he is behind bars now for another crime. He is scheduled to be released from prison in October, 2017, meaning that he spent almost a decade behind bars for a Las Vegas robbery. We'd like to see him go back in for his more serious crime...the murder of two innocent people.  A weird but somewhat creepy coincidence? Amanda and O.J share a birthdate of July 9th. No, this is not the grounds for a conspiracy theory, just a little factoid that is kind of bizarre and oddly creepy!

11 Rudy Guede Probably Did It

One of the strangest parts of these "celebrity" cases, is that, even when someone else is incriminated, they usually fall to the backburner. Almost no one is aware of the "third killer", Italian resident and Ivory Coast native, Rudy Guede. Guede was a small-time drug dealer who had a history of committing break-ins and robberies. His fingerprints and DNA were found at the crime scene, and he did admit to being with Meredith on the night she was murdered. Furthermore, he originally said that Amanda was not present at the apartment when he was there, and only changed his story later on to incriminate her. He claimed that he went to the washroom, and heard Meredith scream when he was using the toilet. In a panic, he allegedly ran from the crime scene after seeing Meredith on the floor, covered in blood. Of course, none of this really adds up. He was convicted of sexual assault and murder and is currently serving a 16-year prison sentence, which was drastically cut down from the original 30 years he was given. He even has the luxury of leaving prison for 36-hour periods from time to time.

10 Her Private Life Was Used Against Her

One of the most astonishing parts of the Amanda Knox trial was how the media (and even the courts!) tried to portray her as a sex-crazed sociopath. Instead of relying on empirical proof or DNA, Amanda's reputation of being a wild party girl seemed to precedence in the evidence department. The prosecuting lawyers concocted wild stories of a four-way sex party gone wrong, and focused on Amanda's history of sexual partners' to try and make their case. They zeroed in on a photo of Knox being consoled by Sollecito outside of her apartment, shortly after Meredith's body was removed. The media painted a picture of the pair making out and being overly sexual, when their actions were clearly those of a couple of traumatized 20-year-olds who just found out that someone they knew had been murdered. Prison officials also falsely claimed that she had tested positive for HIV in a desperate effort to get a confession out of her.

9 She Could've Done An Additional 28 Years of Prison

Amanda's first guilty verdict, issued by Italian courts in 2009, was a sentence of 26 years for slander, sexual assault, faking a break-in and murder. Of the 26 year sentence, she served out 4 years, up until her October 3, 2011 acquittal. She then returned to the US. However, she would be the center of a retrial that the Supreme Court of Italy commenced two years later, in 2013. She and Sollecito were again found guilty, although she never returned to Italy, and the Supreme Court's judgement was ultimately appealed in early 2015.  This sentence came with a 28 year prison stay. The pair were finally given full acquittals, and the justice system was forced to admit that the entire trial was a case of miscarriage of justice. The DNA and evidence in question all pointed to the guilt of one person, and that person is Guede. The court, as well as the investigating teams, were majorly criticized for their flawed proceedings.

8 She Was Briefly Engaged to Colin Sutherland

In early 2015, it was reported that Amanda Knox was engaged to her then-boyfriend, actor and rock musician Colin Sutherland. The pair, who are both Seattle natives, met while in middle school, prior to Amanda's connection with the Meredith Kurcher murder. Their engagement came before Amanda was fully pardoned of her second conviction by the Supreme Court of Italy, so the pair did their best to keep a low profile while dating. Allegedly, Sutherland sent Amanda letters while she was in prison, but it is not clear when the couple started dating each other. Even with her ultimate acquittal, the romance did not flourish, and the pair broke off their engagement shortly thereafter. She is now living with her current boyfriend, novelist Christopher Robinson, whom she has been dating since 2016.

7 It's Unlikely That She Will Return To Italy

Based on the way the Italian judicial system treated her, it's no surprise that Amanda has major reservations about returning to the country she fell in love with a decade ago. In many parts of Italy, Amanda is still considered a criminal, especially in the Puglia region where the crime was committed. Italian citizens and law enforcement agents alike refuse to believe that Amanda could be innocent, even with the mountains of evidence that point to her having zero involvement in the crime. Clearly, the whole situation marked Amanda and changed her life. She has publicly stated that she would never go "willingly" back to Italy after the way she was treated. She definitely falls into the category of "accidental celebrity". One of these unfortunate people who, without wanting to, become famous and have reputations that are forever marked and tainted.

6 Her Relationship With Raffaele Sollecito Was Short-Lived

Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were destined to be linked to each other, for better or for worse. When Amanda's roommate, Meredith Kurcher, was murdered on November 1, 2007, Amanda and Raffaele had only been dating for a week. Despite barely knowing each other, the pair kept in contact while they were both incarcerated for four years in Italy. Although the romance didn't continue once they were acquitted of the charges, they were a source of comfort and support for each other while they were behind bars. In the Netflix special, Raffaele is one of the first people that Amanda calls to celebrate the news of their ultimate acquittal. On the darker side of things, he has also made some negative comments about how he was only brought into this whole mess because he was Amanda's lover. He also published a book in 2013, titled Honor Bound: My Journey to Hell and Back with Amanda Knox.

5 She Was originally Interrogated For Five Days With No Interpreter or Lawyer

One of the biggest controversies of the case was the fact that Amanda and Raffaele were taken into custody and interrogated for a full five days, with no interpreter present, according to Amanda. After cracking Raffaele into saying that it was possible that Amanda had left his apartment during the night, Amanda became even more of a suspect. She later reported that the police officers present mistreated her, beat her and intimidated her, trying to coerce a confession. When the police officers told Amanda that Raffaele had turned on her, she signed a confession saying that she indeed returned to  the apartment during the night of November 1, 2007, and that Lumumba had stabbed Meredith to death in the next room. Lumumba was Amanda's coworker/boss at the bar that she worked at, Le Chic. His alibi panned out, as he was seen bartending at the bar that night.

4 Her Degree Was Never Completed in Italy

Landing in jail in another country is sure to mess with your International schooling. Amanda, who was a student at the university of Washington, went to Italy to complete a one year student exchange program towards her degree in Linguistics. With all the dramatics surrounding the murder case, her education was put on hold indefinitely. When she arrived back in the United States, she completed her degree, and set to work as  freelance writer. In 2013, she released her book, Waiting to Be Heard: A Memoir. This account of her experiences would be the basis of the 2016 Netflix special. Her life purpose and career aspirations have changed some from the time of her conviction. She is now more interested in writing about judicial injustices and works with the Innocence Project, trying to help other wrongfully accused people gain their freedom.

3 Meredith Kurcher's Family Do Not Approve of Amanda

The real victims in this whole scenario are the family and friends of Meredith Kercher. The entire trial and media sensationalism of Amanda greatly took away from the focus on the victim herself. Amanda had showed interest in visiting Meredith's grave to show her respects, an act that the Kercher family strongly opposed. Its not clear whether the family still consider Amanda guilty or not, but the murder very clearly marked their family and its understandable that Amanda will forever be linked to Meredith's death. Due to the length of the trials, and the uncertainty about who was and wasn't guilty, the family wasn't able to properly say goodbye to their daughter and lay her to rest peacefully until the ordeal was over. Totally understandable. Even after the second guilty verdict was issued, the Kercher family made a statement that they were still "searching for the truth". This indicates that even they had their reservations about the Italian judicial system.

2 Amanda's Family Supported Her Throughout Everything

Like most families, the Knox clan stuck by Amanda throughout the entire ordeal surrounding the murder of Meredith Kercher. In fact, when Amanda initially called her mother to tell her of the news, her mother urged her to flee Italy and return directly to the United States. Amanda chose to stay so that she could be there when the Kercher family arrived and to offer her sympathy (another thing that points to her innocence!). Her family consistently pointed out flaws in the case when they were interviewed on American news channels. They went to Italy to support Amanda, and never wavered on their position that Amanda was innocent. In fact, Amanda herself never changed her story, save for the false confession she signed, but that was later proven to have been the result of her just breaking down and losing all hope.

1 The Netflix Special Might Make You Think She Is Guilty

One of the strangest things about the Amanda Knox Netflix special is this: you might conclude that she is guilty, even though the evidence points to her being innocent. It's hard to explain. There is just something in her demeanor that is so...suspicious. Perhaps, though, it's the result of her having been wrongly accused of a crime she did not commit that has made her a bit...cold and apathetic. It just seems like the tears are forced and that her reactions and facial expressions are not in line with someone who went through something traumatic but was not somehow involved. I'm not sure. Watch it and see for yourself. Yes, the lack of evidence is astounding. There really is nothing that points her to the scene of the crime. But, somehow, she remains one of these mysterious ladies who might be innocent but seems to have dark secrets. Or maybe the media has really succeeded in painting her out to be a monster, when in reality she is not.

Sources: pagesix.comsheknows.comcosmopolitan.com

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