Free Knox heads to US
Source: Agencies |
October 5, 2011, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
AMANDA Knox headed home to the United States a free woman yesterday, the morning after an Italian appeals court dramatically overturned the American student's conviction of sexually assaulting and brutally slaying her British roommate.
The Italy-US Foundation, which has championed Knox's cause, said she departed shortly after noon from Rome's Leonardo da Vinci Airport on the way to London, from where she will catch a connecting flight to the US.
The 24-year-old Knox, who was returning to Seattle, arrived at the airport in a Mercedes with darkened windows and waited for boarding inside a private waiting area.
Back in Perugia, the family of slain British student Meredith Kercher remained stunned by the verdict and searching for answers.
"It was a bit of a shock," said Stephanie Kercher, the victim's older sister. "It's very upsetting ... We still have no answers."
Lyle Kercher, a brother, said the family is still trying to understand how a decision that "was so certain two years ago has been so dramatically overturned."
Lyle Kercher said the family has been left to wonder who is guilty in the 21-year-old Kercher's death after the release of Knox and her one-time boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito on appeal. A third man has been convicted in the brutal slaying, however his trial concluded he did not act alone.
Prosecutor Giuliano Mignini expressed disbelief at the verdict, and vowed an appeal to Italy's highest criminal court. "Let's wait, and we will see who was right. The first court or the appeals court," Mignini said yesterday.
Knox and Sollecito were convicted in 2009 of sexually assaulting and murdering Kercher, a British student who shared an apartment with Knox in Perugia. Knox was convicted to 26 years, Sollecito to 25.
Both had been in prison since November 6, 2007, four days after Kercher's body had been found at the apartment.
The Italy-US Foundation, which has championed Knox's cause, said she departed shortly after noon from Rome's Leonardo da Vinci Airport on the way to London, from where she will catch a connecting flight to the US.
The 24-year-old Knox, who was returning to Seattle, arrived at the airport in a Mercedes with darkened windows and waited for boarding inside a private waiting area.
Back in Perugia, the family of slain British student Meredith Kercher remained stunned by the verdict and searching for answers.
"It was a bit of a shock," said Stephanie Kercher, the victim's older sister. "It's very upsetting ... We still have no answers."
Lyle Kercher, a brother, said the family is still trying to understand how a decision that "was so certain two years ago has been so dramatically overturned."
Lyle Kercher said the family has been left to wonder who is guilty in the 21-year-old Kercher's death after the release of Knox and her one-time boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito on appeal. A third man has been convicted in the brutal slaying, however his trial concluded he did not act alone.
Prosecutor Giuliano Mignini expressed disbelief at the verdict, and vowed an appeal to Italy's highest criminal court. "Let's wait, and we will see who was right. The first court or the appeals court," Mignini said yesterday.
Knox and Sollecito were convicted in 2009 of sexually assaulting and murdering Kercher, a British student who shared an apartment with Knox in Perugia. Knox was convicted to 26 years, Sollecito to 25.
Both had been in prison since November 6, 2007, four days after Kercher's body had been found at the apartment.
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