Amanda Knox's traumatizing study abroad experience continues to haunt her, 13 years later.
Amanda was just 20 years old when she traveled to Italy for what she thought would be a semester. When Amanda's roommate, Meredith Kercher, was brutally killed in their apartment, authorities believed Amanda and her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were the culprits. The two would spend four years in jail as the trial unfolded.
It would take two more appeals processes before Amanda and Raffaele were finally acquitted in 2015. Now the only person who has served jail time for Meredith's murder has been released.
Amanda appeared on Good Morning America on Monday to talk about her feelings. She's having a tough time with Rudy's release.
It's clear that Amanda has suffered a lot as a result of her wrongful conviction. She's trying to save others from similar fates in her criminal justice reform work. Still, she knows she'll never live outside of the shadow of what some people still believe she did.
Amanda Knox is speaking out on the release of the man convicted with the crime she was accused of. Rudy Guede was convicted in Meredith Kercher's murder. He was originally sentenced to 30 years in prison, but in 2008, it was reduced to 16 years after an appeal.
Recently, Rudy was granted permission by an Italian court to finish the rest of his sentence with community service. Amanda reacted to the news on Monday during an interview with Good Morning America.
"I do know that many, many, many people have suffered a great deal because of what he did and I continue to stay to be shocked that he is the forgotten killer," Amanda said.
"The one who was quietly tucked away, convicted of a lesser crime and does not have to live with the burden of being forever associated with Meredith's death," Amanda continued.
Despite the fact that Rudy's DNA was the only one recovered at the scene, Amanda and Raffaele were suspected to have aided him in killing Meredith. It took the two years to clear their names.
"I am the one who has been condemned to live with his infamy," Amanda noted.
"And while I can't say that I wish him suffering or imprisonment, I do wish that he had been fully held accountable for what he did and that he acknowledged what he did, and I don't know if that will ever happen.
"The only reason you know I exist is because [of] what he did, and that is a grave injustice."
While Amanda will have to deal with speculation around her forever, she stands firm in her truth. Last year, she got a win when the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, ruled that her defense rights had been violated following her 2007 arrest. It was determined Italy would pay Amanda approximately $20,000 in damages and legal costs for failing to provide her with a lawyer or proper translator during her initial questioning regarding Meredith's murder.
Amanda also reacted to the release on Twitter, when correcting the headline of a news story. The headline from the New York Post reads, "Man who killed Amanda Knox's roommate freed on community service."
"His name is Rudy Guede. Her name is Meredith Kercher," Amanda tweeted.
"The one name that should NOT be in this headline is mine."
Amanda got a few tweets back that her name was the only one making headlines all along, and she expressed that it has always been the problem.
"Fair enough. But again, MK & RG should be front & center now, & should have been from the beginning," she replied to one person pointing this out.
"If anything, the @nypost's decision to name me & only me reaffirms the fact that no one has ever truly cared about who killed MK. Just that I was accused."
Meredith's family has not spoken out on the decision to release Rudy. They've largely kept to themselves since Amanda and Raffaele were acquitted once and for all. In February, Meredith's father, John Kercher, died in what appeared to be a hit-and-run. While the family mourns his loss, their hope is that he and Meredith are together again.
