Amanda Knox Tells Court in Final Plea for Her Life, 'I Want to Go Home'
As the Amanda Knox appeals trial hangs on the edge of a verdict, the young American made a final plea for her life before an Italian court Monday.
Knox had the last word in the nearly yearlong trial.
She started her emotional plea with the statement: “I am not what they say, I am not a promiscuous vamp, I am not violent, I do not disrespect life, these things do not belong to me and I didn’t do what they’ve said I’ve done.”
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The 24-year-old added, “I have not killed, I have not raped.”
Knox explained that she was not present when Meredith Kercher, her British roommate, was murdered. According to Knox, she did not even know or have contacts with Rudy Guede, the third person convicted for Kercher’s murder.
Guede, along with Knox and her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, were all convicted for the murder of Meredith Kercher in 2009, in what was described as drug-fueled sex game gone wrong.
The 21-year-old Kercher was found half naked dead in a pool of blood on November 2, 2007.
Knox pleaded in court today, “I have never done what they say I did. It is not the truth.”
Knox said she had good relationships with her roommates and explained that she and Meredith had a strong friendship. According to Knox, the slain girl was always very kind to her.
She stated, “Meredith was killed and I have always wanted justice for her.”
Knox declared her innocence and said, “I want to go home, I want to go back to my life.“
She concluded her emotional appeal with, “I respect this courtroom and the people who work here, I thank you and I am asking you to set us free.“
The key evidence used to convict Knox in 2009 stemmed from DNA tests that linked Knox to a knife that had Kercher’s DNA on the blade.
In the appeals trial, Knox’s lawyers have been fighting rigorously to overturn her sentence due to an independent review that determined the DNA evidence used to convict Knox was flawed and could have been contaminated.
The Kercher family has always maintained that the original murder trial and conviction of Knox was fair.
Kercher’s father, a freelance journalist, said, “As far as we are concerned, she (Knox) has been convicted of taking our precious Meredith’s life in the most hideous and bloody way.”
The Kercher family has pleaded to the appeals court to not let their daughter Meredith “die in vain.”
