Amanda Knox urged not to ‘cash in’ on Meridith’s murder

MEREDITH Kercher’s father has urged Amanda Knox not to “capitalise on murder” and keep a low profile following her release from prison and return to the US.

John Kercher fears she will cash in on an estimated £2 million book deal about his daughter’s death in 2007, Knox’s conviction, her time in prison and release.

He has also spoken about learning of his daughter’s death and revealed he sometimes likes to think she is still alive and studying abroad.

He echoed the concerns of his daughter, Stephanie Kercher, that Meredith, 21, had been “forgotten” in the furore that has surrounded Knox.

Kercher, a 68-year-old freelance journalist, said: “I think it would be more sensitive to Meredith’s memory if Amanda Knox maintained a low profile.

“I don’t want to say anything confrontational, but I believe it is wrong to capitalise on any murder. Not just for us, but for anyone. This cult of celebrity is demeaning to Meredith’s memory, disrespectful. I don’t think Amanda Knox has actively sought out celebrity status; I think that has been created for her. But then again, she hasn’t actively rejected it.”

Kercher did not attend the appeal hearing in Perugia to see Knox, 24, and her ex-boyfriend and co-accused Raffaele Sollecito, 27, acquitted.

He suffered a stroke shortly after returning to the UK in 2009, following the sentencing of the pair, and feared the stress might be too much. He revealed Meredith called him the day before she died.

“She said she was going out that night, so we agreed I’d call her the next day,” he said

“She said, ‘Love you’, and my last words to her where ‘Love you, too.’”

When he heard a British student had been killed in Perugia he called the foreign desk of a national newspaper he had worked for to try and find out more information.

He said: “Half an hour later I got a call from the foreign desk again, who seemed very reluctant to tell me the girl’s name. When I pressured them they said the name going around Italy was Meredith.

“I dropped the phone. That was it. I knew there was no way there were two British students in Perugia called Meredith.”

He said Meredith was “the most loving, caring person”.

“I still find it difficult to believe she’s gone,” he added.

“I still think she’s out there in Italy. It’s not denial, it’s just a nice feeling to think she’s still there and I just haven’t spoken to her for a while.”