Knox profile: The court verdict that vindicates a ‘regular kid’

When a fresh-faced Amanda Knox arrived in Perugia four years ago, she was one of thousands of American students enjoying being young, free and single away from home.

But her life changed overnight when she became caught up in one of the most high-profile murder cases of recent years. Following her arrest, her good looks and lurid headlines about her sex life made her an object of fascination.

Originally from Seattle, she was a University of Washington student who went to Italy to study. Not long after arriving in the medieval hilltop town, she developed a relationship with Italian IT graduate Raffaele Sollecito.

The night her housemate Meredith Kercher was murdered, she was at her boyfriend’s house, smoking marijuana and making love, she said. But on 6 November, 2007, she was arrested in connection with the killing and was accused of playing a leading role in.

Knox denied any wrongdoing, but during a lengthy police interrogation she eventually pointed the finger at local bar owner Diya “Patrick” Lumumba.

Explaining how she came to make the false accusation, she later told jurors she had been confused and under pressure.

It was the officers questioning her who had suggested Mr Lumumba and so, worn down by the long interrogation, she agreed.

Knox was to spend the next four years in jail, all the while protesting her innocence.

Her family and friends have been vocal in their support for her, and vehemently rejected the portrayal of her as a wild child fuelled by alcohol, drugs and sex.

Her younger sister Deanna has described her instead as the “kindest person” she knows – a normal girl who did not “go crazy” with men in Italy, as her detractors once suggested. Her father, Curt Knox, insisted she was a “regular kid”.

Last night, the verdict appeared to vindicate them.