Amanda Knox biography

Synopsis

Early Life

Amanda Marie Knox was born on July 9, 1987, in Seattle, Washington, to Edda Mellas, a math teacher, and Curt Knox, a vice president of finance at Macy's. Knox has two younger sisters, Deanna and Ashley Knox. Knox's parents divorced when she was a toddler.

Growing up in a middle class neighborhood, Amanda Knox played soccer, and her athletic skill earned her the nickname 'Foxy Knoxy,' according to her parents. It was a nickname that would come back to haunt Knox years later.

In 2005, Amanda Knox graduated from Seattle Preparatory High School. She entered the University of Washington that fall, planning to pursue a degree in linguistics.

College

By all appearances, Amanda Knox was an ordinary college student. She threw loud parties, was named to the Dean's List, and worked several jobs to pay her tuition. Friends recall her as a kind, gentle individual.

To further pursue her linguistics degree, the 20-year-old Knox left Washington and headed for Perugia, Italy, where she planned to spend a year at the University for Foreigners.

In Perugia, Knox roomed with Meredith Kercher, a 21-year-old student from London. Kercher was also studying linguistics abroad for a year.

Soon after she arrived in Perugia, Knox and Kercher attended a classical music concert. There, Knox met a 23-year-old Italian computer engineering student named Raffaele Sollecito. Knox and Sollecito began dating soon afterward.

Murder of Meredith Kercher

On November 1, 2007, Amanda Knox was supposed to work at a pub called Le Chic, where she had a part-time job. After her boss, Patrick Lumbumba, sent her a text message saying that she wasn't needed, Knox went to Sollecito's apartment for the night.

Knox and Sollecito reportedly returned to her apartment the next day around 12 p.m. and found the front door open, windows broken and blood in the bathroom. Knox called Kercher's phone, but there was no answer. She then called their third roommate. Finally, Knox called her mother in Seattle, who told her to call the police.

Two officers soon appeared at the scene; they were postal police officers, used to investigating postal crimes, not murder investigations. They entered the apartment to investigate, and kicked down the door to Kercher's bedroom. Inside, they found Kercher's body on the floor, covered in a duvet that was soaked in blood.

Amanda Knox and Rafaelle Sollecito were taken to the police station, and for five days, they were interrogated.