Amanda Knox Speaks Out After Meredith Kercher’s Convicted Murderer, Rudy Guede, Is Released From Prison

Amanda Knox had recently spoken out regarding Rudy Guede, the man that was convicted in 2007 of the killing of Meredith Kercher, Knox’s roommate while studying abroad in Italy.

In an essay for Medium, along wit an episode of her podcast Labyrinths, Knox wrote that the “evidence of Guede’s guilt is overwhelming, as is the lack of evidence implicating any other suspect” and that he has still not “faced appropriate consequences” for his “horrific crime.”

In 2008, Guede was convicted of sexual assault and conspiracy to commit murder of Kercher. He was sentenced to 16 years in an Italian prison and was granted day release after 10 years. He will now spend the rest of his sentence outside prison.

Knox and her then boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito were convicted in the killing of Kercher in 2009 and spent four years in an Italian prison although, Guede’s DNA was the only one found at the scene of the crime. “And, of course, Guede’s name is not the one associated with his atrocity,” Knox wrote. “Few people even know his name. Instead, they know mine. The only reason most people know I exist is because of what he did.”

“I am not upset that Rudy Guede is free. I’m not upset that journalists who continue to vilify me to this day are instead humanizing him, quoting his lawyers who claim he is ‘calm and socially well-integrated’. I’m not upset that he is being given a second chance,” Knox stated. “I believe, as Bryan Stevenson has said, that everyone is more than the worst thing they’ve ever done. I believe that even Rudy Guede deserves a second chance. But I am upset. I’m upset that he’s never acknowledged his crimes, that he’s never been held fully accountable, and that I continue to bear the burden of his infamy.”

After being in prison herself, Knox is now an advocate for criminal justice reform and she does not believe that harsh punishment for Guede be the goal or that he is beyond redemption or change.

“I would not wish an unreasonably harsh sentence on anyone. I may would only wish them true rehabilitation. Guede’s lawyers say he’s well along that path. Maybe so. But I do know one thing: so long as he refuses to admit his crimes, to show true regret, I will continue to unjustly bear his infamy, be held accountable for the Kercher’s grief, be shamed for not showing remorse for Guede’s crime,” Knox shared. “He could end all that in a second. I doubt he ever will, but the day he does, I will celebrate his rehabilitation and wish him the best on a new and honest chapter of his life.”

Knox’s full essay can be read here.