Over 6,000 miles away Amanda Knox's family and friends celebrated the news from a hotel in Seattle and were overcome with emotions, for them, the four-year nightmare is over and long campaign for her freedom can come to a close, they now prepare to welcome her home.
24 year old schoolfriend Jessica Nichols, who has been one of the main supporters of Amanda Knox said "She is fundamentally the same wonderful and excellent person she has always been" and discribed her as "loving, sweet and patient".
Carlo Pacelli who was the Lawyer to Patrick Diya Lumumba, the owner of a bar in Perugia said "Who is Amanda Knox? Is she the mild-looking, fresh-faced person you see here, or the one devoted to lust, drugs and alcohol that emerges from the court documents?", in an appeals court, Amanda Knox was described by Italian lawyers as a 'she-devil' and a 'witch'.
Back in 2007, Amanda Knox and Meredith Kercher were both exchange students who shared a flat in Perugia, Italy with two Italian women, on the 2nd of November 2007 her body was discovered in her bedroom by the police and her flatmates, she had been sexually assaulted and stabbed repeatedly, police also discovered two mobile phones, two credit cards and around 300 euros in cash had been stolen from Meredith Kercher.
On the 28th of October 2008, Rudy Guede, a resident of Perugia was convicted of the sexual assault and murder of Meredith Kercher and is now serving a sentence of 16 years, although this was reduced after he incriminated Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito.
On the 25th of October 2007, Amanda Knox met Italian student Raffaele Sollecito at a Classical Music Concert, and in December 2009 they were both convicted of Meredith Kercher's sexual assault and murder, both given prison sentences of around 26 years.
Amanda Knox appealed this decision and she now walks a free women, no doubt eager to return home to Seattle.
Linda Byron, a reporter at King 5 television station said "There's a sense that Amanda Knox was a good student who came from a good family and there was nothing in her past that predicted anything like this", "There will be others who think she's guilty and got off on a technicality but overall, she will get a warm reception".
