Amanda Knox heads back to Seattle
The Knox family prepare to depart from Rome’s ‘Fiumicino – Leonardo da Vinci’ airport for London on their journey back to Seattle on October 4, 2011 in Rome, Italy. American student Amanda Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito have won their appeal against their conviction in 2009 of killing their British roommate Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy in 2007. The pair had served nearly four years in jail after initially being sentenced to 26 and 25 years respectively.
Less than 14 hours after an appeals court overturned Amanda Knox’s murder conviction, the 24-year-old left Perugia, Italy, for her hometown of Seattle.
According to The Associated Press:
Knox flew from Rome to London, where she took a direct flight to Seattle, surrounded by family members. A British Airways attendant on the flight blocked media from the plane's secluded upper deck "to preserve the privacy" of passengers. The attendant, quoting a Knox family member, said media were not allowed to contact Knox or her family on the flight but were welcome to attend a press conference later in Seattle.
On Monday, an Italian court overturned the charge that Knox had murdered her roommate, British exchange student Meredith Kercher, in 2007, and freed Knox after four years in prison.
(More from GlobalPost: Amanda Knox conviction overturned)
Before leaving Italy, Knox released a letter thanking Italians who had supported her, the AP reports. "Those who wrote, those who defended me, those who were close, those who prayed for me, I love you,” she said.
While Knox left Perugia early Tuesday, the family of murder victim Meredith Kercher stuck around to hold a press conference in the city to refocus attention on Kercher's plight. “Ultimately, while we accept the decision that was handed down and respect the court and the justice system, we do now find that we are left looking at this all over again,” Meredith Kercher’s brother Lyle said, according to Time Magazine. “For us it feels like back to square one, and the search goes on for what really happened.”
Prosecutor Giuliano Mignini vowed to take the case to Italy's highest criminal court, the AP reports. "Let's wait and we will see who was right,” Mignini said. “The first court or the appeal court. This trial was done under unacceptable media pressure."
According to the AP:
If Italy’s Supreme Court overturns the acquittal, prosecutors would be free to request Knox's extradition to Italy to finish whatever remained of a sentence. It is up to the government to decide whether to make the formal extradition request.
Before Knox had even touched down on U.S. soil, speculation had begun on how she might cash in on her ordeal.
“While the murder of Meredith Kercher was tragic, the general consensus is that Knox had little if anything to do with it,” California-based criminal defense attorney, David Wohl, told FOX411’s Pop Tarts column. “Her story will fetch top dollar. The first interview will likely go for anywhere from $1 to $5 million. I expect that book and movie rights will add substantially to that – tens of millions of dollars.”