Amanda Knox and her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito's lives had been without end modified following the 2007 loss of life of Knox's roommate, Meredith Kercher.
Knox was attending the College for Foreigners in Perugia, Italy, as an change scholar when her roommate was discovered brutally murdered of their condo. Police instantly suspected that Knox and her new boyfriend, Sollecito, had been in some way concerned in Kercher's loss of life, setting off an eight-year authorized battle that went all the best way to Italy's Supreme Courtroom — twice.
Knox and Sollecito had been solely courting for eight days on the time of their arrests, and whereas their romantic relationship ended shortly after, the 2 turned trusted allies in a battle towards the best ranges of the Italian justice system.
Preserve scrolling for a have a look at Sollecito's relationship with Knox, the 2 homicide trials and what his life is like now:
Why Was Raffaele Sollecito Arrested?
Sollecito had practically accomplished a pc science diploma at Perugia College in Italy when he met Knox at a classical music live performance in October 2007. Their whirlwind romance lasted simply over per week earlier than Knox and Sollecito had been arrested by Italian authorities in reference to Kercher's loss of life.
Throughout a 2012 interview with Anderson Cooper, Sollecito admitted it was a mistake to initially cooperate with police with out hiring a lawyer.
“The police, they wished it,” he recalled. “The detectives had their eyes on us because the starting. I didn't really feel the necessity to have a lawyer, I didn't contact something, I didn't get into the homicide scene. It was unimaginable to me that I might ever be charged for a homicide like that.”
Sollecito and Knox had been charged with homicide and sexual assault in November 2007. Whereas Sollecito and Knox all the time maintained their innocence, there have been contradictions of their alibis. For instance, Sollecito mentioned he was watching cartoons on his pc at his personal condo on the evening of the homicide, although his PC data couldn't confirm his declare.
Knox advised investigators that she was at Sollecito's condo on the evening of Kercher's homicide, although Sollecito admitted he couldn't be certain they had been collectively all evening. Knox and Sollecito each later conceded that they'd smoked marijuana on the evening in query, so they might not fully recall particulars of the night, in line with ABC News.
A 3rd particular person, Rudy Guede, was arrested as properly and convicted of killing Kercher in October 2008 as a part of a fast-tracked trial. He was ordered to serve 30 years in jail, however was launched in November 2021 after securing a lowered sentence.
What Occurred in Raffaele Sollecito's Trials?
Sollecito and Knox had been convicted twice of Kercher's homicide beneath controversial circumstances. The pair had been initially discovered responsible following a highly-publicized trial in 2009, just for an enchantment to overturn the decision two years later. (Knox had been serving a 26-year sentence, whereas Sollecito was given 25 years behind bars.)
The Italian Supreme Courtroom took up the case in 2013 and dominated to overturn the appeals and order a brand new trial to happen. The next yr, Sollecito and Knox had been convicted a second time and ordered again to jail, in line with NPR.
Knox returned to the U.S. after her first profitable enchantment in 2011 and, because of this, was tried in absentia. Sollecito remained in Italy and was briefly despatched again to jail following the second conviction.
Raffaele Sollecito in March 2015. Franco Origlia/Getty Photos
When Sollecito appealed the trial outcome as soon as once more, the Italian Supreme Courtroom took up the case for a second time and dominated to overturn Sollecito's second conviction, formally exonerating him in March 2015. The excessive courtroom dominated that Sollecito and Knox might by no means once more face felony prosecution in connection to Kercher's loss of life.
Sollecito spoke to NBC Information on the time in regards to the finish of his and Knox's lengthy, authorized nightmare.
“Everyone was pushing me… we had been in form of a frenzy… a chaos of happiness,” he remembered. “It was nice, it was actually nice … It feels just like the air is extra recent … the air of freedom feels very good, it smells good!”
Why Did Raffaele Sollecito and Amanda Knox Break up?
Knox and Sollecito's fates had been tied collectively lengthy after their romantic relationship ended.
Chatting with Cooper in 2012, Sollecito recalled retaining in shut contact with Knox for 4 years after they had been despatched to separate prisons in 2009. He admitted his family inspired him to talk out towards Knox so as to safe a lesser sentence.
“On the plate, there was my life or throw Amanda beneath the bus,” he insisted. “I can't stroll on the road being a free man realising I'm responsible for a 20-year-old harmless spending the remainder of her life in jail.”
The romantic side of Knox and Sollecito's relationship light earlier than their trial, although they remained shut pals. When the pair had been initially launched following their first enchantment, Sollecito visited Knox and her household in Washington.
Amanda Knox‘s memoir didn't simply deal with her time in jail — she additionally shared many unfiltered confessions about her sexual historical past, challenges in her courting life and extra. Free: My Seek for That means, out now, gives uncommon perception into Knox's life after she was wrongfully convicted for Meredith Kercher's loss of life. Knox, 37, didn't simply break […]
“After I have a look at her I get caught a little bit bit, I used to be nervous,' he advised Katie Couric in a 2012 interview. “I nonetheless had the psychological wounds of this nightmare that handed in jail. Her picture introduced up the picture of the nightmare.”
He went on, “After she hugged me, I realised that Amanda is the Amanda that I dated for that week. She's not the Amanda that was ‘the ghost Amanda' throughout these 4 years.”
What Is Raffaele Sollecito's Life Like Now?
Each Knox and Sollecito moved on with their lives even because the appeals and retrial course of befell within the 2010s. Knox married creator Christopher Robinson in February 2020 they usually now share two kids.
Sollecito pursued a profession as a software program engineer and moved to Milan to run his personal enterprise. He later introduced his engagement to his girlfriend Andreea Mihaela Burtea, although it isn't clear if they're nonetheless collectively.
Sollecito wrote a memoir in 2012 known as Honor Certain: My Journey to Hell and Again with Amanda Knox, through which he mirrored on retreating from the general public eye after his first profitable enchantment.
“Regardless that Amanda and I shared the identical unjust destiny, the case was all the time about her,” he wrote. “I vanished so removed from public view that I considered myself… as Mr No person.”
Raffaele Sollecito, Amanda Knox, Grace Van Patten and Giuseppe De Domenico in August 2025. Theo Wargo/Getty Photos
Knox and Sollecito publicly reunited periodically through the years, most not too long ago on the world premiere of Hulu docudrama The Twisted Story of Amanda Knox in New York Metropolis in August 2025.
The previous couple posed with actors Grace Van Patten and Giuseppe De Domenico to advertise the two-episode streaming sequence based mostly on Knox's e book Ready to Be Heard: A Memoir.
