Amanda Knox has opened up about her fears over telling her newborn daughter about her ‘unfair’ murder conviction in Italy, while admitting that she didn’t want to pass her surname down to her child because she worried it would forever link her to the scandal surrounding the death of her former roommate Meredith Kercher.
The 34-year-old, who is from Seattle, Washington, and her then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were both convicted of killing Kercher, who was murdered in 2007. They were jailed, but eventually released in 2011 and Amanda was acquitted of the crime by the Italian Supreme Court in 2015.
However, while Amanda has since returned home to the US, got married, and welcomed a child, she says that her infamous murder conviction – and the public speculation she faced throughout her trials – continue to have a grave impact on every aspect of her life, particularly her role as a new mother.
In a new interview on podcast Call Her Daddy, the mom-of-one, who gave birth to her first child with husband Chris Robinson – daughter Eureka Muse Knox Robinson – several months ago, said she is dreading the moment her little girl asks questions about the case.
‘I have thought about [the moment I have to tell my daughter] a lot,’ she told host Alex Cooper. ‘The moment I’m not looking forward to the most is the moment when she first says, “That’s not fair.”‘
Amanda Knox says she is not looking forward to telling her daughter about the ‘unfair’ murder charges that were brought against her back in 2009
The 34-year-old, who is from Seattle, Washington, went to study abroad in Perugia, Italy, when she was 20 years old
When her roommate Meredith Kercher was killed in 2007, she, along with her boyfriend at the time, Raffaele Sollecito, were wrongfully convicted for the murder
She was sentenced to 26 years imprisonment and spent four years in an Italian prison before she was acquitted by the Italian Supreme Court in 2015
Amanda believes that telling her daughter about the case will spark a ‘deep’ understanding about ‘human suffering’ and quickly make her realize that ‘life really isn’t fair’ – a view that she is afraid of trying to explain to Eureka.
‘Because, like, when you reach the point of understanding whether or not something is fair or not, you’ve reached a level of sophistication to understand a level of human suffering, and that can be deep,’ she continued.
‘Life really isn’t fair. Bad things happen to good people for no reason. That existential crisis that life isn’t fair is real and it’s one of the deeper problems that we have as human beings and as a society because we don’t have great answers for that.
‘I’m going to let her guide her own understanding of my case. She’ll ask questions, she’ll want to know.
‘She’s going to know from being around me that there’s something about this justice system that is a little questionable, and when she’s ready, she’ll ask me. And I’m going to be totally honest.’
Over the years, Amanda has continued to maintain her innocence – a sentiment that she echoed during the interview, during which she clearly stated: ‘I didn’t f***ing do it.’
Still, Amanda admitted that she considered not passing on her now-infamous surname to her daughter out of fear that it would forever tie her child to her case and the scandal that surrounded it, particularly when it comes to the public speculation about her sex life and her past romantic partners.
‘I did [consider leaving my last name out of Eureka’s name]. It’s the whole question of like – do I embrace my identity or do I not embrace my identity?’ she said.
‘But here’s nothing wrong me. The world has always acted like there’s something wrong with me and something wrong with my sexuality and that is not my problem.
Amanda recently welcomed a baby girl, named Eureka Muse Knox Robinson, with her husband Chris Robinson (pictured), who she married in 2018
She said during an appearance on Alex Cooper’s Call Me Daddy podcast that she is not looking forward to her daughter finding out what she went through
She said: ‘I’m going to let her guide her own understanding of my case. She’ll ask questions, she’ll want to know. And I’m going to be totally honest’
‘I’m pushing back and trying to say, no it’s not my fault. There’s nothing wrong with me and therefore, my daughter can embrace the fact that I’m her mom, even while I’m trying to protect her from all these forces that are ultimately beyond my control.’
Amanda claimed that the reason many people still think she had something to do with the murder was because of her initial reaction to what happened, which was captured by paparazzi.
A now-famous video showed the young woman and her boyfriend standing outside of the house where Meredith had been killed, just moments after police had found her body.
‘There was a three-second clip that has been shown over and over again. A three-second clip of Raffaele looking at me, giving me a kiss and hugging me. This clip was depicted as, “Look at these two psychopaths who can’t even keep their hands off of each other outside of a murder scene,”‘ she explained.
‘What was in fact happening was, I was scared and Raffaele was like, “It’s okay, I got you.”‘
Amanda claimed that the police instantly decided she had murdered Meredith based on her reaction too.
She explained that her other roommate, Filomena, was present when the detectives discovered Meredith’s body, while Amanda waited in another room. And when Filomena started to cry and Amanda didn’t, she said it unfairly depicted her in a bad light.
She said the reason she didn’t have a severe reaction to the news that her friend was dead was because she didn’t understand what was going on at first, due to the language barrier.
Despite being acquitted and someone else being charged for the crime, there is still much debate about whether or not Amanda committed the murder
Amanda said: ‘They focused on my behavior right after discovering the crime scene. And the difference between me and Filomena, is that Filomena saw into Meredith’s room, she saw Meredith’s body with her own eyes and I did not.
‘Filomena starts screaming her head off and crying and everyone starts screaming in rapid Italian and I’m like, “What the f**k is going on?” We’re all ushered out of the house and I’m left shell-shocked going, “What’s going on?” and hearing little scraps of everything, while Filomena is crying hysterically.
‘Immediately, the cops are looking at the two roommates – one is crying and one is not. That is maybe the moment things started to go very, very wrong. They’re looking at two women and one is clearly distraught and one is clearly confused. Very different reactions.
‘Filomena’s reaction was the expected one and mine was not. I don’t think they realized that I didn’t understand what was going on.’
Amanda admitted that she’s still ‘so angry’ about what happened, but that her feelings toward Meredith’s killer, Rudy, are ‘complicated.’
‘I have really complicated feelings about her killer, Rudy Guede, because I’ve spent time in prison now too,’ she explained.
‘I know he was a really young man when he made this colossal, horrible, decision to rape and murder Meredith. I don’t know how he feels about that today, I would hope that he regrets that.
‘His name is not the one that’s affiliated with this horrible crime, mine is. I wish I had a better word but If I’m going to be totally honest, I’m angry. I’m still angry. That doesn’t mean I can’t have compassion to him.
‘But I am angry. I don’t think my name should have ever been associated with his actions. And the fact no one seems to care about him, given that they were his actions, really bugs me out.’