Amanda Knox says Catholic priest ‘saw my humanity’ in prison, helped restore faith in herself
Amanda Knox was behind bars when she befriended a Catholic priest The mother of two who spent nearly four years in an Italian prison has written a new book Free My Search for Meaning It recounts the struggles the -year-old endured in attempting to reintegrate into society Knox also reflects on what it was like returning to a more normal life including seeking a life partner finding a job and walking out in population The Seattle native who identifies as an atheist explained Fox News Digital prison chaplain Don Saulo not only became her best friend during those years but also gave her hope when she felt hopeless AMANDA KNOX GIVES WARNING TO STUDENTS WANTING TO EXAMINATION ABROAD YEARS AFTER BEING ACQUITTED OF MURDER He was a good man a friend and a philosopher Knox described Fox News Digital He was the family who was there for me in prison when the rest of my family couldn t be physically there with me And he was someone who wasn t just kind to me but who was willing to engage with me on a philosophical level He saw my humanity And he genuinely requested to spend time with me He spoke to me in terms of his ideology and his faith but there were truths in what he announced she shared It would shift my perspective from one of utter despair to one of hope And on days when I didn t have hope he indicated me how to find value in the experience that I had The idea that if you pray to God for strength he doesn t give you strength he gives you an opportunity to be strong that resonated with me Knox was a -year-old candidate in Perugia studying abroad when her roommate Meredith Kercher was detected stabbed to death in The -year-old was exposed in the cottage they shared with two Italian women The development made global headlines as suspicion fell speedily on Knox and her boyfriend of just days Raffaele Sollecito Knox wrote that while she was in prison a nun had approached her But when Knox stated her she wasn t religious the nun replied that she was no better than an animal without God The priest on the other hand suggested they could talk about whatever Knox yearned at his office SIGN UP TO GET TRUE CRIME NEWSLETTER I don t remember how he broke the ice Knox wrote By asking how I was doing All I know is that I unveiled myself gushing in desperation Knox also described how she would sing from her cell Saulo who overheard her one day sought if she d ever played instruments When Knox notified him that she used to play the guitar he exclaimed I have a guitar You could play it during mass You could even come to my office to practice he described her Knox admitted she didn t love the idea of mass but the idea of leaving her cell to play the guitar was one small link to the life I was living before this nightmare And so began our musical relationship Knox wrote Once or twice a week I was allowed to spend an hour in Don Saulo s office practicing hymns on the guitar and then during mass on Saturdays I d play and sing those religious tunes She also described how Saulo had a small electronic keyboard and taught her to play the piano And when he learned she loved studying languages he began teaching her Latin phrases FOLLOW THE FOX TRUE CRIME SQUAD ON XKnox announced Saulo s kindness brightened her dark days She explained Fox News Digital standing up for yourself in prison meant violence I think a lot of people might imagine just horrible things between inmates and it s true stated Knox I was surrounded by women who were either struggling with mental illness drug addiction or just general PTSD from long-term abuse and neglect There was a lot of dysfunction in the public of women that I belonged to But without a doubt the worst experiences that I had were with the male guards who had absolute power over me and who I could not protect myself from I was in a locked room with them and they had the key Knox recalled If I ever spoke up no one would believe me because to them I was the lying murdering whore I was absolutely at the mercy of male guards who tried to take advantage of me and it was just horrifying Knox claimed In her book Knox wrote that Saulo never judged me never reported me who I was even as the world called me a monster GET REAL-TIME UPDATES DIRECTLY ON THE TRUE CRIME HUB I felt supported by him in cultivating a mindset of compassion and empathy and gratitude that it was this mindset that would allow me to understand what had happened to me she wrote One of the people she dedicated her book to was Saulo for holding my hand when no one else could I remain an atheist but Don Saulo taught me to value much of the wisdom in the teachings of Jesus she wrote Turning the other cheek the golden rule a radical refusal of judgment an acceptance of all people high and low sinner and saints No one deserves God s grace and yet it is there for everyone This is how I think about compassion It is not kindness if it is reserved for the just the good the kind Rudy Hermann Guede of the Ivory Coast was eventually convicted of murder after his DNA was ascertained at the crime scene The European Court of Human Rights ordered Italy to pay Knox damages for the police failures noting she was vulnerable as a foreign apprentice not fluent in Italian Knox returned to the United States in after being freed by an appeals court in Perugia and has established herself as a global campaigner for the wrongly convicted Over the years she has attempted to clear her name In the modern day Knox is a board member of The Innocence Center a nonprofit law firm that aims to free innocent people from prison She also frequently discusses how high-profile cases affect loved ones on a podcast she hosts with her husband Labyrinths CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPGuede was freed in after serving most of of his -year sentence Knox stated Fox News Digital she was haunted by the spirit of Kercher I think about her every day especially when I consider what could have happened to me she explained My fate very well could have been hers and her fate could very well have been mine We were both two young women who went to investigation abroad Our lives were ahead of us Everything was going well for us And then a man broke into our home and killed her If it hadn t been for the fact that I just happened to meet a young kind man five days before the crime occurred I would very well be dead too now she continued When I think about her I have just the utter realization of the fragility the impermanence and preciousness of life What a privilege it is to live And how major it is of a task to fight for your life and to make it worth living while you have it I think about that One of the biggest things that I ve had to struggle with is unpacking the fact that a friend of mine s death is wrapped up in my identity My identity is twisted up in her family s deepest pain The truth of what happened to her and the justice that was denied to her is an ongoing painful thing for me and numerous others When people say Meredith has been lost in this story they re not wrong AMANDA KNOX'S ADVICE FOR AMERICAN LINKED TO PUNTA CANA MISSING PERSONS CASEKnox reported she tried reaching out to Kercher s family a bit ago but has gotten radio silence Fox News Digital reached out to Kercher s family for comment I just wish they would connect with me so that we can grieve together and try to make meaning out of this tragedy together noted Knox Knox knows she can never return to her old life But she hopes after telling her story she can move forward with her family That she noted gives her hope nowadays There s never going to be a day when every single person in the world is going to realize that I ve been wrong and harmed stated Knox I have to then ask myself Can I live with that What can freedom mean to me nowadays I think that has been a really fundamental shift in my perspective that I try to convey in the book going from feeling that I am trapped in my own life to feeling like I can push forward It s allowing me to feel like I can make choices again in light of all this backstory That gives me momentum
