USA - A pale face and bright blue eyes earned Amanda Knox (37) the nickname "angel with the ice eyes". She was wrongly imprisoned for four years for the alleged murder of her roommate at the time. Even today, she says, the ghost of Meredith Kercher (†21) still haunts her.

In an interview with People , Knox said that she felt persecuted. She still suffers greatly from the events of that time.

"Meredith is like a ghost sitting on my shoulder, who fought for her life and didn't make it - who is now telling me to fight for my life. I know that's not what people want to hear. Some think that their identity disappears alongside my identity," says the 37-year-old.

"And again, I can't blame people for having that idea. She became a footnote in a story in which I was the main character," Knox continued.

However, this ghost meant her no harm, as some people would try to make her out to be. "I feel more haunted by a benevolent spirit that reminds me of the value of life - the privilege of living and fighting for your life. Because she fought for hers," added the US-American .

"I think I have a healthier relationship with the fact that two young girls went abroad to study in 2007. Fate flipped a coin and one of us survived. I'm incredibly grateful and lucky to have survived."

In her new memoir "Free", which was recently published, Knox also writes about her treatment in Perugia prison - and reveals horrific incidents.

Once, an officer cornered her in the prison toilet, grabbed her by the waist and tried to kiss her. "He asked me about my underwear and my sex life and offered me sex," Knox writes. Several other guards had also made lewd remarks.

In November 2007, the then 21-year-old Meredith Kercher was found dead in her bedroom in the apartment she shared with Knox. The then 20-year-old and her Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito (23) were arrested four days later and convicted twice in court.

As there was no evidence, the sentences were overturned. Italy's highest court finally acquitted the two in 2015. The police also arrested the 20-year-old drug dealer Rudy Guede - an immigrant from the Ivory Coast. His bloody fingerprints and the DNA found at the crime scene earned him a sentence of 16 years in prison.

After serving 14 years, Guede was allowed to leave prison early in 2021 for good behavior. Surprisingly, Amanda Knox received another sentence in 2024 - for defaming Congolese bartender Diya Lumumba. However, she did not have to serve her three-year prison sentence as she had already served it in Italy.

Knox now hosts a successful podcast called Labyrinths, is a TV producer and bestselling author, does stand-up comedy and fights against miscarriages of justice. She is married to the writer Christopher Robinson and has two children together .

In 2019, the European Court of Human Rights awarded Knox compensation of 18,000 euros, which had to be paid by the Italian state.