Knox's Family Hopes Investigation Sheds New Light

A '48 Hours' investigation that aired this weekend looked into the case of Amanda Knox, who is on trial for the slaying of her roommate Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy.

"If you think she is guilty, watch our show and at the end of it you will want to send the 82nd Airborne Division to get her out because this case is outrageous," said '48 Hours' reporter Peter Van Sant.

Knox's sister, grandmother and two aunts came to KIRO 7 to watch the '48 Hours' investigation.

“I don’t know if you can sum up what our family and Amanda is going through in a hour. No one knows how much pain we go through every day,” said Knox’s sister Deanna Knox.

Van Sant said he went to Perugia for several weeks investigating the Knox case and said although he went over there with the notion that Knox is guilty, he came back with a much different view.

Knox and her boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, are on trial for the murder of Meredith Kercher, 21, who was found stabbed to death Nov. 2, 2007, in the apartment she shared with Knox.

Van Sant said there is no forensic evidence connecting Knox to the crime scene and that during her initial 14-hour interrogation without an attorney, she “broke and told them things that are simply not true.”

He cites a statement Knox made to the judge that said she was struck in the head by a female officer during the interrogation. He said she felt threatened, was scared and made the false confession.

“It scares me knowing what she went through in interrogation. And to hear her say that she was terrified is really scary,” Deanna Knox said.

Knox also told the judge that she is innocent. "I want to stress the fact that I’m innocent. Meredith was my friend, and I could never have hurt her."

“The toughest part is watching them parade her around like an ordinary criminal. She has absolutely nothing to do with this,” said Knox’s grandmother Elisabeth Huff.

Van Sant also said that evidence in the case was not properly handled. In reference to the knife with Knox’s DNA on the handle and Kercher’s on the blade, Van Sant said the blood pattern on a sheet from the murder weapon doesn’t match the size of the knife with Knox’s DNA.

As for the accusation that Kercher was killed over a sex game, Van Sant cites an Italian blogger for putting that notion into the prosecutor’s mind. Van Sant said the blogger claims that she speaks to a dead priest who tells her what happened at crime scenes.

The blogger told the main prosecutor in the Knox trial, Giuliano Minnini, that this was a satanic sex game and that’s how the theory started, Van Sant said.

Van Sant said the only evidence at the scene is that Rudy Hermann Guede, who has already been convicted in this case, is the killer. Guede was convicted last year at a fast-track trial and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Van Sant also said Minnini will say anything to get Knox convicted because he is under indictment for another case. Van Sant said in the other case, Minnini is accused of abusing his position and wiretapping journalists.

The federal government and Washington state politicians are also not doing enough in the case, Van Sant said. He said they all read the same false articles and presume that she is guilty.

“Everybody is saturated with the fact that she is guilty and has done something horrible and nobody has heard what else was behind it,” Elisabeth Huff said.

Van Sant believes Knox will be convicted because "she’s the most hated woman in Italy."

“Unfortunately, innocent people are put in prison and I pray that’s not my niece, but when you look at somebody who is going so diligently after Amanda, it’s hard to think how do you get a fair trial?” said Amanda Knox’s aunt Christina Hagg.

If convicted, Knox faces the next 30 years of her life in prison. Van Sant said the Italian courts don't often hand out life sentences, but believe in the rehabilitation of convicted criminals.

Van Sant said Knox is a terrific girl and that a "runaway train is rolling over this girl who is completely innocent."

Knox’s family said they hope this investigation will shed new light on her case.

“I think it was good in explaining that they have no evidence against Amanda. It’s hard for me to watch the end because it reminds me that she has lost years of her life there,” Deanna Knox said.

Amanda Knox's trial is expected to continue into the fall.