It's been a few years since the Amanda Knox saga dominated the news cycle, but a renewed interest in the case is expected with the release of the Netflix documentary Amanda Knox , which takes a more in-depth look at the story than ever before. Knox, an American studying in Italy, was convicted of murdering her roommate, Meredith Kercher, in 2007, and she spent nearly four years in prison before her conviction was overturned and she was allowed to return to the United States a free woman. A lot has been written about Knox over the years, but far less is known about the person she was once accused of killing. But just who was Meredith Kercher?
Kercher was born in London in 1985, and was a student the University of Leeds in England, where she studied European politics and Italian; she had become interested in Italian culture after visiting the country when she was younger. She began studying abroad at the University of Perugia in Italy in 2007 as part of an exchange, according to the BBC's profile of her, where she studied modern history, political theories and the history of cinema. Before her death, Kercher was perhaps best known for an appearance in the 2004 music video for the song "Some Say," by British singer Kristian Leontiou.
At the time of her death, friends and family all described Kercher as a happy and loving person, and it's indeed difficult to find photos of her where she's not smiling. The last people who reportedly saw her alive were three friends of hers, English women all, one of whose homes she dined at on the night of her death. In the tumultuous years since her murder, Kercher has been remembered on a large scale thanks in part to a scholarship that was set up in her memory at the University of Perugia for British students looking to attend classes there.
Kercher may be gone, but she'll never be forgotten. Not by her family, not by her friends, and not by the millions around the world who learned of her tragic death through its endless media coverage.
