Going home: Amanda Knox heads back to the U.S. as murder conviction is quashed after four-year Italian ordeal

• Thought to have spent night with her family in Perugia before she flies home to Seattle this morning
  
• Co-defendant and former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito also freed on appeal
• Sister praises worldwide support and Italian lawyers who 'loved her'
• Knox found guilty of slander but walks free because of time served
• Verdict sparks near riot outside court with cries of 'Shame! Assassins'
  

Amanda Knox is today on her way back to the U.S. after an appeal court sensationally cleared her of murdering Meredith Kercher.

Staring ahead towards a lucrative future of million-dollar TV and book deals, Knox was spotted yesterday evening being driven away from Capanne Prison outside Perugia, four years after she was convicted of murder.

She is thought to have then been reunited with her family. This morning she is set to board a flight to Seattle and is due to arrive there this afternoon.

Earlier, her closest relatives had cried with joy and hugged in court as an Italian judge told her the prosecution had failed to prove she and her boyfriend killed 21-year-old British student Meredith.

Going home: Knox is driven away from prison last night after serving four years for murder

Free: Knox leaves Perugia's court in a car after hearing the verdict which overturned her murder conviction

There were screams in court as Knox burst into tears and hugged her parents Curt and Edda Mellas - as just feet away the family of Meredith Kercher could only look on in amazement.

Meanwhile, as the 24-year-old was escorted away a near riot erupted on the streets outside the courthouse in Perugia.

Her victorious defence team were surrounded by the mob who yelled: ‘Shame! Assassins! Justice has been sold down the river!’ Hundreds had gathered to await the verdict, the majority convinced she and Raffaele Sollecito, 27, were guilty.

Cleared: Knox bursts into tears after she was sensationally cleared of the murder of Meredith Kercher

Life-changing: Knox has already served four years in prison for the student's murder

Disbelief: Knox weeps following the verdict that overturns her conviction and acquits her of murdering her British room mate Meredith Kercher

Overwhelmed: Knox is dragged away in tears after the sensational appeal verdict

Referring to reports that Knox would be whisked to America by a TV network offering $1million for her story, they shouted: ‘Jump on your private plane and go home!’

Victim: Meredith, 21, was found semi-naked with her throat slashed in a bedroom in the house she shared with Knox and two other women

The American has served four years of a 26-year prison sentence after being found guilty in 2009 of the brutal sex murder of Meredith, 21, who was found semi naked with her throat cut in her bedroom of the house she shared in Perugia, Italy.

As the incredible scenes unfolded, Meredith’s stunned mother, Arline, and her elder sister Stephanie remained in court, staring stonily ahead and seemingly unable to comprehend that the woman they are convinced is a cold-blooded killer had been released.

'As you could see from the images, Amanda was a nervous wreck who just collapsed. She wasn't able to say anything other than "thank you" in a flood of tears,' said one of her lawyers, Maria Del Grosso.

Knox’s sister Deanna, 22, stood triumphant amid the baying crowd and added: ‘We are thankful that the nightmare is over. She suffered for four years for a crime she did not commit.’

She also thanked the thousands who had supported Knox’s freedom campaign on websites and blogs, waging a vicious war of words with those who believe her guilty.

It was an extraordinary climax to a case that has bitterly divided opinion from the outset – some compared yesterday’s ugly scenes to those seen during the witch trials in Perugia in medieval times.

Overcome: Knox's mother Edda Mellas was clearly emotional after the verdict

Relieved: Knox's Italian lawyer Maria Del Grosso, left, and the American's sister Deanna, right, moments after the verdict at Perugia's Court of Appeal

It's over: Knox's father Curt, left, and step-father Chris Mellas, right, watch as Amanda's sister Deanna and mother Edda Mellas celebrate

Emotional: Knox's aunt Janet Huff, left, and her mother Edda Mellas, right, weep after the verdict

At her original trial in December 2009, Knox and Raffaele Sollecito, 27, her ex-lover, were found guilty of murdering and sentenced to 26 and 25 years respectively.

Computer studies graduate Sollecito was also freed today by the eight member jury after 11-hours of deliberations.

Knox was photographed this evening, being driven out of the gates of Capanne Prison outside of Perugia.

Led away: Raffaele Sollecito smiles as he is taken from the court by Italian police officers following the verdict

Thankful: Deanna Knox speaks outside the court in Perugia, where she thanked her sister's supporters and the Italian lawyers

Overjoyed: Around a dozen Knox supporters shouted 'She's free!' and 'We did it!' as they watched proceedings from a hotel in Seattle

Shocked: Members of the Knox family including her father (in the blue shirt) and sister (centre) react following the judge's decision

SHOCK AND CONFUSION AT FIRST GUILTY VERDICT

There was confusion in the courtroom when Amanda Knox’s appeal verdict was announced.

Using the word ‘guilty’, the judge first upheld her conviction for slander – for falsely accusing bar owner Patrick Lumumba of carrying out the killing.

This caused some to initially think that her conviction for Meredith Kercher’s murder had been upheld.

Knox was sentenced to three years for the slander, but she will not have to serve the time as she has been in jail since November 6, 2007.

She was, however, ordered to pay £18,900 in compensation to Mr Lumumba.

Congolese-born Mr Lumumba was dragged from his bed by armed police in a dawn raid in front of his wife and son after Knox told police he had killed Meredith.

The 38-year-old spent two weeks on remand in jail before being released without charge. He claimed the arrest ‘ruined’ his life. Knox worked for Mr Lumumba as a waitress in the weeks before Meredith was murdered.

Police arrested Knox, Lumumba and Sollecito after she placed herself at the crime scene, saying she was in the kitchen of the flat while Lumumba – the owner of the bar Le Chic where she worked – killed Meredith in the latter’s bedroom. Knox later withdrew this statement, saying she spent the night of the murder at her boyfriend’s flat.

Mr Lumumba was cleared after witnesses proved he had been working at the bar on the night of the killing.
Knox later claimed she accused Mr Lumumba after his name was ‘suggested’ to her by police during questioning. Police say they simply asked her about a text message from him on her phone.

Under Italian law, Mr Lumumba was entitled to sue Knox

She had returned briefly to the Perugia jail where she had been held to complete formalities before being escorted to an unknown destination in a black Mercedes with shaded windows.

She is expected to return to the United States on Tuesday although it was not immediately clear whether she would be returning on a regular flight or on a private plane.

Sollecito, who had been held in a separate jail near Perugia, also left custody but his lawyer refused to say where he would be spending his first night of freedom.

'It was obvious that he had nothing to do with the death of that poor girl,' Sollecito's father, a doctor, said after the verdict which he said had 'given me back my son'.

Amid the chaos in court Knox was actually found guilty of slandering bar owner Diya 'Patrick' Lumumba who she accused of carrying out the killing. She was sentenced to three years in jail - but as she had already served four years she was freed immediately.

Knox who had arrived to the hearing looking breathless and pale seemed to struggle to her feet as she was quickly led from the court room by Italian officials.

She is now looking at the possibility of a swift return to America - possibly on a private jet provided by a television network - and a huge payday.

Speaking outside the court following the verdict, Knox's sister Deanna said: 'We are thankful that the nightmare is over. She suffered for four years for a crime she did not commit.'

Knox also thanked the Italian lawyers who had conducted the case and who 'loved her'.

'We are thankful for the support from all over the world, people who took the time and trouble to research the case and knew that she was innocent.

'We are thankful to the court for having courage to look for the truth.

'We now ask for privacy and a chance to recover from our ordeal.'

'We've been waiting for this for four years,' said one of Sollecito's lawyers, Giulia Bongiorno

Tearful: Meredith's sister Stephanie Kercher wipes away a tear following the news that Knox and Sollecito had been freed

Distraught: Meredith Kercher's mother, Arline, (centre) and sister Stephanie (right) arrive at Perugia's court for the verdict

Crowded: Hundreds of people gathered outside the court room with some chanting 'shame on you' at the Italian lawyers

Mass: Huge groups of people gathered outside the court after the verdict, many of whom screamed abuse about the decision to release Knox

However the verdict was not universally welcomed.

Outside the court there were screams of 'shame on you' which appeared to be directed at Mr Bongiorno.

'I DID NOT KILL, I DID NOT RAPE... I WAS NOT THERE': AMANDA KNOX'S FINAL PLEA FOR FREEDOM

Amanda Knox made an emotional final plea in the courtroom yesterday morning.

Speaking in the fluent Italian she has learned in jail, she frequently paused for breath and at times appeared overwhelmed, but otherwise made a confident ten-minute statement to the judges and jurors who would decide her fate. She said:

'Esteemed people of the court, it has been said many times that I am a person different to what I am. I am the same person I was four years ago, the same person – the only thing that distinguishes me from four years ago is the four years that I have suffered.

'In four years I have lost a friend in a brutal and unexplained way. My faith in the police has been betrayed.

'I have had to face accusations, injustice and suggestions without foundation and I am paying with my life for something that I did not do.

'I am not what they say I am. I am not perverse, violent, disrespectful towards life, people. These things do not apply to me and I have not done the things that have been suggested.

'I did not kill, I did not rape, I did not steal. I was not there. I was not present at this crime.

'I had never faced such tragedy, suffering. I didn’t know how to tackle it, how to interpret it. When we learned Meredith was dead, we just could not believe it. How was this possible?

'Then I felt scared. A person who I was sharing my life with, who had the bedroom next to me, she was killed in our house and if I was there that night I could have been killed.

'I wasn’t there. I was at Raffaele’s. I did not have anyone and thankfully he was there, I had no one for me. I called my aunt but at that moment it was only him.

'I had a sense of duty towards justice, the authorities who I put my trust in.

'They were there to find the guilty and to protect us. I put my faith in them absolutely. I made myself available for them in those days but I was betrayed – the night of 5/6 November [2007] I was pressured, stressed and manipulated.

'I have never done what they say I have done. It is not as they say it was.

'I had a good relationship with all my flatmates. I was messy, carefree but we had a good relationship, we were all ready to help each other.

'I shared my life with Meredith. We had a friendship, she was worried for me when I went to work, she was always gentle with me.

'Meredith was killed and I have always wanted justice for her. I am not fleeing from the truth and have never fled.

'I insist on the truth. I insist after four desperate years for our innocence because it is true. It deserves to be recognised.

'I want to go home. I want to return to my life. I don’t want to be punished and deprived of my life, future, for something I have not done because I am innocent. Raffaele is also innocent.

'We deserve our freedom. We have never done anything not to deserve it.

'I have so much respect for the court and the attention you have had during this trial.

'Thank you. I ask for justice.’

One bystander shouted: 'Run off back to America on your private jet,' while another said: 'They just let the black man pay.'

Sky News reported rumours that American TV network had laid on a private plane as part of a potential a $1million deal with a guarantee of an interview.

In Seattle, about a dozen Knox supporters were overjoyed that she has been cleared of the murder conviction.

'She's free!' and 'We did it!' they shouted at a hotel where they watched the court proceedings on TV.

However the Knox family's delight contrasts sharply with the emotions of Meredith Kercher loved ones.

The victim's sister, Stephanie Kercher, who was in Perugia with her mother and brother for the verdict, lamented that her sister 'has been nearly forgotten.'

'We want to keep her memory alive,' she said after the verdict which means that four years on from the brutal murder of the 21-year-old her family still have no clear picture of what happened.

Her heartbroken mother Arline, sister Stephanie and brother John, shook their heads in disbelief and hugged each other for comfort, not even raising their eyes to look at the jubilant Knox camp.

At the first trial two years ago Knox and Sollecito had been convicted after the court heard they had carried out the crime with the aid of a third man Ivory Coast drifter Rudy Guede, 24.

The appeal however overturned this and ruled that he carried out on his own but key to the verdict was an independent court ordered report into hotly disputed DNA evidence.

Two forensic professors from Rome’s La Sapienza University Carla Vecchiotti and Stefano Conti had poured scorn on the original police forensic investigation of the crime scene producing a damning conclusion of techniques and methods used.

Key to the case was a 12in kitchen knife retrieved in Sollecito’s flat and on which the original trial heard was found DNA from Meredith on the blade and that of Knox on the handle.

Prosecutors confusingly said it was 'not incompatible' with the murder weapon – which has never been found – while defence teams argued it was too big to have caused the wounds on Meredith’s throat.

In addition the report also said that no blood was found on it and the DNA of Meredith was so low is should be ruled inadmissible – in fact there was such a small amount it could not even be retested.

They were also critical of results reached from tests on a clasp from Meredith’ s bloodied bra which was not collected from the murder scene and analyzed until 46 days after Meredith was killed.

To highlight the farcical way police carried out the investigation the experts showed footage of the way the forensic officers collected the evidence and there was gasps of amazement as more than 50 errors were pointed out.

The team was seen picking up the clasp with dirty gloves – instead of tweezers – and then placing it in a plastic bag when the recognized international procedure is a paper one.

They were then seen handing it to each other from glove to glove, placing it back on the floor in a different place from where it was found and then picking it up again.

Professors Conti and Vecchiotti said that this also made it highly likely that it had been contaminated and then they also revealed how they had been unable to retest the clasp because it had rotted away after being wrongly kept in the forensic lab in Rome.

Final plea: Both Sollecito and Knox made impassioned statements to the court earlier in the day before the verdict was announced

Grief: Stephanie Kercher, pictured with mother Arline at a press conference earlier in the day. They said the family were struggling to keep sister Meredith's memory alive during the 10-month appeal

Elated: Knox's parents Curt and Edda, pictured at an earlier hearing, were ecstatic after the verdict was read out in court

Prosecutors lame arguments that the experts had no professional experience and that their findings were unqualified and unreliable, were ignored by the judge and jury.

Today prosecutors said they would appeal the decision and take the case to the Supreme Court in Rome but in the meantime Knox and Sollecito will be free and they do not even have to show up for the case.

The Supreme Court judges will simply examine all the documentary evidence and see if there is a valid point of law which can be used to overturn the appeal court’s ruling.

Media scrum: Journalists, photographers and camera crews flooded the court room during the appeal sessions earlier today ahead of the verdict

Hopes: Supporters of Amanda Knox hold an overnight vigil on the eve of the appeal verdict

Media circus: Satellite TV vans parked outside the court in Perugia. The case has generated massive public attention

Raffaele Sollecito, Knox's former boyfriend, also had his conviction for the killing overturned

If they do not find any cause then the decision to release her will be confirmed while if they do find a justifiable reason then the case will be sent for a fresh trial leaving open the possibility of an extradition request from Italy for Knox.

Meredith, from Coulsdon, Surrey, was in Perugia as part of her Leeds University course and had only been in Italy for two months before she was killed in November 2007.

Initially prosecutor Mignini had described the murder as a Satanic ritual but his bizarre theory changed several times from a sex game gone wrong, botched break in or a jealous row.

Eventually in closing arguments he stuck simply to the all encompassing view that it was a 'senseless killing, without a motive' and which had led to him asking for the maximum life penalty.

Questions about the reliability of the verdict were raised during the original trial with many agreeing that the case would not have even come to court in Britain as it was based on half baked theories and a clearly botched investigation.

Mignini himself prosecuted the case despite the fact he was convicted last year of abuse of office after it emerged that he had illegally wiretapped journalists and police officers while investigating the 'Monster of Florence' serial killer.

He was given a 16-month jail sentence but as he is appealing he was still allowed to continue and tonight/last night there were reports that the Ministry of Justice in Rome was to investigate the whole case.

Evidence: DNA found at the scene was called into question during the hearing

Brutal killing: A bedroom in the home Meredith shared with Knox in Perugia. Her blood-soaked body was found on the floor in her own room

KEY DATES IN THE CONVICTION OF AMANDA KNOX

Nov 2, 2007: Body of Meredith Kercher is found in Perugia apartment. Investigators say she was killed the night before.

Nov 6, 2007: Knox is arrested with then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, and Diya 'Patrick' Lumumba, Congolese owner of pub where Knox occasionally worked.

Nov 20, 2007: Lumumba, implicated by Knox statements to police, is released from jail for lack of evidence.

Dec 6, 2007: Ivory Coast national Rudy Hermann Guede is extradited from Germany, where he was arrested, and jailed upon arrival in Italy.

Dec 14, 2007: Meredith is laid to rest after funeral in London.

Oct 28, 2008: Judge indicts Knox and Sollecito on murder and sexual assault charges. Guede, who was granted a fast-track trial, is convicted of murder and sexual assault and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Jan 16, 2009: Trial of Knox and Sollecito opens in Perugia.

Jun 12, 2009: Knox takes stand; tells court she was shocked by Meredith's death, offers alibi and says police beat her into making false statements.

Dec 4, 2009: Court finds Knox guilty of murder and sexual assault; sentences her to 26 years in prison. Sollecito is convicted of same charges and sentenced to 25 years.

Dec 22, 2009: Appeals court upholds Guede conviction and cuts sentence to 16 years.

Nov 8, 2010: Judge orders Knox to stand trial on slander charges for claiming police beating.

Nov 24, 2010: Appeals trial for Knox and Sollecito opens in Perugia.

Dec 16, 2010: Italy's highest criminal court upholds Guede's conviction and 16-year prison sentence.

June 29, 2011: Independent forensic report ordered by appeals court finds much of the DNA evidence used to convict Knox and Sollecito is unreliable.

October 3, 2011: Knox and Sollecito are freed after appeals court overturns conviction for murder.

[Source : dailymail.co.uk]