The true crime story of Amanda Knox, once a household name across continents, has resurfaced with the release of a new drama series, The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox, on Disney+. The show, which premiered on August 20, 2025, dives deep into the infamous 2007 murder case that not only gripped Italy but also held the world in suspense for years. At its core, the series revisits the tragic death of British exchange student Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy, and the subsequent legal and media maelstrom that engulfed her American roommate, Amanda Knox.
In 2007, Amanda Knox, a 20-year-old American student, was living abroad in Perugia, sharing an apartment with Meredith Kercher and two other roommates. That November, Knox returned to their flat after a night spent at her boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito’s place. What she found was chilling: the front door ajar and blood in the bathroom. According to NationalWorld, Knox immediately called the police, who discovered Kercher’s body in her locked bedroom—she had been brutally stabbed to death.
From the very beginning, the investigation was fraught with confusion and controversy. Police quickly zeroed in on Knox, Sollecito, and Patrick Lumumba, a local bar owner who was Knox’s employer. During early police interviews—conducted in a language Knox was still learning—she reportedly implicated herself, Sollecito, and Lumumba. However, Lumumba was soon released after multiple patrons at his bar provided a rock-solid alibi, as reported by NationalWorld.
The case took another twist when forensic investigators found bloodstained fingerprints on bedding beneath Kercher’s body. The prints belonged to Rudy Guede, a known burglar with tenuous connections to both Knox and Kercher. Guede, who had fled to Germany, was arrested and charged with murder alongside Knox and Sollecito. Italian authorities theorized that the three had conspired together, though the evidence for such a plot was always thin.
The joint trial of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito began in 2009, and the world watched as prosecutors painted a damning picture of the pair. Despite both pleading not guilty to charges of murder, sexual assault, carrying a knife, simulating a burglary, and theft, the court convicted Knox and Sollecito in December 2009. Knox received a 26-year sentence; Sollecito, 25 years. The verdict shocked many, especially in the United States, where questions about the fairness of the trial and the reliability of the evidence began to swirl.
But the story didn’t end there. According to the Netflix documentary Amanda Knox, an appeal trial commenced in November 2010, focusing on the DNA evidence that had been hotly contested by forensic experts. A review found that none of Kercher’s DNA was on the alleged murder weapon, a kitchen knife seized from Sollecito’s home. Moreover, a crucial DNA sample on Kercher’s bra clasp had been contaminated, having been lost for 47 days before analysis. The court concluded that the evidence was compromised and unreliable.
In October 2011, Knox and Sollecito were acquitted of murder. Judge Claudio Pratillo Hellmann noted that inconsistencies in their accounts did not amount to a false alibi and that there was no evidence of communication between Knox, Sollecito, and Guede. The supposed conspiracy, he said, was "far from probable." However, Knox’s conviction for defamation—stemming from her initial accusation against Lumumba—was upheld, earning her a three-year sentence, which she had already served by then. She returned home to Seattle immediately after her release.
Rudy Guede, on the other hand, was not so fortunate. His conviction for murder stood, and he served 13 years in prison before being released in 2021. The case against Knox and Sollecito, meanwhile, continued to unravel. In 2015, they were officially exonerated, closing a harrowing chapter in their lives.
The media circus surrounding the case was relentless. Every move Knox made was scrutinized, her demeanor dissected by both the Italian and international press. As NationalWorld points out, she became a symbol—sometimes of presumed guilt, sometimes of wrongful persecution. The case sparked heated debates about the reliability of forensic evidence, the pressures of high-profile investigations, and the role of media in shaping public opinion.
After returning to the United States, Amanda Knox sought to reclaim her narrative. She authored two memoirs: Waiting to Be Heard: A Memoir and Free: My Search for Meaning. The former became a bestseller, with proceeds helping to cover her considerable legal expenses in Italy. In 2017, Knox launched the Facebook Watch series The Scarlet Letter Reports, which delves into the "gendered nature of public shaming," drawing on her own experiences as a case study in media scapegoating.
Knox’s personal life has also moved forward. She married author Christopher Robinson in 2020, a relationship that began after her return to Seattle in 2011. The couple now lives in Washington State with their two children. Knox has remained in the public eye, not just as a subject of fascination but as an advocate for those wrongfully imprisoned. According to Netflix, she is also an executive producer on The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox, ensuring that her perspective is included in the retelling of her story.
The new Disney+ series, released with weekly episodes starting August 20, 2025, is just the latest in a string of dramatizations and documentaries inspired by the case. It joins the 2016 Netflix documentary Amanda Knox, which featured interviews with both Knox and Sollecito and explored the events leading up to their exoneration. The enduring fascination with the case speaks to its complexity: a mixture of tragedy, legal drama, and the human need for answers—even when those answers remain elusive.
For many, the Amanda Knox saga is a cautionary tale about the dangers of rushing to judgment, the fallibility of forensic science, and the powerful role the media can play in influencing the course of justice. The story, as retold in books, documentaries, and now a scripted miniseries, continues to provoke debate and reflection on both sides of the Atlantic. And as the series unfolds, viewers are left to grapple with the same questions that haunted the original investigation: What really happened that night in Perugia? And can the truth ever be fully known?
With the release of The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox, audiences are once again invited to revisit a case that, for better or worse, has become a defining true crime story of the 21st century.
