"How do you intend to set Amanda free?"
Oprah Winfrey takes Edda Mellas' hand during a taping of the Oprah Winfrey show. (OprahWinfrey.com)
That's how Oprah Winfrey closed a teaser promoting her interview with the parents of Amanda Knox, the 21-year-old Seattle native who was convicted of murder in an Italian court for the killing of British student Meredith Kercher.
Since the December conviction, Curt Knox and Edda Mellas have asserted Amanda's innocence and vowed to fight for her release. If their plan includes an appeal to the court of public opinion, then a seat in Oprah's studio, a question like the one above and a hand hold like the one shown to the right could mean they're onto something.
AMANDA KNOX'S PARENTS ON OPRAH
Related videos
· The weekly call from Amanda Knox
· Knox's sisters speak out
· ABC News' Elizabeth Vargas discusses the case
AMANDA KNOX CASE
Recent seattlepi.com coverage
· Debate continues over Knox's guilt
· Amanda Knox guilty of murder
· Verdict reaction: Family grieves, some blame Italy
· Donald Trump on Amanda Knox: 'Boycott Italy'
· Amanda Knox's parents appear on Larry King
Online, Oprah tells the story in pieces, beginning with the basics many of us in Seattle already know: In November 2007, the body of Meredith Kercher was found in a house she shared with University of Washington student Amanda Knox in the city of Perugia, Italy, while both were studying abroad. Two years later, after a tumultuous trial in a case that became an instant international media sensation, Knox and her former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were convicted in the murder. Knox was sentenced to 26 years.
Knox and Mellas told Oprah all the evidence indicates that Rudy Guede -- a man convicted earlier in the killing -- was the only murderer. They said they're waiting for the release of a "motivation document" to understand the jury's process in reaching its verdict before they move forward with an appeal.
Knox's parents also confirmed what I've heard for some time -- that Amanda is still taking University of Washington classes, doing Italian and German assignments from prison.
"It keeps the light on at the end of the tunnel, that this is not wasted time for her as she's working toward her graduation of college, because she's going to get out of there," Knox told Oprah. "She's absolutely innocent. You go through a trial by media versus a trial inside the courtroom. Inside the courtroom, there is not the evidence to come up with a guilty verdict. It is so far past that to where she should be [found] innocent.'"
Knox attorney Theodore Simon was also on the show, calling the "lack of evidence" "profound and compelling."
If it seems like the show did a lot for the argument that Knox's conviction was unfounded and invalid, that's because it apparently did. No criticism in the Oprah online story goes unaddressed by Knox's parents. And once addressed, they're left alone.
As Oprah usually does, she focused on the human element, making the tears come more out of sympathy for a distressed family than from an exploration of the crime.
The most revealing video in the online package is this one, showing the Knox family gathered around the phone for Amanda's weekly call from prison. Here's a key segment from the show's accompanying online story:
Oprah Winfrey takes Edda Mellas' hand during a taping of the Oprah Winfrey show. (OprahWinfrey.com)
That's how Oprah Winfrey closed a teaser promoting her interview with the parents of Amanda Knox, the 21-year-old Seattle native who was convicted of murder in an Italian court for the killing of British student Meredith Kercher.
Since the December conviction, Curt Knox and Edda Mellas have asserted Amanda's innocence and vowed to fight for her release. If their plan includes an appeal to the court of public opinion, then a seat in Oprah's studio, a question like the one above and a hand hold like the one shown to the right could mean they're onto something.
AMANDA KNOX'S PARENTS ON OPRAH
Related videos
· The weekly call from Amanda Knox
· Knox's sisters speak out
· ABC News' Elizabeth Vargas discusses the case
AMANDA KNOX CASE
Recent seattlepi.com coverage
· Debate continues over Knox's guilt
· Amanda Knox guilty of murder
· Verdict reaction: Family grieves, some blame Italy
· Donald Trump on Amanda Knox: 'Boycott Italy'
· Amanda Knox's parents appear on Larry King
Online, Oprah tells the story in pieces, beginning with the basics many of us in Seattle already know: In November 2007, the body of Meredith Kercher was found in a house she shared with University of Washington student Amanda Knox in the city of Perugia, Italy, while both were studying abroad. Two years later, after a tumultuous trial in a case that became an instant international media sensation, Knox and her former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were convicted in the murder. Knox was sentenced to 26 years.
Knox and Mellas told Oprah all the evidence indicates that Rudy Guede -- a man convicted earlier in the killing -- was the only murderer. They said they're waiting for the release of a "motivation document" to understand the jury's process in reaching its verdict before they move forward with an appeal.
Knox's parents also confirmed what I've heard for some time -- that Amanda is still taking University of Washington classes, doing Italian and German assignments from prison.
"It keeps the light on at the end of the tunnel, that this is not wasted time for her as she's working toward her graduation of college, because she's going to get out of there," Knox told Oprah. "She's absolutely innocent. You go through a trial by media versus a trial inside the courtroom. Inside the courtroom, there is not the evidence to come up with a guilty verdict. It is so far past that to where she should be [found] innocent.'"
Knox attorney Theodore Simon was also on the show, calling the "lack of evidence" "profound and compelling."
If it seems like the show did a lot for the argument that Knox's conviction was unfounded and invalid, that's because it apparently did. No criticism in the Oprah online story goes unaddressed by Knox's parents. And once addressed, they're left alone.
As Oprah usually does, she focused on the human element, making the tears come more out of sympathy for a distressed family than from an exploration of the crime.
The most revealing video in the online package is this one, showing the Knox family gathered around the phone for Amanda's weekly call from prison. Here's a key segment from the show's accompanying online story:
Edda and Curt both say the hardest moments for them is trying to explain to Amanda why she is in this position. On one particular day, Curt says he held Amanda for 45 minutes while she cried. "I think it was one of those days [where Amanda was wondering]: 'Why is this happening to me? I haven't done anything. I've told the truth,'" Edda says. "And how do you explain that to her? That mistakes happen and she's in the middle of this massive mistake and that it will get fixed and trying to make sure she she knows that she will get out of there."
