Amanda Knox Case Update: Meredith Kercher Roommate’s Editor Says He’s ‘Flabbergasted’ By Her Work As A Journalist [VIDEO]
She has been quietly living her life in Seattle as she awaits the final verdict in her murder trial next year, but Amanda Knox's work in journalism has started catching the public eye-and her editor is now speaking up for his famous freelancer.
Amanda Knox Working As A Journalist?
Speaking to The Daily Beast, Patrick Robinson, the Web Editor for the West Seattle Herald defended the publication's decision to hire on the convicted murderer as an arts reporter, and admitted that her work has been very good-which was why she was given the job in the first place.
"We approached her originally to give her the opportunity of a normal life," he said. "We simply asked her as we would ask anyone of that age and stage, if they would be interested in writing for us as a qualified writer of that scale and this level of journalism."
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And though she initially worked under a pen name for protection, she now writes openly with her real identity in her byline-and has truly impressed her bosses.
"Amanda's a very bright, very capable, highly qualified writer," Robinson said, before adding that he was "flabbergasted" when he realized how her photography had improved over time. "She's certainly been through a lot and been very easy to work with and very interested and eager in doing stories."
Since working for the paper, Knox has covered human-interest stories as well as written local theater reviews, including of a high-school production of Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.
Know was first thrust into the spotlight back in 2007, after she, her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, and a third man, Rudy Guede, were all arrested in connection to the murder of Knox's roommate, Meredith Kercher, in the Perugia, Italy flat she and Knox had been sharing. Guede's trial was fast-tracked, and he began serving a 16-year sentence in an Italian prison.
Knox and Sollecito were convicted of the crime in 2009, but served only two years of their sentences before an appeals court threw out the charges against them. Knox returned to the U.S. afterwards, but her victory was short-lived after Italian prosecutors revealed plans to have the case re-tried again in 2013-resulting in she and Sollecito being convicted earlier this year. Their final chance at an appeal will be heard at Italy's highest court in March 2015, and if the convictions are upheld, Sollecito will immediately begin serving a 25 year sentence. Knox, who was sentenced to 28 ½ years, would likely become the focus of an extradition battle between the U.S. and Italy.
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