The murder trial of Amanda Knox in Perugia, Italy has some new twists and turns. While the West Seattle family of UW student Amanda Knox, await a jury's verdict, just days away, for her alleged roll in the stabbing of her roommate of three weeks Nov. 1, 2007, the Perugia police have accused and charged Amanda's biological parents of defamation. The charges against Curt Knox and Edda Mellas were brought by the officer in charge of the Perugia murder squad, inspector and head of Perugia homicide squad, Monica Napoleoni, and five of her officers involved in the case.

About six months after the murder, Knox's parents gave an interview to the British Sunday Times stating their daughter had ''been abused physically and verbally" during her interrogation Nov. 5 and 6, just after the murder. Amanda also told her parents she was hit in the head by an officer in front of Napoleoni, deprived of food and water, denied an English translator, and was told by the Perugia police that if she asked for a lawyer, "things will get worse for you" and 'If you don't give us some explanation for what happened, you're going to go to jail for a very long time."

"We're trying to deal with this whole thing," said Amanda's aunt, Janet Huff. "It looks like the prosecution and police are trying to shut Edda and Curt up. Anything that makes the police look bad they don’t like.

"Police are saying 'slander.' Edda and Curt are not being held, but are formally charged. We don’t know if it means they cant visit Amanda in prison or attend the trial."

Huff has stayed behind in West Seattle to take care of her kids and field calls from the media while Curt, Edda, their spouses, children, and other family members have flown, or will fly soon, to support Amanda when the verdict is read.