University of Washington student and West Seattle resident Amanda Knox and her former college boyfriend David Johnsrud agreed amicably to go separate ways in 2007. They each signed up as foreign exchange students. He went to China; she chose the Umbrian Hills of central Italy. Little did she know that her UW distance-learning language studies in German, Japanese, and, yes, Italian, would take place in the high-security Capanne jail and not in the historic halls of the University of Perugia campus as planned.

Knox may currently be West Seattle's most controversial resident, famous or infamous, depending on who, and what, you believe, due to the highly publicized trial implicating her and Italian boyfriend, Raffeale Sollecito in the Nov. 1, 2007 stabbing death of her British roommate Meredith Kercher in Perugia.

A third party, Rudy Guede, was convicted of that murder last October and sentenced to 30 years.

Italian prosecutors believe that DNA evidence places Knox, now 21, and Sollecito at the crime, and claim a wild bedroom game involving the four turned deadly, with University of Leeds student, Kircher at the receiving end of the tragedy. Knox has spent 15 months in jail awaiting trial, which just began. She gave her first testimony Feb. 5 on the trial's second day.

Her father Curt, a Macy's employee in finance, will be by her side in the courtroom for at least five weeks for moral support. Her mother Edda Mellas can visit her daughter in jail but not in court, as she will be called as a witness as a result of a phone call Amanda made to her when the crime scene in her rental house was first being discovered by police.

Amanda's uncle and aunt, Mick and Janett Huff, (Mick is Curt's brother) also of West Seattle, have been very close to Amanda over the years and Janet has been speaking out about the Knox's family's side of the story on national television on their behalf.

"Amanda has this world-wide persona while most don't know her as just 'a person,'" Janet Huff said, which she attributed to the sensationalized, false accounts of Amanda's connection to the murder in tabloid papers, as she sees it.

"This is a young girl who has never been exposed to scary people before," said Huff. "She gets a lot of mail from people she doesn't know. She used to read it all, and most of it was very supportive, but once in a while she'd read a letter filled with disturbing and evil personal attacks. This would really upset her, so now she only reads letters from family and friends whose names she recognizes."

Knox's letters come to her several weeks after they arrive. They are first opened and scrutinized by prison staff. Some letters and other personal writings were sold to the press by an unknown person.

Huff said that while it is natural for Amanda's anxious family to want her back home quickly, they believe it is more important that first the Italian court vindicates her of all wrongdoing to rid her of any dark cloud hanging over her, even though they say this may take some time.
Huff said it will be a fight and an expensive one too, with mounting legal fees, airfares, and other traveling expenses. Fundraisers have helped but Macy's has been hit hard by the troubled economy and Curt is vulnerable to their ongoing lay-offs.

Huff visited Amanda in jail last October, and Amanda told her she missed West Seattle and her wish was to return here following this ordeal.

"She asked about all the new construction here and worried when I told her about the condos and apartments going up around Jefferson Square," said Huff. "Amanda said, 'It's turning into a city and not my little West Seattle anymore.' She's been a huge fan of JaK's (Grill) on special occasions and loves Duke's (Chowder House) and Pegasus on Alki."

"For me, West Seattle equals Amanda," said Johnsrud who, with a core group of college friends, plan to fly to Italy to show their support for Knox in the courtroom.

"We would often ride our bikes from the UW campus to West Seattle," said Johnsrud as he recalled happy memories spent with his then-companion. "I still visit her parents once a week. They are extremely strong individuals and I respect them very much for the way they are handling this situation."

He recalled her "strong optimism" and added, "She has always been good at making good out of a bad situation. Even now she is trying her best to keep her chin up and find ways to make constructive use of her time."

"Most all of Amanda's relatives live within a five-mile radius of Arbor Heights where she attended grade school," said Huff. "She loves West Seattle. This is where she wants to come back to. This is her home."