Amanda Knox Update: Prosecutor Giuliano Mignini Wants to Put American Student Away Forever
MILAN (CBS/AP) Prosecutor Giuliano Mignini says more than two decades in jail is not enough for American student Amanda Knox.
He wants to put her away for life.
Last December, Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were both convicted in an Italian court for the 2007 slaying of Knox's roommate, Meredith Kercher. Knox was sentenced to 26 years. Sollecito got 25.
Both Knox and Sollecito are appealing their convictions. But in Italy, the prosecution can appeal as well and Mignini says he wants life sentences for the pair, according to Italian news agency ANSA.
Knox was vilified in Italy and many celebrated her conviction. The prosecutor portrayed the crime as a sex game gone wrong which also involved Rudy Hermann Guede, an Ivory Coast man known as a small time crook. He was convicted in a separate trial and given 16 years. He is also appealing.
But the verdict has been more controversial in America. A 48 Hours | Mystery investigation questioned the evidence, including the alleged murder weapon, the condition of DNA evidence, and the bizarre theory of the crime, which may have come from a television psychic rather than police work.
This week, CBS News Crimesider reported that a framed picture of Knox was placed on a wall for Italy's worst killers inside an Italian police station eight months before Knox was even charged.
Though prosecutor Mignini, who was also the chief investigator, claimed Knox, Sollecito, and Guede teamed up for a satanic sex ritual and killed the 21-year-old Kercher in the process, he presented no evidence that the couple had ever met Guede: no emails, texts, or phone calls.
And Mignini himself is now a convicted felon. He was found guilty of using the power of his office to intimidate journalists who were critical of his investigations.
While he is appealing his own verdict, he remains in office and free and is pushing to keep Knox behind bars forever.
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Verdict In Italy
MORE ON CRIMESIDER
April 15, 2010 - Amanda Knox Framed: Picture Hung in Italian Police "Hall of Shame" BEFORE She Was Charged With Murder
March 18, 2010 - Amanda Knox Italian Police Bombshell: We Knew She Was Guilty
of Murder Without Physical Evidence
March
4, 2010 - Italian Judges Still Sure Amanda Knox a Killer
December
23, 2009 - Rudy Hermann Guede Will Get Out of Jail Before Amanda Knox
for Meredith Kercher's Murder
December
16, 2009 - Amanda Knox May be Joined in Jail by the Prosecutor That Put
Her There
December
4, 2009 - Amanda Knox Verdict: Italian Jury Will Announce Decision at 6
P.M. Eastern
December
3, 2009 - Amanda Knox Pleads With Jury: I'm No "Assassin"
December
1, 2009 - Lawsuits Fly in Amanda Knox Murder Trial
November
24, 2009 - Amanda Knox: Sex-Game Murder Charge is "Pure Fantasy;"
Italian Prosecutors Want Life Sentence
November
20, 2009 - Amanda Knox Trial: Convicted Killer Fingers Knox for
Meredith Kercher Murder
June
19, 2009 - Knox's Mom Says Daughter, Victim Got Along
June
15, 2009 - "Always A Crescendo:" Amanda Knox Talks About Murder
Investigation On Stand
June
12, 2009 - Knox's Alibi: Sex, Drugs And Sleep