The Untold Story of Raffaele Sollecito: Life After a Shocking Murder Conviction Reversal

Ever wonder how a budding computer science student’s life can spiral into an international legal nightmare faster than you can say “Perugia”? That’s exactly the path Raffaele Sollecito found himself on after meeting Amanda Knox in 2007 — a brief romance that turned into a grim tale of murder charges, police pressure, and alibi contradictions worthy of a prime-time drama. When Sollecito admitted in a 2012 interview that cooperating with police sans legal counsel was a huge misstep, it only deepened the intrigue. Add a third player, Rudy Guede, with his conviction and early release, and you’ve got a saga that keeps twisting and turning years later. Curious to dive deeper into this infamous case and the human stories underneath? LEARN MORE.

Sollecito was nearly finished with his computer science degree at Perugia University when he met Knox at a concert in October 2007. Their brief romance quickly turned grim following their arrests in connection with Kercher’s murder.

In a 2012 interview with Anderson Cooper, Sollecito expressed regret for cooperating with police without legal counsel.

“The police, they wanted it,” he recalled. “The detectives had their eyes on us since the beginning.”

In November 2007, charges of murder and sexual assault were levied against Sollecito and Knox. Despite consistently proclaiming their innocence, inconsistencies in their alibis surfaced. Sollecito claimed he was watching cartoons at home the night of the murder, but his computer records failed to support this.

Knox said she was with Sollecito that night, though he later admitted he couldn’t confirm their whereabouts together. Rudy Guede, a third party involved in the case, was arrested and later convicted for Kercher’s murder in October 2008. He received a 30-year sentence but was released early in November 2021.