The Amanda Knox-Meredith Kercher murder case made international headlines since it first hit news wires in September 2007. From its inception the case resembled an episode of “Locked Up Abroad,” complete with an international cast and bizarre motives. Knox, along with her boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were ultimately convicted of murdering Meredith Kercher in December of 2009.
Two Island residents unbeknownst to each other found themselves in engaged in the case while pursuing their own sense of justice.
“It is truly the first Facebook murder case,” said Island resident Candace Dempsey, author of “Murder in Italy” and a longtime journalist. “Knox is the poster child for what not to put on the Internet.”
Originally from Spokane, Dempsey is one of seven children from an Italian-American family. Her fluency in Italian would become instrumental in her research. She attended undergraduate studies at Washington State University and then graduate school for journalism at the University of Oregon.
“I knew I wanted to be a writer ever since I was a little girl. I always carried a tablet around with me writing things down,” she said. She worked as a reporter for the Chicago Tribune and a producer for MSN. Later she worked as a freelance business and travel writer. Her works have appeared in a variety of publications including the Puget Sound Business Journal. She finally settled on Mercer Island, raising a family, where she still resides.
“I liked the area because it felt like the country, like where I grew up in Spokane. But it also had the benefits of living in a city. It’s only 10 minutes away from Seattle, so it was very transferable.” she said. During the fall of 2007 she was in the middle of writing a travel book.
“When I saw the headlines of Meredith Kercher’s death, I thought it was a sad story. It interested me because it happened in Italy and that Knox was from Seattle. Immediately, when the headlines came out, I saw an inconsistency with the stories,” said Dempsey. Her journalistic training pushed her to sleuth it herself. It was ironic because Perugia, the city where the murder took place, was Seattle’s sister city in Italy.
For two years, she worked to produce her book; even traveling to Perugia and seeing the case play out first-hand. Based on her journalistic training, Dempsey became one of the first voices early to say that Knox could be innocent. She believes there is a reasonable doubt in the case that Knox did not commit the murder. Her book was completed before the December 2009 conviction.
“My research was based on the ideas my family instilled in me about justice. As citizens we have a duty to speak out against it. Whether you’re rich or poor, everyone deserves justice,” said Dempsey. “Writing ‘Murder in Italy’ was a way for me to understand what happened. I think I succeeded in taking the facts and making a spellbinding tale at the same time.”
Another one of those early voices was fellow Islander Tom Wright. Originally from Minnesota, he studied at Harvard University as well as abroad in Ireland. He found his way to Hollywood, working as a studio executive, production assistant and screenwriter. Among his works is the cult classic “New Jack City.” He later produced several documentary films like “Eight-Tray Gangster: The Making of a Crip” and “Trade-Off,” among others.
“I came to the Northwest area because of the great lifestyle and its nature,” said Wright. Mercer Island became his home, where he raised his family. “The great schools, low traffic and crime rates made the Island an attractive place to live.”
Wright, the father of a Seattle Prep student who was a classmate of Knox, found himself wrapped up in the case for more personal reasons.
“Knox was a high-character person. She was an honor student at the University of Washington, an athlete, and loved music,” recalled Wright. “There is no actual evidence of any deviant or antisocial behavior in her. I just was amazed by the actual complete lack of evidence and the trial by media.”
As a writer he wanted to tell stories about human nature, developing a creative sense for studying social injustice. It was evidenced by his time documenting intercity gangs and social and political activist issues. As a father and a friend of the family, he took steps toward involvement, setting up the Friends of Amanda Web site.
“I’ve never observed a situation so unjust with this case. This is not about Italy versus America. This is about addressing a wrongful conviction; any person anywhere can be subjected to an injustice like this.”
This Monday at Seattle University’s Pigott Auditorium at 4 p.m., Wright will moderate a panel of speakers including Dempsey. The panel is titled “Amanda Knox: The Case of Innocence,” and experts will comment about the case’s DNA evidence, crime scene investigation and the process of wrongful convictions. Since speaking out on the case, Wright and Dempsey have received several threats.
