SEATTLE -- Despite the murder case hanging over her head, Amanda Knox tried to lead a normal life in the more than three years since she was freed from an Italian prison: She recently got engaged and has started writing theatre reviews and other articles for a weekly paper in her hometown.
An appeals court in 2011 cleared Knox in the 2007 slaying of British roommate Meredith Kercher and ordered her released after she had spent four years in prison. But her acquittal was overturned and Knox's case has slowly wound its way through the country's judicial system. She was convicted in absentia in 2014. On Friday, Italy's highest court overturned that murder conviction, finally closing Knox's long legal saga.
Mostly left alone by the media in Seattle since her return from Italy, the 27-year-old former exchange student completed her studies at the University of Washington and spends time with family and friends.
Knox graduated from the University of Washington last year with a degree in creative writing. She recently started working as a freelance reporter for the West Seattle Herald.
Managing Editor Ken Robinson told The Associated Press that Knox has completed pieces on local theatre productions and "the occasional feature story."
"She's very good. She's knowledgeable about her subjects she writes well and she gets stuff on deadline," Robinson said. "She's a local person. We knew that she was interested in writing."
Her articles have included a review of a production of the David Henry Hwang play "Chinglish" and a story about a kidney disease survivor to mark National Kidney Month.
Knox also wrote a memoir about her life and her experiences in Italy, which was published in 2013. She was paid a reported $4 million.
She plans to marry Colin Sutherland, a musician who recently moved to Seattle from New York.
