[For an audio reading of this essay accompanied by further discussion, see this bonus episode of my podcast, Labyrinths.] [Italian text below]It has been my fate to bear the infamy of Meredith Kercher’s tragic death, an infamy that belongs to her forgotten killer: Rudy Guede. Despite leaving his DNA on Meredith’s body, despite leaving his fingerprints and footprints in her blood, Guede was never charged with murder. Instead, was he quietly convicted of a lesser charge long before my own trial ever reached a verdict.Taking his cue from the prosecution and media, Guede has taken every...…[For an audio reading of this essay accompanied by further discussion, see this bonus episode of my podcast, Labyrinths.] [Italian text below]It has been my fate to bear the infamy of Meredith Kercher’s tragic death, an infamy that belongs to her forgotten killer: Rudy Guede. Despite leaving his DNA on Meredith’s body, despite leaving his fingerprints and footprints in her blood, Guede was never charged with murder. Instead, was he quietly convicted of a lesser charge long before my own trial ever reached a verdict.Taking his cue from the prosecution and media, Guede has taken every...WW…

Does my name belong to me? Does my face? What about my life? My story? Why is my name used to refer to events I had no hand in? I return to these questions again and again because others continue to profit off my identity, and my trauma, without my consent. Most recently, there is the film Stillwater, directed by Tom McCarthy and starring Matt Damon and Abigail Breslin, which was, in McCarthy’s words, “directly inspired by the Amanda Knox saga.” How did we get here?In the fall of 2007, a British student named Meredith Kercher was studying abroad in Perugia, Italy. She moved into a little...…Does my name belong to me? Does my face? What about my life? My story? Why is my name used to refer to events I had no hand in? I return to these questions again and again because others continue to profit off my identity, and my trauma, without my consent. Most recently, there is the film Stillwater, directed by Tom McCarthy and starring Matt Damon and Abigail Breslin, which was, in McCarthy’s words, “directly inspired by the Amanda Knox saga.” How did we get here?In the fall of 2007, a British student named Meredith Kercher was studying abroad in Perugia, Italy. She moved into a little...WW…