AMANDA Knox has encouraged the grieving family of Meredith Kercher to consider reading her new book, following criticisms labeling the release as “inappropriate and disrespectful”.

The 37-year-old hit back at the claims she is “profiting” from murder in an interview with Good Morning Britain.

In 2007, Knox was detained in relation to the murder of British student Meredith Kercher, who was discovered stabbed to death at the apartment she shared with Knox in Italy.

Knox spent four years behind bars for the 21-year-old’s murder, before being cleared of the crime by Italy’s highest court in 2015.

Her new memoir, Free, is all about her treatment while in jail.

In the book, she claims to have been groped, and asked for sex by prison guards.

When asked about the impact the book may have on her former roommate’s family, Knox urged them to read it.

Knox stated: “I hope that they read my book because I genuinely honor Meredith’s memory within it, but I also believe that honoring her past and story should not entail erasing my own.”

“I am a person who is continuing to pursue justice in this case but a bigger issue that I try and speak to and free is how do we all overcome the traumas that are in our lives, regardless of whether or not we get what we deserve.”

But Kercher’s family lawyer, Francesco Maresca, slammed the new release as “inappropriate and disrespectful”.

Knox clapped back at the lawyer live on air as she told Good Morning Britain that he can “very politely keep his opinions to himself”.

Knox’s new book follows the release of her first memoir, Waiting to Be Heard, back in 2013.

During the interview Knox was asked whether she thought her second memoir could be seen as was capitalising on the tragic sequence of events.

Knox said: “Well, I would say that my first book was a very different one to this book.

“I’m very proud of Waiting To Be Heard. It was written at a time when I felt like so many people were authoring my experience and saying what it was and I felt like I needed to set the record straight.

“It was written at a time when I was deeply immersed in the legal saga and in proving my innocence.

“Today, I look at this as an opportunity to share a story of, not erasing the past but really learning from the past so that we can live better lives, personally and as a society.”

The lawyer, Maresca, has said it is evident that Knox is using the case as a “source of income” and an opportunity to “maintain her name in the media.”

Knox shut down these claims, branding him a “hypocrite”.

She said: “Well, I would say that he’s a hypocrite, honestly, as someone who himself has profited not just off the work that he has done on the case but in writing his own book, I think that Mr Maresca can very politely keep his opinions to himself.

“He has always been very much a man who has never, ever considered my humanity and experience and is subject to something that I like to call single victim fallacy.

“The idea that in a tragic event, there can only be one victim, and that is simply not true so I think, I don’t really care what Mr Maresca thinks, to be frank.”

This comes after Knox lost her appeal against a slander charge for wrongly accusing her former boss Patrick Lumumba of murdering Kercher back in January.

The decision has left Knox with a permanent criminal record in Italy.

In a tearful YouTube video titled Slander Verdict Reaction, Knox opened up about the ruling: “I’m a little bit astonished because I had higher hopes of the court in Rome.

“But there’s nothing else I can do… It’s really disappointing because there’s nothing else I can do.

“That means I just have a criminal record forever for something I didn’t do.”

Timeline of Meredith Kercher saga

November 1, 2007 – The murder of Meredith Kercher: British exchange student Meredith Kercher, 21, is found dead in the apartment she shares with Amanda Knox in Perugia, Italy. Her throat is slashed, and signs suggest she may have been sexually assaulted.

November 6, 2007 – Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito arrested: Amanda Knox, her Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, and Patrick Lumumba, Knox’s boss at a local bar, are arrested in connection with Kercher’s murder. Knox accuses Lumumba of the killing during a police interrogation.

November 20, 2007 – Patrick Lumumba released: Lumumba is released after police find no forensic evidence linking him to the murder. He was falsely implicated by Knox during a contentious interrogation.

December 6, 2007 – Rudy Guede arrested in Germany: Rudy Guede, a 20-year-old Ivorian man, is arrested in Germany and extradited to Italy. His DNA is found on Kercher’s body and at the crime scene.

October 28, 2008 – Guede convicted of murder: Guede opts for a fast-track trial and is convicted of Kercher’s murder. He is sentenced to 30 years in prison, later reduced to 16 on appeal.

January 16, 2009 – Knox and Sollecito trial begins: Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito stand trial for the murder of Kercher. Prosecutors allege a sex game gone wrong, while the defence argues that Guede acted alone.

December 4, 2009 – Knox and Sollecito convicted: Knox and Sollecito are found guilty. Knox is sentenced to 26 years in prison; Sollecito receives 25 years.

November 24, 2010 – Appeals process begins: Knox and Sollecito appeal their convictions. A key focus is the forensic evidence, including DNA found on a knife and a bra clasp.

October 3, 2011 – Knox and Sollecito acquitted: An appeals court overturns their convictions, citing errors in the forensic investigation. Knox is freed and returns to Seattle.

March 26, 2013 – Italy’s Supreme Court orders retrial: Italy’s Court of Cassation annuls the acquittals, ordering a retrial for Knox and Sollecito.

January 30, 2014 – Knox and Sollecito reconvicted: Knox and Sollecito are reconvicted in their retrial. Knox, now in the U.S., is sentenced to 28.5 years in prison.

March 25, 2015 – Final acquittal: Italy’s Supreme Court definitively acquits Knox and Sollecito of Kercher’s murder, citing lack of evidence and glaring errors in the investigation.

November 2021 – Rudy Guede released: Rudy Guede, the sole person definitively convicted in connection with Kercher’s death, is released from prison after serving 13 years.

2023 – present – Knox’s slander conviction: Despite her acquittal, Knox is convicted of slander for falsely accusing Patrick Lumumba.

2023: The European Court of Human Rights rules that Knox’s rights were violated during her 2007 interrogation.

June 2024: An Italian court upholds her slander conviction, a decision confirmed by Italy’s high court

January 23, 2025: Knox loses her appeal against the slander charge, leaving her with a permanent criminal record in Italy