Amanda Knox 'relieved and grateful' after Italian court overturns conviction

Speaking from her Seattle home on Friday night, 27-year-old Amanda Knox said she was "tremendously relieved and grateful," following the decision earlier that day by Italy's highest court to overturn the 2009 murder convictions of Knox and her former boyfriend Raffaelle Sollecito.

"The knowledge of my innocence has given me strength in the darkest times of this ordeal," Knox added in her short statement reported by USA Today. "I'm so grateful to have my life back."

The controversial case has captivated people across the U.S. and Europe. Knox and Sollecito were convicted in 2009 of the 2007 murder of Knox's British roommate Meredith Kercher, who was found stabbed to death in the apartment she shared with Knox. In 2011, a lower Italian court reversed Knox's and Sollecito's convictions and set them free. But a Florence appeals court reversed that decision in 2013, overturning their acquittals.

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Friday's ruling from the Court of Cassation officially brings the eight-year saga to a close.