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Susan Powell, 28, has been missing since December 6.

Gabriel Falcon
AC360° Writer

A $10,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the location of missing Utah mother Susan Powell, authorities announced today. West Valley City Police spokesman Capt. Tom McLachlan said the offer was made by an anonymous donor.

It has been more than two weeks since Powell, 28, disappeared from her home. Her husband, Joshua Powell, said she was not in the house when he and their two small children returned from a camping trip. Mr. Powell has been named a person of interest in the case, West Valley City police said. He has provided a sample of his DNA to the authorities, police added.

A candlelight vigil for Susan Powell was held Sunday evening near her family’s home in Washington State. “We had a very short presentation,” said family spokesperson Shelby Gifford. “ I read a statement from the family. We had a poster that people could sign. We lit candles and sang a hymn and then sang a closing prayer.”

Joshua Powell also attended the ceremony. But Gifford said he arrived after the vigil. He “took the focus away from Susan,” Gifford told CNN. “That wasn’t necessary.”

Gifford said Mr. Powell brought the couple’s 4-year-old son with him.

Mr. Powell has hired a Salt Lake City attorney who has not returned repeated requests from CNN for comment. Gifford is hoping Mr. Powell’s decision to retain a lawyer will help answer questions about Mrs. Powell’s whereabouts. “I think the family is looking for information and trying to fill in some holes,” she said. “ The family is hopeful that Joshua will feel comfortable to answer questions and provide information in a way that will help us find Susan. That’s what we are after.”

For more crime coverage go to cnn.com/crime.

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Susan Powell, 28, has been missing since December 6.

Gabriel Falcon
AC360° Writer

Police  executed a search warrant at the home of a missing Utah woman and her husband, authorities said today. “It involved our detective division,” West Valley City Asst. Police Chief Craig Black told CNN. He would not disclose details about the search or what evidence was gathered by investigators.

It is at least the second search of the couple’s home since Susan Powell, 28, vanished on December 6. Her husband, Joshua Powell, said his wife vanished after he took their two young children on a camping trip. Police have been unable to confirm his account and have labeled him a person of interest. He has also not been cooperative in the investigation, they added.

At a news conference on Thursday, Mrs. Powell’s family described frustration over her husband’s actions since she vanished. “We wish he would be cooperative,” said family spokesman Shelby Gifford, “because we think that would help us find Susan.

“We’re just not speculating on what his role might have been. We don’t have all the facts and we also have a monumental task in front of us. That’s finding Susan. That’s what we’re focused on right now.”

Gifford said the couple’s two sons are doing fine.

Mr. Powell has retained an attorney, who has not returned repeated requests from CNN for comment. He has also provided a DNA sample, police said.

A Facebook page created by the family and friends of Mrs. Powell has received a flood of comments from people across the country. Many offer prayers and words of support. One posting from a woman named Kristie said: “Susan you have touched millions of peoples lives because of how you live your life... and how we should be living ours. we love you and will not give up the search, we will not rest.... we love you”

For more crime coverage go to cnn.com/crime.

Luis Ramirez was in a coma on life support before he died two days after he was beaten.

CNN

Five people, including three police officers, have been indicted on charges related to the beating death of a Latino man in rural Pennsylvania in July 2008, the Justice Department said Tuesday.

Two indictments charge the five with federal hate crimes, obstruction of justice and conspiracy in what authorities are calling a racially motivated attack.

The indictments come almost six months after a Schuylkill County jury acquitted two teens of aggravated assault and one of murder in the death of Luis Ramirez.

The undocumented Mexican immigrant was beaten into a coma during a street brawl involving the teens and their friends on a residential street in Shenandoah. The incident divided the small, rural mining town along racial lines and became a flash point for racial tensions nationwide.

 Keep Reading...

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Susan Powell, 28, has been missing since December 6.

Gabriel Falcon
AC360° Writer

Police searching for a missing Utah woman believe she may have been the victim of a crime. “There is circumstantial evidence of foul play going on here,” said Asst. Chief Craig Black of the West Valley Police Department. “Everything points that she did not leave on her own.

Susan Powell, 28, has not been seen or heard from since December 6. Joshua Powell told police she was at home early Sunday morning when he took their two young children on a camping trip in a remote area of the state, authorities said. Powell claims his wife was not home when they returned on Tuesday.

Powell has retained a Salt Lake City attorney who police said was present while the DNA sample was taken. Capt. McLachlan said Powell also briefly talked with investigators. "We were able to ask him a few questions," he said, "Not everything we wanted to ask him. We hope to have an additional interview later on.

Asst. Chief Craig told CNN Powell has not been forthcoming with critical details for investigators. “Josh has been the least willing to come forward with direction information about the whereabouts of Susan,” he said.

“We would be very appreciative of him coming in and helping us understand anything he might have to help locate his wife.”

He said it appears highly unlikely Mrs. Powell would voluntarily leave her children.

“She’s not in her home, she left no note, it’s out of character for her,” Black told CNN. “Everything is left behind, no explanation. She’s a mother of two. Nothing indicates that she, on her own free will, would just fly the coop with no keys, purse or cell phone.

“The criminal evidence is very circumstantial at this point. We don’t have a body to say yes she is deceased, or we don’t have evidence to say she is being held against her will….we’ve just not found anyone to take you in the direction that she left on her own.”

For more crime coverage go to cnn.com/crime.

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Susan Powell, 28, has been missing since December 6.

Gabriel Falcon
AC360° Writer

The husband of a missing Utah woman provided a sample of his DNA to investigators looking for his wife, authorities said today. "We had him come in and we have done it under warrant," West Valley City Police spokesman Capt. Tom McLachlan told CNN. He added that the warrant was used "just to protect everybody should this go to any other classification."

Susan Powell, 28, has not been seen or heard from since December 6. Josuha Powell told police she was at home early Sunday morning when he took their two young children on a camping trip in a remote area of the state, authorities said. Powell claims his wife was not home when they returned on Tuesday.

Powell has retained a Salt Lake City attorney who police said was present while the DNA sample was taken. Capt. McLachlan said Powell also briefly talked with investigators. "We were able to ask him a few questions," he said, "Not everything we wanted to ask him. We hope to have an additional interview later on.

"This was not a full interview, but we did get a few questions answered." DNA samples were collected from several other people in the case, McLachlan said.

Powell's attorney has not returned repeated requests from CNN for comment.

In a phone interview with CNN, Mrs. Powell's father offered words to the many people thinking about his daughter."Thank you for keeping hope alive and continuing to pray for her return," he said. "Don't waste a lot of time worrying about the police investigation.

"What we want to do is make sure her picture is out there. If you see her call 911. And I'm keeping hope that she is fine."

For more crime coverage go to cnn.com/crime.

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Susan Powell, 28, has been missing for more than one week.

Gabriel Falcon
AC360° Writer

The husband of a missing Utah woman did not appear for his scheduled interview with police on Monday, authorities said today. Joshua Powell was supposed to meet for a second time with investigators who are trying to determine what happened to his wife, Susan Powell.

"He failed to show up," Capt. Tom McLachlan of the West Valley City Polce told CNN. "We had heard that he had retained an attorney. We contacted the attorney and he said he had advised Joshua not to submit to questioning."

"Hopefully we can rescheule an additional interview. We'll wait to see what occurs on that request."

Mr. Powell said he last saw his wife shortly after midnight on December 6 as he was taking the couple's 4 and 1-year-old sons on a camping trip, according to police. Authorities also said Mr. Powell told them that Mrs. Powell was not at home when he returned with the children on Tuesday.

McLachlan said he was "extremely" disappointed with Mr. Powell's decision to hire a lawyer. "All of our communications with Joshua Powell had been with the intent of getting the information necessary to, as his stated purpose was, to find Susan," he told CNN. "Now that delays the process."

"I don't think that really serves the purpose of solving this missing persons case."

Several media outlets have reported that Mr. Powell has retained Scott Williams, a Salt Lake City attorney. Messages to his law office requesting comment were not returned to CNN.

Kayla Reed, a close friend of Mrs. Powell, told CNN she wasn't surprised he hired an attorney. "We just want to find Susan...she's still out there," she said.

"It's hard to move on to any stage past this without her here, without her body or her person here," she added.

"We don't know what to do until we get to the next part... we're praying that she is alive, but it's been over a week, it's hard to believe that she can be there alive."

For more crime coverage go to cnn.com/crime.

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Susan Powell, 28, has been missing for more than one week.

Gabriel Falcon
AC360° Writer

The husband of a missing Utah woman will meet with investigators today, police in Utah told CNN. "We do expect to have an additional interview with Joshua Powell sometime today," West Valley Police Captain Tom McLachlan said. He added that he did not know what time it will occur.

Mr. Powell was questioned last week after his wife, Susan Powell, vanished.

Susan Powell, 28, disappeared from her suburban Salt Lake City home under what many consider to be mysterious circumstances last weekend. Her husband, Joshua Powell, said he last saw his wife shortly after midnight Sunday as he was preparing to take the couple’s four and one-year-old sons on a camping trip in a freezing remote area of the state, police and family members said.

His wife was not in the house when he returned with the children on Tuesday, investigators said Mr. Powell told them.

The West Valley City Police Department continue to classify the investigation as a missing persons case. They have also labeled it as suspicious.

And today, McLachlan said the case could turn into a criminal investigation. "Of the many possibilities out there, that's one of them," he told CNN.

McLachlan said police have been unable to confirm Mr. Powell’s account of exactly where he took the children camping. “We went to the area he send he went to and checked for fire tracks, use of a fire pit, or anything else,” he said. “Everything is snow covered. We were not able to verify… it’s a little difficult if you can’t physically verify a location that he says he may have gone to.” Mr. Powell could not be reached for comment.

Mrs. Powell's father, Charles Cox, told CNN he has only briefly spoken to his son-in-law.

“He has basically maintained that he doesn’t know where she is, so I really don’t know what beyond that to ask him,” Cox said.

In interviews with CNN, close friends and family members described Powell as a devout Mormon who attended church services regularly. They also said she was friendly and outgoing. Above all, they called her a caring and loving mother who lives for her children.

“If you know her, you know she is responsible almost to a fault, said friend and family spokesperson Shelby Gifford. “Knowing and loving her like we do we can see she would never be away from her kids.

“Susan is an exceptional mother. The reason she is separated from her boys right now is because she is not in control of the situation. I can't even tell you how out of character or abnormal that is.”

Gifford’s husband, Michael, echoed the sentiment:

“She absolutely adores her children,” he told CNN. “They are the center of her universe. She would do anything for them. She is very nurturing and loving and has long-range goals for them. She is one of those parents that want the best for her children."

“Something like this where she is not contacting them to me shows that she is not able to because of whatever circumstances have caused her to go missing, she wouldn't leave without them, ” Michael Gifford added.

Kayla Reed, a friend, said Powell made her feel welcome when she and her husband moved into the neighborhood. “She was the first person who came up and introduced herself,” Reed said. “She’s always a happy cheerful person.”

Reed said about 150 people in the community began fasting today for 24-hours. “Hopefully, it will help us find her or bring peace,” she said. “We just need to have the comfort of our father in heaven.”

“You can imagine that it’s just an agonizing time for the family,” said Shelby Gifford. “It’s such a hard thing not to know where she is. And if she’s hurt and if she’s sick, if she’s anywhere in Utah, there are so many possibilities.”

Including one that some say they must consider. “If she’s not alive, just get her found,” Reed said. “We don’t want to go there, but we want her home. We want her to know that she is desperately loved.

For more crime coverage go to cnn.com/crime.

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Susan Powell, 28, has been missing for more than one week.

Gabriel Falcon
AC360° Writer

The father of a missing Utah woman does not want to speculate on what may have happened to his daughter. He just has a message for her. “We love you,” Charles Cox said, “and we are going to keep searching until we find you.”

Susan Powell, 28, disappeared from her suburban Salt Lake City home under what many consider to be mysterious circumstances exactly one week ago. Her husband, Joshua Powell, said he last saw his wife shortly after midnight Sunday as he was preparing to take the couple’s four and one-year-old sons on a camping trip in a freezing remote area of the state, police and family members said.

His wife was not in the house when he returned with the children on Tuesday, investigators said Mr. Powell told them.

The West Valley City Police Department continue to classify the investigation as a missing persons case. They have also labeled it suspicious.

Police have already questioned Mr. Powell but intend on talking to him again, West Valley Police Captain Tom McLachlan told CNN. “We hope that it will occur sometime soon,” he said. “We had discussed that with him and he stated he would come in for another interview.”

McLachlan said police have been unable to confirm Mr. Powell’s account of exactly where he took the children camping. “We went to the area he send he went to and checked for fire tracks, use of a fire pit, or anything else,” he said. “Everything is snow covered. We were not able to verify…it’s a little difficult if you can’t physically verify a location that he says he may have gone to.” Mr. Powell could not be reached for comment.

Mr. Cox, who flew to Utah from his home in Washington State Friday night, told CNN he has only briefly spoken to his son-in-law.

“He has basically maintained that he doesn’t know where she is, so I really don’t know what beyond that to ask him,” Cox said.

In interviews with CNN, close friends and family members described Powell as a devout Mormon who attended church services regularly. They also said she was friendly and outgoing. Above all, they called her a caring and loving mother who lives for her children.

“If you know her, you know she is responsible almost to a fault, said friend and family spokesperson Shelby Gifford. “Knowing and loving her like we do we can see she would never be away from her kids.

“Susan is an exceptional mother. The reason she is separated from her boys right now is because she is not in control of the situation. I can't even tell you how out of character or abnormal that is.”

Gifford’s husband, Michael, echoed the sentiment:

“She absolutely adores her children,” he told CNN. “They are the center of her universe. She would do anything for them. She is very nurturing and loving and has long-range goals for them. She is one of her parents that want the best for her children.

“Something like this where she is not contacting them to me shows that she is not able to because of whatever circumstances have caused her to go missing, she wouldn't leave without them.”

Kayla Reed, a friend, said Powell made her feel welcome when she and her husband moved into the neighborhood. “She was the first person who came up and introduced herself,” Reed said. “She’s always a happy cheerful person.”

Reed said about 150 people in the community began fasting today for 24-hours. “Hopefully, it will help us find her or bring peace,” she said. “We just need to have the comfort of our father in heaven.”

“You can imagine that it’s just an agonizing time for the family,” said Shelby Gifford. “It’s such a hard thing not to know where she is. And if she’s hurt and if she’s sick, if she’s anywhere in Utah, there are so many possibilities.”

Including one that some say they must consider. “If she’s not alive, just get her found,” Reed said. “We don’t want to go there, but we want her home. We want her to know that she is desperately loved.”

For more crime coverage go to cnn.com/crime.

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Susan Powell, 28, has been missing since Monday.

Gabriel Falcon
AC360° Writer

A young mother has not been seen or heard from since she and her family were reported missing on Monday, investigators in Utah said.

Susan Powell’s husband, Joshua Powell, and two small children, returned home Tuesday after he said they spent two days camping in a remote part of the state, according to investigators.

Mr. Powell told authorities he does not know where his 28-year-old wife is, police said. They also said Mr. Powell told them he last saw her on Sunday night.

The West Valley City Police have labeled the missing persons case suspicious.

“We’ve contacted friends and family members,” West Valley Police Captain Tom McLachlan told CNN. “According to them, this is not Susan’s normal activity, to leave her children without telling anyone and not let someone know where she is going.”

“We just don’t know if she left on her own accord, or what other potential situation may be,” he said.

McLachlan went on to say that Mrs. Powell’s cell phone and bankcards were found in her home.

“There are items that most people would take with them if they were going to go someplace,” he said.

McLachlan provided a detailed timeline of the case to CNN. He said Mr. Powell’s mother contacted authorities on Monday after repeated attempts to locate the family.

“She allegedly checked with both Susan and Joshua’s employers, neither had shown up for work, and had not notified their employers that they were not coming into work that day, McLachlan told CNN.

He also said their 4 and 1-year-old sons had not, as was routine, been taken to day care on Monday.

Officers called to the home to investigate found the door locked and the car gone, McLachlan said. A missing persons case for the entire family began that day.

On Tuesday, police said Mr. Powell returned home with the children and told them they went camping about 120-130 miles away. “He indicated some locations where he went with the children, unfortunately they are quite remote and not populated at all, McLachlan said. “That’s unusual in my mind, to go camping in this type of weather.”

He added that the temperature in the area drops to single digits or below zero at night.

“We’ve checked locations to verify that he could have been there, or would have been there,” McLachlan said. “We are trying to verify everything that he told us but still Susan is missing and we have no other information.”

Police described Mr. Powell as being cooperative. “He is not a suspect,” McLachlan said, “but he is the husband. He is an individual that we fully plan on interviewing in the future.”

The couple’s 4-year-old son has been interviewed but authorities said they are trying to be extremely careful given his age.

Susan Powell is 5’4” and weighs 130lbs. She has brown hair and blue eyes. The West Valley City Police Department is asking anyone with information on her whereabouts to call 801-840-4000.

For more crime coverage go to cnn.com/crime.

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Detectives would like to talk to anyone who had any contact with Michael Lane while he was in Las Vegas.

Gabriel Falcon
AC360° Writer

A British motivational speaker is being held in connection with the murder of a woman in Las Vegas, authorities said.

Michael Lane, who also uses the name “Chae Saville,” was arrested without incident in California, according to a media release from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. “He has waived extradition,” police spokesman Bill Cassell told CNN. “He is being brought back to Las Vegas.”

Lane has been named a suspect in the death of Ginger Candela. The 44-year-old resident of Las Vegas was reported missing on November 30. Officers who searched the home found her body in the garage. Her residence had been ransacked and items were taken, police said. But they believe it was the killer’s attempt to derail the investigation. “This is not a robbery,” said Cassell, who declined to disclose the cause of death.

Lane had recently met Candela, the police said in the media release. “It’s not a stretch to say he knew the victim,” Cassell told CNN.

Police described Lane as a person “heavily involved with the concept of spiritual healing and motivational speaking.”

In the release, they said Lane was raised in London and is known to have visited San Diego and Portland, Oregon.

According to investigators, Lane has immersed himself in the spiritual healing community where he “may have befriended numerous women, and possibly defrauded them without their knowledge.”

Authorities are also attempting to find the victim’s dog, named “Gi Gi” that Lane may have given to another woman in Las Vegas.

Anyone with information on the homicide, or who has had contact with Lane is being urged to call the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department at 702-828-3521

For more crime coverage go to cnn.com/crime.

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Jeffrey Tidus was found shot to death outside his home in Los Angeles.

Gabriel Falcon
AC360° Writer

A well-known attorney was found shot to death outside his home in an affluent Los Angeles area community, authorities said.

Jeffrey Tidus, 53, was shot in his driveway Monday evening, said the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Tidus was a founding partner of Baute & Tidus, which is described as a “boutique litigation firm” on its web site.

A graduate of U.C. Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law, Tidus was a litigator in a wide range of legal areas, including antitrust, banking, securities, and entertainment.

The firm refused to comment on the killing.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the Sheriff’s Department said it had no further information on the case.

Tidus lived in Rolling Hills Estates, an upscale city in Los Angeles County. According to the 2008 Census, the median family income in Rolling Hills Estates is $142,511 and the average price of a home is more than $1 million.

For more crime coverage go to cnn.com/crime.

Amanda Knox

AC360°

Sen. Maria Cantwell, a Democrat from Washington state, is speaking out against the Amanda Knox verdict. She talks to Anderson about the case tonight. Take a look at the letters she has sent Sec. of State Hillary Clinton.

Barbie Latza Nadeau
The Daily Beast

Is the real Amanda Knox the sex-obsessed, cold-blooded murderer that the prosecution depicted? Or worse?

Amanda Knox should be finishing college and polishing her résumé for her first job. She should be buying Christmas presents for her friends. She should be falling in love. But so should Meredith Kercher, the British woman Knox was just convicted of killing. Knox, who was sentenced to 26 years in prison for sexual assault, murder, staging a crime scene, and criminal defamation, will one day walk out of prison. She will likely be out in time to marry and have children, should she chose to. Kercher has been wiped from existence.

 Knox is a convicted murderess but she is not necessarily an assassin. She is a 22-year-old woman who followed a dream to study in Perugia, but instead found herself in an unthinkable situation that led her to Capanne Prison just outside of town. She has a recognizable face, but she is no longer the young woman from the pictures taken on November 2, 2007, snuggling outside the crime scene with her then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, who was also convicted for Kercher’s murder. Back then, Knox seemed naïve and carefree. Now she is withered. The lines in her face are deep with concern.

Read More...

Amanda Knox looks on during a session of her trial last week at the courthouse in Perugia, Italy.

Richard Allen Greene and Paula Newton
CNN

Amanda Knox is in an Italian jail, sentenced to spend the next 26 years there for the 2007 slaying of her roommate Meredith Kercher while the two were exchange students in Italy.

But despite a trial lasting nearly a year, many questions about the case remain unanswered.

Reporters who have covered the crime and its aftermath for years left Perugia after the verdict Saturday saying they felt they knew no more about what happened in Knox and Kercher's house on November 1, 2007, than they did when Kercher's partially naked body was found the next morning.

The verdicts against Knox, an American, and her then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito came early Saturday, delivered in a vaulted brick courtroom two levels below ground in this Italian university town. Sollecito was sentenced to 25 years in prison. A third suspect, Rudy Guede, was convicted earlier and sentenced to 30 years.

Keep Reading...

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Valerie and Michael Miller were found dead inside their Webster Plantation home, investigators said.

Gabriel Falcon
AC360° Writer

The couple slain in a small Maine town may have been killed because of the husband’s illicit drug and cash transactions, a family member of one of the victims told CNN. “Trust, me I got first hand knowledge of that,” said Rebecca Bickford, a cousin of Valerie Miller, who with her husband, Michael Miller, were found dead in their home in Webster Plantation, a community of a roughly 80 people.

Bickford said Mr. Miller sold drugs from his mobile house. “The number one thing would have to be pain killers,” Bickford said. “My cousin, Valerie, wasn’t into the whole business aspect. She was into the liking the money and material things. She disagreed with it, him being into that business, because it’s really dangerous, especially up in that area.”

Bickford also said Mr. Miller operated as an informal pawn broker and moneylender. “”He was into having his own pawn shop, buying cigarettes from a different state and selling them,” she said. According to Bickford, Mr. Miller would loan cash at a 50 percent interest rate, plus collateral.

Authorities would not comment on Bickford’s allegations of drug dealing. However, Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine State Police, did confirm to CNN that Mr. Miller loaned cash. “We know he lent money to people,” McCausland said. “But beyond that, what the terms were and whether this has anything to do with his and his wife’s death is something we’re not getting into.”

Investigators won’t say how the couple died. They are looking for a woman seen leaving the Millers’ house on the day the bodies were found. McCausland, who would not disclose of death, said the woman seen leaving the house was described as middle-aged, with a ponytail and glasses. “I think we’ve had a few more inquiries of reported sightings, of people who might thinks he is, but at this person the face still does not have a name,” McCausland told CNN today.

The killings, the town's first in at least 20 years, have shocked the region and shattered the area's sense of security and peace.

"You kind of wonder, 'Is it a threat to anybody else?' " Bob Jacobs, a grocery store owner, asked. "People are kind of nervous. Do I open the door for somebody, or do I not open the door for somebody?"

Theo Jipson, a neighbor of the Millers, fondly remembered the couple.

"They were nice people," she said. "I would usually see her at the grocery store shopping. ... He was very, very kind. He always said, 'Look, if you folks need any help, don't be afraid to call me.' "

Bickford said Mrs. Miller was “generous and caring.” She described Mr. Miller, who she said worked at a lumber mill for 29-years, as someone “willing to do just about anything illegal or whatever to bring their family ahead in this economy.”

Bickford suspects Mr. Miller’s behavior made his wife a victim.

“My cousin Valerie was there at the wrong time. He was the one that did all these business deals. She was being a wife.”

Anyone with more information is being asked to contact the Maine State Police at 207-866-2122.

Editor's Note: We take a look tonight at the case of Maurice Clemmons and the legal provision called Interstate Compact Supervision that allows offenders across state lines amidst pending charges.We'll have more tonight at 10 p.m. ET.

Interstate Commission for Adult Offender Supervision

Amanda Knox is comforted by her lawyer Carlo Dalla Vedova during her trial on December 3, 2009 at the courthouse in Perugia.

Richard Allen Greene and Hada Messia
CNN

An Italian jury has begun deliberations in the murder trial of American student Amanda Knox and her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito.

"We'll know today," Chris Mellas, Knox's stepfather told CNN in court. "All we can do is hope for the best."

On Thursday Knox took the stand for a third time, telling jurors in her Italian murder trial she is not a "killer" who stabbed her former roommate.

Knox and Sollecito are charged with murder and sexual violence in the November 2007 stabbing death of Meredith Kercher. Knox and Kercher, a British exchange student, were roommates. A third suspect was found guilty in a separate trial and is appealing.

Keep Reading...

AC360°

Amanda Knox's high-profile case is coming to an end. After two years in prison, her verdict is expected to be delivered this Friday. If  found guilty, she could spent the next thirty years behind bars. Her defense in the trial for the gory 2007 sex-murder of her British housemate Meredith Kercher rejected the charges that she and former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecitothe killed Kercher in a drug-fuelled sexual misadventure.

Here is a photo gallery overview of the Knox case.

This file picture taken on September 16, 2008 at a court hearing in Perugia shows Amanda Knox being escorted by police. The first audience of Amanda Knox' trial, took place on January 16, 2009 in Perugia. Amanda Knox, from Seattle, Washington, has been held awaiting trial since a few days after British exchange student Meredith Kercher, aged 22, was found dead semi-nude in her bedroom with her throat slit on November 2, 2007.

One of the three suspects in the murder of British student Meredith Kercher, Rudy Guede, 21, from the Ivory Coast (C), of the United States, leaves at a court hearing in Perugia on September 27, 2008.
He was found guilty and is currently serving a 30 year prison sentence.

The third suspect in the murder of British student Meredith Kercher, Italian Raffaele Sollecito, Knox's former boyfriend, leaves a court hearing in Perugia on September 27, 2008.

British student Meredith Kercher.

The lawyer of the family of slain British student Meredith Kercher, Francesco Maresca, leaves the courthouse in the central Italian city of Perugia on October 28, 2008.

Amanda Knox testifies at the sitting of the Meredith Kercher murder trial at the Perugia courthouse on June 13, 2009 in Perugia, Italy.

Curt Knox (L) and Edda Mellas, the parents of US student Amanda Knox speak to journalists prior to the trial session of their daughter Amanda on November 28, 2009 at Perugia's courthouse.

Amanda Knox is comforted by her lawyer Carlo Dalla Vedova during her trial on December 3, 2009 at the courthouse in Perugia. American Amanda Knox asked a jury not to put the 'killer's mask' on her as she and her boyfriend made emotional final appeals denying the murder of British student Meredith Kercher.

According to her parents, Amanda was an easy child to raise. She, amongst other things, excelled at soccer, where she inherited the nick name "Foxy Knoxy". The name was later used by the prosecutor and taken out of context.

A knife found in Raffaele Sollecito's house which has the DNA of Amanda Knox on the handle and victim Meredith Kerecher on the blade, is suggested by the prosecutor to be the murder weapon. But the defense argues that the knife does not match the shape and size of wounds on Kercher's body or an outline of the knife left on the bed.