BONUS: Amanda Knox on the Satanic Panic and Wrongful Convictions

Dec 11, 2025

Amanda Knox, an exoneree, author, and advocate wrongfully convicted in the Meredith Kercher murder case, shares her gripping story. She discusses how themes of the satanic panic colored her prosecution and the media's portrayal of her as 'Foxy Noxy'. Amanda highlights the challenges of representing victims in her Hulu series and reflects on the harmful legacy of conspiratorial narratives. She emphasizes the importance of humanizing all individuals involved, including the prosecutor, to combat simplistic villain narratives and advocate for justice.

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INSIGHT

Narrative Replaced Evidence

Amanda Knox describes how prosecutors seized on a lurid narrative to explain Meredith Kercher's murder.
That narrative substituted character assassination for physical evidence, reflecting satanic-panic style thinking.

ANECDOTE

Meeting Damien Echols After Release

Amanda recalls meeting Damien Echols the day they were released and recognizing shared othering experiences.
She describes how both were miscast by communities that couldn't understand them.

INSIGHT

Prosecutor's Conspiratorial Lens

Amanda Knox links her prosecutor's pattern to broader conspiratorial thinking in Italian cases.
She shows how prior obsession with occult plots shaped his interpretation of ordinary crimes.

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In our final bonus episode, Mike Cosper and Rebekah Sebastian talk with exoneree, producer, author, podcaster, and advocate Amanda Knox.

Amanda was a 20-year-old American student in Perugia in 2007 when her roommate, Meredith Kercher, was murdered in the apartment they shared. Italian prosecutors quickly zeroed in on Amanda, casting her as the instigator of a lurid, senseless crime and claiming she pulled her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, into it. She and Raffaele were convicted in 2009, and she spent nearly four years in prison before a 2011 appeals court overturned the verdict. In 2015, Italy’s highest court fully exonerated them both. By then, another man , Rudy Guede, whose DNA and fingerprints were all over the scene, had been prosecuted and convicted.

In this conversation, Amanda reflects on how elements of the satanic panic and conspiratorial thinking shaped her case and how she understands that period of her life now. She offers candid insight into the themes we’ve explored throughout the series and the complicated dynamics in real stories often framed as “good vs. evil.” She also discusses the challenges of portraying victims in The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox, the new Hulu scripted series she executive produced.

Learn more about Amanda’s work on her website: https://www.amandaknox.com/

We’re grateful for her time, insight, and generosity.

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and review to help more people find the show. Thanks for listening.

Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is a production of Christianity Today.

Hosted and written by Mike Cosper

Produced by Rebekah Sebastian, with production assistance by Dawn Adams

Sound Design and Mix Engineer: TJ Hester Sound Design,

Animation, and Video: Steve Scheidler

Graphic Design: Nim Ben Reuven

Music by Dirt Poor Robins

Erik Petrik and Mike Cosper are the executive producers of CT Media Podcasts

Matt Stevens is our senior producer.

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