Amanda Knox’s Ex-Boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito Publishes Tell-All

The man accused of helping to murder Meredith Kercher, a British exchange student, is now sharing his side of the story.

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Amanda Knox’s Italian ex-boyfriend and co-accused in the sensational murder of British student Meredith Kercher has released a new book that describes the couple’s relationship and his experiences during the investigation and trial.

Raffaele Sollecito’s memoir, titled Honor Bound: My Journey to Hell and Back with Amanda Knox, comes out months before Knox’s own memoir will be released by Harper Collins, according to CNN.

Knox and Sollecito met while the 21-year-old American woman was living in Italy as an exchange student in 2007. Only a week after the pair began dating, Knox’s roommate Meredith Kercher was found dead with her throat slashed. The couple were convicted of the murder and sentenced to more than 20 years of prison, but were both freed on appeal due to lack of evidence.

Throughout the case Knox maintained her innocence. “I’m paying with my life for things that I didn’t do,” she said in October 2011.

In a review of Sollecito’s book, the Guardian highlighted some of his most compelling claims:

  • Sollecito says that police stripped him naked and “threatened him and slapped him” while he was held in custody in Perugia during his first overnight interrogation.
  • Sollecito alleges that the police “never seriously believed in his guilt,” but interrogated him intensely with the hope that he would testify against Knox.
  • He laments his decision to smoke pot the afternoon of the murder as it led to “a foggy memory,” that produced inconsistencies in his testimony. At first he was unsure as to whether Knox had been with him the entire evening of the murder, but now says with confidence that she did not leave his side that evening.
  • Knox’s behavior following her arrest made Sollecito “uneasy.”  He describes one instances where Knox “curled up on me like a koala bear, grabbing hold of my neck with both arms and resting her body in my lap,” an action that led to a verbal warning from a passing police officer.
  • Tabloid speculation as to whether the couple would rekindle their romance after they were released from prison was remarkable, according to the Guardian, as the pair had only dated for one week before the murder. Sollecito offers a personal account of the reunion and details his reservations about “getting back together.”

Sollecito’s book release also happens to coincides with “Foxy Knoxy’s” return to the tabloids.  The Sun recently released photographs of Knox with her alleged new boyfriend, guitarist James Terrano.