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Hulu's latest true crime drama, The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox, deals with one of Italy's most infamous murder trials. The show features a star-studded cast, including Grace Van Patten, Anna Van Patten, Giuseppe De Domenico, and Sharon Horgan.
On November 1, 2007, Meredith Krecher, a 21-year-old British exchange student, was discovered dead in her bedroom. Her body had been stabbed multiple times, the throat slit, and her body was left partially clothed.
Her flatmate, Amanda Knox, another exchange student, was thrust into the spotlight. As suspicion grew, Knox and her boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were arrested. Later, Investigators found DNA samples and footprints that matched a 20-year-old burglar, Rudy Guede, with a history of break-ins and assaults. He was initially sentenced to 30 years in prison, but the term was later reduced. Knox, too, was convicted and handed 26 years' imprisonment, while Sollecito received 25 years. Years later, in 2011, both were acquitted, with Italy's highest court exonerating them in 2015.
In the swirl of interrogations and speculations, another name surfaced: Patrick Lumumba. He wasn't a suspect until Knox accused him. Lumumba owned a small Congolese bar in Perugia where Knox worked part-time.
The accusation led to his arrest on November 6, 2007. Lumumba spent two weeks in prison for a case he was falsely accused. So why did Amanda Knox blame Lumumba for Krecher's murder? How did alibis from the patrons of the bar save Lumumba?
Continue reading to know more about The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox.
The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox: Patrick Lumumba spent two weeks in jail after being falsely accused
In 2007, Patrick Lumumba ran Le Chic, a local Congolese bar in Perugia. Amamda Knox worked on a part-time basis in the bar, and Lumumba was her boss. He was well known among the townsfolk for running the small yet lively space that attracted many students. However, his life turned upside down when he was arrested for Krecher's murder, which he had absolutely no relation to.
During the interrogation, Knox made a shocking claim. She said that she covered her ears while Lumumba killed Krecher in their apartment. That statement was enough to arrest Lumumba and tag him as a murderer.
Lumumba would later recall it as a moment that shattered his life. Speaking to The Guardian in 2015, he said,
"Amanda lied to me. I am feeling very bad [about the acquittal].Amanda is free because she is American, but Americans are human like everybody."
What saved Lumumba was alibis from the patrons of the bar, which included regulars, students, and even a Swiss professor who had been at his bar on the night of the murder. The patrons provided an alibi that Lumumba not have been at the crime scene at the time of the murder. After two weeks, he walked out of prison, clear of suspicion. The damage, however, was done. His business went down, and he was labelled the monster of Perugia. In an interview with BBC News, his lawyer explained how he had to leave Italy and rebuild his life in Poland.
Even after the courts accepted that Knox had fabricated the accusations, the damage to his reputation was already done. Knox was convicted of slander for falsely accusing him. The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox on Hulu is an attempt to deep dive into the incident.
The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox: Why did Amanda Knox blame Patrick Lumumba for Meredith Kercher's murder?
The story resurfaced in June 2024 when an Italian court reconvicted Knox of slander in a retrial. It is here that Knox revealed what made her accuse Lumumba of Meredith Kercher's murder. Per BBC News, she said:
"The police threatened me with 30 years of prison, an officer slapped me three times, saying Remember, remember."
She added,
"I never wanted to slander Patrick. He was my friend, he took care of me and consoled me. I'm sorry I wasn't able to resist the pressure, and that he suffered."
As per Knox's statements, it was the police and the investigators who pressured her into blaming Patrick Lumumba for Meredith Kercher's murder.
Despite the reconviction, Knox will not face any prison time since she had served four years previously for Kerceher's murder case.
Around two decades later, Patrick Lumumba remains a symbol of how a false accusation can ruin one's life and leave them scarred forever.
The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox, Episodes 1 and 2, are available to stream on Hulu. New episodes of The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox will drop every Wednesday exclusively on Hulu.
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