Twice Convicted Exoneree Amanda Knox Helping NXIVM Sex-Cult Leader Keith Raniere
Twice convicted exoneree Amanda Knox — whose 2009 murder conviction in Italy was famously overturned — is now helping 2019-convicted NXIVM sex-cult leader Keith Raniere, 60, in his questionable sex-trafficking case, where he’s facing life in prison on a slew of charges.
Knox has confirmed that she’s signed off on a petition demanding answers from federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, NY regarding witness, jury and evidence tampering allegations in Raniere’s case. Knox says, ” was contacted by some former members of NXIVM who claim that Mr. Raniere has been wrongfully convicted and that the story being told in the media is wrong. I personally do not know enough about the case to make any judgments about whether his conviction is wrongful or not.”
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Knox continues, “These supporters of Mr. Raniere asked me to sign a petition asking the prosecutors in the case to affirm some principles of prosecutorial conduct that any prosecutor should be able to affirm, such as not engaging in perjury, not tampering with evidence, and not threatening witnesses. I signed the petition because violation of these practices would constitute prosecutorial misconduct, regardless of Mr. Raniere’s guilt or innocence.”
Elsewhere, Rainere wrote a petition, delivered to prosecutors, asking them to respond to “8 simple statements” about their conduct. He wrote, “Potential witnesses for the defense were threatened, corrupted, and coerced along with the prosecution’s tampering with vital evidence. After all of this, the prosecution made inaccurate and inflammatory statements to the press, to justify, cover, and praise their actions.”
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Neil Glazer, an attorney representing some of the victims in a civil suit, says, “It’s absurd in so many ways that I don’t know where to begin. I’ve never seen anything like this bizarre document in all my years of legal practice. This is nothing more than a publicity stunt, orchestrated by Raniere to throw up smoke and mirrors and to peddle conspiracy theories to keep his remaining disciples in the fold.”
As a refresher, in 2007, Knox was a college exchange student in Perugia, Italy, when she was accused of assisting in the murder of her British roommate Meredith Kercher in a sex-related crime. After being convicted twice, her case was overturned by an Italian high court in 2011.