BONUS: Amanda Knox on the Satanic Panic and Wrongful Convictions

Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

Christianity Today

History, Documentary, Society & Culture, Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.7 • 717 Ratings

🗓️ 11 December 2025

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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0:00.0	Hello, this Russell Moore. This Christmas, did you know there's a way that you can support this podcast
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0:59.4	This is CT Media.
1:08.6	A note to listeners. This story contains sensitive content including sexual abuse, child murder, and dark spiritual
1:15.7	themes.
1:16.6	It may not be suitable for all listeners. Hey, everybody, welcome back.
1:33.3	This is the final bonus episode of Devil in the Deep Blue Sea.
1:37.1	If you've listened all the way through, thanks so much.
1:40.0	We've certainly been on a journey.
1:41.6	On the first episode of our show, we went to Arkansas, and we revisited the case of the West Memphis 3, a case where fear and unchecked beliefs and conspiracy theories filled in gaps where evidence didn't fit.
1:56.7	Today, we're going to end with a story that mirrors that hysteria, but on a different continent. We're going to talk to somebody who found herself at the center of a storm just as powerful. And this is a infamous story. Rebecca, do you want to tell everybody who our guest is? I do. I can't wait. I feel like we've been sitting on this for a minute. Also, it's good to be back chatting with you. It is good to be back. Before I introduce our guest, speaking of the West Memphis 3, there was big news in that case, actually, just a couple weeks ago. As we know, and I think we talked about here, their evidence was approved by the Supreme Court to be retested in that case. Months and months went by.
2:35.0	I think that happened in spring of 2024, and then there was an update in July.
2:39.4	It has actually been sent to a laboratory in Virginia, which is really exciting, but
2:45.2	interesting because I guess they're saying it's so old that going through this new, more rigorous
2:50.6	DNA testing could actually deteriorated and it may not provide any results. So we're hoping that's not the case, but that's the status. It's a real risk. It's a big risk, yeah. Can you talk people through just for a moment? Why has it been so long? Because they've been asking for this for quite a while. I've asked so many people this. And no one can give a real answer on the resistance other than
	...

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