IS SEATTLE HIS CUP OF TEA? Raffaele Sollecito, the former boyfriend of West Seattle raised Amanda Knox, plans to visit certain supporters and interview with a computer company on the Eastside. Both were convicted of murdering Knox's British college roommate, Meredith Kercher, in Perugia, Italy, and both were found innocent in the appeal trial Oct. 3.
UPDATE Thursday afternoon
According to CBS News, "Raffaele Sollecito will be the first to tell about the Italian murder case that made them famous worldwide. He has a deal with Simon & Schuster's Gallery Books for a book scheduled to come out this fall. Knox's memoir is due next year.
"Presumed Guilty: My Journey to Hell and Back with Amanda Knox" would cover his relationship with the U.S. exchange student, their arrests and imprisonment in Italy over the death of Knox's roommate and their eventual release last fall after the convictions were overturned, the publisher announced Thursday."
Simon & Schuster is a division of CBS.
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Raffaele Sollecito, the former Italian boyfriend of West Seattle-raised Amanda Knox, is expected to interview with an Eastside tech company, possibly Microsoft, this Friday, and to visit about a half-dozen supporters at a residence near Bellevue.
He has been spotted this week in the Los Angeles area.
Four sources tell the West Seattle Herald that Sollecito, 27, who is three years older than Knox, plans to thank some of his key supporters in Seattle who rooted both for him and Knox during their nearly four years spent in an Italian prison.
Both were found guilty of brutally stabbing to death Knox's 21 year-old British college roommate, Meredith Kercher during the original trial, Dec. 4, 2009. Knox was sentenced to 26 years in prison for the Nov. 1, 2007 murder and Sollecito to 25 years. Both were then cleared of the murder charges at their appeal trial last Oct. 3, an ordeal that captured the world's attention. A third person accused of the murder, Rudy Guede, an Ivory Coast native raised in Perugia where the tragedy took place, is serving a 16-year sentence.
While rumors of Knox and Sollecito romantically reconnecting have persisted, each seems to have moved on. She is dating longtime friend, James Terrano, 24, a musician. He is dating Italian volleyball player Annie Achille. Our sources said that Knox, an Arbor Heights native now living in the International District, is not on the official guest list of the Eastside get-together but do not know if he will meet with Amanda and her family at another time during his visit.
Sollecito was an IT student prior to the ordeal. He finished his computer science degree in prison.
