Amanda Knox in Financial Trouble and Suffering From PTSD After Exoneration, Claims Author
Amanda Knox has finally cleared her name, but her troubles are far from over, according to writer Douglas Preston. Preston said he worked closely with Knox to pen his book "Trial by Jury," which chronicles the girl's eight-year ordeal that costed her family thousands.
"The [ordeal] has been hugely emotional, but the financial impact has been catastrophic," Preston told Radar Online.
He also revealed that even Knox's hefty advance that she received for her 2013 book, "Waiting To Be Heard," is gone.
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"Amanda received a $4 million advance for her book, that money has all gone immediately out of the door to pay legal fees and there is nothing left," Preston explained. "She really wants to establish that she's innocent in Italy, they've paid a lot of fees to Italian lawyers."
Even worse than her current financial situation is Knox's state of mind as Preston claims that the 27-year old is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD is a mental health condition triggered by experiencing or seeing a terrifying event.
"In prison, she was threatened with rape from a male guard, it was a really terrible experience," he claimed. "I think it has really affected her, [it's] really hard to lead a normal life after that."
Three weeks after an Italian court overturned her conviction for the murder of Meredith Kercher, Preston said that Knox is living out a bittersweet victory.
"She went to Italy as a normal, 20-year-old, West Coast girl, a soccer player, rock climber, very naïve," he said of Knox's stay in Perugia. "So many terrible things happened to her in Italy, so many lies were said, and the online savagery directed at her, I've never seen anything like it."
Preston hints that Knox is currently seeking professional help in order to cope with her traumatic experience.
"Anyone who has been through what she's been through is going to have issues. It's like a soldier coming back from Iraq, having children shot in front of you, you've been through a horrific experience. If it doesn't affect you physically, it affects you emotionally," the writer said.
