(CNN) -- It was the first house she looked at upon arriving in the small town in central Italy that would be her home for a semester abroad. But Amanda Knox immediately knew it was the one for her. The University of Washington student had been in Perugia for just a few hours on a hot summer day in 2007 with her younger sister, Deanna, who saw a poster that included the word "appartamento." They followed the girl who had posted the ad to a charming, four-bedroom villa near the University for Foreigners of Perugia overlooking a small valley where figs grew.
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Friends, family: Nothing about Amanda Knox's past suggests she's a killer
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Knox is serving a 26-year Italian prison sentence for killing Meredith Kercher
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Friends grimace at description prosecutors painted of Knox as resentful American
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Some journalists have portrayed Knox as an overly trusting college student who some believe was railroaded by the @placeholder justice system.