( CNN ) -- It is the case that seems to have no end . U.S. student Amanda Knox and her former Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito are waiting -- once again -- for a verdict from an Italian court . Knox has been back home in Seattle ever since an appeal court acquitted her and Sollecito in 2011 of the 2007 murder of British student Meredith Kercher . The 21-year old was found partially naked in a pool of blood in the house she shared with Knox in the picturesque town of Perugia , where both women were exchange students . Knox says she is afraid to return to Italy , where she spent four years behind bars . `` I will become ... a fugitive , '' she told Italian daily La Repubblica this month , when asked what she would do if she was found guilty . Italy 's Supreme Court in March overturned the pair 's acquittals , saying that the jury did not consider all the evidence and that discrepancies in testimony needed to be answered . The case was sent to a retrial in Florence , where a verdict is expected Thursday . Sollecito made it to the tribunal . Dressed in a purple jumper , sunglasses nestled on his collar , he waited for the start of a session that was going to be beamed around the world . Ruling unclear . The retrial began last September , refocusing international attention on the case that grabbed headlines in Italy , Britain and the United States -- but neither Knox or Sollecito were present in court . Prosecutor Alessandro Crini has said both Knox and Sollecito should be convicted and handed a 26-year sentence for homicide , with an additional four years for Knox for slander . Both have maintained their innocence . With little change in the case details over the years , it is not clear how presiding judge Alessandro Nencini will rule . Regardless of the decision ... both sides will have the opportunity to appeal that verdict to Italy 's Supreme Court . That process could take months . If Knox is ultimately found guilty , Italy could request her extradition from the United States . 'Fugitive ' Knox , 26 , and Sollecito , 29 , were convicted in 2009 of killing Kercher , who was found with more than 40 stab wounds and a deep gash in her throat . Knox has always denied murdering Kercher and again maintained her innocence in a written statement to the Florence court . `` I must repeat to you . I 'm innocent . I did not rape , I did not steal ... I did not kill Meredith , '' Knox said a lengthy e-mail , which was presented by her lawyer . Sollecito was in the Dominican Republic at the start of the retrial but returned to Italy . In November he took to the stand to make a spontaneous declaration , saying the charges against him were `` absurd . '' `` For me , it 's a nightmare that goes beyond imagination , '' he said of what he 's been through . 'No one remembers Meredith ' A lawyer for the Kercher family said the victim 's brother and sister , Lyle and Stephanie , would attend court to hear the decision . The Kercher family welcomed the retrial ruling , their lawyer , Francesco Maresca said in March , adding they believed the ruling that acquitted Knox and Sollecito was `` superficial and unbalanced . '' The Kercher family believes more than one person was in the room when Kercher was killed , he said . `` No one remembers Meredith , while the two defendants write books , speak to the media and earn money , '' Maresca told the court in closing remarks last month . Ferguson advocates for Knox . One person who has been advocating for Knox is Ryan Ferguson -- the Missouri man who walked free last November after being imprisoned for nearly a decade for murdering a newspaper editor . A state appeals court overturned his conviction . `` We kind of had this connection in the sense that we 've been through this justice system ... It 's relatively the same . We 've been through this , and there 's not a whole lot of people '' who 've had the same experience , he told CNN 's `` New Day . '' `` So it 's cool and we can kind of just talk to each other . She wanted to reach out and say if you need to talk to anybody , if you need any help , I 'm here for you . If not , I completely understand . So that 's how we began communicating . '' Asked about Knox ' current state of mind , he said she 's staying positive . `` She seems to be doing very well . I 'm impressed with her . It 's so daunting at this time , '' he said . `` Within 48 hours she should know her fate . You ca n't start living life until they actually clear you and until you 're free essentially . So I 'm amazed how she 's doing . She 's working hard on school and continuing life the best she can . She believes the courts are going to do the right thing based on the facts . I agree . '' Editors ' Note : This article has been edited to remove plagiarized content after CNN discovered multiple instances of plagiarism by Marie-Louise Gumuchian , a former CNN news editor .
Florence court to rule at Knox , former boyfriend retrial Thursday . Both were convicted of British student Meredith Kercher 's murder , later acquitted . Knox has opted not to travel to Italy for the trial after spending four years in jail . Comment: