Mobster Says Amanda Knox Is Innocent

Everyone seems to have an opinion about what really happened the night of Meredith Kercher's death, including a jailed Italian mobster named Luciano Aviello, whose insights may or may not be rooted in fact. According to CNN, Aviello claims he knows who the real killer is — his own brother.

Much has happened since we first chronicled Amanda Knox, the American foreign exchange student charged with murdering Kercher, her then-roommate in Italy, where they studied. (Read our in-depth story for more background.) Currently, Knox is in prison after she and ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were found guilty by the Italian court. Still, her family continues to maintain her inculpability, and if you've been following the case as closely as we have (obsessed much?), this is an especially startling revelation. Could Aviello's confession prove her innocence?

Er, yes and no. His story is this: At the time of the murder, his brother lived with him and came home claiming he had killed a girl during a robbery attempt. "When he came to my house he had a bloodstained jacket on and was carrying a flick knife. He said he had broken into a house and killed a girl and then he had run away," said Aviello as part of a formal statement.

So why didn't he come forward sooner? Apparently, he claims he attempted to contact the court several times, but no one responded. Finally, he was able to reach out to Knox's lawyers, who are preparing for her appeal later this fall and will investigate his story and look for concrete proof to back it up.

While officials are skeptical regarding the veracity of Aviello's claim (his brother is conveniently uh, "out of town" or something), we're certainly intrigued. Little Knox trial trivia for ya: This explanation totally jibes with what Rudy Guede has maintained all along: Meredith Kercher was murdered during a robbery that had nothing to do with Knox or Sollecito. And say Aviello's story can be proved and Knox is absolved. What then? Holy moly on a you-know-what stick is what.

Obvs, we'll keep you posted.

Erin Flaherty is a beauty journalist and consultant who has contributed to numerous publications including the Wall Street Journal and Domino, among many others. She is a board member of the Women's Global Empowerment Fund and especially passionate about worldwide beauty anthropology and women's issues. She lives in Woodstock, NY with her husband and dog.