³ÉÈËXÕ¾

American audiences finally got to hear from Amanda Knox’s Italian ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito. Sollecito was interviewed by Katie Couric on her new show “Katie” on Tuesday.

In the interview, Sollecito comes off as an incredibly polite, patient young man, who is honorable, and sweet even.

Couric began asking him about the early events in the case. She first pressed him on why they kissed so much near the murder scene.

“Amanda was shocked. She was completely shocked. She was staring inside the middle of an empty space. I was the only one who was over there to comfort her,” said Sollecito. “Her family was on the other side of the world at that time. The only person she could trust at that time was just me.”

Knox and Sollecito had only been dating a short time when they were both imprisoned for the death of Knox’s roommate Meredith Kercher.

The couple were arrested several days after Kercher’s death and later convicted in proceedings that made headlines around the world. Prosecutors portrayed the case as a drug-fueled sexual assault, and Knox and Sollecito were sentenced to 26 years and 25 years, respectively.

Knox became “Foxy Knoxy,” and as media and court coverage turned sour, Couric asked if Sollecito was tempted to turn against Knox in the trial.

“I know the police, your lawyers, even your own father tried to get you to turn on Amanda during the course of this investigation. But you didn’t. Why was it so important for you to stand by her?” asked Couric.

“I cannot walk on the street being a free man just realizing I’m the reason for a 20-year-old innocent to spend the rest of her life in prison,” said Sollecito.

An appeals court eventually found the prosecution’s theory to be unsupported by evidence, and the two had their convictions overturned. Knox moved back to Seattle.

Sollecito visited Amanda in Seattle this past April, which he said was tough at first.

“I had to split the image of Amanda that was a ghost brought by portrayals by the media in a bad way, that was my nightmare for four years, and the real Amanda that I dated during that dreamy week. So when I look at her I get stuck a little bit. I was nervous because I had still psychological wounds from this nightmare,” said Sollecito. “But when she hugged me, after a while I realized Amanda is the Amanda I dated for that week. She’s not the Amanda that was my nightmare.”

Couric concluded by asking a very blunt question:

“Do you wish you had never met her?”

Sollecito said, “No.”

“I don’t regret it, because it’s not her fault. The fault is from the detectives.”

Sollecito said he and Knox still stay in touch and exchange emails.

By this first glance, Sollecito seems like an incredibly honest, forthright, and impossibly young, young man.

By TOM TANGNEY
The Associated Press contributed to this report.