PERUGIA, Italy, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- The best friend of Amanda Knox says the American has had time to grow during her incarceration in an Italian prison for murdering her British roommate.
Madison Paxton said Knox had become a far better person during her four years behind bars, which could end after her appeal hearing is concluded this Friday.
"Amanda has had four years to really reflect on who she is, a time no one else gets," Paxton told Britain's The Observer. "Her character is really honed and she is more confident now than she ever was. It is strangely beautiful."
The Seattle coed, now 24, was sentenced to prison along with an ex-boyfriend and another man for the 2007 slaying of 21-year-old Meredith Kercher, while both were studying in Italy. The conviction was called into question after a review deemed the DNA evidence used to convict Knox was unreliable.
Although no decision has been made, Paxton said the appeal process seemed to have convinced the guards at the prison near Perugia where she regularly visits her friend. "One guard asked me what we will do in Seattle when Amanda is released, and another hugged me," she said.
