Who is Amanda Knox's prosecutor? Woman wrongly imprisoned for Meredith Kercher murder details connection with imprisoner on Joe Rogan Experience

Amanda Knox appeared on episode #2324 of the Joe Rogan Experience, where she discussed her new book, Free: My Search for Meaning. During her interview, Knox revealed that one of the main details covered in her book was her surprising connection with her former prosecutor.

"I wrote this book Free My Search for Meaning... and then part one of the big stories in it is how I then developed a relationship with my prosecutor which I think you'll probably be in the camp of people of thinking that I'm utterly insane for having done that," Knox said.

According to an article by Tribune dated May 21, 2025, Amanda Knox and her then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were arrested for the brutal 2007 killing of 22-year-old Meredith Kercher. Both were convicted and spent four years in prison. After enduring a lengthy legal battle, in 2015 Knox was exonerated by Italy’s Supreme Court of Cassation and officially cleared of all charges in 2016.

As per The Guardian, the lead figure behind the prosecution of Amanda Knox was Giuliano Mignini. However, in the aforementioned podcast episode, Amanda Knox shared that despite the trauma caused by Mignini’s relentless pursuit of her conviction, she chose to reach out and eventually engage in dialogue with him.

According to Knox, this connection gave her "privileged, special access" to the mind of the very "person who put me in prison."

"Why did this man look at a 20-year-old girl with no criminal history, no motivation to commit this crime—why did he look at me and think, 'There’s my r*pist and murderer?'" she added.

---

What do we know about Giuliano Mignini and his involvement in the prosecution of Amanda Knox's case?

Verdict In Amanda Knox Appeal Trial Imminent - Source: Getty

Giuliano Mignini, the main prosecutor for Amanda Knox, was the Italian magistrate who played a controversial role in the high-profile murder case of Meredith Kercher in 2007. Born on April 13, 1950, Mignini was then known for involvement as the prosecutor in the investigation of the death of Francesco Narducci, a doctor who was found dead in the Trasimeno lake in 1985.

As reported by the Daily Mail on October 5, 2011, Mignini arrived at the crime scene in Perugia in 2007, immediately working with local police and forensic experts from Rome. And from the outset, he insisted that Amanda Knox and her then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito had killed Kercher in a botched sex game.

According to an article by The Guardian dated March 22, 2025, at the time of the case, Mignini was facing charges in connection to the Monster of Florence murder case—eight double murders that took place between 1974 and 1985. Although Mignini argued that a satanic cult was connected to the murders, evidence pointed to a lone killer.

According to the same article, Mignini was charged with abuse of power and bugging journalists’ cars. Although he was found guilty on four charges of abuse of power, he continued working as a prosecutor and was eventually cleared of all charges.

As per another New York Post article from 2011, Mignini pushed a sensational theory that the murder was part of a ritualistic act, despite the lack of concrete forensic evidence. The prosecutor claimed that symbols and signs at the crime scene pointed to a satanic sex ritual involving Knox, Sollecito, and Rudy Guede.

During the trial, he described the crime as “a sexual and sacrificial orgy,” relying more on symbolic interpretation than hard facts. Knox and Sollecito were convicted in 2009, though both were later acquitted.

Despite all of this past, Knox eventually forgave Mignini and began a correspondence with him after her exoneration. Mignini later retired in 2020 as a public prosecutor in Perugia, Umbria.

---

Amanda Knox shares how she initiated the conversation with Giuliano Mignini during The Joe Rogan Experience

Amanda Knox at the Los Angeles Times Festival Of Books : Image via Getty Images

During her appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Amanda Knox opened up about her attempt to build a dialogue with Giuliano Mignini. Despite the history between them, Knox shared that what truly interested her "was going to the source and confronting him."

However, she admitted that initiating the conversation with someone who had caused deep pain was emotionally complex.

"To ask someone, ‘Why did you hurt me?’—which I think is a really common thing that people who have been hurt want to do—is to seek acknowledgment that they've been hurt. They want to understand why...The challenge is that people who hurt other people don't like to be confronted with that fact," Knox added.

Based on this complexity, she explained that while initiating a conversation with Mignini, her biggest concern was ensuring she didn’t sound "adversarial" from the outset.

Knox then revealed the "methodology" she used—finding a common ground. She explained that no matter how different two people might seem, there is always something shared between them. This mindset became the cornerstone of her approach to reaching out to Mignini.

Despite not knowing much about her former prosecutor’s background, Knox explained that she realized that they were both swept up in a sensationalized case that distorted their identities. That shared experience became a bridge, and when she reached out to him, she acknowledged this mutual misrepresentation to initiate the first conversation.

"So I said to him- I want to know who you really are, and I hope that you might be interested to know who I really am; cuz I don't think you know who I really am. I don't think that you would have prosecuted me if you knew who I really am. And that was the beginning of the dialogue," she said.

Amanda Knox is now a mother of two, an advocate for criminal justice, and the host of a podcast named Labyrinths with Amanda Knox. Her latest book, Free: My Search for Meaning, was published on March 25, 2025.