Beautiful Ex-Boyfriend

September 19th, 2012
06:05 PM ET



.. and Maureen Miller report.

Tonight on AC360: Amanda Knox's ex-boyfriend speaks out

In the days after Amanda Knox's roommate was murdered, her boyfriend at the time says they "didn't realize they were suspects" in the case. Raffaele Sollecito didn't even bring a lawyer when he met with police in Perugia, Italy. His number one lesson from his infamous conviction and eventual acquittal: Bring a lawyer.

Sollecito talks with Anderson Cooper tonight about their ordeal, which is the focus of his new memoir, "Honor Bound: My Journey to Hell and Back with Amanda Knox."

Their nightmare began in November 2007 when Knox's roommate, Meredith Kercher, 21, a British exchange student, was found dead in their apartment with her throat slashed.

Sollecito says he and Knox faced aggressive questioning from police.

"They threaten you," Sollecito told Anderson. He says police called him a liar and told him he'll be in jail for the rest of his life. Police "used anything to push me into a corner" and tried to get him to "throw Amanda under the bus," Sollecito added. But he wouldn't do it. Sollecito said, "The truth is more important."

Sollecito didn't turn on Knox even under the stress of six months of solitary confinement.

In October 2008, Sollecito said he thought their ordeal would end when a third suspect, a drifter named Rudy Guede, was convicted of killing Kercher in a separate trial.

But Sollecito said police "continued to twist everything."

Knox and Sollecito were also convicted of the murder in their own trial in December 2009.

Both were finally freed last October due to a lack of evidence, after serving four years behind bars.

Most people don't realize the two only knew each other for a little over a week before the murder made headlines around the world. Watch the preview clip to hear Sollecito talk about that strange twist of fate. And join us at 8 and 10 p.m. ET to see if he holds any bitterness over the ordeal and whether he's still in touch with Knox, who's back with her family in Seattle and is working on her own tell-all book.

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