Amanda Knox backs bid to overturn NXIVM sex cult leader Keith Raniere’s conviction claiming prosecutors faked evidence
AMANDA Knox has joined a bid to overturn sex-cult leader NXIVM sex-cult leader Keith Raniere’s conviction, it was reported.
Knox has signed a petition demanding prosecutors answer questions about alleged evidence tampering, jury and witness tampering in his sex-trafficking case.
The 32-year-old, who was sensationally acquitted of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher in Italy, insists her support for the petition doesn’t mean she believes Raniere is innocent.
Raniere is currently facing life in prison as he was found guilty of two counts of sex trafficking, racketeering and forced labor conspiracy in 2019.
He is being held at a federal jail in Brooklyn, New York as he awaits sentencing.
Knox told the Albany Times Union she was contacted by some former members of NXIVM who claim that Raniere was wrongfully convicted and the story being told in the media is wrong.
“I personally do not know enough about the case to make any judgments about whether his conviction is wrongful or not,” she said.
“These supporters of Mr. Raniere asked me to sign a petition asking the prosecutors in the case to affirm some principles of prosecutorial conduct that any prosecutor should be able to affirm, such as not engaging in perjury, not tampering with evidence, and not threatening witnesses.
“I signed the petition because violation of these practices would constitute prosecutorial misconduct, regardless of Mr. Raniere’s guilt or innocence.”
Neil Glazer, a lawyer who represents some of Raniere’s victims in a civil suit against him, described the petition as so “absurd in so many ways that I don’t know where to begin”.
“I’ve never seen anything like this bizarre document in all my years of legal practice,’’ he said.
“This is nothing more than a publicity stunt, orchestrated by Raniere to throw up smoke and mirrors and to peddle cons.”
The Nxivm sex cult was founded by Keith Raniere and Nancy Salzman in 1998.
Nxivm presented itself as a multi-level marketing company that offered seminars through “Executive Success Programs” for its members.
The movement garnered the attention of several celebrities.
Nxivm conducted classes divided into modules for 12 hours a day for 16 days and called them intensives which reportedly cost $7,500.
Actress Allison Mack, 38, best known for her role as Chloe Sullivan in Smallville was a “master” in the cult and therefore had to obey orders from leader Raniere.
She allegedly had to find bed partners for him, run 40 miles a week and keep a strict diet to stay as skinny as possible.
An ex-publicist for the “cult” claimed Allison was in charge of recruiting new women into NXIVM.
The women in it allegedly referred to as slaves and were branded with the initials of Raniere and Mack according to prosecutors.
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Canadian actress Sarah Edmonson claimed that she was held down by Mack and three other women and was branded with the initials of the cult with a cauterizing pen.
Mack was arrested in Brooklyn by the FBI in April of 2020 on charges of sex trafficking, sex trafficking conspiracy, and forced labor conspiracy in relation to her role in the Nxivm organization.
She pleaded guilty to racketeering charges and is currently awaiting sentencing.