Amanda Knox, the American woman whose sensational murder case in Italy slalomed from conviction to her ultimate acquittal, returned on Thursday to the country where it all started.

A flurry of reporters greeted her in Milan when she arrived at the airport. It was the first time that Ms. Knox had traveled to Italy since being released from prison there eight years ago.

Accused along with her Italian boyfriend at the time of the 2007 murder of her roommate Meredith Kercher, a British exchange student, Ms. Knox was held in Italian custody for four years before her 2009 conviction was overturned. In 2015, Italy’s highest court fully exonerated her and her former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito.

The murder case captured headlines worldwide for years, fueling debates over sexism, the Italian criminal justice system and international law. In 2016, Netflix released a true-crime documentary about the case, “Amanda Knox.”