As during the trial, so after the verdict – for many Americans this case has only ever been about the pretty young student from Seattle. The only people US television viewers are likely to see weeping in coverage of the verdict have been the parents of the convicted murderer. The family and grief of the actual victim, Meredith Kercher, Knox's British flatmate in their Perugia cottage, have barely featured in a bout of breast-beating that has taken on a distinctly nationalistic character.