Amanda Knox's ex-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, expressed feelings of relief and hope after being acquitted of murder on Friday.
Sollecito, 31, said he was looking forward to healing "the wounds inside my soul" and moving on with his life following the nearly decade-long ordeal.
"I feel today like someone who was kidnapped, who after seven years and five months has returned to freedom," he told reporters on Monday.
Sollecito and Knox were accused of killing Knox's roommate, 21-year-old Meredith Kercher, in Italy in 2007. They were found guilty in two different trials, and sentenced to 25 and 28 and a half years in prison, respectively.
"Everyone was pointing a finger at me, like I was a murderer, without a shred of evidence," Sollecito said.
A third suspect, Rudy Guede, was also convicted, and sentenced to 16 years after opting for a fast-tracked trial.
On Friday, Italy's highest court found that the former couple did not commit murder - effectively ending the case. Knox was found guilty of slander for implicating a fourth suspect, but was credited for time served. She now works as a reporter in Seattle, and Sollecito said they have exchanged "many good wishes for a new future."
The pair may cross paths when Knox travels to Italy. Her attorneys confirmed that she will travel back to Europe to seek compensation for wrongful imprisonment. Sollecito's father, Francesco, confirmed his son will seek reparations as well.
"You could hardly quantify a compensation figure," he said. "It has been such awful business. We were pilloried."
Knox, 27, said knowledge of her innocence sustained her "in the darkest times of this ordeal."
"I have received invaluable support from family, friends and strangers," she said in a statement. "To them, I say: Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your kindness has sustained me. I only wish that I could thank each and every one of you in person."
