Amanda Knox spent her first night behind bars as a convicted murderer after an Italian court early yesterday found her guilty in the brutal 2007 killing of her British flatmate.
The 22-year-old was sent to prison for 26 years, while co-defendant Raffaele Sollecito, her new boyfriend at the time of the murder, was sentenced to 25 years for their roles in the sex murder of Meredith Kercher.
The victim's family is "very satisfied" with the verdict, Meredith's brother Lyle said in Perugia, the centuries-old university town in central Italy where the two young women were exchange students.
"It's not a moment of triumph... At the end of the day we're all gathered here because our sister was brutally murdered and taken away from us," Lyle Kercher told a packed news conference.
Knox's family immediately said they would appeal the verdict read out shortly after midnight last Friday, issuing a statement saying: "We will continue to fight for her freedom."
Lyle Kercher said: "The verdict does draw a line under the case for us, albeit a dotted one," while adding that the family were "fully prepared for the fact that the accused would want to appeal against the verdict".
The defendants were provisionally ordered to pay €1 million to each of the victim's parents, plus €800,000 to each of Kercher's three siblings - two brothers and a sister.
Lyle said of the €25 million sought by the family that in Italy's "very complex legal process (the amount) is more to imply the severity and gravity of the case, to add weight, and it's symbolic in that respect."
He added: "It's never been about our seeking any money... that money will never really bring anything or change anything." Prosecutors presented DNA and other forensic evidence against Knox, Sollecito and a third person, Rudy Guede of the Ivory Coast, who was convicted separately after opting for a "fast-track" trial in exchange for clemency.
The prosecution alleged that the three young people were high on drugs when they tried to engage Kercher, 21, in a sex game that turned violent, leaving her dead with stab wounds to the neck. Judge Giancarlo Massei cited extenuating circumstances for reducing the sentence from the maximum life terms sought by the prosecution.
The murder sparked lurid headlines around the world, notably in Britain, fed by rampant rumours as well as repeated leaks to an eager press corps during the investigation.
Knox was portrayed as "acqua e sapone" (water and soap) - an Italian idiom for squeaky clean, or wholesome - by her defenders, and a cold, duplicitous "she-devil" by her accusers.
The case cast a dark shadow over Perugia and the prestigious University for Foreigners where Knox and Kercher studied.