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Sitting at her home in West Seattle, Washington, Amanda Knox's aunt Janet Huff was watching the live television news coverage that her niece had been convicted of murder. "It was terrible, it was gut-wrenching just to hear them say it," Huff said of the verdict. She had been up for more than 11 hours while the jury deliberated, anxiously awaiting word. She remained hopeful but deeply afraid. She couldn't eat. When the verdict was announced at about midnight in Perugia, Italy, her worst fears came true. Knox and her Italian former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were convicted of murdering Knox's roommate Meredith Kercher. Knox was sentenced to 26 years and Sollecito 25 years in prison. Following the verdict, people flooded out of the Italian courtroom. When the prosecution emerged, a rush of applause followed. "To see the people outside the courtroom applauding -- that just made me sick, that people can be that callous and cold," Huff said.

"They are, of course, shattered. They are not doing great," Huff said. "But we have already started the process of appeals. That's all we can do." For Huff, Knox is still the strong, kindhearted girl she has always known -- not the cold-blooded killer prosecutors portrayed during the trial. Huff said Knox was worried about the trial's impact on the family. "I think that's what gets her through, knowing that she's got to be strong," she said. "If she falls apart, then we are really going to lose it. "I know she is terribly disappointed, heartbroken and scared to death, but she's more concerned about her family and how we are." With Knox's conviction, Huff said the family was moving forward with plans for some relatives to move to Italy to be near Knox. The cost and physical toll of constantly traveling to Italy was weighing on the family, she said. "We've looked at jobs and apartments just in case this happened," she said. "There's no way we are going to leave Amanda in Italy all alone."