Amanda Knox Latest News Update: Knox Broke, Suffering from Stress after Italy Murder Acquittal?

Jonah Hicap Monday, April 20, 2015

Amanda Knox, center, talks to the press surrounded by family outside her mother's home in Seattle, Washington, on March 27, 2015. | REUTERS/Jason Redmond

Recently acquitted Amanda Knox is in deep financial trouble and suffering from post-traumatic stress after her long legal battle to prove that she's innocent of the murder of Meredith Kercher, her roommate in Italy in 2007.

In a recent disclosure to RadarOnline, Douglas Preston, a writer who worked with Knox for her book "Trial By Jury," said Knox's money is gone after she paid "a lot" of legal fees to Italian lawyers.

Last month, Italy's Supreme Court found Knox not guilty of killing Kercher.

"The [ordeal] has been hugely emotional, but the financial impact has been catastrophic," Preston said.

He said this happened despite Knox, 27, receiving an advance of $4 million for the 2013 book "Waiting To Be Heard."

"Amanda received a $4 million advance for her book, that money has all gone, immediately out of the door to pay legal fees and there is nothing left," Preston said. "She really wants to establish that she's innocent in Italy. They've paid a lot of fees to Italian lawyers."

In addition, Preston said Knox is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. The Mayo Clinic describes PTSD as "a mental health condition that's triggered by a terrifying event — either experiencing it or witnessing it."

Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares, severe anxiety and uncontrollable thoughts about the event, the health website said.

"In prison, she was threatened with rape [by] a male guard, it was a really terrible experience. I think it has really affected her. [It's] really hard to lead a normal life after that," Preston said.

He added, "She went to Italy as a normal 20-year-old, West Coast girl, a soccer player, rock climber, very naive. So many terrible things happened to her in Italy, so many lies were said, and the online savagery directed at her, I've never seen anything like it."

Preston likens Knox's ordeal to that of a soldier who came back from war-torn Iraq.

"Anyone who has been through what she's been through is going to have issues. It's like a soldier come back from Iraq, having children shot in front of him, you've been through a horrific experience. If it doesn't affect you physically, it affects you emotionally," he said.