Diksha Sundriyal
Hulu’s ‘The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox’ gives Amanda’s perspective on the aftermath of Meredith Kercher’s death and the subsequent events that led to Amanda and Raffaele Sollecito’s wrongful imprisonment. The penultimate episode of the series begins with the verdict of the appeal, where Amanda and Raffaele are given a clean chit, which exonerates them from the crime. However, the verdict does little to change people’s already established view of her, and anticipating this, Steve Moore is brought in to get her from the doors of the Italian prison to her home in America, while keeping her out of harm’s way. His presence proves critical in Amanda’s safety, even when she is back home.
Steve Moore Had a Stellar Career in the FBI
A University of the Pacific graduate, Steve Moore, followed in his father’s footsteps when he joined the FBI at the age of 25 and became a Special Agent in 1983. Over his more than two-decade-long career, he was involved in all sorts of high-profile cases, like covert operations against white supremacist organizations in northern Idaho and the northwest, the first-ever conviction for an anthrax threat, the Buford Furrow pre-school shooting, and preventing the planned attack on California’s second-largest oil refinery. He was also a part of the 9/11 investigation, and later, testified before the congressional “911 Commission.”
He headed the Al Qaeda investigations for the Los Angeles FBI, and later, as the creator and head of the FBI squad investigating terrorism, worked with the CIA and the State Department. He also spent five years on the LA FBI SWAT team as an assault operator and a sniper, and later as a helicopter pilot. For his service, he received three Department of Justice awards for Excellence in Investigations and was nominated for the FBI Director’s Outstanding Terrorism Investigation Award. He has since shared his knowledge and experience through academic lectures on violent crime, investigations, and terrorism at the International Law Enforcement Academy in Bangkok, Thailand. He also briefly served as a legal attaché at a US Embassy. He retired from the FBI in June 2008 after 25 years of service.
Steve Moore Believed in Amanda Knox’s Innocence Before He Met Her
After retiring from the FBI, Steve Moore was employed at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, as Deputy Director for Public Safety, where he helped improve security across several campuses of the university. Around the same time, Amanda Knox’s case had taken the media by storm, and like many others, he believed her to be guilty. Then, his wife watched a program about her case, called ‘48 Hours,’ and challenged him to get to the bottom of the truth. This led him to look at the case with a keen eye.
He examined all the evidence brought forth by the prosecution, watched the crime scene videos, and looked into the case from all angles. With everything in front of him, he came to the conclusion that Amanda was innocent of Meredith Kercher’s murder and had been wrongly convicted by the Italian court. He didn’t keep these findings to himself, but talked about them with the media and wrote about them in online forums. He even went on to say, in an interview with CBS News, that he was so sure of Amanda’s innocence that he would let his own daughter be her roommate.
Steve has claimed that his outspokenness about his support for Amanda led to tension with Pepperdine administrators. He further alleged that when he refused to stop speaking publicly, he was fired. However, Pepperdine did not publicly confirm his version of events. In any case, his departure from the institution did not dampen his support for Amanda. He continued to talk and write about it. Later, he also wrote letters to her while she was in prison. When she was released, he was in Italy, to make sure that there were no mishaps between her setting foot outside the Italian prison and entering her home in Seattle. He took her and her mother, Edda, to a safe house where they remained for an evening before being taken to catch the flight home the next morning.
Steve Moore Continues to Fight for Justice Today
Steve Moore lives in Los Angeles, California, with his wife, with whom he has two children. He is the founder and the CEO of Moore Investigations International, an organization he established in 2010 as a means to help Americans who have been wrongly imprisoned overseas and need help with their safety and release. Apart from the Amanda Knox case, he was involved in the case of Jacob Ostreicher, who spent eighteen months in a prison in Bolivia on suspicion of money laundering despite never having been officially charged with the crime. Additionally, he has also authored two books: ‘Special Agent Man’ and ‘The Forgotten Killer,’ with the latter co-authored by the likes of John Douglas and Douglas Preston, among others.
Steve is also a member of the Writers Guild of America and has appeared in several true crime documentaries and docuseries, like ‘Bizarre Murders’ and ‘Murderous Affairs.’ He has also appeared as a media commentator for CNN, focusing on federal and international crimes. He has appeared on news programs like ‘The Today Show,’ ‘Nightline,’ ‘Good Morning America,’ ‘CBS This Morning,’ and ‘20/20,’ to name a few. He also appeared in an episode of Amanda’s ‘False Confessions’ podcast miniseries to talk about how emotional torture, among other techniques, is used to make people confess to the crimes they did not commit. Apart from using his skills to help solve cases and getting innocent people their freedom, he also briefly worked as a pilot for an LA charter jet company. As for his personal life, he likes to enjoy his privacy with his family and loved ones.
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