How Amanda Knox Spent Her 4 Years In Italian Jail (Exclusive Interview)

24 year old American, Amanda Knox, was set free after spending four years in an Italian jail and her family is speaking out.

Amanda Knox's life changed forever on Nov. 2, 2007, when police found the body of 21-year-old Meredith Kercher, her throat slashed, in the Perugia apartment she shared with Knox.

Investigators charged Knox, her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, 27, and another man, Rudy Guede, 24, with murder, and all three were found guilty. The verdict

"was total devastation for Amanda,"

her father, Curt Knox, tells PEOPLE.

"She is someone who wouldn't kill a spider."

In Perugia's Capanne prison, Knox spent 22 hours most days inside an 18-ft.-by-13-ft. cell she shared with at least one and sometimes as many as three inmates. The cell had one bathroom, a small TV and an electric pan cooker; Knox added a tiny radio she bought for $20 at a prison shop.

"Amanda would wake up early, make herself coffee, then go out for one of her two
hours of outdoor time,"

says her mother. Knox tried to stay fit by walking in the 30-ft.-by-30 ft. courtyard and doing situps and push-ups in her cell. Still, she lost so much weight during her imprisonment that she dropped from a size 6 to a 0.

Despite stress and bouts of sleeplessness, Knox,

"had a schedule, which she maintained; she didn't just lay in bed all day like
some inmates,"

her stepfather, Chris Mellas, tells PEOPLE.

"She made a point of washing, changing her clothes, looking after herself. She
tried to maintain a certain degree of dignity."

Knox had only a handful of possessions – a few books, four CDs, some clothing – but still

"she cleaned her cell frequently,"

says Chris.

"She's a bit of a neatnik."

A huge source of comfort was her limited contact with friends and family; she was allowed eight 1-hour visits and four 10-minute phone calls per month. Knox has three sisters – Deanna, 22, Ashley, 16, and Delaney, 13 – and her dad says

"she hasn't been able to see them grow up, so we tried to tell her as much as we
could to allow her to be a part of it."

What will Amanda do now?

How quickly Amanda can rebuild her life depends on how much her prison ordeal has changed her. Knox has been so affected by what happened that after finishing her studies...her family says she might even "become an advocate for people who are wrongly imprisoned."

But for now, Amanda Knox will focus on the simple joys of freedom.

"Being with her family, catching up, seeing her two cousins, who were babies
when she left,"

says her mother.

"And she says she never wants to be behind a locked door, ever, in her life."

Beleive it or not there is already an Amanda Knox movie on Lifetime television. Check your local listings or watch it online here.