Rome ( CNN ) -- Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito have been ordered to face an Italian appellate court again for the murder of Meredith Kercher . The scene in the Italian courtroom on Tuesday morning was oddly reminiscent of verdicts past in the complicated case , with the exception of two missing characters : Knox and Sollecito . The rest were there , including the lawyers who defended the two former lovers and the lawyers who represented the family of the victim -- and of course the hoard of television cameras who had come for the latest installment of the seemingly endless saga . Kercher , who shared an apartment with Knox in Perugia near the University for Foreigners , was stabbed in her bedroom and left for dead on November 1 , 2007 . Her autopsy showed that she choked on her own blood . She had not been raped , according to her autopsy , but she was found partially nude , adding an element of mystery to the case that laid the groundwork for what would become a theory that Kercher died as part of a `` sex game gone wrong . '' The door to her bedroom was locked from the inside and pulled closed . Knox vows to fight on as Italian judges order retrial . There were no fingerprints on the outside of the door and scant blood in the rest of the house , which eventually led to the theory of a cleanup . Rudy Guede , an Ivory Coast native who was raised by a local family in Perugia , was the first to be found guilty of the crime in a fast-track trial in 2008 . His conviction was upheld on appeal but his sentence was reduced from 30 years to just 16 years . Knox and Sollecito were initially found guilty in connection with Kercher 's murder , but were ultimately acquitted two years later on appeal . Knox went home to Seattle to finish her studies at the University of Washington . Sollecito moved to Verona to take up studies in robotic surgery . The case seemed to be over . For most people , especially those of us who followed the case closely , the high court hearing was supposed to be just a formality -- they would confirm the acquittal and we could all go home and put the case to rest . Now everything is up in the air again . Italy 's highest court decided to reject the acquittal in its entirety and send the case back to a panel of appellate judges to reconsider . What that means in practical terms is nothing short of a complicated , confusing mess . When Knox was first convicted of murder , there was outcry in the United States that she was wrongfully convicted , based on shoddy evidence collected by sloppy Italian police . When she was acquitted two years later , there was nearly as much of an outcry in Italy that the courts had succumbed to American pressure . Now , the outcome is again uncertain , with the only guarantee that whatever happens , it will again cause an outcry -- it 's just not clear yet by whom . But even though retrying the case may seem something like dÃ©jÃ vu , there is going to be one stark difference . Knox will not be in court this time around . During the first trial in which she was convicted and the appeal in which she was acquitted , she was the star of the show that drew the masses to court each week . Her lawyer , Carlo Dalla Vedova , believes Knox will not attend and will be tried in absentia this time . Timeline : Meredith Kercher murder case . Without her presence , it remains to be seen whether the media will be as interested . Even if Knox is convicted this time around , it is unlikely she will ever come back to Italy . There is a valid extradition agreement between the two nations , but the U.S. has not set much of a precedence in returning suspects for such matters . In 1998 , an American fighter jet clipped a ski lift cable sending a gondola of 20 passengers to their death in the Italian Dolomite mountain range . Italy had requested their extradition to try them for multiple manslaughter , but the U.S. refused and tried them in a military tribunal instead . They were found not guilty . And in 2012 , Italy 's high court upheld the conviction of 22 CIA agents and an Air Force colonel in conjunction with the extraordinary rendition of Egyptian cleric Abu Omar from a street in Milan . Again , the U.S. refused to comply with the extradition order . Both previous high-profile cases involved state employees or military members . Knox 's case is a private matter with very little precedence . Knox may be safe in Seattle , but her erstwhile boyfriend is far more vulnerable here in Italy . By the same law that protects Knox , Sollecito is also free to skip the retrial . But because he is an Italian citizen , he will not have to face extradition if reconvicted . Experts disagree over extradition for Amanda Knox . The police can simply pick him up and put him in jail . Sollecito 's father attended the high court hearing on Monday but he was not present for Tuesday 's verdict . He has staunchly defended his son 's innocence , but it remains to be seen if he supports having him stay here in Italy for the retrial . The only people who expressed relief at Tuesday 's verdict and news of the retrial were Kercher 's family . Their lawyer Francesco Maresca said they felt that now , finally , `` justice might be served . '' When Knox was acquitted of the murder in 2011 , the Kerchers were left flabbergasted and disappointed by the reversal . `` We respect the court but we had hoped for a different outcome , '' Kercher 's mother told me the day Knox was set free . Meredith 's brother Lyle said that he felt the wounds had been left open . `` We have n't really had a chance to properly grieve , '' he said at the time . `` We accept the decision and respect the court . But now we are left looking at this again . We really are back to square one . '' No matter how the case ultimately ends , there will likely always be far more questions than answers .
Nadeau : Only guarantee in Kercher murder trial is that new result will cause outcry . Amanda Knox 's lawyer believes Knox will not attend trial and will be tried in absentia . U.S. has declined to respect extradition treaty with Italy in the past .