A combination photo shows jailed murder suspects Raffaele Sollecito (L) and Amanda Knox entering a trial session in Perugia
A combination photo shows jailed murder suspects Raffaele Sollecito (L) and Amanda Knox entering a trial session in Perugia February 7, 2009. Reuters

Amanda Knox's relationship with Raffaele Sollecito is officially over, the young Italian man said in his first televised interview.

While he said that he still cared deeply for Knox, Sollecito said on Quarto Grado that there was no way he could accept her invitation to come visit her in Seattle.

It's all over between us, Sollecito, 27, said, according to the Daily Mail. I still have a great affection towards her but nothing else. Our love was like a seed that was not allowed to grow because it was brutally stamped on. We were both victims of a cruel injustice and our relationship was overcome.

Sollecito was emotional during the interview and expressed his wish that Knox lead a happy life.

She has suffered like me, and now I just want her to be happiest woman in the world, he said. We were both victims of a cruel injustice, and our relationship was overcome by this tragedy -- our lives are linked by circumstances but now they are very different.

He did however add that there's no way either of them will ever have a normal life. In the month since his release, Sollecito has tried to stay out of the public eye, remaining mostly inside his father's house.

Knox and Sollecito were both convicted of the 2007 murder of the Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy. Knox was sentenced to 26 years in prison, Sollecito 25 years. After four years in prison, both were acquitted of the crime and set free. Knox returned to her hometown of Seattle, while Sollecito went to his father's home in Giovinazzo, Italy.

The original case attracted a firestorm of media attention that has been slow to abate since the appeals trial ended. The press has watched Knox's every move since she returned home, even scrutinizing her choice of Halloween cosume.

After the trial, the Knox family invited Sollecito to reunite with his ex-girlfriend. At the time, Sollecito considered the proposal.

We need each other -- we speak to each other on the phone and write to each other every day, he told Oggi in October. I will certainly go and see Amanda. She asked me over and I accepted with pleasure and there is no saying I will wait until Christmas. I could go earlier -- I could go at any moment. I really want to see her again, to speak with her and look into her eyes.

We need to speak and write to each other to try and understand what happened to us and to look forward to a future that appeared broken forever, but instead we can still build on. We have so many things to say to each other. We spent four years in a circle of hell, we suffered unspeakably and it ruined our lives.

However, his most recent interview indicated that a possible reunion is a long way away, and if it happens, it will be a reunion of friends, not lovers.

It seems that Knox has taken Sollecito's message to heart. The Mirror published photos of Knox walking hand-in-hand with an unnamed man in Seattle. The Mirror claims the man is a classical pianist, but that has not been confirmed.