Italian jury convicts 2 Americans in slaying of police officer
The jury deliberated more than 12 hours before delivering the verdicts late Wednesday against 21-year-pld Finnegan Lee Elder and 20-year-old Gabriel Natale.
Credit: AP
Finnegan Lee Elder listens as the verdict is read, in the trial for the slaying of an Italian plainclothes police officer in summer 2019, in Rome, Wednesday, May 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) Author: Associated Press Updated: 5:31 PM CDT May 5, 2021
A jury in Rome on Wednesday convicted two American friends in the 2019 slaying of a police officer in a tragic unraveling of a small time drug deal gone bad, sentencing them to life in prison.
2 Americans sentenced to life in prison for stabbing Italian police officer
Gabriel Natale-Hjorth is escorted by police officers during the trial for the slaying of an Italian plainclothes police officer in summer 2019, in Rome, Wednesday, May 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
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UPDATED 8:37 AM PT – Thursday, May 6, 2021
A jury in Rome convicted two young American men in connection to the 2019 slaying of a police officer in a drug sting gone wrong. On Wednesday, Finnegan Lee Elder was found guilty of stabbing Mario Rega 11 times with a knife and his friend Gabriel Natale-Hjorth was also found guilty of murder for helping Elder hide the knife.
The defendants were led immediately out of the courtroom.
The slain officer’s widow, who held a photo of her dead husband while waiting for the verdict, sobbed and hugged his brother, Paolo.
Prosecutors alleged that Elder stabbed Vice Bridgadier Mario Cerciello Rega 11 times with a knife he brought with him on his trip to Europe from California and that Natale-Hjorth helped him hide the knife in their hotel room.
The July 26, 2019 slaying of the officer from the storied Carabinieri paramilitary police corps shocked Italy. Cerciello Rega, 35, was mourned as a national hero. His widow, brother and partner were in the courtroom as the jury went into deliberations.
ROME
A jury in Rome on Wednesday began deliberating the fates of two young American men who are charged with killing an Italian police officer near the hotel where they were staying while on summer vacation in 2019.
Finnegan Lee Elder, 21, and Gabriel Natale-Hjorth, 20, were indicted on charges of homicide, attempted extortion, assault, resisting a public official and carrying an attack-style knife without just cause.
Judge Marina Finiti indicated the verdicts could come later Wednesday or on Thursday.
Prosecutors alleged that Elder stabbed Vice Bridgadier Mario Cerciello Rega 11 times with a knife he brought with him on his trip to Europe from California and that Natale-Hjorth helped him hide the knife in their hotel room.
A jury in Rome on Wednesday began deliberating the fates of two young American men who are charged with killing an Italian police officer near the hotel where they were staying while on summer vacation in 2019.