Two Americans sentenced to Italian prison for life after Roman police officer stabbed to death in ‘drug deal gone bad’
Updated 10:26 AM;
Today 10:26 AM
Finnegan Lee Elder, left, crosses his fingers as he talks with his parents Ethan and Leah Elder, before a jury began deliberating the fates of Elder and his co-defendant Gabriel Natale-Hjorth, on trial for the slaying of an Italian plainclothes police officer on a street near the hotel where they were staying while on vacation in Rome in summer 2019, in Rome, Wednesday, May 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)AP
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ROME (AP) A jury in Italy convicted two American friends in the 2019 slaying in Rome of a police officer in a tragic unraveling of a small-time drug deal gone bad, sentencing them to the maximum life in prison.
2 US men sentenced to life in prison for killing Italian police officer
Updated 6:42 AM;
Today 6:42 AM
Finnegan Lee Elder, wipes his eye, as he and his co-defendant Gabriel Natale-Hjorth listen as the verdict is read, in the trial for the slaying of an Italian plainclothes police officer on a street near the hotel where they were staying while on vacation in Rome in summer 2019, in Rome, Wednesday, May 5, 2021. A jury in Rome on Wednesday convicted two American friends in the 2019 slaying of a police officer in a drug sting gone awry, sentencing them to life in prison.AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia
They are not mafia bosses who kill innocent people : Families of two California students sentenced to life for stabbing to death Italian cop slam Italian justice system
Finnegan Lee Elder, 21, and Gabriel Natale Hjorth, 20, were convicted by a jury in Rome on Wednesday over the murder of Vice Brigadier Mario Cerciello Rega, 35
Elder stabbed Rega 11 times with a 7-inch Rambo knife on July 26, 2019 after a drug deal went awry
Natale-Hjorth, whom Elder knew from high school in Mill Valley, California, helped hide the knife
Elder family spokesman Craig Peters blasted the jury for handing them the same sentence given to mobsters
Rome jury gives 2 Americans life in prison for slaying of police officer Updated: 10 hours ago Published 10 hours ago
Finnegan Lee Elder listens to the verdict in the trial for the slaying of an Italian plainclothes police officer on a street near the hotel where he and his co-defendant Gabriel Natale-Hjorth were staying while on vacation in Rome in summer 2019, in Rome, Wednesday, May 5, 2021. A jury in Rome has convicted two American friends in the 2019 slaying of a police officer in a drug sting gone awry, sentencing them to life in prison. The jury delivered more than 12 hours before delivering the verdicts late Tuesday against 21-year-old Finnegan Lee Elder and 20-year-old Gabriel Natale. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Americans sentenced to life for killing police officer in Rome plan to appeal By Anna Matranga Americans convicted in death of Italian officer
One of two young Americans convicted Wednesday of killing a Rome police officer is in a bad place after being sentenced to life imprisonment, Italy s stiffest sentence, a lawyer and spokesman for his family told CBS News.
21-year-old Finnegan Lee Elder, from San Francisco, is confused how he seemingly was punished for telling the truth. Confused how they could believe a liar and concoct a story, his spokesman Craig Peters, who is in Rome with Elder s parents, told CBS News.