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2 Americans convicted of killing police officer in Italy and sentenced to life in prison
May 5, 2021 / 9:19 PM / AP 2 Americans get life in prison for murder in Italy
A jury convicted two American friends Wednesday in the 2019 slaying of a police officer in a tragic unraveling of a small time drug deal gone bad, sentencing them to the maximum life in prison.
The jury of two judges and six civilians deliberated more than 12 hours before delivering the verdicts against Finnegan Lee Elder, 21, and Gabriel Natale-Hjorth, 20, handing them Italy s stiffest sentence.
Elder and Natale-Hjorth were found guilty of all charges: homicide, attempted extortion, assault, resisting a public official and carrying an attack-style knife without just cause. There was a gasp in the Rome courtroom as the presiding judge, Marina Finiti, read the verdict.
Rome Court Hands Life Sentences To 2 US Tourists Over Police Murder
KEY POINTS
Two American tourists were found guilty of murder and four other charges in Italy
An Italian jury sentenced both to life in prison for killing police officer Mario Cerciello Rega in 2019
The defense lawyers of the American college students said they plan to appeal the verdicts
Two friends from Mill Valley, California, have been sentenced to life in prison after they were found guilty of murdering a Rome police officer while touring Europe in 2019.
An Italian jury that consisted of two judges and six civilians found 21-year-old Finnegan Lee Elder and 20-year-old Gabriel Natale-Hjorth guilty of murder, the Associated Press reported. Presiding Judge Marina Finiti said the jury also found the former schoolmates guilty of extortion, assault, resisting a public official and carrying an attack-style knife without just cause.
Frances D Emilio
Gabriel Natale-Hjorth is escorted by police officers during the trial for the slaying of an Italian plainclothes police officer 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) May 05, 2021 - 6:18 PM
ROME - 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.