Italian court shortens sentences for Americans for killing officer

An Italian appeals court on Wednesday upheld the convictions but commuted the prison sentences of two American visitors who were originally sentenced to life in prison for the 2019 murder of a police officer, a case that has shocked Italy.

Their original convictions were overturned by Italy’s highest court and a new trial was ordered, leading to Wednesday’s results. Finnegan Lee Elder received a new sentence of 15 years and two months in prison, while Gabriele Natale-Hjorth received a sentence of 11 years and four months and a fine of 800 euros ($863).

Both were found guilty of the murder of Carabinieri vice-brigadier Mario Cerciello Rega in July 2019.

“I don’t think we can expect a more reasonable or better decision today,” said Ethan Elder, Finnegan Elder’s father.

Elder and Natale-Hjorth were teenagers on vacation in San Francisco when Cerciello Rega was killed. The fatal confrontation occurred when they agreed to meet with a small-time drug dealer who turned out to be a police informant to collect money lost in a drug deal gone wrong. Instead, they met two police officers.

The policeman, a 35-year-old newlywed, was stabbed 11 times in a hotel room, causing a media sensation. Cerciello Rega was mourned as a national hero.

Elder admitted to killing the officer but said he acted in self-defense because he believed Cerciello Rega was a criminal trying to attack the youth. During the last trial, the defense repeated its earlier claim that the defendants did not know they were being investigated by law enforcement at the time.

According to lawyer Massimo Ferrandino, Cerciello Rega’s widow, Rosa Maria Esilio, was devastated by the verdict.

“She carried a lot of pain for five years. She was the one who closed her husband’s eyes in the morgue. You can imagine her pain today,” he said.

Defense lawyers welcomed the new verdict.

“This verdict is more just than the previous ones,” said Renato Borzone, Elder’s lawyer. “It took five years, but we finally have a court that can sleep soundly because it made the right decision in good faith.”

Prosecutors said Elder attacked Cerciello Rega with a knife he had brought with him on a trip to Europe, and that Natale-Hjorth helped him hide the knife in a hotel room. Under Italian law, an accomplice of a murder defendant can be charged with murder even if he did not commit the crime.

Some information for this report was provided by Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Press.