Italian appeals court confirms guilty verdict against two Americans for police officer’s death, but reduces sentences

ROME (AP) — An Italian appeals court on Wednesday upheld the convictions of two Americans in the killing of an Italian plainclothes police officer during a botched operation five years ago, but significantly reduced their sentences.

The new ruling, issued after Italy’s highest court overturned the original rulingswas met with approval by the men’s families, but disappointment by the officer’s widow.

Finnegan Lee Elder and Gabriel Natale-Hjorth were found guilty in July 2019 of killing Carabinieri Vice Brigadier General Mario Cerciello Rega and were both sentenced to life imprisonment, Italy’s harshest punishment, after their first trial.

These sentences were reduced on appeal before Italy’s highest court of cassation ordered a retrial last year. On Wednesday, the appeal court sentenced Finnegan and sentenced him to 15 years and 2 months in prison. Natale-Hjorth was sentenced to eleven years and four months and fined 800 euros ($863).

“I don’t think we could ask for a more sensible, better decision today,” said Ethan Elder, Finnegan Lee Elder’s father.

The former schoolmates from the San Francisco Bay Area were teenagers at the time of the murder and had met in Rome to spend a few days on vacation. The fatal confrontation occurred after they arranged to meet a small-time drug dealer who turned out to be a police informant. They wanted to get back money they had lost in a drug deal gone wrong. Instead, they were confronted by two police officers.

Cerciello Riga was stabbed eleven times with a knife brought from his hotel room.

The Court of Cassation ordered the reopening of the case on the grounds that it had not been proven beyond doubt that the defendants, who had limited knowledge of Italian, were aware that they were dealing with Italian police officers when they met with the alleged drug dealer.

The defense had argued that the defendants did not know that they were in contact with the police at the time of the attack. This argument was repeated in the new trial.

Prosecutor Bruno Giangiacomo said his office would read the court’s written reasons for the verdict before deciding on a possible appeal to the Court of Cassation. In Italy, both defendants and prosecutors can appeal at any level.

“Both aggravating circumstances have been ruled out,” said Giangiacomo after the verdict was announced. “This could be a sensitive point where we can consider an appeal to the Court of Cassation.” Prosecutors had asked for Finnegan to be sentenced to 23 years and nine months and Natale-Hjorth to 23 years.

Rosa Maria Esilio, Cerciello Rega’s widow, was “devastated” by the verdict, according to her lawyer Massimo Ferrandino.

“For five years she endured great pain. She was the one who closed her husband’s eyes in the morgue. You can imagine her pain even today,” he said.

The killing of the officer of the famous paramilitary police force the Carabinieri shocked Italy and 35-year-old Cerciello Rega was mourned as a national hero.

Prosecutors alleged that Elder stabbed Cerciello Rega with a knife he brought with him on his European trip and that Natale-Hjorth helped him hide in her hotel room. Under Italian law, an accomplice in an alleged murder can be charged with murder even without having committed the murder.

But lawyer Francesco Petrelli, who represented Natale-Hjorth, said the appeals court clearly recognized that his client had been involved on a different level.

“There has been a reduction, especially of responsibility,” he said, adding that “there has been a shift from willful malice to negligence.”

Prosecutors allege the young Americans hatched a plan involving a stolen bag and cellphone after their failed attempt to buy cocaine for 80 euros ($96) in Rome’s Trastevere nightlife district. Natale-Hjorth and Elder testified they paid for the cocaine but did not receive it.

In a statement released by lawyers after the new verdicts, Leah Elder, Finnegan Elder’s mother, insisted that her son was ready to take responsibility for his actions and move on.

“This trial is unfortunately linked to the tragedy of the death of a person, a grave fact that has marked and will forever mark the lives of all the families involved,” she said. “Bringing the truth to light would help Finnegan take full responsibility for the pain he caused with his tragic reaction. I hope that even as he has to atone for his mistake, he will also find hope for the future.”

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Barry reported from Soave, Italy.