An appeals court in Italy on Wednesday upheld the convictions but decreased the prison sentences for two American visitors who initially were sentenced to life in prison in the murder of a police officer in 2019, a case that shocked Italy.
Their initial convictions were overturned by Italy’s highest court and a new trial was mandated, leading to Wednesday’s results. Finnegan Lee Elder was given a new sentence of 15 years and two months in jail, while Gabriele Natale-Hjorth received a sentence of 11 years and four months and an 800 euro ($863) fine.
The two were found guilty in the death of Carabinieri Vice Brigadier Mario Cerciello Rega in July 2019.
“I don’t think we could ask for a reasonable, better decision today,” said Ethan Elder, Finnegan Elder’s father.
Elder and Natale-Hjorth were teenagers on vacation from San Francisco at the time of Cerciello Rega’s death. The fatal confrontation occurred when they agreed to meet a small-time drug dealer, who turned out to be a police informant, to collect money lost in a failed drug deal. Instead, they encountered two police officers.
The police officer, a 35-year-old newlywed, was stabbed 11 times in a hotel room, prompting a media sensation. Cerciello Rega was mourned as a national hero.
Elder admitted to having killed the officer, but said he acted in self-defense because he thought Cerciello Rega was a criminal trying to attack the youths. During the latest trial, the defense reiterated its earlier claim that the defendants were unaware they were being investigated by law authorities at the time.
The widow of Cerciello Rega, Rosa Maria Esilio, was devastated by the verdict, according to her attorney Massimo Ferrandino.
“For five years she has been carrying a huge pain. She was the one who closed the eyes of her husband in the morgue. You can imagine her pain today, too,” he said.
The defense lawyers welcomed the new ruling.
“This sentence is fairer than the previous ones,” said Renato Borzone, Elder’s lawyer. “It took five years, but we finally have a court that can sleep easily because it has made the right decision in good conscience.”
Prosecutors said Elder attacked Cerciello Rega with a knife he had brought with him on his trip to Europe, and that Natale-Hjorth helped him to hide the knife in their hotel room. Under Italian law, an accomplice to an accused murder can be charged with murder, even if they did not commit the crime.
Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Press.
