The two American tourists sentenced to life in prison for murdering an Italian cop in a botched drug sting plan to appeal — with a lawyer for one ripping the sentences as “a disgrace for Italy.”
Their guilty verdicts sparked a collective gasp in the Rome courtroom — and swift condemnation and vows to appeal.
“This sentence is a disgrace for Italy,” said Renato Borzone, a lawyer for Elder who has always insisted he was acting in self-defense.
“He was a 19-year-old boy who was attacked,” Borzone said, repeating his client’s long-held claim that he stabbed Rega thinking he and his colleague were thugs out to get them after a failed attempt to buy drugs.
Finnegan Lee Elder and Gabriel Natale-Hjorth were convicted for killing a police officer in a drug sting gone wrong. APThe court heard that Rega, 35, and a partner had been called to investigate an extortion attempt after the then-teenagers allegedly stole a cellphone from a purported street cocaine dealer who took their money without supplying drugs — and then tried to use the phone to get their money back.
“I have never seen something so unworthy. We will appeal,” he said, according to Italy 24 News.
Finnegan Lee Elder and Gabriel Natale-Hjorth were sentenced to life in an Italian prison. APA lawyer for Natale-Hjorth — who got life even though he was only accused of helping to hide the murder weapon — said both he and his client were left speechless at the conviction and sentence.
Natale-Hjorth was “completely shocked, he kept telling me he did not understand,” lawyer Fabio Alonzi said.
Mario Cerciello Rega is remembered by his widow as “a marvelous husband.” APAnother of Natale-Hjorth’s lawyers, Francesco Petrelli, called it a “technically flawed sentence both in fact and in law.”
Natale-Hjorth initially denied being involved and claimed he did not know his friend had the combat knife with a 7-inch blade he brought with him from the US. However, his fingerprints were found on a panel in the ceiling of their hotel room where the blade had been concealed.
The knife used to stab Carabinieri’s officer Mario Cerciello Rega. APUnder Italian law, anyone who participates even indirectly in a murder can face murder charges.
The pair, former schoolmates in the San Francisco area, were also found guilty of attempted extortion, assault, resisting a public official and carrying an attack-style knife without just cause.
Gabriel Natale-Hjorth was accused of helping to hide the murder weapon, and received a life sentence. APCerciello Rega’s widow, clutching a photograph of her dead husband, sobbed in court after the verdict was announced.
“He was a marvelous husband, he was a marvelous man, a servant of the state who deserves respect and honor,” she said.
Franco Coppi, a lawyer representing some of the family, said the jury’s decision reflected the “gravity of the deed, an atrocious crime.”
“He was a 19-year-old boy who was attacked,” Finnegan Lee Elder’s lawyer claims. APStill, rather than celebrate “I can’t help but think that such a harsh sentence falls upon two young men in their 20s,” he said.
The jury must lay out in detail its reasoning for its decisions within 90 days. The rationale would then form the basis for any appeal.
With Post wires
