Two American men convicted in Rome of stabbing an undercover police officer during a drug deal gone wrong have returned to court for a retrial after their murder convictions were overturned.
Finnegan Lee Elder, 24, and Gabriel Natale-Hjort, 23, of California, were initially found guilty of the murder of Carabinieri Vice Brigadier General Mario Cerciello Rega in 2019 and sentenced to life in prison.
However, Italy’s highest cassation court ordered a retrial last year, saying it had not been proven beyond doubt that the defendants, with limited Italian language skills, had understood they were dealing with Italian police officers.
The two friends had arranged to meet a small-time drug dealer, who turned out to be a police informant, to recover the money lost in a bad deal and return a backpack they had snatched in retaliation when they July were confronted by police officers. 26, 2019.
Prosecutors alleged that Elder stabbed Cerciello Rega 11 times with a knife he brought with him on his trip to Europe, and that Natale-Hjorth, then 18, helped him hide the knife in their hotel room.
Gabriel Natale-Hjorth (right) and Finnegan Lee Elder attend the appeal trial for the murder of Italian police officer Mario Cerciello Rega in Rome on Friday
Prosecutors alleged that Finnegan Lee stabbed Elder Cerciello Rega 11 times with a knife
Gabriel Natale-Hjorth is accused of helping his friend hide the knife in their hotel room
Natale-Hjorth testified that he struggled with Cerciello Rega’s partner and was unaware of the stabbing as he ran back to the hotel.
The pair sat side by side in a court in Rome as an appeals court judge made opening statements in the retrial on Friday.
The defendants’ lawyers argued that the Cassation’s decision changed the evaluation of the incident.
“Our strategy remains the same,” Elder’s attorney Roberto Capra told The Associated Press.
“We always said Elder didn’t know he was facing a police officer.
“This changes the entire reconstruction of the incident and we believe it will have an impact on the sentence.”
“What we are concerned with is that the responsibilities of the defendants are clarified,” the Cerciello Rega family’s lawyer, Franco Coppi, told AP.
“We have said from the beginning that there is no vengeful intent or desire to punish at all costs.”
Italian police officer Vice Brigadier General Mario Cerciello Rega, 35, (pictured with his wife) was stabbed to death after a drug deal gone wrong
The murder sparked national outrage and Rega’s funeral was held in the same church where he had been married several months earlier.
Rosa Maria Esilio, Rega’s widow, will attend the trial in Rome on Friday for his murder
Elder (left) and Gabriel Natale-Hjorth (right) were accused of stabbing Deputy Brigadier General Rega to death in Rome. The pair are pictured here in a photo released by Italy’s Carabinieri
Prosecutors allege the police officer was stabbed 11 times with a knife whose blade was more than eight inches long.
Both men have maintained their innocence, claiming the undercover officer and his colleague jumped them from behind.
They claim they believed the officers were criminals who had been attacked by a drug dealer who had sold them fake cocaine.
The murder of 35-year-old newlywed Cerciello Rega caused widespread outrage in Italy, where he was mourned as a national hero.
His funeral was held in the same church where Rega had married Rosa Maria Esilio several months earlier.
Elder and Natale-Hjorth, who became friends while attending Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley, California, were initially found guilty of all charges: murder, attempted extortion, assault, resisting a government official and carrying an assault knife without valid reason.
The jury in Rome deliberated for just over 12 hours before reaching the verdicts in 2021.
The next hearing is scheduled for April 10, when prosecutors will file charges.
The next hearings will take place in May; the process is expected to be completed before the summer.