Italian Prosecutor Wants Life Sentence to U.S. Students Who Killed Policeman

An Italian prosecutor is batting for a life sentence on two U.S. Students who killed an Italian policeman. The crime happened when the students had a bad drug deal.

Italian media has highlighted the killing of an Italian policeman by an American in a drug deal. The two were charged with murder by authorities in Rome.

According to reports, an Italian prosecutor intends to get a conviction for the willful murder of an officer by two Americans. Apparently, everything that could go wrong caused the death reported US News.

At that time, the accused, Finnegan Lee Elder, was 19, and his friend Gabriel Christian Natale-Hjorth, was 18 when it happened. They were the ones who were in fisticuffs and ended in the fatal stabbing of Mario Cerciello Rega on July 26, 2019. Elder admitted to stabbing Rega while Natale-Hjorth struggled against another policeman.

Even if the accomplice never killed the victim, he is liable for murder charges like the killer. This is the justification for the dual murder charge directed at the accused students.

Prosecutor Maria Sabina Calabretta spoke in court and said that Officer Mario Cerciello Rega's attack was intentional in her four-hour indictment. There is intent on the accused to slay the victim when he attacked. No mistake happened and was intentional on Elder's crime.

According to the reports, both U.S. Students who killed Italian the policeman said they had no idea that Cerciello or Andrea Varriale were officers. Varriale told the court the Americans were lying. He added they flashed their badges, but Cerciello's badge was not on the crime scene.

Elder and Natale-Hjorth were on vacation in Rome when it happened; they wanted to get drugs from an Italian dealer. They told the court that they were fooled by the dealer but got the bag from someone trying to get it from them.

After that, they agreed to an exchange for the drugs and the money, but the two officers were there. They were surprised to be dealing with police officers instead. They alleged that neither officer was in uniform but plain-clothed and assaulted them. It took them by surprise, and they defended themselves.

Elder said that the attack alarmed him and feared his life, said Italian media based on court documents. This is the official statement that Elder told during the trial in the Italian court. However, the victim did not have his service firearm when it happened.

Italian media sources alleged that the dealer was an informer who told of the stolen bag. The policemen weren't doing anything illegal when asked to intercede.

Elder gave his apologies to the courts for the murder. Natale-Hjorth said that the police were told that he was not part of the stabbing; he never knew the other American had a knife hidden.

However, his print was discovered near where the knife was, which cast doubt if he was not lying. As of this reporting, U.S. Students who killed Italian policeman has no defense yet.

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Rome