Italian police allegedly urged death for American suspects

By FRANCES D’EMILIO
Associated Press

ROME (AP) — Several members of Italy’s Carabinieri paramilitary police force called for the deaths or beatings of two American teenagers who were arrested in the hours after an officer’s July 2019 slaying. A Carabinieri officer is on trial for allegedly blindfolding one of the teens illegally as he awaited questioning. Italian media reported that phone messaging chats involving several Carabinieri following the Americans’ arrests were introduced as evidence on Wednesday. Gabriel Natale-Hjorth and Finnegan Lee Elder of California were convicted last year of murder and given Italy’s stiffest punishment – life imprisonment – for the fatal stabbing of Carabinieri Vice Brigadier Mario Cerciello Rega. Their appeals trial is scheduled to start on Thursday.