American pair's terms for killing policeman cut

(ANSA) - ROME, MAR 17 - A Rome appeals court on Thursday reduced the terms of two young American men, Finnegan Lee Elder and Gabriel Natale Hjorth, for killing Carabinieri police officer Mario Cerciello Rega in the Italian capital in July 2019.
    Elder's sentence was cut from life to 24 years in prison, while Natale Hjorth's was reduced from life to 22 years.
    Elder killed Cerciello Rega with 11 stab wounds inflicted by a combat knife he had brought over from the US while Natale Hjorth assaulted the slain officer's partner at the end of a chain of events sparked by a drugs deal that went wrong.
    Cerciello Rega , 35, had recently returned from his honeymoon when he was killed.
    A well-liked and cheerful character, he was considered a hero for his work on and off duty.
    He did volunteer work for the Order of Malta, accompanying sick people to Lourdes and Loreto, and he also regularly went to Rome's Termini train station to feed the needy.
    The tragic chain of events started when Elder and Natale Hjorth, who were in Rome on holiday, were conned by a dealer when attempting to buy drugs.
    The dealer sold them crushed up medicine instead of narcotics.
    The young Americans snatched a bag belonging to a middle man who had put them in touch with a dealer and subsequently contacted him, demanding money and drugs in return for the bag.
    The middle man called the Carabinieri, saying the pair were trying to extort money from him.
    As a result, Cerciello Rega and his partner went to a rendezvous in the middle of the night that had been arranged for the exchange.
    When the policeman, who were unarmed and in plain clothes, confronted the pair, they were attacked.
    The defence lawyers said the young men thought they were faced with criminals, not police officers. (ANSA).