GUILTY Italy- Finnegan Elder, 19 & Gabriel Hjorth, 18, US students, police murder, 26 Jul 2019 *guilty* *new trial 2023*

[PastTense]

"The officers were unarmed, police added."
Hundreds attend wake of Italian police officer allegedly killed by two American tourists - CNN

Could you imagine that happening in the U.S.?

 

[10ofRods]

I bet hundreds will stand outside the hotel of the parents, if they decide to come over.

So many lives ruined, here.

 

[Isabelle98]

Italian penal code (article 576) says you get life imprisonment if you kill a police officer on duty.
They deserve it. I hope justice will be served.

 

[otto]

Not just Amanda Knox. I vaguely remember, back when I was a teenager, they ran commercials all of the time, warning Americans abroad not to break the (drug) laws because they would not have the protection of the American government overseas.

Unfortunately, several young people learned the hard way and were thrown into horrible prisons for drug offenses.

Heaven help these kids if they killed a cop in the process of trying to buy drugs. Yikes. I mean, who would be an idiot to try and buy drugs in a foreign country from strangers. That seems to be a disaster in the making. It seems like you would either be robbed, ripped off or end up dead from some kind of bad drug.

I wouldn't even buy drugs in this country nowadays. People are dropping like flies from heroin being laced with fentanyl. I don't know if other drugs are laced with it, too. I wouldn't want to risk it, though.

There's not much that their parents can do. Didn't Amanda Knox's parents just about go broke?

Agreed. The parents can't help and it will be very expensive.

The legal system was a nightmare for Knox to navigate. She had to learn to speak Italian to understand what was going on. The court system is very different, where the prosecution and the defense can appeal a verdict, so the verdict can go back and forth a few times. Sentencing is better, typically reduced by 1/3 with a confession, and rehabilitation is the primary objective (rather than punishment). Their young age works in their favor.

The victim can also have a lawyer, so you have the prosecution, the defense lawyer, the victim's laywer and a panel of judges.

 

[otto]

Italian penal code (article 576) says you get life imprisonment if you kill a police officer on duty.
They deserve it. I hope justice will be served.

I didn't realize that. What a huge mistake they made - all for the sake of a few euros and temporary high.

 

[Isabelle98]

I didn't realize that. What a huge mistake they made - all for the sake of a few euros and temporary high.

You're right otto. They made a huge mistake (and they will regret it for the rest of their lives) but, in same way, they're "lucky". There's no death penalty in Italy (unfortunately for the victim's family I suppose...) and Italian judges are obsessed by "rehabilitation"....nobody knows why...<modsnip - political>
You already said "their young age works in their favor"...sadly that's true...

 

[otto]

You're right otto. They made a huge mistake (and they will regret it for the rest of their lives) but, in same way, they're "lucky". There's no death penalty in Italy (unfortunately for the victim's family I suppose...) and Italian judges are obsessed by "rehabilitation"....nobody knows why...maybe too many of them are leftists (or liberals if you prefer).
You already said "their young age works in their favor"...sadly that's true...

Reading about prison through the eyes of Knox, it sounded more like a commune where they cooked together, wrote and performed plays, had social events and I believe a band visited the prison to entertain them. It wasn't a vacation, but it was not a harsh prison environment. It might be worse for men.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

Stupid, stupid boys.

Anyone carrying a knife in public should be locked up, end of.

 

[otto]

Stupid, stupid boys.

Anyone carrying a knife in public should be locked up, end of.

Not only that, but they hadn't really committed a crime prior to stabbing the officer. They tried to buy cocaine but instead gave someone 80 euros for crushed aspirin. No real crime. They took someone's backpack - something that can be easily solved by giving it back. This could have been nothing more than a lesson learned if they had just listened to the officers and done the right thing.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

Not only that, but they hadn't really committed a crime prior to stabbing the officer. They tried to buy cocaine but instead gave someone 80 euros for crushed aspirin. No real crime. They took someone's backpack - something that can be easily solved by giving it back. This could have been nothing more than a lesson learned if they had just listened to the officers and done the right thing.

Exactly, I can understand the mindset right up until pulling the knife out. I mean, where the heck did they even get a large knife from, as tourists staying in a hotel? It wouldn’t have been in their room so they must have nicked it or bought it from somewhere.

I’ve got absolutely zero sympathy with whichever one of them used that knife and stabbed the officer 8 times, and hope he gets a looong sentence.

 

[PastTense]

"In Italy, life imprisonment (Italian: ergastolo) has an indeterminate length. Article 22 of the Italian Penal Code defines life imprisonment as "perpetual, and is taken for granted in one of the establishments destined for this, with the obligation of work and with night-time isolation", thus meaning that the sentence may last for the remainder of the convicted person's life. It is a mandatory punishment for aggravated cases of murder, aggravated cases of terrorism, felony murder in cases where serious violent offences result in death, using a weapon of mass destruction by causing an endemic through the spread of pathogenic germs in the case of a biological weapon, and mafia association under aggravated circumstances. It is also a possible punishment for terrorism, poisoning of water or food supplies, and treason.

After 10 years (8 in case of good behavior) the prisoner may be given permission to work outside the prison during the day and/or to spend up to 45 days a year at home, and after 26 (or 21 in case of good behavior) years, they may be paroled. The admission to work outside the jail or to be paroled needs to be approved by a special court (Tribunale di Sorveglianza) which determines whether or not an inmate is suitable for libertà condizionata (parole)."
Life imprisonment in Italy - Wikipedia

 

[Isabelle98]

CoverMeCagney in Italy you can buy knife in every hardware store. Even if you're a foreigner.
You don't need any license. Just money.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

In Italy you can buy knife in every hardware store. Even if you're a foreigner.
You don't need any license. Just money.

Same here in the UK - worryingly lax and not surprising it’s the kid’s weapon of choice in cities here. They are supposed to prove their age with ID but these two are adults anyway.

 

[shana]

Teen arrested in death of Rome police officer claimed as student by Santa Barbara City College

Santa Barbara City College issued a statement saying 18-year-old Gabriel Christian Natale-Hjorth just finished his first year at the school.
A spokesperson for SBCC, Luz Reyes-Martin, said Natale-Hjorth attended the college but there was no record of 19-year-old Finnegan Lee Elder, the other teen arrested in connection with the death, “having been actively enrolled” at the school.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Tam High grads' homicide arrest in Italy stuns Marin locals

The two men, who graduated from the Mill Valley high school in 2018, were on summer break in Italy from studies at Santa Barbara City College when the incident took place early Friday.

Elder, 19, is accused of stabbing the officer 11 times and is said to be the prime suspect in the incident. His Instagram account includes a self-description as the “King of Nothing” and he writes “Death is guaranteed, life is not.”

 

[FrostOwl]

Rosa Maria, the officer's widow, walked into the church after her husband's coffin, the same church where she had been a bride less than one and a half month ago: Italian cop stabbed to death 'by two American teens' is laid to rest
I wonder if the teens will ever be allowed to see the photo, or if their lawyers and parents will consider it to be too detrimental for their mental health to see the pain they have caused.

 

[Isabelle98]

Tam High grads' homicide arrest in Italy stuns Marin locals

The two men, who graduated from the Mill Valley high school in 2018, were on summer break in Italy from studies at Santa Barbara City College when the incident took place early Friday.

Elder, 19, is accused of stabbing the officer 11 times and is said to be the prime suspect in the incident. His Instagram account includes a self-description as the “King of Nothing” and he writes “Death is guaranteed, life is not.”

King of Nothing....proper title for somebody like that....

 

[Legally Bland]

FE brought the knife from the US apparently.
_______________


An Italian policeman who was allegedly killed by two teenage American tourists was stabbed 11 times with a knife carried into Italy from the United States, according to police in Rome.

General Francesco Gargaro, of the Provincial Carabinieri Command, said the weapon was brought to the country by the 19-year-old suspect, Finnegan Lee Elder.

Gargaro added that some of the wounds sustained by the fallen officer, Mario Cerciello Rega, were "very big, 17 centimeters (7 inches) deep, the length of the blade."

https://edition-m.cnn.com/2019/07/2...al-intl/index.html?r=https://edition.cnn.com/

 

[Isabelle98]

FE brought the knife from the US apparently.
_______________


An Italian policeman who was allegedly killed by two teenage American tourists was stabbed 11 times with a knife carried into Italy from the United States, according to police in Rome.

General Francesco Gargaro, of the Provincial Carabinieri Command, said the weapon was brought to the country by the 19-year-old suspect, Finnegan Lee Elder.

Gargaro added that some of the wounds sustained by the fallen officer, Mario Cerciello Rega, were "very big, 17 centimeters (7 inches) deep, the length of the blade."

https://edition-m.cnn.com/2019/07/29/europe/italy-police-killing-funeral-intl/index.html?r=https://edition.cnn.com/

How was that possible? Police officers check all luggage....

 

[Legally Bland]

How was that possible? Police officers check all luggage....

I guess it may be allowed in checked in luggage.