Officials: U.S. teens confess to killing Italian officer

ROME — Two American teenagers who were classmates at a California high school spent a second night in a Rome jail Saturday after they were interrogated for hours about their alleged roles in the murder of an Italian policeman.

Investigators contended in written statements Saturday that the pair had confessed to their roles in the grisly slaying. Vice Brigadier Mario Cerciello Rega, a member of the Carabinieri paramilitary corps, was stabbed eight times, allegedly by one of the teens, leaving him bleeding on a street close to the teens’ upscale hotel near Rome’s Tiber River.

Italian authorities identified the two as Gabriel Christian Natale-Hjorth, 18, and Finnegan Lee Elder, 19, and said they were born in San Francisco.

In the detention order, Elder is described as repeatedly stabbing the 35-yearold officer, who had just returned to duty a few days earlier from his honeymoon.

Investigators said Cerciello Rega and another Carabinieri officer were in plainclothes when they confronted the Americans about 3 a.m. Friday in the wake of a drug deal gone wrong.

Natale-Hjorth was described in the document as having repeatedly punched Cerciello Rega’s partner.

Under Italian law, persons participating in a killing, but who didn’t actually carry out the slaying itself, risk being charged with murder.

Both suspects are also being investigated for attempted extortion.

Elder’s lawyer, Francesco Codini, said his client had exercised his right not to respond to questions during a hearing before a judge at the jail Saturday to determine whether the suspects remain locked up.

Italian state radio reported Sunday the judge ruled that the Americans will stay in jail while the investigation goes forward.

Mario Cerciello Rega