Trial begins in Italy for jailed American pals in cop’s slaying

ROME — Two former schoolmates from California sat impassively in a courtroom Wednesday for the start of their trial for the murder of a plainclothes Italian policeman while they were vacationing in Rome last summer.

In pretrial court documents, prosecutors alleged that Finnegan Lee Elder, now 20, thrust a7-inch knife repeatedly into Carabiniere Vice Brigadier Mario Cerciello, while his friend, Gabriel Natale-Hjorth, now 19, scuffled with the officer’s partner.

The jailed defendants have contended they didn’t realize the officers were plainclothes police but mistook them for criminals following a thwarted cocaine sale hours earlier in a Rome nightlife district.

Just a row behind them was the widow of Cerciello, who was killed only days after he returned to duty from his honeymoon.

Elder, according to pretrial documents, admitted to the stabbing but said he acted in self-defense when he feared the burly Cerciello was strangling him.

Natale-Hjorth has also told authorities he acted in self-defense, alleging that he and his friend were assaulted by the police officers, so he scuffled with Cerciello’s partner, Andrea Varriale. The partner suffered kicks and scratches, according to prosecutors.

According to judicial documents, Natale-Hjorth said he didn’t know Elder had the knife. Prosecutors contend that after the stabbing, Natale-Hjorth hid the knife behind a ceiling panel in their hotel room.

Under Italian law, accomplices to an alleged murderer can also be charged with the murder itself. Italy’s stiffest criminal punishment is life imprisonment.