Two American men who stabbed Rome plainclothes cop during botched drug sting operation return to court for retrial after having murder convictions thrown out

Two American men convicted of stabbing an undercover cop in Rome during a botched drug deal have returned to court for a retrial following the overturning of their murder convictions. 

Finnegan Lee Elder, 24, and Gabriel Natale-Hjort, 23, from California, were initially found guilty in the 2019 killing of Carabinieri Vice Brigadier Mario Cerciello Rega and sentenced to life in prison. 

However, Italy's highest Cassation Court ordered a new trial last year, saying it hadn't been proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendants, with limited Italian language skills, had understood that they were dealing with Italian police officers. 

The two friends had arranged to meet a small-time drug dealer, who turned out to be a police informant, to recover money lost in a bad deal and return a backpack they had snatched in retaliation, when they were confronted by police officers on July 26, 2019. 

Prosecutors alleged Elder stabbed Cerciello Rega 11 times with a knife that he brought with him on his trip to Europe, and that Natale-Hjorth, then 18, helped him hide the knife in their hotel room. 

Gabriel Natale-Hjorth, right, and Finnegan Lee Elder, attend the appeal trial for the killing of Italian policeman Mario Cerciello Rega, in Rome on Friday 

Prosecutors alleged that Finnegan Lee Elder stabbed Cerciello Rega 11 times with a knife

Gabriel Natale-Hjorth is accused of helping his friend  hide the knife in their hotel room

Natale-Hjorth testified that he grappled with Cerciello Rega´s partner and was unaware of the stabbing when he ran back to the hotel. 

The pair sat side by side at a court in Rome as an appeals court judge made opening remarks in the new trial on Friday. 

The defendants' lawyers argued the Cassation's decision changed the evaluation of the incident.

'Our strategy remains the same,' Elder's lawyer Roberto Capra told The Associated Press.

'We always said that Elder didn't know he was confronting a police officer.

'This changes the whole reconstruction of the incident and we believe it will have an impact on the punishment.'

'What we care about is that [the defendants'] responsibilities are clarified,' Cerciello Rega family's lawyer Franco Coppi told AP. 

'We said since the beginning that there are no vengeful intentions or desire to punish at all costs.' 

Italian police officer Vice Brigadier Mario Cerciello Rega, 35, (pictured with his wife) was stabbed to death in a drug deal gone bad

The murder sparked a national outcry and Rega's funeral was held in the same church where he had been married just months before

Rosa Maria Esilio, Rega's widow, attends the appeal trial for his murder, in Rome on Friday 

Elder (left) and Gabriel Natale-Hjorth, (right) were charged with stabbing Deputy Brigadier Rega to death in Rome. The pair are pictured here in a photo released by Italian Carabinieri

Prosecutors allege that the police officer was stabbed 11 times with a knife whose blade measures seven inches long

Both men have maintained their innocence, claiming the undercover cop and his colleague jumped them from behind. 

They claim they thought the officers were thugs sent to attack them by a drug dealer who had sold them fake cocaine. 

The killing of 35-year-old newlywed Cerciello Rega caused widespread outrage in Italy, where he was mourned as a national hero. 

His funeral was held at the same church where Rega had married Rosa Maria Esilio just months before.   

Elder and Natale-Hjorth, who became friends while attending Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley, California, were initially found guilty on all charges: homicide, attempted extortion, assault, resisting a public official and carrying an attack-style knife without just cause.  

The jury in Rome deliberated for just over 12 hours before delivering the verdicts in 2021. 

The next hearing has been set for April 10, when the general prosecutor will present an indictment.

The following hearings will be held in May, the trial expected to be closed before the summer.