<div id="readability-page-1"><div><h2>Topline</h2> 
<p>A jury in Italy found two California students guilty of murder Wednesday, almost two years after the tourists fatally stabbed a police officer in Rome following a botched late-night drug deal in the summer of 2019, ending a long and high-profile trial.</p> 
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   <p>U.S. citizens Finnegan Lee Elder (L) and Gabriel Natale-Hjorth (R) react after the court decision on <span>... [+]</span><span> Wednesday in Rome.</span></p> 
   
  <small>AFP via Getty Images</small> 
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<h2>Key Facts</h2> 
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 <p>Bay Area natives Finnegan Elder, 21, and Gabriel Natale-Hjorth, 20, were both sentenced to life in prison — the strictest sentence available under Italian criminal law — for murder and a slew of other charges Wednesday, multiple news outlets reported.</p> 
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  <p>Elder was accused of repeatedly stabbing officer Mario Cerciello Rega during a vacation to Rome in 2019, and Natale-Hjorth was accused of hiding the knife (in Italy, accomplices can be charged with murder even if they weren’t directly involved).</p> 
   
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<h2>Key Background</h2> 
<p>Prosecutors reportedly said the California tourists encountered police after a failed attempt to buy cocaine. A drug dealer allegedly sold Elder and Natale-Hjorth a fake product, causing them to steal a backpack belonging to the dealer’s acquaintance and demand payment in exchange for its return. Rega and his partner, Andrea Varriale, ostensibly confronted Elder and Natale-Hjorth later that night about the backpack, causing them to react violently.</p> 
<h2>What To Watch For</h2> 
<p>Elder will appeal the conviction and life sentence, his lawyer told Italian broadcaster RAI. </p> 
<h2>Tangent</h2> 
<p>The stabbing and subsequent trial garnered intense media coverage in Italy, and politicians reacted dramatically to Rega’s killing. Matteo Salvini — a controversial far-right lawmaker famous for opposing refugees — tweeted in 2019 that the perpetrators should “pay dearly,” and he reportedly called for them to be sentenced to hard labor.</p> 
 
<h2>Further Reading</h2> 
<p>2 Americans, 19 and 20, Go on Trial Over Killing of Italian Police Officer (New York Times)</p> 
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<p>The crime garnered intense media attention in Italy.</p>

American Students Sentenced To Life In Italian Prison For Stabbing Roman Police Officer