Murder of Mario Cerciello Rega

{{short description|2019 murder of Italian police officer}}

{{Infobox civilian attack

| title = Murder of Mario Cerciello Rega

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| location = Rome, Italy

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| date = 26 July 2019

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| fatalities = 1

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| victims = Mario Cerciello Rega

| perpetrators = Finnegan Lee Elder
Gabriel Christian Natale-Hjorth

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| weapons = Combat knife

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| verdict = Life imprisonment, later commuted to 15 years and 2 months for Elder, 11 years and 4 months for Natale-Hjorth.

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Mario Cerciello Rega was an Italian police officer. He was murdered on 26 July 2019 by two American students visiting Rome.{{cite news |date=26 July 2019 |title=Mario Cerciello Rega: Huge manhunt for killers of Italian policeman |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-49133815 |access-date=7 May 2021}} Deputy Brigadier Rega, age 35, was a member of the Carabinieri, Italy's national military police force.{{cite news |title=Mario Cerciello Rega: US students found guilty of killing Italian policeman |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56996545 |access-date=7 May 2021 |work=BBC News |date=5 May 2021}} He was stabbed to death as he investigated a drug deal. Carabinieri Officer Andrea Varriale, Rega's police partner, was injured. In May 2021, two American students from California were found guilty of the murder. Finnegan Lee Elder, age 19 at the time of the crime, and Gabriel Christian Natale-Hjorth, age 18, were each sentenced to life in prison.

In March 2022, an appeals court confirmed the homicide verdicts but commuted the life terms for both men, reducing Elder to 24 years in prison and Natale-Hjorth to 22 years in prison.{{Cite web |date=2022-03-18 |title=Italian court reduces sentences of Americans in cop killing |url=https://nypost.com/2022/03/18/italian-court-reduces-sentences-of-americans-in-cop-killing/ |access-date=2023-04-15 |language=en-US}}

In July 2024, after a retrial ordered by the Corte di Cassazione in 2023,{{Cite news |agency=Associated Press |date=2023-03-17 |title=Italy’s highest court orders retrial of two Americans convicted of police murder |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/17/retrial-italy-police-murderfinnegan-lee-elder-gabriel-natale-hjorth- |access-date=2024-07-04 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} their conviction was upheld by the Court of Appeal {{Cite news |agency=Associated Press |date=2024-07-03 |title=Italian court upholds murder convictions of two Americans over death of police officer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/03/italian-court-upholds-convictions-two-americans-death-police-officer |access-date=2024-07-04 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} with reduced sentences of 15 years 2 months and 11 years 4 months respectively.{{Cite web |date=2024-07-03 |title=Omicidio del carabiniere Cerciello Rega, il padre di Elder: "Abbiamo avuto la miglior sentenza che potessimo avere" |url=https://roma.repubblica.it/cronaca/2024/07/03/video/omicidio_carabiniere_cerciello_rega_padre_elder_finnegan_sentenza-423356981/ |access-date=2024-07-04 |website=la Repubblica |language=it}}