Young American admits to killing Carabiniere, apologizes

(ANSA) - ROME, SEP 17 - Finnegan Lee Elder, a young American accused of stabbing to death a Carabinieri police officer in Rome last year, has admitted to homicide and apologized.
    Elder is on trial for the murder of Carabiniere police officer Mario Cerciello on July 26, 2019, along with his friend and fellow American Gabriel Christian Natale Hjorth.
    Elder stabbed Cerciello Rega while Natale Hjorth allegedly assaulted the slain officer's partner at the end of a chain of events sparked by a drugs deal that went wrong.
    "I want to apologize to everyone, to the Cerciello family, to his friends, to the whole world," Elder told a Rome court on Wednesday.
    "That night was the worst of my life.
    "If I could go back to change things, I would, but I can't.
    "I didn't speak before because I lacked courage.
    "I have had time to reflect in prison.
    "That night was the worst of my life not because I am in prison, far from everyone.
    "The reason is another. I took a person's life.
    "I took a husband from his wife. I broke a bond between brothers.
    "I took a son from his mother. I will never forgive myself for all of this". (ANSA).