Rome prosecutors on Thursday
requested that Finningan Lee Elder and Christian Gabriel
Natale-Hjort, two young American men accused of the homicide of
Carabiniere police officer Mario Cerciello Rega in July, face an
'immediate trial' without the preliminary hearing stage.
Police said Elder has confessed to stabbing Cerciello Rega
while his friend Natale-Hjorth assaulted the slain officer's
partner at the end of a chain of events sparked by a drugs deal
that went wrong.
An autopsy on the body of Cerciello Rega showed that the stab
wounds were inflicted with great violence, causing deep gashes
on both sides of the officer, in some cases reaching as far as
the stomach from the flanks, sources said.
He was stabbed 11 times by a large knife.
Elder and Natale-Hjorth are being held at Rome's Regina Coeli
prison.
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