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A30 world news
Diabierna 7 Mei 2021

Rome jury convicts 2 US friends in slaying of police officer

More than 12 hours after de- Rega, 35, was mourned as a At the time of the slaying,
liberations began, the jury of national hero. Elder was 19 and traveling
two judges and six civilians through Europe without his
delivered verdicts and sen- The slain officer's widow, family, a trip his mother in
tences Wednesday night that who held a photo of her dead court had said they hoped
set off a collective gasp in the husband while waiting for would bring him a fresh start
courtroom: Finnegan Lee El- the verdict, broke down in on life after several years
der, 21, and Gabriel Natale- tears and hugged his brother, marked by battles with de-
Hjorth, 20, former school- Paolo. pression and a suicide at-
mates from the San Francisco tempt. Natale-Hjorth, then
area, were each found guilty Prosecutors contend the 18, was spending the sum-
of murder and four other young Americans concocted mer vacation, as was his hab-
counts and received Italy's a plot involving a stolen bag it, visiting his Italian grand-
stiffest punishment, life im- and cellphone after their parents and uncle, who live
prisonment. failed attempt to buy co- near Rome.
caine with 80 euros ($96) in
Each had been charged with Rome's Trastevere nightlife The then-teens had met up
homicide, attempted extor- district. Natale-Hjorth and in Rome for what was sup-
tion, assault, resisting a pub- Elder testified they had paid posed to be couple of days of
lic official and carrying an for the cocaine but didn't re- sightseeing and nights out.
attack-style knife without ceive it.
just cause. Presiding Judge From practically its start, the
Marina Finiti announced the During the trial, which be- trial largely boiled down to
jury found them guilty of all gan on Feb. 26, 2020, the the word of Varriale against
the charges in the trial indict- Americans told the court that of the young American
ment. they thought that Cerciello visitors.
Rega and Varriale were thugs
Prosecutors alleged Elder or mobsters who had showed Elder's lawyer, Borzone, ar-
stabbed Vice Brigadier Ma- up, and not the go-between, gued that his client had deep-
rio Cerciello Rega 11 times for the appointment on a set psychiatric problems, in-
with a knife that he brought dark, nearly deserted street cluding a constant fear of be-
with him on his trip to Eu- near their hotel. The plain- ing attacked.
rope and that Natale-Hjorth clothes officers wore casual
helped him hide the knife in summer clothes, and the de- Still, he declined to pro-
their hotel room. Under Ital- fendants insisted the officers nounce himself satisfied, "be-
ian law, an accomplice in an never showed police badges. cause I can't help but think
alleged murder can also be that such a harsh sentence
charged with murder with- Varriale, who suffered a back falls upon two young men in
out materially doing the slay- injury in a scuffle with Na- their 20s.''
ing. tale-Hjorth while his partner
ROME (AP) — A jury in ing of a small-time drug was grappling with Elder, The jury must lay out in de-
Italy convicted two Amer- deal gone bad, sentencing The July 26, 2019, killing of testified that the officers did tail its reasoning for its deci-
ican friends in the 2019 them to the maximum life the officer in the storied Car- identify themselves as Cara- sions within 90 days. The ra-
slaying in Rome of a police in prison. abinieri paramilitary police binieri. tionale would then form the
officer in a tragic unravel- corps shocked Italy. Cerciello basis for any appeal.

Fiji sequesters hospital staff after COVID death

WELLINGTON, New out the country, there are ever faced –– it will be a test every Fijian's commitment is Fiji is located north of New
Zealand (AP) — The currently 28 cases of commu- for all of us. Lives are at stake, needed. The virus is insidi- Zealand and is home to just
military and police in the nity transmission. They have sacrifices must be made, and ous, it is unrelenting." under 1 million people.
Pacific nation of Fiji have restricted movement in six
surrounded and locked so-called containment areas,
down a major hospital including the capital, Suva.
amid concerns of a grow-
ing virus outbreak. Fiji's health system is ill-
equipped to deal with a major
Health authorities say they're outbreak.
quarantining 400 patients,
doctors, nurses and staff Dr. James Fong, the perma-
within the compound until nent secretary for health, said
they can determine who had the hospital is closed and all
contact with a coronavirus medical services are being
patient who died. diverted to other facilities.
He said those sequestered in
The 53-year-old patient at the hospital would be pro-
Lautoka Hospital was just vided with food, bedding and
the third person in Fiji to die whatever other supplies they
from the virus but the na- needed.
tion's leaders are deeply wor-
ried that the latest outbreak "Right now, we are in a war
is spreading, especially after with this virus and the front-
two doctors at the hospital line has just extended to Lau-
tested positive for the virus. toka Hospital," Dr. Fong said.
"This will be the greatest test
Authorities say that through- our health care system has