Totally shocked....

Shock decision for one Marin tourist convicted of killing Italian police officer

By Katie Dowd

Gabriel Natale-Hjorth, one of two Marin men convicted in the 2019 killing of an Italian police officer, will be released from prison and put under house arrest, a decision that has reportedly “totally shocked” the officer’s widow.

Then teenagers, Natale-Hjorth and former Tamalpais High classmate Finnegan Elder met up in Rome in the summer of 2019. The pair admit they were in search of drugs when they encountered two undercover Carabinieri in the nightlife district of Rome. Italian prosecutors say the two officers identified themselves as police before they were assaulted by Natale-Hjorth and Elder; the Bay Area men claim there was no such identification and they believed they were being attacked.

In the fight, Elder stabbed and killed 35-year-old police officer Mario Cerciello Rega. Although Natale-Hjorth did not stab Cerciello Rega, he was also charged with murder, which is standard for accomplices in Italian law.

The pair have been in prison since 2019 as their many legal battles unfolded in court. In May 2021, they were both handed life in prison for Cerciello Rega’s murder, the harshest sentence in a country that does not have the death penalty. But after multiple appeals, their sentences were shortened. Earlier this month, an appeals court upheld the convictions but decreased their sentences again to 15 years and 2 months for Finnegan and 11 years and 4 months for Natale-Hjorth.

On Monday, the Guardian reported that the remainder of Natale-Hjorth’s sentence will be served under house arrest, likely at his grandmother’s home near Rome. Rosa Maria Esilio, who had just returned from her honeymoon with Cerciello Rega when he was killed, was “totally shocked by the news,” her lawyer told the Guardian. It’s not clear why the courts are allowing Natale-Hjorth to leave prison early.

“We are delighted with the outcome and look forward to welcoming Gabriel back to his family home soon,” Natale-Hjorth’s family texted KGO-TV.

Elder will remain in prison to serve out his sentence.