CNN —An Italian appeals court on Wednesday upheld the convictions of two Americans accused of killing an Italian police officer in 2019, according to a joint statement from the lawyers representing them in Italy. Elder and Natale-Hjorth were arrested in 2019 while on vacation in Rome for the murder of the Italian police officer Mario Cerciello Rega, who was stabbed 11 times with a knife in a botched drug deal, police said at the time. In 2022, Reuters reported that the appeals court had lowered Elder’s sentence to 24 years, and Natale-Hjorth’s sentence to 22 years. Ethan Elder, back to camera, hugs his son Finnegan Lee Elder before the reading of the judgment in Rome, Italy, on July 3, 2024. “From the very first moment, (Elder) stated that he did not understand that they were (policemen) and that he had reacted to a blocking attempt,” Ethan said in the statement.

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Persons: Finnegan Lee Elder, Gabriel Natale, Hjorth, Craig Peters, Elder, Natale, Mario Cerciello Rega, “ Elder, Rega, Ethan Elder, Gabriel Natale Hjorth, Alessandra Tarantino, ” Renato Borzone, Roberto Capra, Elder’s, Ethan, “, ” Ethan, ” Organizations: CNN, Reuters, Court Locations: Italian, Italy, Rome