Deleted
Posts: 0
Apr 20, 2024 11:20:35 GMT
|
Post by Deleted on May 10, 2021 20:15:58 GMT
***The triggers are death of a police officer, stabbing, and suicide attempts.*** Is anyone else following the court ruling for the 2 young adults who attacked 2 Italian POs and killed one? Here is a link to the ABC article: abc7.com/parents-speak-out-after-son-sentenced-to-life-for-killing-italian-officer/10608015/Elder's parents do not think he should spend life behind bars for killing a PO. Basically they raised him to tell the truth and all will be fine. What about teaching your child not to hint down drugs in a foreign country or kill someone?! They think, due to his anxiety and mental health, that he should not get life. His mental health had nothing to do with the killing. I feel so bad for the POs widow. He had just come back from his honeymoon. When are rich American kids going to realize that many other countries have harsh penalties for doing stupid shit?! And that mommy and daddy can't buy your way out of what you did?! What are your thoughts? I will post some of the article next.
|
|
Deleted
Posts: 0
Apr 20, 2024 11:20:35 GMT
|
Post by Deleted on May 10, 2021 20:18:49 GMT
Prosecutors alleged that Finnegan Lee Elder, then 19, and Gabriel Christian Natale-Hjorth, then 18, attacked two members of Italy's storied Carabinieri paramilitary police force on a street corner in Rome in the early morning hours of July 26, 2019, after a botched drug deal. Police said the teenagers, who are former classmates from the San Francisco area, were trying to buy drugs in Italy's capital but were sold a fake substance. They then allegedly robbed a man who had directed them to the drug dealer in the first place, stealing his backpack and demanding he pay them 100 euros and a gram of cocaine to get it back. The man agreed but, unbeknownst to them, he also contacted authorities, according to police.
Carabinieri Vice Brigadier Mario Cerciello Rega, 35, had just returned to duty from his honeymoon when he responded to the call with his partner at around 3 a.m. local time. Both officers were in plainclothes when they confronted the American tourists on a street near an upscale hotel in Rome where they were staying, according to police.
Elder testified that he and Natale-Hjorth were suddenly confronted by two men who they thought were drug dealers.
A scuffle ensued and Elder allegedly stabbed Cerciello Rega 11 times with a combat knife that he brought with him on his trip to Europe, while Natale-Hjorth allegedly punched Cerciello Rega's partner repeatedly, according to prosecutors.
Elder's parents said they feel their son's sentencing was too harsh, given his mental health issues and young age, and that they plan to appeal the ruling.
"He feels like he has been sentenced to something worse than the death penalty," Leah Elder said of her son.
"I understand that a man's life was lost that night, I understand that Finnegan should serve some time," she added. "I would like Finnegan to have some sort of sentence that's proportionate and something that helps at least acknowledge his mental health issues."
|
|
|
Post by mollycoddle on May 10, 2021 20:25:55 GMT
He did what he did, and now he has a consequence. Oh well.
|
|
tracylynn
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,860
Jun 26, 2014 22:49:09 GMT
|
Post by tracylynn on May 10, 2021 20:47:35 GMT
I have zero pity for them. Unlike the Amanda Knox situation, it's very clear they did what they did. You pay the consequences when you break the rules no matter what Country you're in.
|
|
|
Post by oliquig on May 10, 2021 20:52:45 GMT
I do not feel sorry for them, they made the choices to buy drugs, then kill someone when they got caught.
|
|
|
Post by hockeyfan06 on May 10, 2021 21:00:03 GMT
Wow, the mother says she understands what happened but I don't think she understands the severity of her son's crime. His age shouldn't diminish the severity either. He was old enough to travel, buy drugs and stab another human being 11 times, he is now old enough to face a life sentence in prison. Sucks to be him.
|
|
|
Post by bc2ca on May 10, 2021 21:07:31 GMT
Elder's parents said they feel their son's sentencing was too harsh, given his mental health issues and young age, and that they plan to appeal the ruling. I know nothing about Italian law, but am skeptical that a parent's believing sentencing is too harsh would be grounds for appeal. My sympathy is to Rega's family and the other officer involved.
|
|
|
Post by gillyp on May 10, 2021 21:07:39 GMT
[quote author="@sunnycamom" source="/post/3366007/thread" timestamp="1620677929 "He feels like he has been sentenced to something worse than the death penalty," Leah Elder said of her son.
"I understand that a man's life was lost that night, I understand that Finnegan should serve some time," she added. "I would like Finnegan to have some sort of sentence that's proportionate and something that helps at least acknowledge his mental health issues."[/quote]
I do take what I read in the press with a grain of salt but, assuming this is quoted correctly, I can not believe how utterly dismissive her words sound. Also she wants her son to have a proportionate sentence. Well, having taken a man’s life isn’t serving a life sentence proportionate? The police officer was stabbed 11 times, allegedly. They identified themselves as police. According to reports at least one of the young men was fluent in Italian. How could there possibly be grounds for leniency?
|
|
|
Post by gar on May 10, 2021 21:12:41 GMT
I don't know what other mental health issues he may have but anxiety and age aren't factors for allowing a reduced sentence...otherwise everyone would use it.
|
|
|
Post by gar on May 10, 2021 21:13:42 GMT
I know nothing about Italian law, but am skeptical that a parent's believing sentencing is too harsh would be grounds for appeal. It's no pushover that's for sure!
|
|
|
Post by femalebusiness on May 10, 2021 21:17:03 GMT
[quote author="@sunnycamom " source="/post/3366007/thread" timestamp="1620677929 "He feels like he has been sentenced to something worse than the death penalty," Leah Elder said of her son. "I understand that a man's life was lost that night, I understand that Finnegan should serve some time," she added. "I would like Finnegan to have some sort of sentence that's proportionate and something that helps at least acknowledge his mental health issues." I do take what I read in the press with a grain of salt but, assuming this is quoted correctly, I can not believe how utterly dismissive her words sound. Also she wants her son to have a proportionate sentence. Well, having taken a man’s life isn’t serving a life sentence proportionate? The police officer was stabbed 11 times, allegedly. They identified themselves as police. According to reports at least one of the young men was fluent in Italian. How could there possibly be grounds for leniency?[/quote] My answer to that woman would be when her son brings that officer back to life we'll let him out. He got off lucky to only be spending his life in prison and not put to death. He at least still has his life. eta Quotes are messed up.
|
|
|
Post by revirdsuba99 on May 10, 2021 22:23:05 GMT
"I would like Finnegan to have some sort of sentence that's proportionate Proportionate? She wants her DS to have the death penalty?
|
|
|
Post by lucyg on May 10, 2021 22:28:24 GMT
I have zero sympathy for the young man and very little for the parents.
|
|
|
Post by tkdmom on May 10, 2021 23:03:46 GMT
No sympathy at all for the mom or her son. I saw the interview on TV. Just because you believe your son to be honest doesn't mean squat. HE tried to buy drugs, robbed someone, then killed someone. You do the crime you do the time.
|
|
|
Post by birukitty on May 10, 2021 23:15:08 GMT
I have zero sympathy for the teen Elder and for his parents. Absolutely zero! You go to Italy, bring in a combat knife, and then stab a policeman eleven fucking times and expect sympathy? What the actual fuck?! Please excuse my language.
Elder's parents (especially the mother) are completely absorbed in how this impacts their son, with no remorse whatsoever for the innocent man he brutally killed. He killed someone in cold blood! Do they not get that? Nothing, nothing will ever make up for that. The responsibility for this crime rests squarely on their son's shoulder's and in a way on their shoulder's.
I know that when I'm in a foreign country I carefully watch myself to not break ANY laws, not even the smallest law because you never know what their jails/prisons are like and you don't know what their judicial system is like. In some countries it's your guilty until proven innocent vs. the USA's you're innocent until proven guilty. They should have taught their son this important lesson.
As for the teen Elder's friend who was an accomplice-I do feel a tiny bit of sympathy for him. He didn't stab or kill anyone. He punched an officer. He did hide evidence for his friend. For that he gets an identical sentence that teen Elder got because that's how the law works in Italy. Again-don't break laws in foreign countries.
The mother (Elder) really gets to me. How can anyone be that self absorbed towards their own son that they cannot and will not consider the victim, his suffering, and his death? Her son brutally murdered an innocent man and all she's worried about is "oh my, how will my angel cope in prison?" I bet that's how he became the way he is-in this mother's eyes he could never do anything wrong as he was being raised.
|
|
Just T
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,530
Jun 26, 2014 1:20:09 GMT
|
Post by Just T on May 10, 2021 23:43:33 GMT
Wow, the mother says she understands what happened but I don't think she understands the severity of her son's crime. His age shouldn't diminish the severity either. He was old enough to travel, buy drugs and stab another human being 11 times, he is now old enough to face a life sentence in prison. Sucks to be him. Exactly. If he had done the same thing in the US as a 19 year old, he would most likely have received the same punishment if not the death penalty.
|
|
Jili
Pearl Clutcher
SLPea
Posts: 4,363
Jun 26, 2014 1:26:48 GMT
|
Post by Jili on May 11, 2021 0:14:27 GMT
No sympathy from me, either.
"I understand that a man's life was lost that night, I understand that Finnegan should serve some time," she added."
Seriously? None of this "a man's life was lost". She needs to acknowledge it directly. "My son killed a man that night", or perhaps even the softer "My son took another man's life that night".
I saw another article (Yahoo) where the mother said "Finnegan expected and understands that he was wrong to bring a knife to Italy, he understands that a man's life is gone, he understands that he should have some jail time and he should serve some punishment. But this is disproportionate."
It sounds like she's chastising a small child, not an adult who stabbed someone (11 times) to death with a combat knife.
|
|
finaledition
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,896
Jun 26, 2014 0:30:34 GMT
|
Post by finaledition on May 11, 2021 0:53:03 GMT
The parents were on GMA this morning and there was a real disconnect between the crime and the parents’ appeal for a more lenient sentence. Quite honestly I don’t feel that their story warrants being feature like it was.
|
|
lizacreates
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,856
Aug 29, 2015 2:39:19 GMT
|
Post by lizacreates on May 11, 2021 2:09:54 GMT
If the punishment is now considered by the mother as disproportionate, one could argue that being stabbed eleven times until dead is a disproportionate attack.
Finnegan already had a history of violence. He had a fight in school that ended with his victim in a coma having suffered a traumatic brain injury. The assault charge against him was dismissed after a one-year probation. The selling and using of drugs by Finnegan and Gabriel were already evident way before they were in Rome. And both of them were fascinated with weapons-guns, knives, brass knuckles. These were discovered through the two men’s social media posts.
I read that Italian law gives them two chances to appeal before the sentence becomes definitive, so this case continues. Even if they fail in those appeals, they may get paroled in twenty-one years.
It’s sad that the parents lost control of these two a long time ago because this could have been prevented. But it’s even more tragic that an innocent officer just doing his job paid the heaviest price for the parents’ failures.
|
|
|
Post by rainangel on May 11, 2021 6:44:23 GMT
Finnegan already had a history of violence. He had a fight in school that ended with his victim in a coma having suffered a traumatic brain injury. The assault charge against him was dismissed after a one-year probation. The selling and using of drugs by Finnegan and Gabriel were already evident way before they were in Rome. And both of them were fascinated with weapons-guns, knives, brass knuckles. These were discovered through the two men’s social media posts. It sounds like this young man should absolutely be in prison for the rest of his life. If his violent behavior had been allowed to continue, who knows how many people he would hurt and/or kill. As for the parents, I have no words....
|
|
Deleted
Posts: 0
Apr 20, 2024 11:20:35 GMT
|
Post by Deleted on May 11, 2021 9:20:28 GMT
His mum needs to wake up and smell the coffee. Her darling little boy isn't the person she thinks he is. She's damn lucky that Italy doesn't have a death penalty unlike some states in the US.
A scuffle ensued and Elder allegedly stabbed Cerciello Rega 11 times with a combat knife that he brought with him on his trip to Europe,
She might want to ask herself why her darling little boy took a combat knife on holiday with him.
They deserve everything they got. Your actions have consequences whichever country you are in.
|
|
kimi
Full Member
Posts: 195
Aug 11, 2020 21:47:04 GMT
|
Post by kimi on May 11, 2021 19:23:43 GMT
I saw parts of the parents' interview on GMA. My first thought was, she sounds so "privileged".
|
|
|
Post by maryland on May 11, 2021 21:28:17 GMT
Finnegan already had a history of violence. He had a fight in school that ended with his victim in a coma having suffered a traumatic brain injury. The assault charge against him was dismissed after a one-year probation. The selling and using of drugs by Finnegan and Gabriel were already evident way before they were in Rome. And both of them were fascinated with weapons-guns, knives, brass knuckles. These were discovered through the two men’s social media posts. It sounds like this young man should absolutely be in prison for the rest of his life. If his violent behavior had been allowed to continue, who knows how many people he would hurt and/or kill. As for the parents, I have no words.... I agree. It's too bad they couldn't have been helped before a man was murdered. And I agree about the parents.
|
|
|
Post by maryland on May 11, 2021 21:35:51 GMT
I saw parts of the parents' interview on GMA. My first thought was, she sounds so "privileged". I just watched, that mom sounds like she doesn't care that the man was murdered.
|
|
J u l e e
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,531
Location: Cincinnati
Jun 28, 2014 2:50:47 GMT
|
Post by J u l e e on May 11, 2021 21:43:52 GMT
No sympathy from me, either. "I understand that a man's life was lost that night, I understand that Finnegan should serve some time," she added." Seriously? None of this "a man's life was lost". She needs to acknowledge it directly. "My son killed a man that night", or perhaps even the softer "My son took another man's life that night". I saw another article (Yahoo) where the mother said "Finnegan expected and understands that he was wrong to bring a knife to Italy, he understands that a man's life is gone, he understands that he should have some jail time and he should serve some punishment. But this is disproportionate." It sounds like she's chastising a small child, not an adult who stabbed someone (11 times) to death with a combat knife. I was thinking the same thing. That is some seriously passive and dismissive language. “Understanding” a man’s life is “lost” and “gone” as opposed to acknowledging her son brutally killed a man. I wonder what she considers proportionate to that. “Some” jail time? She’s ridiculous.
|
|
Deleted
Posts: 0
Apr 20, 2024 11:20:35 GMT
|
Post by Deleted on May 11, 2021 21:59:08 GMT
He had a fight in school that ended with his victim in a coma having suffered a traumatic brain injury. The assault charge against him was dismissed after a one-year probation. Holy F(#$*# Consequence-free living leads to more violence and danger to the society who let the assholes live consequence-free.
|
|
|
Post by Bridget in MD on May 12, 2021 1:36:47 GMT
This reminds me of the Amanda Knox case, but in this case, open and close - and the family sounds extremely entitled. Sorry dude, do the crime, do the time.
|
|
|
Post by Really Red on May 12, 2021 1:47:06 GMT
I wish I had seen the parents on GMA. It seems impossible to me to understand how these parents think they can get any sympathy. And now it appears this man has done this before?! Not kill, but give someone a TBI. Oh my lord.
Whose money were they using to travel? This poor cop and his family.
|
|
finaledition
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,896
Jun 26, 2014 0:30:34 GMT
|
Post by finaledition on May 12, 2021 1:50:41 GMT
|
|
Deleted
Posts: 0
Apr 20, 2024 11:20:35 GMT
|
Post by Deleted on May 12, 2021 13:11:25 GMT
This part sucks though: " In the days after the killing, Italian newspapers published a leaked photo of what appears to be Natale-Hjorth blindfolded and handcuffed while in custody, prompting questions about the pair's confessions. It is illegal to blindfold a suspect in Italy.
Elder's parents told ABC News that their son was "illegally interrogated" by police "without a lawyer present." "
Why can't they play by the book?!? FFS.
|
|