Ethan Elder, father of Finnegan Lee Elder, arrives at Fiumicino Rome Airport Wednesday, July 31, 2019. Finnegan Lee Elder, 19, is suspected of being the one who stabbed Carabinieri officer Cerciello Rega and is detained in Rome with Gabriel Christian Natale-Hjorth, 18, who is suspected of assaulting another officer. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
The Associated Press
ROME (AP) - Both American teens jailed in Rome in the fatal stabbing of an Italian police officer now have private lawyers and family members in Italy.
Ethan Elder, father of Finnegan Lee Elder, arrived at Rome's airport Wednesday on a flight from California. He didn't respond to questions shouted by reporters.
Investigators contend that his 19-year-old son stabbed Carabinieri Deputy Brigadier Mario Cerciello Rega 11 times with a military-style attack knife early Friday near the hotel where he was staying with his friend. According to court documents, Elder told prosecutors during his interrogation that he thought he was being strangled in a scuffle with the officer.
But prosecutors say there were no signs of physical injury on either teen.
Under investigation along with Elder is his travel mate, Gabriel Christian Natale-Hjorth, 18, also from California. Natale-Hjorth's lawyer, Fabio Alonzi, said the teen's family visited him on Wednesday.
Under Italian law, both the defendant who materially carries out a killing and others involved in the crime can each be charged with murder.
A day earlier, Elder's mother, in San Francisco, told private Italian TGCom24 that the family was "heartbroken" over the officer's death. She added that the teens' travel plans "came together at the last minute."
Prosecutors said police found the knife used in the slaying hidden in the dropped ceiling of the Americans' hotel room. Investigators said Elder told them he had brought the knife with him from the United States.
According to prosecutors, the police officer and his partner, both in plainclothes, had gone to the site of a rendezvous that had been arranged by the teens who were trying to get 100 euros ($112) and a gram of cocaine in exchange for returning a knapsack they had stolen from an intermediary in a drug deal gone bad.
Investigators contend that Elder thrust the knife repeatedly into Cerciello Rega and that Natale-Hjorth punched and kicked the other officer.
Investigators allege the two police were attacked immediately after they identified themselves as Carabinieri officers. The teens have contended that didn't realize the men were police.
Ethan Elder, father of Finnegan Lee Elder, arrives at Fiumicino Rome Airport Wednesday, July 31, 2019. Finnegan Lee Elder, 19, is suspected of being the one who stabbed Carabinieri officer Cerciello Rega and is detained in Rome with Gabriel Christian Natale-Hjorth, 18, who is suspected of assaulting another officer. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
The Associated Press
Ethan Elder, father of Finnegan Lee Elder, arrives at Fiumicino Rome Airport Wednesday, July 31, 2019. Finnegan Lee Elder, 19, is suspected of being the one who stabbed Carabinieri officer Cerciello Rega and is detained in Rome with Gabriel Christian Natale-Hjorth, 18, who is suspected of assaulting another officer. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
The Associated Press
Ethan Elder, center, father of Finnegan Lee Elder, arrives at Fiumicino Rome Airport Wednesday, July 31, 2019. Finnegan Lee Elder, 19, is suspected of being the one who stabbed Carabinieri officer Cerciello Rega and is detained in Rome with Gabriel Christian Natale-Hjorth, 18, who is suspected of assaulting another officer. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
The Associated Press
CORRECTS SPELLING OF PERSON AT RIGHT FROM GARGANO TO GARGARO - From left, Carabinieri Colonel Lorenzo D'Aloia, prosecutors Nunzia D'Elia, and Michele Pristipino, and Carabinieri General Francesco Gargaro arrive to a press conference about the investigation on the murder of Carabinieri's officer Mario Cerciello Rega in Rome, Tuesday, July 30, 2019. Two American teenagers were jailed in Rome on Saturday as authorities investigate their alleged roles in the fatal stabbing of the Italian police officer on a street near their hotel. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
The Associated Press
Rome's prosecutor Michele Prestipino attends a press conference about the investigation on the murder of Carabinieri's officer Mario Cerciello Rega in Rome, Tuesday, July 30, 2019. Two American teenagers were jailed in Rome on Saturday as authorities investigate their alleged roles in the fatal stabbing of the Italian police officer on a street near their hotel. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
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Carabinieri Colonel Lorenzo D'Aloia shows a picture of the knife used to stab Carabinieri's officer Mario Cerciello Rega, during a press conference in Rome, Tuesday, July 30, 2019. Two American teenagers were jailed in Rome on Saturday as authorities investigate their alleged roles in the fatal stabbing of the Italian police officer on a street near their hotel. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
The Associated Press
In this photo released by Carabinieri, is portrayed officer Mario Cerciello Rega, 35, who was stabbed to death in Rome early Friday, July 26, 2019. Italian police said Saturday that two 19-year-old American tourists have confessed to fatally stabbing the Italian paramilitary policeman who was investigating the theft of a bag with a cellphone.
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Carabinieri officer Mario Cerciello Rega's wife, Rosa Maria, holds in her hand a rosary as she touches the coffin containing the body of her husband during his funeral in his hometown of Somma Vesuviana, near Naples, southern Italy, Monday, July 29, 2019. Two American teenagers were jailed in Rome on Saturday as authorities investigate their alleged roles in the fatal stabbing of the Italian police officer on a street near their hotel. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
The Associated Press