Italian police are investigating a leaked photo of a blindfolded American teenager who is accused of killing an officer in Rome.<\/p>\n
The photo of murder suspect Gabriel Christian Natale-Hjorth, 18, was shown by Italian media on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Mr Natale-Hjorth and his friend, 19-year-old Finnegan Lee Elder, were arrested on suspicion of killing police officer Mario Cerciello Rega on Friday.<\/p>\n
Rega, 35, was stabbed to death in the Prati neighbourhood of Rome.<\/p>\n
He was allegedly knifed eight times after he investigated a drug deal gone wrong involving the teen suspects.<\/p>\n
Police have alleged that Mr Natale-Hjorth and Mr Elder, both students from San Francisco, California, “confessed to their guilt”.<\/p>\n
The picture of Mr Natale-Hjorth, showing him blindfolded with his head bowed and hands restrained behind his back, was taken after their arrest.<\/p>\n
It was\u00a0leaked to Italian newspaper, Corriere della Sera<\/a>, whose article about the picture likened it to the treatment of prisoners at the US military detention camp Guant\u00e1namo Bay.<\/p>\n Italy’s military police, the Carabinieri, has sought to distance itself from the leak of the photo and has launched an investigation.<\/p>\n “This is an unacceptable episode and should be treated as such,” commander general of the force, Giovanni Nistri, told Corriere della Sera.<\/p>\n Police commander Francesco Gargaro said the blindfolding of a suspect is “illegal”, telling the Associated Press that the officer responsible did so by “mistake”.<\/p>\n The officer blindfolded Mr Natale-Hjorth to prevent him from seeing documents pertaining to the investigation, the commander said. Italian news agency Ansa reported that the officer is to be taken off operational duty.<\/p>\n Italian politicians and human rights groups expressed concern at the photo, but Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Salvini was less sympathetic.<\/p>\n “To those who complain about the blindfolding of a person arrested, I remind them that the only victim to cry for is a … Carabinieri… who died while doing his job, killed by people who, if guilty, deserve to spend their life in prison,”\u00a0Mr Salvini tweeted<\/a>.<\/p>\n The two suspects were allegedly in the Trastevere area, near to Vatican City, trying to buy drugs.<\/p>\n They are said to have stolen a rucksack from an alleged drug dealer who had sold them fake product, according to Ansa.<\/p>\n They reportedly offered to bring it back to him, if he paid them $100 (\u00a380; \u20ac90) and gave them a gram of cocaine.<\/p>\n As they waited, they were approached by Rega and a colleague as part of a plain-clothed operation because the police had been tipped off about the bag exchange, Ansa reported.<\/p>\n A brawl ensued, during which Rega was stabbed several times. He was taken to hospital, where he died of his injuries.<\/p>\n Mr Natale-Hjorth and Mr Elder, who face charges of murder and attempted extortion, appeared in court on Saturday.<\/p>\n Officers found a large knife hidden in the false ceiling of their hotel room. The pair were “ready to leave” Italy when found, police said.<\/p>\n Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What do we know about Rega’s killing?<\/h2>\n