(Remo Casilli/Pool Photo via AP)ROME – A 20-year-old California man accused of charged with murdering an Italian police officer apologized in court Wednesday, saying he was “filled with remorse” and hoped one day the slain man’s family would forgive him.
Finnegan Lee Elder, who has been on trial in Rome since February along with a fellow American, asked the court for permission to make a spontaneous statement that, he said, he finally had summoned the courage to give.
The defense has insisted the Americans didn’t realize the two Italians were police officers, didn’t see any badges and thought the men who approached them were criminal thugs.
He recalled his mother wrote to Cerciello's family months ago, expressing his anguish and desire to apologize.
“But I didn’t have the courage to write or speak out” until Wednesday, Elder said.