The father of one of the two Bay Area teens accused of killing an Italian police officer has returned home after visiting his son in a Rome jail.
Ethan Elder is the father of 19-year-old Finnegan Elder. His attorney, Craig Peters, spoke with the press from a prepared statement outside of the family’s San Francisco home Saturday evening.
“We saw our son Finnegan, he was okay. Tired, remorseful and scared. He has our full support, and we stand by his side,” he said.
During the nearly three-minute long statement Peters said the teens are being unfairly charged and the public is not being told the full story about what happened in Rome.
“We look forward to the truth coming out and to our son coming home,” he said.
According to Italian prosecutors, Finnegan Elder killed undercover Italian Officer Mario Rega, stabbing him 11 times with a knife. Investigators say Rega was responding to a cocaine deal gone wrong between Elder, his friend Gabriel Natale-Hjorth and an Italian drug dealer.
The Elder family and their attorney did not respond to questions about the charges or offer a different version of what happened.
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Peters said they were only able to see the teen for an hour each of the two days they were there. He said the Elders offer their condolences to Officer Rega’s family. He said he expects Italian authorities to release new information on this case next week.
