police blind fold gabe natale. they admit now to prevent him from seeing documents and computer screens. a judge has already labelled that illegal. all brought up by the defense. taking on the italian police may not play well in the court of public opinion. frederica tells me it won't have any effect in court as the case plays out in months. from rome, dan noyes, abc7 news. >> dan has been tweeting extensively during his time in italy. take a look at the pictures he tweeted the past few days. there he is in the purple shirt right in the middle of that international media scrum. there you see him with his back to you. follow him at dan noyes to learn the latest investigation on the development as soon as they happen, and we'll have his reports throughout the rest of the week on abc7 news, abc7news.com, and the abc7 news app as well. dan doing a terrific job reporting from italy for us. >> sure is. >>> is it a piece of history or a time for change? what's what we're asking at abc7news.com. the mural inside george was

. >> reporter: gabe natale's defense team is asking for early release and he is insisting he didn't know his friend had a knife that night. ethan elder pushed through a crowd of international media to see his 19-year-old son for the first time since his arrest. police say he confessed to using this knife to kill marrow rega a newly wed last friday. now the family's legal team is raising questions about the investigation. >> we need to get answers to questions that don't feel like they're getting asked in the media right now about this investigation. >> reporter: i shared notes on investigation with fed rick cag angel lee, a renowned journalist who covered the mafia sending 32 members to prison. >> for the last six years with police protection because i was threatened. >> reporter: she is now turning to the stabbing investigation raising questions about the police performance from the begin. court documents say natale and elder went to the night life district to buy cocaine and that a middle man directed them to a dealer but off duty officers interrupted the transaction. the dealer shoute

the suspects are finn elder and gabe natale both from the north bay. they didn't know he was a police officer the boys say and act in self-defense during a drug deal gone wrong. >> both of those suspects are being held in jail but have not been formally charged. >> that's right, dan noyes joins us in studio. what's the latest? >> it will be a long haul. the autopsy just got finished. we haven't heard the exact results. justice goes slowly in italy. here in this country basically three days to be charged with a crime or not or you're let go. in italy, the prosecutors can ta up to a decide even if there is going to be a charge of not. >> they hold you the entire time? >> they hold you the entire time. attorneys for both young men have filed an appeal to get them out early while this process goes underway but the judge has already signalled that's not probably going to happen. one, because of how violent the attack was. >> sure. >> and two for the chance of them actually leaving the country. >> right. >> so chances are they will be in jail at least throug

as for the other defendant i tried to reach gabe natale's grandfather. no one came to the door. his lawyer says the suspect has been crying non-stop in his jail center. his father fabricio declined an interview but issued his first statement that reads in part, we're deeply upset by his predicament while at the same time fully convinced of his innocence. gabriel never imaged there would be a confrontation and did not know his friend was armed. he only became aware of what actually happened after his arrest. we learned a second investigation has been launched into why police handcuffed and blindfolded gabe before his interrogation. an italian judge has called that illegal and unacceptable. lawyers for both suspects and the widow came back to the hotel. they want a forensic team to look for new blood evidence. for the i-team in rome, dan noyes, abc 7 news. >> you can follow dan on twitter to get the latest developments from italy. @dannoyes. we'll have his reports on abc 7 news, abc7news.com and the abc 7 news app. >>> the navy pilot whoraed a jet in death valley is still missing

. >> reporter: for the other defendant, i tried to reach gabe natale's grandfather where he spent several weeks last summer. nobody came to the door. he said the suspect has been crying non-stop in his jail cell here. his father an investment advisor declined an interview but issued his first statement that reads in part, we are deeply upset by his predictment but at the same time fully convinced of his innocence. gabriel never imagined there would be a confrontation and did not know his friend was armed, he only became aware of what happened after his arrest. we learned a second investigation has been launched into why police handcuffed and blind folded gabe before his interrogation. an italian judge called that illegal and unacceptable. lawyers for both suspects and the widow came back to the hotel where the young men stayed. they want a forensic team to look for new blood evidence. for the i-team in rome, dan noyes, abc 7 news. >> dan has been tweeting extensively during his time in italy. you can learn the latest developments as soon as they happen. we'll have his reports through the

finn elder and gabe natal are accused of killing a police officer. the teens did not know he was a police officer the defense says and said they were acting in self-defense during a drug deal that went wrong. >>> now at 6:00 san jose police officers are trying to get a man out of a house. officers originally told neighbors to get out but they are being awill ying allowed to. they say the man has an active restraining order against him. abc 7 news is committed to building a better bay area and at one of the issues we are focussing on is your safety. several cities are in line to get help in combatting one of the fastest growing crimes. car break-ins. the help is coming in the form of money, lots of it. chris nguyen has how the funds will be spent. >> the sight of broken glass, that dreadful feeling of coming back to your car to find someone broke in. for help is on the way. >> i want to make it helpful for those who work here or visiting here. >> reporter: today assemblyman presented a total of $3.75 million in state funding to local police department

. >> the father of gabe natale there speaking about his son. as you said a moment ago, he said his son had no idea that his friend finnegan elder had no knowledge that his friend had a knife until after he was arrested. >> thank you for the update from rome. >>> meanwhile back here in detroit, did joe biden emerge from last night's debate as a stronger front-runner? we discuss the big debate and where things stand now. really the military family and it really shows. with all that usaa offers why go with anybody else? we know their rates are good, we know that they're always going to take care of us. it was an instant savings and i should have changed a long time ago. it was funny because when we would call another insurance company, hey would say "oh we can't beat usaa" we're the webber family. we're the tenney's we're the hayles, and we're usaa members for life. ♪ get your usaa auto insurance quote today. detroit, did joe biden emerge this summer at panera, we're going all in on strawberries. at their reddest, ripest, they make everything be

finn elder and his friend, gabe natal, who graduated from tam high in mill valley last year, are accused of stabbing an italian police officer to death in rome last friday after an alleged drug deal went wrong. >>> now, sympathy for the officer continues to pour in from around the world. as "abc 7 news" reporter wayne freedman found out, that includes the bay area. >> this murder is not going to change our love for italy. >> reporter: it has been one week since the murder of an italian police officer in rome with two northern california teens charged. now here are two women who felt they had to do something. >> my first reaction was, like, i was punched in the gut. >> i felt it go all the way to my soul. >> reporter: lorraine lombardo and christina alivolo from san francisco, they have inadvertently started a movement to raise money for the family of the slain officer. >> he left behind a bride of six weeks and a mom and a sister, and i just want to see the family taken care of. >> reporter: the post generated more than 3,000 responses in fewer than 48 hours. we don't know how much money