In brief
The 2015 murder of rapper Canserbero and its convoluted cover-up involved five accomplices now sentenced to lengthy prison terms.
In a significant legal development, five individuals have been sentenced for their roles in covering up the 2015 murder of notable Venezuelan rapper Canserbero, whose real name was Tirone González. The case, which has reverberated through the Latin American music community, saw a forensic expert, three police officers, and a music promoter convicted for conspiring with the murderers to alter evidence and manipulate the crime scene.Canserbero was tragically killed by his manager, Natalia Améstica, who drugged and stabbed him in a violent altercation. Following the incident, Améstica and her brother Guillermo disposed of his body by throwing it from a tenth-floor window in a bid to stage the scene as a suicide. Investigations initially concluded that Canserbero was involved in a knife fight with his friend Carlos Molnar, leading to an erroneous assumption of murder-suicide.However, dramatic revelations emerged when Natalia Améstica confessed in December 2023. She recounted the horrifying events of that fateful night, explaining that after learning Canserbero no longer wanted her as his manager, she invited him and Molnar — also her partner — to her apartment and secretly drugged them. In a fit of rage, she stabbed Molnar, and when a drugged Canserbero witnessed the attack, she also fatally wounded him.To cover their tracks, Améstica called her brother, who arrived with three officers from Venezuela’s intelligence agency, Sebin. They reportedly helped orchestrate the scene to suggest a murder-suicide, and even attempted to bribe a forensic expert to manipulate the investigation. On Tuesday, these five accomplices received prison sentences ranging from 15 to 20 years for their parts in the gruesome conspiracy.The music impresario Marcos Pratolongo was found guilty of aiding in the cover-up and was also implicated for possessing keys to Canserbero’s apartment, where crucial evidence had vanished. The Venezuelan attorney general highlighted the extensive manipulation of the crime scene and the subsequent judicial proceedings, marking a pivotal moment in seeking justice for Canserbero and his tragic legacy.
