A forensic expert, three police officers, and a music impresario have been sentenced to jail terms ranging from 15 to 20 years for their roles in covering up the 2015 murder of Venezuelan rapper Canserbero. The five individuals were found guilty of helping the rapper’s manager, Natalia Améstica, and her brother Guillermo stage the crime scene to make it appear as though Canserbero had taken his own life.
Canserbero, whose real name was Tirone González, was a 26-year-old rapper who had been named best Spanish-language rapper by Rolling Stone magazine. He was drugged and stabbed to death by Améstica, who then threw his body from a 10th-floor window with the help of her brother.
The siblings were already sentenced to 25 years in prison in February for their roles in the murder. The five individuals sentenced on Tuesday were found guilty of complicity in the crime and helping to cover it up.
According to a video statement released by the Venezuelan attorney general, Natalia Améstica confessed to stabbing Canserbero and his friend Carlos Molnar, who was also her long-term boyfriend. She claimed that she was angry with the rapper after learning that he no longer wanted her as his manager.
Améstica described how she spiked the drinks of Canserbero and Molnar with a powerful tranquilizer, then stabbed Molnar in the neck, back, and arm. Canserbero, who was under the influence of the drugs, collapsed on the sofa and was then stabbed twice by Améstica.
The crime scene was then staged to look like a murder-suicide, with the help of the three police officers and the forensic expert. The officers stabbed Molnar several more times, and the forensic expert was bribed $10,000 to help cover up the crime.
The music impresario, Marcos Pratolongo, was also found guilty of complicity in the crime, although the details of his role were not specified. At the time of his arrest, Venezuela’s attorney general said that Pratolongo was in possession of the keys to Canserbero’s apartment, from which important evidence had disappeared.
The sentencing of the five individuals brings closure to the case, which shocked the Venezuelan rap scene in 2015. Canserbero’s death was initially ruled a suicide, but the truth about his murder was finally revealed in December 2023, when Natalia Améstica confessed to the crime.
