Five individuals sentenced for concealing rapper Canserbero’s murder

A forensic specialist, three law enforcement officers, and a music promoter have received prison sentences for their involvement in concealing the 2015 killing of Venezuelan artist Canserbero. Canserbero, recognized by Rolling Stone magazine as the top Spanish-language rapper, was fatally drugged and stabbed by his manager, Natalia Améstica. Subsequently, Améstica and her brother disposed of his body by throwing it from a window on the 10th floor. The five individuals who received sentences on Tuesday were convicted of assisting the siblings in manipulating the crime scene to make Canserbero’s death seem like a suicide. Their prison sentences span from 15 to 20 years. Natalia Améstica and her brother Guillermo had previously been handed 25-year prison sentences for murder in February. The passing of Canserbero, known by his birth name Tirone González, on 19 January 2015, caused widespread shock within the Venezuelan rap community. Initially, authorities concluded that the 26-year-old artist had fatally stabbed his friend Carlos Molnar during an altercation with a knife before leaping from a window. However, in December 2023, Natalia Améstica admitted to stabbing both Molnar and Canserbero. She detailed the events of that night in a video statement issued by the Venezuelan attorney general last year. Natalia Améstica stated her anger towards the rapper stemmed from discovering that Canserbero intended to terminate her management services. She recounted Canserbero’s arrival at her apartment in Maracay, Venezuela, on 19 January 2015. He was accompanied by his friend Carlos Molnar, who was also Natalia Améstica’s long-term partner. “The chance arose to make them a tea,” she explained in the video, further stating that she added a potent tranquilizer to their drink. Upon her incapacitated partner Carlos Molnar entering the kitchen, she proceeded to stab him in the neck, back, and arm. Canserbero observed Améstica assaulting her boyfriend, but due to the effects of the drugs Améstica had administered, he collapsed onto the sofa. Améstica subsequently stabbed him two times. “In desperation, I then called my brother Guillermo to help me resolve the situation,” she stated in the video confession. Her brother appeared with the three officers from Venezuela’s intelligence agency, Sebin, who are among those recently sentenced. “They finished arranging the scene in a way to make it look like a murder-suicide,” Natalia Améstica recounted. She further stated that the officers “stabbed Carlos [Molnar] a few more times, my brother Guillermo stabbed him four times. The rest, the Sebin officials did”. “Then we were told how to throw him out of the window to complete the murder-suicide scene,” she revealed in her confession. Her brother Guillermo indicated that a forensic investigator who reached the location grew suspicious, noting that it seemed “manipulated”. Guillermo Améstica stated that the forensic specialist requested a bribe of $10,000 (£7,880) to assist the siblings in concealing the offense and fabricating the appearance that Canserbero had assaulted Molnar prior to leaping from the window. The fifth individual sentenced on Tuesday is Marcos Pratolongo, a music promoter who supplied security for certain Canserbero concerts. Upon his arrest, Venezuela’s attorney general had stated that Pratolongo held the keys to Canserbero’s apartment, from which crucial evidence had vanished. On Tuesday, the attorney general announced via social media that Pratolongo was convicted of complicity in Canserbero’s murder, though no additional specifics regarding his involvement in the offense were disclosed.