The Justice sentenced the defendant for co-authorship of the crime of robert santanathe 41-year-old policeman who was shot and killed the night of April 3, 2020 at Terminal del Cerro (Montevideo). The convicted will go to jail for 20 years and six months (with discount of the precautionary measure fulfilled), reported the prosecution.
Around 10:00 p.m. that day, Santana had finished his workday in a supermarket and was in his truck, with his partner, resting. Both had to enter their corresponding shifts, at midnight, so they decided to kill time on the terminal esplanade, as usual.
At one point a car pulled up in front of them, made a U-turn, dimmed its lights, and slammed on the brakes.
There were four men, and one of them pulled out a gun, stood in front of the couple’s truck and pointed it at Santana. At the same time, two other unknown persons approached the vehicle and opened one of the doors.
One of the policemen identified himself and it was since then that gunshots were heard. One of the projectiles was fatal for Santana, who was wounded in the neck and back.
He was transferred to the Police Hospital, where he died shortly after being admitted and operated on. While the police couple was not injured.
The assailants tried to steal their truck, but after the exchange of shotsthe four quickly escaped, without success.
The following morning was marked by the death of a policeman whom they had tried to rob at the intersection of Vizcaya and Suiza streets, in Cerro. The agent worked in the Republican Guard and had two children.
At 10:00 a.m. on that Saturday, the President of the Republic, Luis Lacalle Pou, who had assumed the Presidency a month ago, wrote: “My condolences to the family and friends of Corporal Rober Darío Santana. My feelings and support are with them and with the Police. RIP (May he rest in peace)”.
In parallel, the Ministry of the Interior sent its condolences. The then minister Jorge LarranagaHe also posted a message on his Twitter account.
The murderer and the other assailants
A young man was stabbed to death on the afternoon of Saturday, October 16, 2021 in the Libertad Prison (San José). He was 19 years old and turned out to be the one who fired the weapon on April 3, 2020 at the Cerro Terminal, as reported by The Observerthrough prison sources.
Diego Fabian Cardozo Rosano He died after being wounded with a knife, after a “confrontation between inmates”, as indicated by the Ministry of the Interior at the time through Twitter.
Meanwhile, between July and August 2021, three of the participants in the homicide were sentenced through simplified processes. One of them got a sentence of 15 years and 10 months in prison; and, two others, a sentence of 16 years in prisonall as co-authors of a crime of very especially aggravated homicide.
