Life sentences for three men over murder of custodian in Contramaestre, Santiago de Cuba
The Provincial People's Court of Santiago de Cuba sentenced three men to life imprisonment for the murder of a custodian at the UBPC Fidel Domenech Rizo. The crime occurred on the night of 4 August 2025 during a theft of sheep in Baire.
Three sentenced to life imprisonment for murder of custodian in Santiago de Cuba
The Provincial People's Court of Santiago de Cuba imposed perpetual deprivation of liberty on three men found guilty of the murder of a custodian and the attempted murder of another in the municipality of Contramaestre, according to cibercuba.com. The oral trial took place on 25 October in the Second Criminal Chamber of the court, and the ruling was reported by the newspaper Sierra Maestra.
The convicted men are Roberto Acosta Estrada, Erisdel García Zulueta and Rosendo Ramón Guevara González, found responsible for consummated murder and attempted murder.
The facts: assault on a cooperative in Baire
The facts took place on the night of 4 August 2025 at the UBPC Fidel Domenech Rizo in the locality of Baire. The assailants broke into the cooperative with the purpose of stealing sheep and attacked two custodians with a bladed weapon. One of them died; the other was left in such a critical state that, according to the official description from MININT, it was believed he had also died.
The robbers fled with 13 sheep and other items stolen from the facility. The stolen animals had already been slaughtered and their meat distributed in food and recreational establishments in the municipality before the authorities took action.
Investigation resolved in less than 24 hours
MININT began investigations in the early morning of 5 August 2025. With the collaboration of residents of the area, the authorities arrested six men between 33 and 43 years of age linked to the crime the following day.
In addition to the three life sentences, the court sentenced Alexander Bello Macías and Wilfredo Álvarez Macías to two years' deprivation of liberty for the offence of receiving stolen goods, having acquired animals proceeding from the theft.
The ruling included accessory sanctions and the payment of compensation to those harmed. Both the convicted men and the Prosecution retain the right to file a cassation appeal to the Supreme People's Court.
Pattern of violence against custodians in the province
The sentences handed down are the most severe recorded publicly in the series of crimes against custodians registered in the eastern province since mid-2024. In January 2026, the same court had sentenced four people to between 28 and 30 years' imprisonment for the murder of another security guard in Nuevo Mundo, Dos Caminos.
The pattern repeats itself: individuals attack custodians of agricultural cooperatives and other establishments to steal animals or other goods, and in multiple cases they murder them or leave them gravely injured. The shortage of food and the black market in meat have been pointed to as factors driving this type of crime.
The current Cuban Criminal Code, approved in 2022, establishes for the offence of murder with aggravating circumstances penalties of 20 to 30 years' deprivation of liberty, perpetual deprivation of liberty or the death penalty. The publication that reported the ruling described it as "an exemplary trial in the face of facts of extreme violence".
Source: Google News CU — Crime