A Lawyer Predicts His Own Murder | Forensic Files

[Music] Our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents. If you feel at
any time you need support, please contact your local crisis center. For suggested phone numbers, for
confidential support, and for a more detailed list of content warnings, please see the show notes for this
episode on your app or on our website. [Music] In early May of 2009, a prominent
Guatemalan attorney named Rodrigo Rosenberg Mazano began receiving threatening phone calls.
The call started on Tuesday, May 5, and always played out the same way. Rodrigo's cell phone would ring, he
would answer, and the person on the other line would issue a menacing message before terminating the call.
These calls came through once or twice a day and were typically between 10 to 15
seconds long, just enough time to deliver a death threat. Sometimes the caller said nothing at
all. They just left a heavy, drawn out silence before hanging up. Most disturbingly of all, sometimes
Rodrigo's phone would ring as soon as he returned home to his apartment after leaving work for the day. Just as he
answered his phone, the person on the other end would hang up. The caller didn't block their number,
and Rodrigo could see its unfamiliar digits appear on his phone screen each time they called.
He jotted the number down and passed it on to a longtime friend and mentor, explaining that he was being stalked and
his apartment was likely under surveillance. Other friends and family members of
Rodriggo's noticed how nervous he seemed during this time. His adult son, Eduardo, observed how
Rodrigo had started looking over his shoulder every time he got into his car. On Saturday, May 9, 5 days into the
threatening calls, Rodrigo invited Eduardo to take a day trip with him to the pretty colonial city of Antigua,
which was popular with tourists. Eduardo noticed how nervous his father seemed, dithering over which car they
should take for the hour-long drive from Guatemala City and then constantly glancing anxiously around him when they
arrived at their destination. The final threatening call from the mysterious phone number came through
early the following morning of Sunday, May 10. Within minutes of receiving the call,
Rodrigo would be dead. [Music] the Republic of Guatemala is a Central American country located immediately
south of Mexico. Rich in history and natural resources, its striking landscapes are dotted with
volcanoes, rainforests, and sprawling plantations that grow coffee beans, cacao, bananas, and sugar cane.
But the wealth of its land is not shared by the majority of its people. While Guatemala is relatively small in terms
of size, its population is one of Central America's largest. And in 2009, roughly half of that population lived
below the poverty line. Colonization and exploitation of the country's natural resources have led to
generations of Guatemalans suffering violence, political turmoil, and racism. In 1954, the country's second ever
democratically elected president was overthrown in a coup d'etat orchestrated by the United States Central
Intelligence Agency and a multinational corporation called the United Fruit Company.
They didn't approve of the employment and agrarian reforms being made by Guatemala's then president. The United
Fruit Company's profits from bananas produced and harvested in Guatemala were being impacted by the country's
softening of exploitive labor practices. Believing Guatemala's administration was
too left-leaning and therefore communist in nature, the CIA installed a right-wing military dictatorship in the
foreign country. This ultimately triggered a four decadesl long civil war between the
military and leftist rebel groups. More than 200,000 Guatemalans were killed during the Civil War and more
than 70,000 disappeared without a trace. At least 90% of the killings were committed by state military forces or
paramilitary death squads and every single Guatemalan was affected either directly or indirectly by the violence.
The military dictatorship finally ended in 1985 with the civil war concluding a decade later and a peace accord reached
between the government and the rebels in 1996. But life didn't improve for many Guatemalans.
The conclusion of the war had sidelined soldiers and paramilitary units. So they
transitioned from state sanctioned violence to the illegal kind. They formed organized crime gangs known
as illegal clandestine security apparatuses or seaks which trafficked drugs, facilitated illegal adoptions,
crafted fake passports, kidnapped victims for ransom, embezzled and laundered money, and provided murder for
hire services. These criminal networks even infiltrated government and law enforcement agencies,
leading to corruption and chaos at the highest levels. Instead of violence reducing after the
war, it increased. In 2009, almost 15 years after the Civil War ended, the country's homicide rate
peaked with 46 murders per 100,000 people. 98% of these crimes would go unsolved
with no arrests or resolution via the country's justice system. In 2007, one United Nations official
remarked, "Guate is a good place to commit a murder because you will almost certainly get away with it."
The citizens who suffered the most from Guatemala's instability and discord were
members of the indigenous Mayan population who experienced the brunt of the violence and criminality.
Many Mayans also lived in impoverished conditions, suffering from income inequality, chronic malnutrition, and
lack of education. Guatemala's upper class is mostly made up of European immigrants and their
descendants. In 2009, 47year-old corporate attorney Rodrigo Rosenberg Marzano was a member
of this elite group. Rodrigo was born 6 years after the CIA's installation of a dictatorship toppled
Guatemala into chaos and his parents were very wealthy. His mother had inherited her money while his father was
a highly successful businessman. Their wealth allowed Rodrigo to attend the country's best schools and then
later study at England's University of Cambridge as well as Harvard in the US. But even as a highly privileged
individual, Rodrigo was impacted by the violence that was so prevalent around him. When he was 18 years old, his
brother Bobby was kidnapped for ransom after being targeted as the child of a wealthy couple. Before Rodrigo's parents
could exchange money for Bobby's release, his body was found off the side of a road outside of Guatemala City, the
nation's capital where the family resided. Bobby's captives were never arrested or
charged for his murder. [Music] Despite this family tragedy, Rodrigo went on to obtain his bachelors and
masters in law. In 1987, when he was still in his 20s, he co-founded a prestigious corporate law firm, making
him wellknown in business and legal circles. He also raised a family, marrying twice
and fathering four children. Yet, by the spring of 2009, both of his marriages had ended in divorce, and he
was living alone in a luxury apartment located in Guatemala City's affluent zone 14 neighborhood.
Life was comfortable, if not entirely smooth sailing. Rodrigo was still going through a difficult custody battle with
his second wife, and his mother had recently died. But on the whole, he was the picture of success when he started
receiving threatening phone calls in early May 2009. The calls over six consecutive days had
left Rodrigo visibly rattled and impacted a day trip to Antigua with his son Eduardo on Saturday, May 9.
He was back home at his apartment in Guatemala City that night and called a longtime friend to chat.
Rodrigo told his friend Aziza Musa about the latest goings on in his life, adding
that he planned to go on a long bike ride the next morning to clear his head. The next morning, he woke early. At
6:30, he received yet another threatening call from the unknown caller. Like all of the others, it was short and
unsettling. Still, Rodrigo went about his morning as planned and called his personal driver
at 7:58 a.m. to let him know he was headed out on a bike ride. At about 8:05, he wheeled his bicycle
out of his apartment building, mounted the bike, and cycled away along the two-lane treelined street, dressed in
navy shorts, a navy t-shirt, and white Adidas runners. He listened to music on an iPod as he
rode several hundred meters down the street before turning onto a service road. Shortly after this, a chauffeur named
Luis Lopez Florenne made his way over to Rodrigo's apartment. Luis had been Rodrigo's personal driver
for a long time, and their relationship went beyond that of an employer and employee.
Rodrigo considered Louise a trusted friend and a confidant, and the two were very close.
As Louise drove down a service road near Rodrigo's home, he noticed a number of paramedics and police officers crowded
around a figure lying on the ground. It was Louis's boss, Rodrigo Rosenberg Marzano.
He had been shot five times with a 9mm handgun. Three times in the head, once in the neck, and once in the back.
Luis phoned Rodrigo's son, Eduardo, and told him to go immediately to his father's apartment.
He didn't want the young man stumbling upon the grizzly crime scene. Luis refused to tell Eduardo what had
happened, but made it clear there was an emergency. Eduardo hung up and began dressing in a
panic before calling Louise back and demanding answers. "Is my dad dead?" Eduardo asked. "Yes," replied Louise.
[Music] The Rosenberg family was devastated by the sudden and brutal murder of Rodrigo,
but quickly set about making plans for his funeral. The service was held the following day
of Monday, May 11, at a cemetery on the outskirts of Guatemala City. May is the beginning of the rainy season
in Guatemala, and heavy clouds gathered overhead as the mourers made their way across the cemetery's trimmed green
lawns. Organizers played Blues for Salvador, a song by the American rock band Santana
that Rodrigo had always said he wanted to play at his funeral. His son Eduardo gave a moving eulogy wherein he thanked
everyone for attending and helping the family as they began their grieving process.
Towards the end of the funeral, as Rodrigo's casket was being lowered into the ground, a man named Luis Mendesal
stepped forward and requested permission to speak. Luis Mendesal was a longtime friend of
Rodriggo as well as his mentor and confidant. The older man had known Rodrigo since he
was a boy and had helped find Rodrigo's brother's remains after he was kidnapped.
Luis was holding a bag filled with the DVDs in blank cases. He announced to the crowd of mourners,
"All of us who are here loved Rodrigo very much, and all of you are wondering why someone like Rodrigo, who never
harmed anyone, was murdered." Well, Rodrigo left me with the answer. If you want to know the truth about what
happened to him, then here is his testimony. He held up the DVDs, adding that anyone
who wanted a copy could take one. Many onlookers took Louise up on the offer, grabbing a DVD in the hopes that it
might answer the mystery of Rodrigo's murder. Those who took one and watched it upon
returning home were first met with the sight of Rodrigo alive and well and seated behind a desk.
A microphone was set up on the desk and a dark blue sheet or curtain had been hung up behind Rodrigo.
It looked like an amateur setup, but Rodrigo had clearly taken care with his appearance. dressed in a navy suit, a
white shirt, and a pale blue tie. His dark hair, balding on top, was neatly combed.
As soon as the video began, the 47year-old lawyer gave a quick nod, then began to speak.
Good afternoon. My name is Rodrigo Rosenberg Mazano and unfortunately if you are currently watching or listening
to this message it's because I was murdered by President Alvaro Colom. 57year-old President Alvaro Colum had
been the leader of Guatemala for just over a year. After winning the nation's presidential election in November 2007,
he took office the following January. Colum's election was a significant moment for Guatemala. It was the first
time that a left-leaning politician had been in charge of the country since the 1954 coup d'etar.
Colom had won by focusing on winning votes from Guatemala's poorer rural areas, ultimately defeating his
opponent, a former general who had overseen military intelligence. The election had been violent.
More than 50 local candidates and party activists were killed throughout the campaign, and President Colam's own
campaign manager almost died when several grenades were thrown at his motorcade.
After taking office, Colom had vowed to end Guatemala's long-standing problems with violence and corruption, but his
own administration had also been plagued with corruption allegations. Two of his interior ministers were
indicted on corruption charges, while the third was killed in a mysterious helicopter accident.
Colom's wife, Sandra, Guatemala's first lady and a politician in her own right, was even suspected of corruption and
money laundering after she refused to allow the auditing of social programs she oversaw.
Nevertheless, Rodrigo Rosenberg Marzano's declaration that if he were to die, then the president was to blame was
shocking. As the testimony he'd recorded before his murder continued, Rodrigo explained
why he had been targeted. He had knowledge of a far-reaching conspiracy that had resulted in others
being killed as well, including one of his own clients. Khalil Musa had been a wealthy client of
Rodriguez and a member of Guatemala's elite. He had immigrated to Guatemala from Lebanon in 1949 when he was just 17
years old and initially worked as a laborer picking coffee beans alongside Mayan peasants.
Over the years, Khalil learned Spanish, married and started a family before later opening a textile factory and
becoming a coffee producer. His businesses took off and Khalil Musa became a captain of industry who was
well known and respected for his honesty and integrity. By 2008, he was in his mid70s and in the
process of handing over his business to his two daughters, Aziza and Marjgerie. Khalil wanted to spend more time
enjoying the life he'd built and bonding with his young grandchildren. But an opportunity to keep contributing
to Guatemala more broadly arose when Khalil was offered a position on the board of Anna Cafe, Guatemala's National
Coffee Association. Khalil had spent many years working alongside the laborers who picked a
Guatemala's coffee beans and was eager to take on the role. The only problem was that he'd also have
to serve on the board of Ban Rural, Guatemala's rural development bank. Ban Rural provided funds for the rural
and microenterprise sector in Guatemala. And while it was a private business, 30%
of its shares were owned by the government, giving them three seats on the board of directors.
Khalil was far less enthusiastic about this part of the offer. While he was eager to serve Guatemala's coffee
sector, he had little interest in Ben Rural. Khalil had discussed the matter with his
lawyer, Rodrigo Rosenberg Mazano, in December of 2008 and sought his advice. Rodrigo was opposed to getting involved
with Guatemalan politics and told Khalil as much. Plus, there were rumors that ban Rural was rife with embezzlement and
moneylaundering scandals. Nevertheless, Khalil accepted both nominations, seeing it as his duty to
give back to the country that had given him so much. On Tuesday, April 14, 2009, Khil got up
early and went to his textile factory as was his routine. Every day he would return home to eat
lunch before heading back to work. Usually his eldest daughter, Aziza, drove him home. But on this particular
day, she was in the middle of a long-distance phone call to Lebanon. She asked her sister, 42-year-old
Marjgerie, to drive their father instead while she wrapped up her call. Khalil and Marjgerie, who was a married
mother of two and her father's favorite, headed down to Marjgery's green station
wagon at 12:50 p.m. They both got in and Marjorie drove them out of the factory parking lot.
They headed down a busy street that was full of traffic and dotted with street vendors.
About five blocks from the factory, Marjgery breaked at an intersection. Suddenly, a motorcycle sped up to the
passenger side of the car and pulled over. Its rider hopped off the bike and walked straight up to the car window.
Without hesitation, he pulled out a gun and fired nine shots through the passenger window in the vehicle.
Then the rider jumped back on his motorbike and sped away. Khalil Musa had been hit by each of the
nine shots and was dead. One of the bullets had traveled through him and then struck Marjorie in her
aorta, killing her, too. When Rodrigo Rosenberg Marzano heard of the execution style slayings that same
day, he was devastated. It was clear Khil had been the target of the attack, and Marjgery was collateral
damage. Rodrigo was certain Khil had been murdered to prevent him from joining Ban
Rural's board, where he would have no doubt uncovered embezzlement and government corruption.
Khalil Musa was renowned for his integrity and would not have stood for such abuses of power.
Rodrigo deeply regretted not urging Khalil more strongly against accepting the nominations.
Rodrigo wasn't the only high-profile Guatemalan who was outraged and distraught by the double homicide.
Shortly after the Muses were murdered, business leaders held a press conference declaring that the public execution of
the father and daughter was another sign of how helpless Guatemalans were. They demanded a thorough investigation of the
murders by the authorities. Rodrigo had no faith in Guatemala's judicial system and told family and
friends that the case would never be solved. He had no doubt that powerful forces were behind the crime.
This meant that the criminal organizations that had infiltrated Guatemala's government would block any
attempted investigation and destroy evidence. Determined that the case wouldn't go
unresolved like the majority of Guatemalan murders, Rodrigo decided to launch an investigation of his own.
Rodrigo approached his friend and mentor Luis Mendes and asked for his help in trying to solve the case. Luis agreed.
He was well placed to assist Rodrigo as Louise also happened to have been Guatemala's most infamous spy. He owned
a clothing shop called Boutique Amelio out of which he operated a clandestine intelligence unit he dubbed the little
office. Luis would later tell people he worked to solve kidnappings and murders that
the officials failed to investigate, just as he'd helped find Rodrigo's murdered brother decades earlier.
He had also advised several Guatemalan presidents, including the most recently elected Alvaro Colom.
Luis had contacts everywhere. Luis and Rodrigo were able to obtain security footage from the Musa's textile
factory so they could replay what had happened immediately preceding the killings.
They noticed that a truck had been parked in front of the factory and the driver kept getting out of the vehicle
to look down the road. He was clearly acting as a lookout. After cameras captured Khalil and
Marjgerie getting into Marjgery's car and driving away, they also caught a hit squad following closely behind on
motorcycles. Rodrigo spoke with Khalil Mus's surviving daughter, Aziza, who was also
a friend of his. She told him that her father had received thinly veiled threats from
powerful individuals after being offered the board nominations. Officials connected to Ban Rural and Ana
Cafe strongly and repeatedly advised Khalil Musa against accepting the positions.
One individual sent him a link to a story about a coffee farm that had been burnt down after its owner started
meddling in board dealings. Eventually, the threats became more overt and violent as Khalil received
text messages and phone calls threatening his life. Rodrigo gained access to Khalil's
personal papers and found documents relating to the appointments. One was a copy of a letter Khalil had
sent to a group of people associated with Ben Rural in which he stated that he would not tolerate messages filled
with double meaning. Writing, I protect myself from my enemies. As Rodrigo continued digging into the
Musa case, he started receiving death threats of his own in early May, less than a month after the murders.
He decided that he needed to record a statement that could be shared in the event of his death so that the public
would know what he had uncovered. While seated at his desk he'd set up to be filmed at, Rodrigo explained that
during the course of his investigation, he had found the documents and evidence proving that the Musa murders went all
the way to the top. The president, Alvaro Colom, his wife Sandra, and the president's private secretary, Gustavo
Alleos, had been embezzling and laundering money from ban Rural alongside other members of their
administration. Knowing that Khalil Musa would speak out against this corruption if he joined the
board, they had orchestrated his murder. In total, the video Rodrigo had recorded
went for 18 minutes. As well as being an explanation for why he might be killed, it was an
impassioned plea to Guatemalans to fight for change in their country by speaking
out against its long- entrenched corruption. It's the same story we've been hearing
and repeating in recent years, Rodrigo stated. And us Guatemalans continue to do nothing because there's nothing left
to do because we can't do anything. What can I do? We say, "But we have to do something. And the only way to do
something is to say what we already know." Rodrigo repeatedly demanded President
Alvaro Colom's resignation and imprisonment and urged the country's vice president, whom he said was
honorable, to take over the leadership. We can't allow Guatemala to keep falling
into the hands of these people. He said, "It's our country. It belongs to us, not
to thieves, killers, and drug dealers. Guatemala is not theirs. Let's not keep giving it to them.
He concluded with a prediction that the government would try to conceal the truth he was revealing, stating, "Ladies
and gentlemen, my death has a first and a last name. They will try to sully the name of Khil Musa, Marjgerie Musa, and
will try to make up whatever they feel like making up. The one and only truth that matters is
that if you're watching and hearing this message, it is because I was killed by Alvaro Colom and Sandra de Colom.
Guatemalans, it's time. Please, it's time. Good evening. It didn't take long for the video to
spread from those who'd received copies at Rodrigo Rosenberg Mazano's funeral. It was broadcast on every television
news channel that evening of Monday, May 11, just hours after Rodrigo was buried.
At 10:29 that night, it was uploaded to the YouTube account of Guatemala's leading newspaper, El Periodico.
By the next day, it had gone viral, and so many people went online to watch the video that servers crashed.
The reaction was immediate. By the afternoon of Tuesday, May 12th, protests had erupted in the streets of Guatemala
City in response to Rodrigo's claims. Thousands of people, most of them young adults from Guatemala's conservative
upper class, gathered in squares and shouted chants directed at President Alvaro Colom, such as, "Murderer,
murderer, and resign, resign." The protesters wore white t-shirts as a symbolic statement against the dirty
politics. They held up signs that read, "I am Rodrigo. We want justice. Rodrigo,
thanks for waking us up. No more violence." And Sandra and Colom to resign. The leader of Guatemala's opposition
party, General Otto Perez Molina, spoke to journalists saying, "We are here to demand justice. We want
a transparent investigation. The only way for that to happen is if the president agrees to stand down."
Others agreed with him, arguing that Rodrigo's murder couldn't be properly investigated while its main suspect
remained leader of the country. The demonstrations grew over the following days with thousands and
thousands of people cramming into Guatemala City's largest public square. Rodrigo's video was projected onto a
large movie screen that someone had set up and played repeatedly on a loop with the sound turned up loud enough so that
the entire crowd could hear his voice. A shrine was erected at the site where he was murdered with a large wooden
cross. Flowers and photos of the deceased lawyer. Handwritten notes and signs were also
left, including one that read, "You didn't die in vain." The internet became a space to protest,
too, with posts spreading across Facebook and Twitter denouncing the Guatemalan president as a murderer.
One young man was arrested after tweeting, "The first concrete action should be to take cash out of Ben Rural
and bankrupt the Bank of the Corrupt." As the protests grew, so did the Guatemalan government's panic.
Just days earlier on Monday, May 11, President Alvaro Colom had been in the middle of a meeting that was suddenly
interrupted by his private secretary, Gustavo Alleos. Gustavo had just received a call from
his cousin, who had been at Rodrigo Rosenberg Marzano's funeral that same day. Gustavo's cousin told him how a friend
of Rodriguez had claimed that the lawyer knew the reason for his own murder and had video evidence to prove it. The
cousin had taken one of the DVDs being handed out and was rushing to the president's office at that exact moment.
President Colum and his inner circle all gathered in his office to view the recording. All of them were left stunned
by the end. Gustavo Alleos, who was one of the administration members Rodrigo had
accused of murder, called his wife and told her to leave the country with their son.
Then he offered his resignation to the president. The president refused to accept it,
assuring Gustavo they would survive any ensuing storm. issuing a short statement via two aids
who delivered his words to reporters. The president denounced Rodrigo's accusations as false.
The brevity of his response and the fact that the president hadn't even appeared
himself seemed to enrage the public further. Within 48 hours, Guatemala was engulfed
by chaos. President Colom agreed to give a televised interview with the news network CNN, but looked scared
throughout the entire appearance, often blinking rapidly. He didn't look like someone who was
being honest. The editor of the newspaper, El Periodico, wrote in response, "I can't help but express the repugnance
I felt during the declarations of President Alvaro Colum. The only thing missing now is for the president and his
henchmen to say that it was Rodrigo himself who emulated himself kamicazi style in order to discredit the
government and that he himself paid the assassins to murder him. Nobody trusted Guatemalan authorities to
investigate the very crime they were accused of committing. The US ambassador to Guatemala urged
President Colom to hand over the investigation to the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala
or CEIG, a UNbacked organization created just 3 years earlier. CEIG was formed as a way to fight
Guatemala's rampant corruption and systemic violence problem. Its members were judges, prosecutors, and law
enforcement officers from all over the world who investigated high-profile crimes.
They worked within Guatemala's legal system to prosecute members of organized crime and remove their presence from the
government. On Tuesday, May 12th, just 2 days after Rodrigo's murder, the case was referred
to CIG. They had a mammoth task on their hands with publications such as The New Yorker
and The Economist, declaring that the fate of Guatemala's democracy depended entirely on Rodrigo Rosenberg Marzano's
true murderers being identified and brought to justice. CEIG was led by 51-year-old Carlos
Castraana, a Spanish former prosecutor and judge who would be responsible for the investigation.
Carlos had moved to Guatemala to head up seasig and had barely seen the country since arriving.
Due to the nature of his work, his life was often at risk, and he had a team of internationally recruited bodyguards who
accompanied him everywhere. Carlos resided in a room above his office in Seig's compound, and whenever
he left, he had to travel in armorplated vehicles. Carlos took his job seriously and was
aware of its risks. Every morning and evening, his office was checked for covert surveillance
equipment just in case there was a mole inside CIG leaking information. He would only discuss sensitive matters
while a white noise machine was operating to muffle any audio if he was being secretly recorded.
After being assigned Rodrigo's case, Carlos Castrasana met with Rodrigo's son, Eduardo, assuring the young man, "I
give you my word that if we have to, we will bring down the president and impeach him."
Eduardo trusted Carlos and willingly handed over his father's office computer and his personal laptop for examination.
Carlos Castraana selected about a dozen of CIG's top investigators to work closely alongside him, telling them
this is the most important case of this commission. Almost 300 other officials would operate
as functionaries in the investigation as well. They came from countries all over the
world, including Canada, France, Costa Rica, Italy, and Sweden. One of the first things the
investigative team did was check CCTV footage from cameras operating in the area where Rodrigo had been on the
morning of his murder. As Rodrigo resided in a wealthy neighborhood with plenty of security
cameras, there was lots of footage to check. In total, four separate cameras had footage of the events leading up to
the crime. While reviewing this footage, the investigators noticed that a number of
vehicles were clearly circling the block for around 30 minutes prior to the attack against Rodrigo.
At about 8:00 a.m., they seemed to assume positions. A black Mazda 6 idled out the front of
Rodrigo's apartment building. The car's number plate wasn't visible, but it had several distinctive features.
It had red markings on its hub caps, a rear spoiler, and a sticker over the petrol cap. At around 8:05 a.m., Rodrigo
emerged from his apartment building and cycled away on his bike. The car followed.
At 8:07, a camera filmed Rodrigo cycling past. The black Mazda followed 1 minute
and 36 seconds later. Then another camera captured Rodrigo again cycling past a parked car.
The Mazda appeared 1 minute and 26 seconds later, getting closer. The Mazda continued to tail Rodrigo
until he turned onto the service road where his body was later found. As there were no cameras along that service road,
the murder itself hadn't been recorded, nor had any eyewitnesses come forward. But presumably, the Mazda had dropped
off after radioing a co-conspirator an update on Rodrigo's location. That co-conspirator had then driven into
the service road and delivered the five fatal shots. When Rodrigo's body was discovered, he
was lying on his back on a grassy embankment that flanked the right side of the road. His ankles dangling over
the curb. His bike lay abandoned on the road. It was on its side, facing the other way
from Rodrigo with its handlebars towards the street. This positioning indicated that at the
time Rodrigo was shot, he'd no longer been riding his bike. If he'd been shot while cycling, then the bike would have
fallen in the same direction as him, backwards instead of forwards. Rodrigo's position was consistent with
him having hopped off the bicycle and sitting on the curb, perhaps to take a phone call. He had also been listening
to his iPod at the time. Near to where Rodrigo's body was found were several deep grooves in the dirt
next to the road. They looked like tire tracks. With a clearer idea of the crime scene,
the investigators turned their attention to the video Rodrigo had recorded. It was clear he hadn't filmed it alone.
At the end of the video, a second person who was off camera could be heard switching off the recording equipment.
Not long after the murder, two men came forward and admitted to helping Rodrigo film the testimony.
One was his longtime friend and mentor, Luis Mendesar, the man who had handed out copies of the testimony at Rodrigo's
funeral. Luis's boutique had been used as the set for the video. Another man who had assisted with the recording was
a journalist and a former presidential candidate named Mario David Garcia. Both men vehemently denied having
anything to do with the crime. They said that Rodrigo had come to them with his accusations against the government and
they had merely helped him. Mario David Garcia even noted that Rodrigo had planned to appear on his
radio show on Monday, May 11 to go public with his allegations against President Colom,
but his murder had prevented that appearance from happening. Meanwhile, Carlos Castraana was
beginning to suspect that President Colom's administration was interfering with the investigation.
When Carlos had taken on the case, he'd told the president that he would need complete independence in order to
complete a thorough investigation. But Carlos suspected the president was ignoring his demand.
On one occasion, CIG agents had been campusing Rodrigo's neighborhood when they noticed an unmarked vehicle
following them. One of the car's occupants was taking photographs of them. Several weeks later, agents were meeting
with a possible witness in the lobby of a hotel. Their meeting was abruptly interrupted
by swarms of police officers bursting into the lobby and attempting to arrest the witness.
The Casc agents managed to quickly usher the witness into one of the hotel's rooms. They feared that if the police
arrested him, he might never be seen again. Half expecting the police to open fire
in their desperation to take the witness, one of the agents called out, "You will have to kill us all."
As they attempted to manage the situation, Carlos Castraana was able to call the vice president and the head of
the national police, who told the police to withdraw. It turned out that the potential witness
knew nothing of note, but it was clear someone had thought that he did. Seas agents soon caught wind of another
possible witness when a government minister notified Carlos Castraana that he knew someone who could blow the case
wide open. Investigators met with this new witness at a soccer field near the Mexican
border. He claimed to be associated with a gang called Pitagoras, which had been hired
to kill Rodrigo for $180,000. The witness said he was close to the gang's leader and was terrified for his
life, adding, "I do not want to continue to kill people. This will explode because there are politicians involved."
The politicians the witness implicated were not from the Colom administration but from the opposition.
The vice presidential candidate to General Otto Perez Molina who had lost to President Colom at the previous
election was named as being involved. As the agents continued to speak with the witness at the soccer field, a crowd
of journalists suddenly appeared and interrupted the interview. They published articles about the
witness's allegations that it was actually the opposition party and not the government who had murdered Rodrigo.
The unexpected appearance of reporters at the secret meeting was frustrating to Carlos Castrasana, especially as he told
President Colom to ensure no one from the media knew about it. When the Casc agents looked into the
witness's allegations, his entire story quickly fell apart. There was no evidence to support his claims, and he
eventually admitted that he'd made it all up, stating, "I received a call from a member of the government saying, "I
have a job for you." And he offered me money to give false evidence. He alleged that Colum's spokesman and
the first lady were part of the scheme. All of this misdirection only made Carlos Castrasana more suspicious that
the government was trying to cover something up. He sent a formal complaint to the
government about their meddling and also forwarded it to the United Nations. From that moment on, the SEC agents were
left alone to complete their investigation. They turned their attention to the black
Mazda 6 that had been captured on security cameras trailing Rodrigo Rosenberg Marzono on the morning of his
murder. The vehicle had several notable features, including red rims on the hub caps, a rear spoiler, and a sticker over
the petrol cap. CIG agents obtained a record of all black Mazda 6s registered in Guatemala.
There were only 50 in the entire country. Over the next few weeks, Seig agents tracked
down each and every one and carefully photographed them, looking for the right car.
They finally found it at a home just outside of Guatemala City. The car had the exact same distinctive
features as the vehicle captured on camera. It was registered to a 33-year-old named
William Hilberto Santos Diva. Notably, Santos was a former member of the National Police, which seemed to be
a certain indicator of some kind of conspiracy. CIG agents gained access to Santos's
mobile phone records and found that on the morning of Rodrigo's murder, Santos's phone had been making and
receiving numerous calls within the vicinity of the shooting. Now that they had the name of a suspect
who might have been involved in the hit, agents got to work at gathering evidence.
They set up a wire tap on Santos's mobile phone so they could listen in on all of his calls. It was the first time
ever in Guatemala where a wiretap was legally implemented. Prior to CIG's investigation, they'd
only ever been used by unauthorized organizations. It turned out that William Hilberto
Santos Diva was part of a crime gang. Investigators were able to identify 10 members of the criminal network by
surveilling Santos and recording his conversations. All of the members were men aged between
20 and 40. Like Santos, eight of the others were either current or former police officers.
The final member was a military veteran. This kind of corruption within Guatemala's armed and law enforcement
agencies wasn't unusual. Case agents gained access to the other gang members' phones as well. For
several months, the CE agents listened in on Santos and his affiliates, mapping out their relationships to one another
and decoding the language they used to communicate. The agents recorded 12,000 phone calls.
It became clear from the group's communications that they were involved in all sorts of criminal activity
ranging from robberies to kidnappings for ransom. They were also professional hitmen who
killed targets in exchange for money. One phrase the agents became accustomed to was to knock over a big stick. A
secret phrase the criminals used to refer to killing a significant individual. One of the big sticks they referred to
was Rodrigo Rosenberg Mazano, with one of the gang's leaders remarking on one occasion that he wanted to hear zero
comments about the Rosenberg job because there were extremely powerful people involved in that particular hit.
The CC agents checked the gang's phone data for the time of Rodrigo's murder and were able to place many of them at
the scene of the crime. Carlos Castraana and his colleagues knew they had identified Rodrigo's killers.
They just didn't know who had hired them or why. Sometimes the Seasig agents overheard
the gang discussing impending crimes they were preparing to commit like a bank robbery and a kidnapping for
ransom. Seig subtly intervened by alerting the intended targets. The bank the group had planned to rob
increased their security. A Korean businessman the group wanted to kidnap abruptly left to Guatemala.
As their crimes were foiled, the gang began to worry that there was a rat amongst them who was leaking their
plans. They had a suspect in mind, the one former military officer in the group who hadn't been recruited from the same
police force as the rest. On Tuesday, September 8, 2009, 5 months after Rodrigo's murder, Seig agents
overheard a conversation between two of the gangs leaders in which they discussed the possible mole in their
group. "We have a problem," one said. "He's going around talking about Rosenberg."
The two leaders agreed that the member they'd identified as a mole had to be killed.
They planned to murder his girlfriend as well, who was underage and pregnant. Although Carlos Castraana hadn't yet
learned enough to figure out who had ordered the gang's hit against Rodrigo, he realized they would have to step in
immediately to prevent the double homicide. At 6:00 a.m. on Saturday, September 11,
Case agents launched 14 simultaneous raids at homes across Guatemala City and two other cities.
By 610, all 10 members of the gang were arrested and in custody. More than 30 cell phones were seized in
the raids along with other evidence. The arrests were hugely publicized with the suspects being paraded in front of
news cameras as Carlos Castraana assured reporters and the public that the killers of Rodrigo Rosenberg Marzano had
been apprehended. It was only a matter of time until they identified the person who' hired them.
When CC agents examined the phone seized in the raid, they noticed there was a phone number that had been inconsistent
contact with the gang members on the day of Rodrigo's murder. It belonged to a man named Jesus Manuel
Cardono Medina, who went by the alias of Mamine. Medina was another crooked ex- cop
involved in criminal activity. CIG agents brought Medina in for questioning, and he eventually agreed to
confess to his involvement in the murder for hire in exchange for a reduced sentence and a new identity in the
country's witness protection program. Two of the other gang members followed suit, and investigators soon had a
detailed picture of the days leading up to Rodrigo's murder, as well as the crime itself.
Medina was the intermediary who had approached the gang with the murder request after being hired by somebody
else. Medina said that person was a professional bodyguard whose bosses were having problems with an extortionist.
The bosses wanted to get rid of the extortionist ultimately identified as Rodrigo Rosenberg Mazano.
Medina agreed to take on the job and met with the bodyguard's bosses. They would give him a burner phone he
was to use to speak with a man on the inside who would provide further details about the target, Rodrigo, his
movements, where he lived, and what he looked like. It was his suggestion that the hitman
attack Rodrigo as he left his apartment building. The inside man would pay $40,000
in exchange for the hit and Medina outsourced the murder to the organized crime gang.
On Friday, May 8, 2 days before Rodrigo's murder, the gang met up at a Burger King restaurant in an upscale
neighborhood to plan the hit for that Sunday morning. Then they scoped out Rodrigo's apartment
building, checking it out from all angles and planning the logistics of the crime.
2 days later, the gang rose early and met at a gas station at 6:30. They were traveling in four different
cars. By 6:40, they were at Rodrigo's building. The early morning streets were silent
with no one to be seen. Waiting ready in place, the gang members just had to wait for the inside man to
give them the signal to go. At 8:00 a.m., the inside man called Medina, the intermediary, to give him a
heads up that Rodrigo was about to go on a bike ride. The gang members were to follow him and carry out the hit then
and there. Medina in turn notified William Santos Diva who was parked by the apartment
building in his black Mazda 6. Within 5 minutes, Rodrigo left the building on his bicycle and rode away.
Santos followed him until Rodrigo turned onto a service road. Then Santos radioed
another gang member named Lucas Santiago who was waiting in a white truck and handed over the job to him.
The white truck turned into the service road and Santiago spotted Rodrigo who was sitting on the curb listening to
music on his iPod. Santiago jumped out of the truck, shot Rodrigo five times with a 9mm gun, then
got back in the truck and sped away. The hit now complete, the gang met up again at the same Burger King where
they'd gone days earlier and had breakfast together. Medina tried calling the inside man to
confirm that the job was done, but he didn't answer the phone. The phone number belonging to the inside
man was one that the Casc agents recognized. It was the same number behind the threatening calls Rodrigo had received
in the week leading up to his murder. Records showed that the inside man's phone had only ever interacted with two
other numbers. One was Rodrigo's cell phone, and the other was the burner phone Medina had been given by the
powerful bosses, who said they needed an extortionist taken care of. It hadn't been used since making the 8:00 a.m.
call to Medina on Sunday, May 10, alerting him that it was time to kill Rodrigo.
This burner phone was never found. Carlos Castraana knew that identifying who this phone belonged to was key to
solving the case. They tried to trace the owner by looking into when and how it was purchased.
The phone had been bought from a shopping center on Monday, May 4, just 1 day before the threatening calls to
Rodrigo began. The buyer hadn't used a card to pay for the phone. instead opting for cash.
This meant the purchase couldn't be traced to a bank account. However, investigators caught a lucky
break when they found a sales tax form for the purchase that featured a faded signature.
The signature belonged to Luis Lopez Florianne, Rodrigo Rosenberg Marzano's personal driver.
CCTV footage from the store confirmed that Louise had bought the phone. This revelation didn't make sense as
Louise was known to be a devoted employee and close confidant of Rodrigo. Investigators couldn't understand why he
would be behind the scheme that resulted in his boss's murder. Investigators approached Louise, but he
refused to talk. The driver remained tight-lipped until Rodrigo's son, Eduardo, made contact
with him. Eduardo couldn't believe that his father's trusted driver could have anything to do with his death and
promised Luis that he would stand by him. Eduardo just had one condition. If Luis
had made any promises to Rodrigo before his murder, he had to break them now for
the sake of the case. When investigators reached out to Louise again, he began talking.
He admitted that he had purchased the phone, but insisted that he had done so under strict instructions.
On Monday, May 4, Rodrigo had taken an unofficial leave of absence from work. He then got in touch with Louise and
asked him to run some errands for him. Rodrigo wanted Luis to go out and buy two prepaid cell phones from two
separate shopping centers. Louise was to pay with cash and provide no form of identification when making
the purchase. Louise did as his boss asked, but slipped up when he accidentally signed
the sales tax form for one of the phones with his name. A secretary at Rosenberg's law firm
subsequently confirmed that Luis had handed in receipts for the phones for reimbursement, seemingly verifying his
claim that he believed the purchase was workrelated. Surely, if Luis were conspiring to
commit murder, he wouldn't have made this mistake. [Music] Louise said that he'd taken the phones
to Rodrigo, who had kept one of them. He asked Luis to deliver the other one to a
close friend of his named Francisco Valdez Pis. Once again, the driver did as he was
told. Francisco Valdez Pais had known Rodrigo since childhood. Francisco and his brother Esto owned one
of Guatemala's largest pharmaceutical companies and their cousin Rosa had been Rodrigo's first wife.
Even though Rodrigo and Rosa had long since divorced, the Valdez Pers brothers still considered Rodrigo a member of the
family, referring to him as their cousin. On Sunday, May 3, the day before Rodrigo
asked his driver to buy two burner phones, Rodrigo asked Francisco to visit him at home.
When Francisco arrived and sat down with Rodrigo, the latter made a startling confession.
He had been madly in love with Marjgerie Musa, and her murder less than one month
earlier had utterly devastated him. That coming Thursday, May 7, would have been their third anniversary.
The couple had been secretly seeing each other for a long time. They'd first met
while dropping their children off for school at the same bus stop near the apartment building where they both
lived. Over time, a romance blossomed between them. Even though Marjgerie was married,
Marjgerie had been the one to recommend Rodrigo's legal services to her father, Khil, and that was how Khil had become
his client. The business relationship also allowed Rodrigo to spend more time with
Marjgery. Rodrigo's romance with Marjgery brought him a lot of joy. The twice divorced father of four
believed he had finally met his soulmate. The couple desperately wanted to be together, but the situation was
difficult. Marjgerie wanted to obtain a divorce before going public with another
relationship. However, her father was very traditional and there were rumors that he disinherited his eldest
daughter, Aziza, following her own divorce. For years, Rodrigo and Marjorie had to
remain content with seeing one another in secret. They sent one another adoring messages with Rodrigo calling Marjorie,
Marjorie D. Rosenberg, and my Tinkerbell. Every Tuesday, they shared a romantic lunch together at Rodrigo's apartment.
He had his driver, Louise, fill the apartment with red roses prior to each date.
When Marjgerie hadn't arrived for their long-standing lunch plans on Tuesday, April 14, Rodrigo had known something
was wrong. When he heard that two people were killed in a shooting nearby, he had
screamed desperately at a friend over the phone. They killed her. They killed her.
Friends and family had witnessed Rodrigo's intense grief over the ensuing days. He had cried for 2 hours straight
after the murders were confirmed. His son Eduardo described Rodrigo as completely destroyed.
The reaction had seemed disproportionate until Rodrigo confided in Eduardo and several others about his true
relationship with Marjorie. In a letter to one friend, Rodrigo admitted that he felt like he was
disintegrating little by little. After Marjgery's death, Rodrigo received a call from a jeweler informing him that
Marjgerie had ordered a wedding ring for him shortly before her death. The pair had frequently discussed
marrying when the time was right. Rodrigo wore the ring daily after that, telling a friend, "This is the message
she sent me." He can be seen wearing it in the 18-minute video testimony to be released
in the event of his murder despite being unmarried at the time. When Rodrigo summoned his friend
Francisco Valdez Pers to his home on Sunday, May 3, he told him that Marjorie had been planning to leave her husband
on May 7, the date of their third anniversary. According to Francisco, during that same
conversation, Rodrigo had said he was very scared that his life was in danger. He asked for Francisco's help in finding
a bodyguard who could protect him. Rodrigo said he would send a phone to pass along to the potential bodyguard.
He didn't want the bodyguard making contact using his usual device because Rodrigo was worried he was being
surveiled. This version of events is at odds with the confessions made by hired intermediary Medina and the hitman.
They identified Francisco and his brother Esttoardo as the two powerful bosses who said they needed an
extortionist killed. Investigators believed Francisco and Esttoardo knew Rodrigo was hiring hitman
to kill someone, a person they believed to be a blackmailer. They hadn't known that the true victim
was Rodrigo himself. After the gang members carried out the hit, they had repeatedly tried to call
the number of the inside man who had provided them with all of the information necessary to murder Rodrigo.
The phone was never answered again. The gang members began to worry that they weren't going to be paid. So, they
contacted the bodyguard who had originally set up the hit for his two powerful bosses.
He informed them that his bosses were currently unavailable due to a family emergency,
but the gang insisted that they needed to be paid. So, a meeting was set up later that day at the boss's workplace,
the headquarters of their pharmaceutical company. Medina went on behalf of the gang and
was greeted by Francisco and Estoardo Valdez Pis. Both were visibly shaken as they
informed Medina that the wrong person had been murdered. The gang had killed their cousin, Rodrigo.
[Music] The Seig's complex investigation had led them to a shocking revelation. The person who had orchestrated the hit
against Rodrigo Rosenberg Marzano was none other than Rodrigo himself. Although this seemed too bizarre to be
believable, it also led to some elements of the crime finally making sense. If Rodrigo had been fearing for his life,
then why would he have gone out for a bike ride on a Sunday morning in a dangerous city, making himself a
vulnerable target? This ride had not been part of Rodrigo's typical schedule. In fact, his bicycle had actually been
damaged for some time and was in need of repair up until right before the murder.
Rodrigo had asked his driver, Louise, to make sure it was fixed by that Sunday morning.
The only way the hitman could have known about Rodrigo's bike ride that day was if someone in Rodrigo's inner circle had
tipped them off. and the only people who had known when he was departing were Rodrigo himself
and his driver. Moreover, Rodrigo had been shot after getting off his bike and sitting for
several minutes on the curb. Phone records revealed he hadn't received or made any calls at this time.
It was as though he'd just been sitting there waiting. Phone data also revealed that the
supposed threatening calls he'd received from the same phone he'd had his driver
buy were made from inside his own apartment. CIG agents discovered that just before
his death, Rodrigo had issued a check for $40,000 and asked his secretary to deliver it to
the Valdez Pers brothers. This was the same amount of money promised to the criminal gang in
exchange for the hit. The Valdez Py brothers had been unwitting pawns in Rodrigo's scheme.
Rodrigo had lied to them to obtain their help in finding hitmen for hire. He had also lied to numerous friends and
family members in the week leading up to his death, repeatedly talking about his
fear that he would be killed and how he was being stalked by sinister forces. 6 days before his murder, Rodrigo told
his friend Luis Mendes that the president's secretary had overtly threatened him, demanding that he stop
blaming President Colom for the murder of the Muses or the same thing would happen to him.
Rodrigo claimed that he'd replied, "Neither you or anyone else are going to shut me up. You are a bunch of shitty
murderers." Rodrigo had then enlisted Louis's help in recording a final testimony to be
released in the event of his murder. Rodrigo had set other plans in motion prior to his death. Just days before he
was killed, he purchased two burial plots, one for himself and an adjoining one where he hoped Marjgery would be
moved to. He handed over his law firm to his son Eduardo. He gave away several family heirlooms
and he bought a beach house as a gift for his family situated on Guatemala's Pacific coast.
All of these actions suggested he was preparing to die rather than taking actions to prevent it. If Rodrigo's
driver hadn't mistakenly signed his name on the sales tax form for one of the burner phones, then Rodrigo's scheme
might have never been discovered. Carlos Castraana and the other Case agents believed Rodrigo had been
motivated by multiple factors. For starters, he had been in a highly distraught state following numerous
stressful events in his life. He was estranged from some of his children who were living in Mexico and undergoing a
bitter custody battle with their mother. His own mother had recently died and finally he had been plunged into extreme
despair and feelings of guilt by the violent murder of his girlfriend Marjgerie Musa.
To some extent he blamed himself for her death due to not having advised Khil Musa more strongly against becoming
involved in the Ban Rural bank. Rodrigo seemingly lost the desire to live and also wanted revenge against the
Colom government whom he blamed for Marjgery's murder. Rodrigo was convinced the Coloms had
killed Marjgerie and Khalil Musa thanks to intelligence he'd mostly received from his friend Luis Mendes.
But Luis had told Rodrigo that he didn't stand a chance against the nation's president and his administration.
Rodrigo agreed, realizing he didn't have strong enough evidence to take to court,
especially in a country where 98% of murders went unsolved. So, he fabricated documents that
implicated the president, as well as putting together an even more drastic plot.
With the help of Luis Mandisal and right-wing radio host Mario David Garcia, Rodrigo filmed a video blaming
the government for his murder, instructing Luis to release it if he was killed. Then he orchestrated his own death so he
could blame the government from beyond the grave in the hope that they would be overthrown by a furious public and
political opponents. After 8 months on the case, lead investigator Carlos Castraana was
certain he had solved it, but was terrified about making his findings public. Rodrigo's murder had stirred up
so much anger and passion amongst the Guatemalan people, many of whom believed their government had engaged in multiple
conspiracies. The revelation that Rodrigo himself had been behind the entire thing might seem
unbelievable and could lead to further unrest. On Monday, January 11, 2010, Castraana
met with Rodrigo's son, Eduardo, and shared his findings. Eduardo would later say he was initially
infuriated by what he was told. It seemed so convenient for the victim to be blamed, which left nobody really
taking responsibility at all. In a feature article about the case for the New Yorker, writer David Gran said that
Eduardo subsequently seemed to make peace with the findings. Quote, he later told me that he had been forced to face
a lot of dark truths. In the meeting with Castraana, he made one request. If Castra Senna believed
that his father had been trying, even if mistakenly, to help his country, then he
should say so at the press conference. Castraenna's press conference announcing the result of the investigation was held
the following day. He and his team had reviewed more than 100,000 phone calls, 5,000 documents,
and databases, and conducted countless interviews. They had left no stone unturned.
Speaking to the media and the Guatemalan people, Castraana methodically laid out
the evidence before declaring who planned the act. We have to conclude that it was Rodrigo Rosenberg himself.
Nobody else but him is responsible for his own death. He planned it all. Rosenberg felt guilty about the
assassination of Marjgerie Musa. He began a desperate search all over to find the Musa's killers, but he found no
proof. He decided to sacrifice his life in exchange for a change in the country.
There can be no other explanation. Castra Santa also kept his promise to Eduardo, adding
he was an honorable person. Those listening to the press conference were left stunned by Castrasana's words.
President Alvaro Colom had not been informed of the findings prior to Castrasana's announcement. He held his
own press conference 2 hours after Castraanners, his wife Sandra standing by his side as he stated.
Today, a sad but very important chapter in the history of Guatemala is closed. May 11th of last year, we were accused
of causing a tragic death without proof and without any foundation. CIG agents had uncovered no links
between the crime and President Colom, his wife or any other members of his administration accused by Rodrigo
Rosenberg Marzano. For some Guatemalans, this was vindication. Although many citizens had believed
Rodrigo's postumous accusation, they had mostly been members of Guatemala's wealthy elite who disliked President
Colom and his wife Sandra. Others had always been suspicious that the video was part of a right-wing plot
to overthrow a government that wanted to raise business taxes and improve the circumstances of the country's
poverty-stricken Mayan population. [Music] Investigators had even looked into whether the president had any connection
to the Valdez Py brothers, who were responsible for setting up the hit, but found none.
In December of 2009, CC issued arrest warrants for Francisco and Esttoad Valdez Pers, who had since gone into
hiding. They spent almost 7 months overseas on the run before returning to Guatemala
and handing themselves over to the authorities on Monday, June 28, 2010. The brothers maintained their claim that
they'd thought they were simply hiring a bodyguard for Rodrigo. They were transferred to a military-based prison
for their own protection. In another public press conference, Carlos Castraana accused the two
brothers of destroying evidence and sabotaging the state's case against them. In July 2013, more than 4 years
after the crime, the chief witness against the brothers, Jesus Manuel Cardona Medina, suddenly retracted his
testimony against them. Medina claimed he had been coerced into certain statements by Seig.
Four years later, the charges against the brothers were dropped due to a lack of evidence.
They were released after spending 7 years in custody. Although Medina and all 10 gang members
were convicted for their role in Rodrigo's murder, no one has ever been held responsible for planning it.
Although the murder of Rodrigo Rosenberg Marzano had been officially solved, a number of unanswered questions remained,
some people who trusted the result of Seig's investigation still wondered whether Rodrigo had been helped by
co-conspirators in carrying out his plan. Namely, they suspected that Rodrigo's longtime friend and mentor
Luis Mendesal and right-wing radio host Mario David Garcia had been in on Rodrigo's scheme. the entire time.
Luis Mendes was a well-known spy who was not a fan of the Colom government. Mario
David Garcia was also opposed to Colom's administration. It was speculated that the two, who had
admitted to helping Rodrigo film his testimony, had been the architects of the murder.
However, they completely denied any knowledge of Rodrigo's plans to have himself murdered.
Lead investigator Carlos Castraana told New Yorker writer David Gran that while he wasn't sure if the two men were in on
the plot, he did believe they had tried to exploit the murder for their own political purposes.
They were preparing some kind of coup. Castraana said Casik had managed to find a witness who
claimed Mario David Garcia encouraged Rodrigo to take his own life and release the video he'd recorded stating, "Do it
for your country." There were also claims that the country's vice president had tensioned
with President Colom and ambitions to become the president himself. According to another witness who was
friends with Luis Mandazabul one week before Rodrigo was killed, the vice president was told about Rodrigo's
investigation into the Musa murders and asked if he was in a position to take control of the country if necessary.
Yes, was Vice President Esparta's reply. When asked about this conversation, Vice
President Esparta denied it. In his recorded testimony, Rodrigo had encouraged the vice president to assume
power from President Colom. Although Rodrigo Rosenberg Marzano's case was solved, the double homicide
that had motivated his killing was still open. Although President Colum had been
absolved in the Rosenberg case, many still blamed him for the murders of Khalil and Marjgerie Musa. But
investigators had found little evidence to support Rodrigo's claims surrounding the Musa murders.
It turned out that the story that Khalil Musa had been asked to join Ana Cafe's board wasn't even true. It had actually
been Khalil who'd approached the board to make the request himself. Moreover, Khalil Musa had ultimately
turned down the offer to join the Banurel Banks board. That matter had been resolved prior to his death,
removing the supposed motive for his murder that Rodrigo had cited. Seig were eventually able to identify
the hitmen who had killed the Muses. Several confessed after being arrested and said that the reason for Khalil's
murder was related to his textile business. Although he had a reputation for integrity, Khalil Musa was said to be
purchasing contraband fabric for his factory from a criminal gang. When he got into a dispute with the gang and
refused to pay the agreed upon amount for the fabric, the distributor arranged to have him killed. His daughter
Marjgerie was collateral damage in the attack. 12 gang members were arrested for their
role in the Musa murders and taken to trial. Eight men were convicted for the crime.
Although the court found these hitmen guilty, it ruled that prosecutors had not proven a motive.
The Musa family, who had rejected CIG's reasoning for Khalil Musa's murder, took
out a full page newspaper advertisement asserting the court's ruling was proof of the absolute integrity of Mr. Khalil
Musa and his impeccable business ethic. Casig remained confident in their findings and considered the case solved
and closed. Khalil Musa's eldest daughter, Aziza, has since published a book about her
father's life titled A Lebanese from Guatemala. It turned out that several of the
criminals who had participated in the contract killing also played a part in the murder of Rodrigo Rosenberg Marzano.
He had inadvertently hired some of the men who had killed his beloved girlfriend to end his own life as well.
In his piece for the New Yorker, writer David Gran reflected on how Rosenberg's mistaken belief about the Musa murders
almost upended the Guatemalan government. Writing, Rosenberg, who in the land of the blind
had seemed like a oneeyed king, had been wrong about who killed the Muses, triggering a series of tragic events
that nearly rewrote a nation's history based on a lie. After the truth was revealed, the Colom
administration was able to continue running the country. President Colom completed his 4-year term in January of
2012. As Guatemalan presidents are only permitted to serve a single term, he did
not run for reelection. His wife Sandra later ran for president in three separate elections, but never
won. In 2019, she was arrested on charges of violating campaign finance rules. The
case was dismissed 3 years later in 2022. President Alvaro Colom died in January
2023 at the age of 71. He had been suffering from esophageal cancer and pulmonary emphyma. His legacy
as president was significant with a focus on expanding social programs and assistance to Guatemala's poorest
citizens who gained increased access to health services, education, and social security.
President Colom also built a strong relationship with the country's Mayan peoples, making him one of the first
presidents in Guatemala to do so. But his government was also tainted by corruption which made him strongly
disliked. Despite some of the accomplishments he achieved while in office, President
Colom left office with a 95.83% disapproval rating. Guatemala today has much lower violent
crime than it did in 2009. The homicide rate has dropped from 46 per 100,000 people to 16.
The country still faces challenges with organized crime, drug trafficking, the justice system, and violence, but
improvements have been made. In October 2022, writer and narrator Edgar Castillo, a first generation
Guatemalan American, launched a 10 episode podcast about the murder of Rodrigo Rosenberg Mazano.
titled The Rosenberg Case. It was executive produced by Hollywood star Oscar Isaac, another Guatemalan
American. In the series, Castillo reflects on how this particular murder seemed to usher
in a new era of political conspiracy theories, the likes of which are far more prevalent today than they were in
2009. Castillo credits Rodrigo's video with giving his story greater impact. And
thanks to the then relatively new social media platform of YouTube, his story was
able to reach millions of people who otherwise might never have seen it. Over the years, YouTube has become home
to a plethora of conspiracy theory content, making such theories more accessible and seemingly credible than
they might otherwise be. quote, "YouTube isn't just about uploading and watching
videos. It's also the second largest search engine in the world." So, what does this mean for the creation and
dissemination of conspiracy theories? The obvious answer is that it's never been easier to do both.
What no one knew, what no one could have possibly anticipated was that the story
Rosenberg told was almost completely fictional, manufactured. It was as if he had put it together on a
storyboard with a crack team of writers. Rosenberg, perhaps with the help of Luis
Mendesal and Mario David Garcia, had effectively created a piece of content, conspiracy as content, and had chosen
the perfect platform upon which to disseminate it. And in my opinion, the whole Rosenberg affair inaugurated a new
era of political disinformation. It served as a prototype for what a conspiracy theory could do when turned
into entertainment and deployed on social media. After the truth about Rodrigo's murder
was revealed by Carlos Castraana and Seig, vandals destroyed the shrine that had been built for the lawyer at the
sight of his death. Photos and trinkets that had been left there were thrown about the street. A
cross that had been erected there was left defaced and crooked. But to many people, Rodrigo Rosenberg
Marzano was still a hero who had died because he wanted to inspire positive change for his country.
To those who knew and loved him, Rodrigo was a respected lawyer, a doting father,
a beloved friend, and a passionate advocate for Guatemala. In 2011, Rodrigo's son, Eduardo, wrote
an op-ed in which he reflected on his father's legacy, writing, "What defined my father was his
life, regardless of the circumstances under which it came to an end, whatever they were." In that realization
lies our peace. [Music] [Music]

Early on the morning of Sunday May 10 2009, corporate attorney Rodrigo Rosenberg Marzano left home to take a bike ride around his neighbourhood in Guatemala City. Within minutes, he’d been shot dead. Rodrigo’s friends and family were left reeling by the violent murder, but their shock would only increase when a video emerged one day later of Rodrigo predicting his own murder… and naming the killer...

CREDITS Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Erin Munro Creative direction – Milly Raso Production & music – Mike Migas Audio editing – Anthony Telfer

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RESOURCES

For all credits and sources, please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-327-rodrigo-rosenberg-marzano

Brief Summary

Rodrigo Rosenberg orchestrated his own murder to frame Guatemala's president, igniting protests and revealing deep political corruption.

Key points

Rodrigo's Threatening Calls. In May 2009, attorney Rodrigo Rosenberg began receiving death threats via phone calls.
The Murder of Rodrigo Rosenberg. Rodrigo was shot five times in a brutal attack, just days after receiving threats.
Rodrigo's Shocking Testimony. In a video recorded before his death, Rodrigo accused President Alvaro Colom of his murder.
Rodrigo's Final Plea. Rodrigo recorded a video revealing corruption at the highest levels, urging Guatemalans to fight back.
Protests Erupt. In response to Rodrigo's video, thousands protested in Guatemala City, demanding justice.
Witness Claims Gang Involvement. A witness implicated a gang in Rodrigo's murder, claiming political connections.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

All of us who are here loved Rodrigo very much.

Luis Mendesal speaking at Rodrigo's funeral.

13:54WatchAug 30, 2025

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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