Two men have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a rapper was found buried at his own home.
A police operation to locate Mike Dee, real name Roberto “Tito” Martín Alleruzzo, was launched after friends and neighbours reported him missing.
His body was discovered on Thursday (2 April), following two days of intensive searching, in a septic tank in his back garden, buried under 15cm of soil and rubble.
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A witness recalled seeing Tito, 58, covered in blood on Tuesday (31 March).
He offered to call an ambulance, but Tito refused. Pointing to his attacker, he said: “He hit me and stole my phone.”
A preliminary post-mortem gave his cause of death as a severe traumatic brain injury. Other injuries were also found, and doctors concluded he had been dead for around 48 hours.
One suspect, 29-year-old Joel Ramses Baladán, was arrested in the early hours following the grisly discovery and is believed to be the man Tito had identified.
A second suspect, 33-year-old Pablo García, handed himself in on Saturday (4 April).
Both now face charges of murder committed during a robbery, a crime that carries a potential life sentence.
Police say the suspected motive was to take possession of Tito’s property and sell it, as reported by Need To Know.
While giving his statement, Baladán denied involvement in the murder and blamed García, though he admitted being at the scene with him, claiming they had visited the rapper’s home to use drugs.
Reports describe all three men as socially vulnerable. Baladán had recently been released after serving five months for a bakery robbery.
A local shopkeeper in Morón, Argentina, recalled seeing Baladán on Tuesday (31 March) night.
She said: “He came to the shop and asked me, ‘Which soap is best for getting blood out of clothes? I work at the slaughterhouse, and my clothes get stained.’”
Tito, remembered by some as “Argentina’s first rapper”, had dedicated his life to music.
He appeared on national television for the first time in 1991 and went on to become a pioneer of Argentine hip hop.
He had a difficult childhood, having been abandoned and placed in a children’s home before being adopted by a couple, now deceased.
Both inside and outside his house, the scene reflected chaos – he was a known hoarder.
His wife and partner of 15 years, Aldana Mariela Barrios, described him as a “good man”.
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