Context:

Three men in their 20s have been sentenced to long jail terms for their involvement in the murder of Swedish hip-hop artist C Gambino, who was fatally shot in a Gothenburg car park in June 2024. Despite being cleared of direct murder charges, the court convicted them of aiding and abetting, with sentences ranging from 12.5 to 22 years. The murder, linked to gangland conflicts, remains shrouded in mystery regarding its exact motive, though no evidence suggests C Gambino was part of any criminal network. Extensive police investigations utilized mobile phone data and CCTV footage, yet the murder weapon was never found, and the attackers' DNA remains unidentified. In a related gang violence case, a 14-year-old was found guilty of a separate murder orchestrated by the notorious Foxtrot gang, highlighting the persistent issue of gang violence in Sweden's major cities.

Dive Deeper:

• C Gambino, an award-winning Swedish hip-hop artist, was murdered in a car park in Gothenburg in June 2024, a month after receiving the Grammis award for hip-hop artist of 2023. The shooting was described by prosecutors as a premeditated and ruthless act, yet the motive remains unknown despite links to gangland conflicts.

• Three young men were sentenced for their roles in the crime, with a 22-year-old receiving a life sentence and two others, aged 21 and 20, sentenced to 15.5 and 12.5 years respectively. While they were convicted of aiding and abetting the murder, the court could not establish who fired the fatal shot.

• Investigators faced challenges as the murder weapon was never recovered, and a vehicle used in the crime was found burned out. Despite these setbacks, police mapped the suspects' movements using mobile phone data and analyzed hours of CCTV footage showing the vehicle involved in the crime surveilling the area days before the attack.

• C Gambino's murder is part of a larger pattern of gang violence plaguing Sweden's major cities, where children are often recruited for violent acts. In a related case, a 14-year-old boy was found guilty of a gang-ordered murder, with two other boys involved in the conspiracy, though they face no punishment due to their age.

• The Foxtrot gang, involved in the separate case, has been linked to multiple killings in Sweden. A key figure in the gang was recently arrested in Iraqi Kurdistan, indicating international dimensions to Sweden's gang violence issues, further complicating local law enforcement efforts.