What happened at the police academy
According to Ecuador's Prosecutor General, Bernal was killed on September 11, 2022, at the Escuela Superior de Policía Alberto Enríquez Gallo in Quito, where Cáceres was serving as an instructor with the rank of lieutenant. Prosecutors presented the death as a femicide committed inside the police institution.
Official trial reporting described the incident as occurring after Bernal entered the academy and went to the room assigned to Cáceres. The prosecution's evidence included forensic findings and testimony concerning the circumstances inside the building. Later public reporting stated that Bernal's body was found ten days after her disappearance on Casitagua hill, near the academy.
Investigation and return to Ecuador
The investigation became a major national case because the killing occurred inside a police training facility and because Cáceres left Ecuador while authorities were seeking him. Ecuadorian prosecutors later reported coordination with Colombian authorities that resulted in his return to Ecuador in January 2023 so he could be placed before the competent court.
This page does not treat the institutional controversy around the case as proof of criminal liability for people who were not convicted. The criminal responsibility described here follows the court record for Cáceres and preserves the separate judicial outcome for the other officer prosecuted in the case.
The 2023 conviction
On May 25, 2023, Ecuador's Prosecutor General announced that a criminal tribunal unanimously convicted Germán Cáceres as the direct perpetrator of femicide. He received an aggravated sentence of 34 years and 8 months in prison. The prosecution said the sentence reflected the maximum term increased because the crime was committed within a police institution.
The same tribunal acquitted police lieutenant Alfonso C. after finding reasonable doubt. That acquittal matters to the archive's wording: an adjudicated conviction against Cáceres does not justify describing another person as criminally responsible when the courts did not do so.
Appeal and cassation
On May 29, 2025, the Pichincha Provincial Court upheld Cáceres' 34-year-and-8-month sentence. The court rejected his request to reduce the punishment to 26 years. It also upheld Alfonso C.'s acquittal.
The case then reached Ecuador's National Court of Justice. On August 7, 2026, a criminal panel declared Cáceres' cassation appeal improper and unanimously reaffirmed the sentence. Current reporting described that ruling as exhausting the third and last ordinary instance in Ecuador's national jurisdiction. For precision, Crime by Region records the conviction as affirmed through the ordinary cassation stage rather than making broader claims about every conceivable extraordinary or international remedy.
Why the case became nationally significant
Bernal's killing generated intense scrutiny of gender-based violence and institutional responsibility because it took place inside the country's police academy. Those public-policy questions are important context, but this case file keeps them distinct from the narrower criminal findings. The verified adjudicated finding is that Cáceres committed femicide; the courts separately maintained the other officer's acquittal.
Using the legal classification applied by Ecuadorian prosecutors and courts is also deliberate. The page therefore uses femicide, rather than substituting a more generic label, while explaining the outcome in plain English for an international audience.
Frequently asked questions
Who was convicted of killing María Belén Bernal?
Germán Cáceres was convicted as the direct perpetrator of femicide and sentenced to 34 years and 8 months in prison.
Where did the crime occur?
Ecuador's Prosecutor General states that the femicide occurred inside the Escuela Superior de Policía Alberto Enríquez Gallo in Quito on September 11, 2022.
Was the conviction appealed?
Yes. The Pichincha Provincial Court upheld the sentence in May 2025. On August 7, 2026, the National Court of Justice rejected Cáceres' cassation challenge and reaffirmed the sentence.
Was another police officer convicted in the same case?
No. The courts maintained the acquittal of Alfonso C. Crime by Region does not treat that acquitted defendant as guilty.