Three men have confessed to the murders of Miss Venezuela Monica Spear and husband Thomas Henry Berry.

The brutal slaying of the former beauty queen and actress in her native country of Venezuela has led to the sentencing of three men.

Five more defendants await their fate after a court in Valencia sentenced the first three men on Tuesday, said the Venezuelan Supreme Court. President Nicolas Maduro has said that combating violent crime like this one is one of his top priorities after Spear's death stirred up several social media protest against the Venezuelan government.

Although an oil-rich and beautiful country, Venezuela has one of the highest homicide rates in the world. A slaying like this one is unfortunately not uncommon for the Spanish-speaking country.

Monica Spear, 29, and Henry Thomas Berry, 39, were murdered on a roadside near Puerto Cabello, Venezuela after their car broke down. The couple's 5-year-old daughter Maya, sat in the back seat when Spear and Berry resisted the robbery that would tragically end their lives. Although she was injured, Maya survived the attack; Spear and Berry were sadly shot to their deaths.

Fans, family members and Venezuela as a whole mourn the murder of their successful beauty queen who accomplished so much in her short 29 years of life.

Spear was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela and was crowned Miss Venezuela in 2004. The very next year she came in fourth place at the Miss Universe pageant in Thailand. She had a bachelor's degree in theater obtained at the University of Central Florida, which led to her stardom in soap operas. Spear was a popular face on the Telemundo Network, acting in Telenovelas as a protagonist in "Pasion Prohibida" and in 2011's "Flor Salvaje", "Que el Cielo Me Explique" and "La Mujer Perfecta" in 2010.