Texas Couple Accused Of Seattle Woman's Murder Found In Cambodia

Seattle WA

28 February, 2022

1:01 PM

Description

DALLAS, TX —A Texas couple awaiting trial for the 2020 murder of Marisela Botello-Valadez, of Seattle, has been arrested in Cambodia after allegedly cutting off their ankle monitors and fleeing, according to the Dallas Morning News. Nina Marano, 50, and her wife, Lisa Dykes, 58, were arrested last week in Cambodia by local authorities and with the assistance of the FBI, according to reports. The pair are two of three co-defendants —along with Charles Beltran —charged in connection with the murder of Botello-Valadez, 23, who went missing in October 2020 while she was in Dallas visiting a friend. Botello-Valadez's body was discovered in March 2021 in a remote area of Dallas County, and authorities said she died of stab wounds. According to reports, Botello-Valadez had gone to a bar alone and left with Beltran before she went missing. Beltran, Marano and Dykes shared a house in the Dallas suburb of Mesquite, according to Lawandcrime.com, where officials said they found blood matching Botello-Valadez's on carpets in Beltran's room. Marano and Dykes eventually were found in Florida and Beltran was found in Utah, and the trio was charged with murder and evidence tampering. Botello-Valadez's family voiced frustration that Marano and Dykes were allowed out of jail on a $500,00 bond as they awaited trial. "They got to spend the holidays together, I assume, in the comfort of their house instead of being locked away," Botello-Valadez's aunt Dennesly Castillo told WFAA in Dallas. "We don't have that option. We don't have the option to ever be able to sit there with Marisela again and celebrate or be out and about." According to court documents, Marano and Dykes removed their GPS trackers on Christmas Day within moments of each other and at the same location, before leaving the country. Heath Harris, who is Dykes' lawyer, told the Dallas Morning News that the couple's fleeing was not evidence of guilt, but was done because they feared Beltran. "I don't believe they fled because they felt they were guilty of murder," Harris said. according to the Associated Press. "I believe they fled because they are concerned for their safety and they didn't want to have to cooperate against the co-defendant."