TX - Marisela Botello, 23, Dallas (from Seattle), 5 Oct 2020 - Map, Media, Timelines *NO DISCUSSION*

[PommyMommy]

DEC 8, 2023

Day 4: Man charged with Marisela Botello's murder takes the stand​

[...]

Charles Beltran, one of the individuals facing murder charges in Botello's death, took the stand shortly before 10 a.m. on Friday and testified most of the day.

Marisela Botello’s mother could not bear to hear one more agonizing detail of her daughter’s final moments of life and left the courtroom in tears.

[,,,]

During the attack, a startled Beltran says he tried to pull Dykes off of Botello and both women fell to the floor.

He claims he pinned Dykes’ to the wall asking what she was doing.

“She’s like: I told you not to bring more girls over here. I’m getting tired of this [expletive,]” said Beltran.

[...]

Harris alluded to the possibility of other people, not already charged, involved in the gruesome murder.

He got Beltran to admit being told his capital murder charge would be dropped so long as he testified truthfully in Dykes’ trial.

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

Marisela Botello murder trial: Day 5 Livestream | FOX 4​

 

[PommyMommy]

DEC 11, 2023

Marisela Botello murder trial: Lisa Dykes, Nina Marano's escape to Cambodia the focus of testimony​

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During Monday's testimony, Nicole Beauchamp told jurors she had a relationship with Beltran. They met in Miami, where Beauchamp lived in 2021.

At the time, Beltran called himself Antonio and said he had moved to South Florida from Pennsylvania.

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Julian Lapeyre with the Dallas County Pre-trial Services Department also testified on Monday.

Lapeyre supervised the house arrest of Dykes and Marano when they were fitted for ankle monitors upon bonding out of the Dallas County Jail in the Spring of 2021.

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Airport records indicate they left the U.S. on Christmas Day.

"Pretty quickly we were able to establish that they flew out of DFW into Seoul, South Korea," said Taylor Page with FBI Dallas.

From there the couple headed 9,000 miles away to Cambodia in Southeast Asia.

[...]

Kathleen Nichols with the FBI said they were able to locate Dykes and Marano in a seaside town, outside of the capital, through various ATM transactions.

A taxi driver pointed out the house where they were living.

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The final witness of the day was Vanessa Pozos, Marisela Botello's friend from Seattle.

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Pozos said she was messaging with Botello on the night she disappeared.

At first she didn't think anything when she stopped responding, then she got worried.

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Prosecutors told FOX 4 they hoped to rest their case against Dykes on Monday, but did not do so on Monday afternoon.

The defense is expected to call Dykes herself to the stand.

 

[PommyMommy]

DEC 12, 2023

Marisela Botello murder trial: Day 6 Livestream | FOX 4​

 

[PommyMommy]

DEC 12, 2023

Marisela Botello murder trial: Suspect Lisa Dykes denies stabbing Seattle woman​

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On the stand, Dykes says Beltran, a rapper, was an investment and that the two were never intimate.

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Dykes denied stabbing Botello, saying she did not come in contact with the 23-year-old and wasn't aware of any issues until the FBI called her. The murder suspect claimed she wasn't even home at the time of the stabbing.

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Dykes claims she went with Marano, who is an attorney, to a FedEx distribution center in Hutchins that morning to try and locate some legal documents Marano needed.

The prosecution maintains the two women were instead dumping Botello's body in nearby Wilmer.

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Dykes said the package wasn't there, so they went back home. She also said that Beltran was a violent person who used to beat his dog and carried a gun at all times, contradicting previous witnesses who described Beltran as someone who avoided conflict.

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"We cut the monitors off because we both felt very much persecuted in this case," Dykes said. "I did nothing but work and raise children all my life. Why would I even be suspected in this?"

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The prosecution will continue its cross-examination of Lisa Dykes on Wednesday.

 

[PommyMommy]

DEC 12, 2023

Woman accused of killing Marisela Botello-Valadez takes stand in her own defense​

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On Tuesday morning, jurors also heard from the former lead detective Christine Ramirez. A three-day hearing earlier this year revealed Ramirez failed to turn over hundreds of pieces of evidence until just before Marano’s initial trial date.

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Harris’ questioning of Ramirez honed in on missing body-camera footage of officers interviewing witnesses who said they saw Botello after her disappearance and faulty information contained in arrest-warrant affidavits. The two also sparred over Beltran’s version of what happened to Botello. Ramirez interviewed Beltran after he was arrested in Utah, according to testimony.

State District Judge Nancy Mulder allowed Harris to treat Ramirez as a hostile witness, someone who is typically not cooperating with the lawyer who called them to the stand.

[...]

When asked, Ramirez said personal issues interfered with the investigation and agreed with Harris that she “dropped the ball” on the case.

“I forgot to actually send over the videos,” Ramirez said. “When I caught it, I corrected it right away. It was an honest mistake.”

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

DEC 13, 2023

Marisela Botello murder trial: Day 7 Livestream | FOX 4​

 

[PommyMommy]

DEC 13, 2023

Marisela Botello murder trial: Lisa Dykes guilty of murder, tampering with evidence​

[...]

The jury came to a decision after 90 minutes of deliberations.

Dykes showed no emotion as Judge Nancy Mulder read the verdict out loud.

[...]

Botello's brother gave a victim-impact statement on behalf of the family during the sentencing phase.

"I had my friends, but every day I had that person who I could just talk to, have those conversations you typically don't have with your parents," Luis Botello-Valadez told the jury. "I see my mom every day doing her best as being the loving mother that she's always been. She's always taking care of us despite us losing our sister, their first-born child."

[...]

The jury sentenced Dykes to life in prison and a $10,000 fine for the murder charge and 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine for the tampering charge.

"Ms. Dykes, I hope you find that you've been treated with a much greater amount of dignity and respect than you ever treated Marisela Botello-Valadez. May God have mercy on your soul," said Judge Mulder before Dykes was taken away.

[...]