UPDATE 2:41 p.m. (WBAP/KLIF News ) – The jury deliberated for just over two hours, Wednesday, before finding Lisa Dykes guilty of murder for the 2020 stabbing death of Mariselo Botello Valadez and sentencing her to life in prison with a $10,000 fine. The jury also found Dykes guilty of tampering with a corpse and sentenced her to another 20 years in prison along with a $10,000 fine.
DALLAS (WBAP/KLIF News ) – The woman at the heart of the murder trial in connection to the death of 23-year-old Mariselo Botello Valadez of Seattle in October 2020 is testifying in her defense this week.
Prosecutors argue 60-year-old Lisa Dykes fatally stabbed Valadez in a jealous rage, after finding the women in bed with the defendant’s former lover Charles Beltran.
Valadez met the Beltran, an aspiring rapper, during a night out at a Deep Ellum club. She was visiting from Seattle and her family said she was last sceHe testified that he was in a three-way relationship with Dykes and her wife Nina Marano.
The state asserts that Beltran took Valadez back to Dyke’s Mesquite home but never made it out alive.
Her remains were found in a wooded area near Wilmer in March 2021.
Dykes began testifying Tuesday afternoon. Although Beltran testified he saw Dykes commit the murder, she put the blame on his shoulders.
“Did you go into that room and stable Marisela?” her attorney Heath Harris asked.
“No,” Dykes replied.
“Have you ever met Marisela?” Heath asked.
“No,” Dykes replied.
Detectives told jurors cell phone data linked Dykes and Marano to the location near where Valadez’ body was found.
When Heath questioned Dykes about that, she told jurors she and Marano went to a nearby FedEx Distribution Center because her wife is an attorney and was expecting a package.
Dykes and Marano were arrested in Florida. Beltran was taken into custody in Utah.
Dykes and Marano cut their ankle monitors in December 2021 and fled the country. Authorities caught them in Cambodia.
When questioned about why the two fled, Dykes told jurors the two felt persecuted by the charges.
“The fact that they’ve brought this charge against us has ruined our lives,” she said.
Dykes resumed her testimony Wednesday morning.
Prosecutors dropped murder charges against Beltran and Marano. Both are still facing a tampering with evidence charge.
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