A couple who allegedly murdered a Seattle woman in Dallas in 2020 and subsequently fled the country was extradited to the United States and placed into custody by Dallas police last month.
In late February, FBI agents apprehended Nina Marano, 50, and her wife, Lisa Dykes, 58, in Cambodia after the couple cut off their ankle monitors and fled the U.S. in late December, according to authorities. Dallas police and the FBI traveled to Cambodia on May 24 to bring the suspects back to the U.S. Following their arrest, the couple was extradited to the United States.
As The Dallas Express previously reported, the pair were charged with the stabbing death of Marisela Botello-Valadez, 23, who was visiting her ex-boyfriend, Charles Beltran, 32, in Dallas.
Botello went out alone on the night of October 4, 2020. She was last seen alive exiting a pub with Beltran the next morning, security footage shows. Beltran told Botello’s family she did not return to his house after she departed that night.
However, according to an affidavit, he admitted to meeting Botello in Deep Ellum and then taking her to his residence in Mesquite, where they had sex. In March 2021, her body was discovered in a rural area in Wilmer, Texas, about 15 miles south of Dallas.
In late March, investigators discovered evidence of Botello’s blood inside the residence Dykes and Beltran shared in Mesquite. Phone records showed the three suspects were with the victim on the night she vanished.
Beltran, Marano, and Dykes were charged with murder. Additionally, the two women were charged with tampering with evidence. At the time, bail was set at $500,000 for the three suspects.
Since April 2021, Beltran has been held in the Dallas County jail, while Dykes and Marano were released in May 2021 after posting bond. On Christmas Day, the couple fled to Cambodia.
As of Wednesday, Dykes and Marano were back in the Dallas County Jail after being extradited from Cambodia to the United States and on a $4 million bond for each woman.
Prosecutors requested that the women’s bail be set at $5 million on June 1. Defense attorneys requested $500,000 in bail, the same amount as the women’s prior bail.
“It does not appear that the $500,000 and [electronic leg monitor] was sufficient to get your clients to appear in court and abide by the bond conditions,” said State District Judge Amber Givens as she issued her ruling on the bond.
