Left to right: Nina Marano; Lisa Dykes; Marisela Botello-Valadez; and Charles Beltran. (Mug shot of Marano: Dallas County Jail; screen shots of Dykes and Beltran; image of Botello-Valadez: Dallas Police Department)
In a tangled criminal case, a Texas woman pleaded guilty to helping her murderer wife hide the body of a slain young woman, who had gotten entangled with the couple’s “boy toy.”
The wife, Nina Marano, 52, accepted the plea deal for tampering with evidence on Wednesday, Dallas County court records and documents show. She received eight years in prison with time credit for 771 days — roughly two years — she already served.
The aforementioned, self-professed boy toy Charles Beltran, 35, pleaded guilty on Friday to tampering with human remains and was sentenced to six years in prison, according to Dallas FOX affiliate KDFW.
Prosecutors in December 2023 dropped the murder charge against Marano and Beltran for allegedly killing Marisela Botello-Valadez, 23. Authorities pointed the finger squarely at Marano’s wife, Lisa Dykes, 61. Dykes, who jurors convicted in December, is serving a life sentence at the William P. Hobby Unit prison in the community of Marlin, Texas, and she will be eligible for parole in 2052.
Authorities put up Beltran as a key witness at trial. He claimed to have a sexual relationship with both Dykes and Marano, according to Dallas ABC affiliate WFAA. In testimony, Beltran asserted that Dykes began acting possessive of him, telling him he could not bring other women home.
But he broke that rule after a chance encounter with Botello-Valadez, a Seattle resident visiting Dallas. After drinks, they returned to the home he shared with the couple, he said.
There, he and Botello-Valadez had consensual sex in his room, he reportedly testified.
They went to sleep, and he woke up to find Dykes stabbing Botello-Valadez in a jealous rage. He tried to intervene, eventually pinning Dykes to a wall, but instead of calling 911, he told Dykes she would have to handle this, and he left, going about his day.
Botello-Valdez’s body was found six months later in a wooded area near Wilmer, Texas. The “boy toy” and the married couple were arrested after a nationwide search. Dykes and Marano were arrested a second time after skipping bond and traveling to Cambodia.
Dykes testified at her trial that she was just helping Beltran in his rap career, and her defense called him a liar. Jurors sided with the state.
More Law&Crime coverage: High school sweetheart sentenced for shooting girlfriend’s husband in the head and groin in love triangle murder-for-hire
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