After prosecutors left her on the hook as the only person who murdered a young Washington state woman, a Texas resident was convicted of the crime.
Taking the stand in her defense this week, Lisa Dykes, 60, denied ever meeting the victim, Marisela Botello-Valadez, 23, stabbing her to death, or hiding the body, according to Dallas ABC affiliate WFAA.
Jurors did not buy it. They found her guilty of murder and tampering with evidence.
Jurors convicted Lisa Dykes (seen here testifying) of murder. Prosecutors said she stabbed Marisela Botello-Valadez to death. (Screenshot: KDFW)
Prosecutors on Friday dropped the capital murder charges against Dykes’ co-defendants: her wife, Nina Marano, 52, and self-professed “boy toy” Charles Beltran, 34. That left them facing a count each of tampering with evidence.
Dykes testified she was simply investing in Beltran’s rap career. Beltran told a more lurid story when he took the stand Friday.
He claimed he engaged in a sexual relationship with both Dykes and Marano. 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.
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Dykes’ defense lawyer, Heath Harris, painted Beltran as a liar. Under cross-examination, Beltran admitted to lying several times about what happened that night.
Asked why he did not call 911 if he was just a witness, Beltran, who had a criminal record, voiced fear of becoming a fall guy in light of Dykes and Marano being attorneys with good jobs.
“Me, I look like a bad guy,” he said. “I was scared.”
In closing arguments, Harris said physical evidence did not match the state’s case, according to Dallas Fox affiliate KDFW.
“Men lie. Women lie,” he reportedly said. “Physical evidence does not lie.”
Prosecutors said investigators found the victim’s blood in the carpeting of the defendant’s home. Also, among the evidence is cellphone data putting Dykes and Marano in the area where Botello-Valadez’s remains turned up in a wooded area. Dykes reportedly testified she and Marano had been at a nearby FedEx distribution center.
It was six months until Botello-Valadez’s remains were found. Authorities said all three defendants left Texas. Dykes and Marano were arrested in Florida. Authorities found Beltran in Utah. Dykes and Marano, however, ended up fleeing on bond, escaping to Cambodia.
Dykes acknowledged this on the stand, saying they left the U.S. because they felt persecuted.
“This case has destroyed us,” she said, according to WFAA. “The fact they’ve brought this charge against us has ruined our lives.”
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