Seattle, WA

2 sentenced for tampering with corpse of Seattle woman killed in Dallas in 2020

Published

2 years ago

June 14, 2024

2 sentenced for tampering with corpse of Seattle woman killed in Dallas in 2020

The two accused accomplices to the 2020 murder of a young Seattle woman pleaded guilty to tampering with a corpse and were sentenced this week for their roles in her disappearance.

A judge handed down a six-year sentence against Charles Beltran, 35, on Friday for failing to call police after witnessing the fatal stabbing of Marisela Botello-Valadez on Oct. 5, 2020. Nina Marano, 52, struck a deal with prosecutors earlier this week and will serve eight years for helping dump Botello’s body. Her fragmented skeleton was found 170 days later off a country road in southern Dallas County.

Beltran and Marano appeared in court Friday morning to face Botello’s family, who gave victim impact statements. Absent from the Dallas County courtroom was Lisa Dykes, who was convicted of Botello’s murder in December and sentenced to life in prison. Dykes is also serving a concurrent 20-year sentence for tampering.

“Hearing the name of my daughter being said, you don’t know the harm that it’s done to me and my family,” Marisela’s mother, Ernestina Valadez, said in Spanish. “I hope that when you leave here, you don’t go through this — what I’m going through — because it’s horrible, and I don’t wish that on anyone. I’m physically and mentally sick.”

She added: “I hope that you will repent for what you did, and the day you get out, you have that peace with what you did and what you didn’t do to help my daughter.”

Beltran’s attorneys advocated for the minimum sentence, two years. Tampering with a corpse, a second-degree felony, carries up to 20 years in prison.

“We do think this was fair given his unfortunate role of not contacting the police after the fact and 170 days lingering,” defense attorney Myra McIntosh told The Dallas Morning News. “He’s at peace with it.”

When asked about Beltran’s reaction to his sentence, McIntosh said he felt “relief that it’s over, relief that the family has justice, relief that he has some sense of where his life is headed and how much time he actually has to do for this offense.”

Marano’s attorney, Valerie Baston,said she was happy to strike a deal with prosecutors. Baston, who also represented Dykes at trial, said Dykes continues to maintain she’s innocent of Botello’s murder.

A spokeswoman for the Dallas County district attorney’s office declined to comment.

Botello was described as a trusting, vibrant young woman who loved to travel. She’d booked cheap, spontaneous plane tickets to visit an old friend in Dallas over a long weekend in October 2020.

Testimony at Dykes’ weeklong trial provided the most thorough account of what allegedly happened Oct. 5. The trial relied heavily on circumstantial evidence and testimony from Beltran.

Beltran, Dykes and Marano were in a physical and romantic relationship, prosecutors said. Dykes supported Beltran financially and invested in his budding rap career, while Beltran gave Dykes companionship, according to prosecutors. Dykes married Marano, a lawyer, and the trio moved into a Mesquite home.

How did this happen?

Botello was bar-hopping alone in Deep Ellum, and Beltran told jurors he wooed her; Beltran said they went back to the Mesquite home, had sex and fell asleep.

Charles Beltran, Lisa Dykes’ boyfriend and one of the individuals linked to the death of Marisela Botello-Valadez, testified during the fourth day of Dykes’ trial. Dykes was ultimately convicted and sentenced to life in prison.(Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer)

In the early hours, Beltran testified he awoke to screams of “help me, help me,” and saw Dykes straddling Botello, grasping a knife and making a stabbing motion. He said he pushed Dykes and Botello tumbled off the bed.

In shock, Beltran said he went into the bathroom and splashed water on his face. When he went back into his bedroom, he said Dykes was standing over Botello’s lifeless body in a red-stained nightgown. He said blood oozed from Botello’s naked chest, seeping into the carpet.

“What did I do? What did I do?” Beltran recalled Dykes muttering.

He recalled telling Dykes, “You need to figure this s— out, you told me to leave.” Beltran put on clothes and left. He got an oil change and visited a friend.

Discarded like trash

Prosecutors said Marano and Dykes left Botello’s body in Wilmer, two miles from where Dykes once lived. Prosecutors said Botello was discarded like trash. Her skull and a few bones were found March 2021 in a muddy farmed and wooded field by someone laying traps for feral cats.

Botello’s family grew worried when she missed her return flight. They traced her rideshare receipts and bank activity to pinpoint her last known locations, and there was no activity on her cellphone, bank account or social media accounts, and police honed in on Beltran as a person of interest early in the investigation.

After the killing, Dykes, Marano and Beltran traveled between Texas, Pennsylvania, Florida and Mexico. Marano and Dykes were arrested separately in Florida, while Beltran was taken into custody in Utah.

Escape to Cambodia

Dykes and Marano were released from jail on bail, removed their court-issued ankle monitors and went on the lam to a coastal town in Cambodia. Dykes said they fled to seek asylum. When confronted by Cambodian and U.S. authorities, Dykes brazenly asked, “What jurisdiction do you have here,” prosecutors said.

The trio faced murder charges, but prosecutors asked a judge to dismiss the charges against Marano and Beltran “in the interest of justice” amid Dykes’ trial.

On Friday, prosecutor Robin Pittman said Beltran acted callous, selfish and self-centered immediately after Botello’s murder. Pittman said he “lacked any empathy or sympathy” for Botello’s family.

Defense attorneys argued that, while in Dallas County jail, Beltran was a “model inmate” and eventually accepted responsibility for his role in tampering with Botello’s body. McIntosh, his attorney, said he’s shown the “greatest form of remorse and regret under these circumstances.”

He cooperated with prosecutors and was an integral witness in their cases against Dykes and Marano; prosecutors said Friday that they believe Beltran has integrity “in his heart.”

Beltran took the stand in his own defense, saying he wants to reform himself and is considering rehab and therapy after prison. He also aspires to become a trucker and be a better dad for his two daughters. Beltran struggled at times during his testimony while addressing Botello’s family, but he apologized for his actions and asked them for mercy.

Judge Nancy Mulder admonished Marano, who was a licensed attorney, for her role in dumping Botello’s body: “With all of her education and background in the legal field, I can not imagine and in anyway understand the choices that she made that day to participate in this cover-up and disposal of a beloved daughter and sister.”

“You must know that every day that you’re in prison serving your sentence, whatever discomfort that you feel will never equate the agony that this poor woman’s mother, father and brother suffered not knowing where she was, not knowing what happened to her,” Mulder told Beltran and Marano.

“I can only hope that your sentences will somehow bring comfort to them and their bereavement.”

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Seattle, WA

Disappointment on the field, but momentum on the streets

Published

9 hours ago

July 7, 2026

Press Room

Disappointment on the field, but momentum on the streets

SEATTLE — From my first visit as an adult, I was absolutely smitten with this city with snow-capped mountains and glistening bodies of water visible on all sides.

The decision to move here when my wife was accepted to Seattle University was probably one of the easiest and most fortuitous choices I’ve ever made. I loved the city’s topography, how people went outside no matter the weather and even the weather itself. I would often feel as if I was living someplace I would have chosen to vacation.

But it was soccer that made me feel like part of the city myself, like I had found my new home. I’ve often talked about how watching the Sounders win their first U.S. Open Cup at the George & Dragon was my first real introduction to the team. A few months later, I started working at Sounder at Heart. That summer, I experienced my first World Cup in Seattle. We showed up to a bar at 6 AM to get a spot for the USA-England match, and barely even got in. Bars all over town were packed, even when the USA wasn’t playing.

It was then that I started imagining what it would be like for the World Cup to actually come here.

Although the United States’ 4–1 loss to Belgium on Monday wasn’t exactly the way I wanted it to end, I can safely say the Seattle World Cup experience exceeded even my lofty dreams.

Picking one highlight from the six games is almost impossible as every game surprised me in different ways. In the immediate buildup to this tournament, the shine had seemingly started to wear off. Actually getting the World Cup was feeling like a pyrrhic victory, one of those “careful what you wish for” achievements. All anyone could talk about was ticket prices and corruption. Empty seats and unsold hotel rooms felt inevitable. I believed the mood and narratives would change once the soccer actually started being played, but my expectations had been massively re-set.

Once the games began, I immediately realized just how powerful the World Cup can be, especially in a setting like this. The crowd for Egypt-Belgium – Seattle’s first-ever World Cup match – was a near sellout, and it was then that I appreciated the power of the diaspora. I saw Egypt fans with tears in their eyes as they saw their compatriots gathered by the Great Wheel. Their march to the match was pure joy, filled with chants, giant flags and pharoah costumes. The match, itself, was a bit underwhelming – a 1–1 tie – but everyone seemed so happy. That set a standard that was probably exceeded in each game.

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The Bosnia & Herzegovina fan march was genuinely awe-inspiring, as it seemed to go on forever. I swear there were 40,000 people wearing BiH’s blue, yellow and white and they were all singing ‘Ljiljani’ once it was over. The atmosphere for Iran-Egypt was absolutely electric, and I honestly felt like the stadium might explode when Iran scored what seemed to be a late game-winner only for VAR to overturn it.

My favorite memories from this tournament, though, will likely be tied to the way Seattle really came alive for the two USA matches. To see an American downtown flooded with soccer fans is not something I ever thought I’d see, and for it to happen twice in my hometown only made it more special.

For the Australia match, I came into downtown from my home in Wallingford on a rental bike, traveling along the newly refurbished waterfront before 8 AM. There were already massive crowds gathered.

For this match, I chose to arrive on the Link Light Rail. It was the first time I used it to get to one of the World Cup games, but I wanted to experience what it was like to emerge from Pioneer Square station with hundreds of thousands of others.

Three hours before kickoff, Occidental Square was already packed as thousands of people watched the final moments of Spain-Portugal on the Brick Park big screen. Virtually every bar was already at capacity, with lines snaking out the doors. Inside the stadium, the north pavilion was already teaming with activity and lines to get into the various pro shops snaking through the concourse.

A short while later, I caught up to the USA march to the match. Led by horse-riding Civil War re-enactors, the march took 20 minutes to pass through the intersection of 1st and Main. As it passed, sections of fans broke out into impromptu “U-S-A” chants, sang other American Outlaw standards, played instruments and held a wide variety of signs. My favorite was probably Captain America punching out a Smurf (which were created in Belgium). There were others with Clint Dempsey, Grant Wahl, Weston McKennie and John Denver. They wore eagle costumes, dressed as Founding Fathers, and flag-inspired soccer shirts … so many stripes. I swear I didn’t see a single frown.

Given the size of the crowd inside, I have to assume that the vast majority of those in the march weren’t planning to attend the game in person. They just wanted to be part of this intoxicating energy, equal parts hope, anticipation and FOMO. City officials said 25,000 fans participated in the march, 10,000 more than took part in the one before USA-Australia. Some estimates have suggested there were as many people downtown as there were for the Seahawks’ Super Bowl prade that pushed into seven digits. Hard as that is to believe – that a soccer match could attract a crowd like that – my eyes told me it was at least possible.

The Overlook Walk’s Salish Steps were packed, just as they were many other times during these magical few weeks. Otherwise vacant storefronts were suddenly impromptu soccer bars. The Historic Triangle Pub was revived, featuring a massive screen and overflowing beer garden just around the corner from the stadium. In the Chinatown/International District — which is one of the downtown neighborhoods that hasn’t benefited as much from the World Cup crowds — hundreds crowded into Hing Hay Park to watch the game. The demand for viewing spots was seemingly insatiable.

The good vibes flowed seamlessly into the stadium. The buzz was overwhelmingly positive, talk of a serious run was on lips all over the park. “Why not US?” wasn’t just an empty platitude spoken by Argentinian head coach Mauricio Pochettino, it was a mantra that turned otherwise uninterested Americans into believers.

Seattle, long overlooked on U.S. Soccer’s list of preferred sites, has been dubbed “The Cathedral of Cascadia” by none other than the USMNT’s Twitter account and fans did everything possible to live up to that lofty praise. I’m not one to get emotional about the National Anthem, but when 67,000 people are collectively singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” it’s hard not to get lost in the moment. Somehow, I didn’t even notice the four fighter jets that buzzed the stadium to punctuate the song. At Minute 1, fans broke out the classic “Boom-Boom-Clap”-style “U-S-A.” You’d have thought the USMNT players would have been ready to run through walls.

Instead, they were utterly incapable of channeling that into their play against Belgium. After four matches in which they played with energy and spirit, they came out utterly flat against their most talented opponents to date. At no point did they have control of the match. They were down 1–0 before the match was even 10 minutes old, and were a bit lucky not to be down 3–0 by that time.
The one moment the USMNT had a chance – following Malik Tillman’s wonderful free kick that brought the match level – was almost immediately spoiled when they allowed Belgium to re-take the lead immediately off the ensuing kickoff.
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Still, there was hope coming out of halftime. It didn’t take long for that to be spoiled, either. In the 57th minute, goalkeeper Matt Freese came way out of his box and badly misplayed a seemingly innocuous ball over the top, allowing Hans Vanaken to loft an uncontested shot from 35 yards into a virtually undefended net.
There were more “U-S-A” chants and Eddie Vedder even tried to inspire the Yanks by chugging a beer while on the jumbotron during a hydration break.
If there was a shred of belief left in the building, it was slowly and achingly asphyxiated until Romelu Lukaku struck the final blow with a powerful strike off another sloppy turnover in stoppage time. Fittingly, he and the Belgium bench celebrated with a mocking “Trump dance,” acknowledging the role the president insisted on playing after potentially getting FIFA to declare Folarin Balogun eligible for the match despite getting a red card against Bosnia & Herzegovina.
The mood in the streets after was obviously a far cry from how the day started. Players spoke about letting themselves and the fans down. There’s an undeniable sense that an opportunity has been missed, that a confluence of events quite like this may never arrive again. That may be true for the USMNT and the greater American soccer scene.
But I’m not sure it’s true for Seattle. Our status as “Best Soccer City in America” is not new, even if it’s not a moniker we’ve tried to trademark. We reguarly brought 30,000 to Lumen Field when most of the MLS was lucky to draw half of that. Although the buzz around the Sounders has diminished a bit over the years, the World Cup crowds were actually smaller than the club’s most popular games.
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Updated Seattle/PNW attendance records show World Cup matches occupying slots 6-10 (66,925 for each of final 5). Sounders own top 5. Among those bumped out of top 10: Sounders-Barcelona, DC United-Real Madrid, Man United-Celtic.
— Frank MacDonald (@frankmsounders.bsky.social) July 7, 2026 at 1:12 PM

It’s not that our city has discovered a love for soccer, but maybe this was the catalyst for its reawakening. Sounders leadership has a chance to embrace this moment and make sure it has legs long after the FIFA circus leaves town.
Our local leaders have a similar responsibility. We’ve always known that Seattle is a world-class city and now the world does, too. Our public transit is very good by American standards, but it can be world-class if we will it into existence. We showed how much energy can be harnessed when public space is given back to the people, and not handed to cars. Local businesses showed what they can do when unnecessary and burdensome paperwork doesn’t get in their way.
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The World Cup was an event that I think exceeded all expectations, but the aftermath can be even better.

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Seattle, WA

WEST SEATTLE SCENE: Stranded dog’s rocky rescue

Published

19 hours ago

July 7, 2026

Press Room

WEST SEATTLE SCENE: Stranded dog’s rocky rescue

Thanks to Susan for the photo. She called to tell us about a dog stuck on the rocks off Beach Drive near Harbor West (the condos on pilings), and a crowd gathering to figure out how to rescue it from the rising tide. We were away from the desk at the time but after returning a little while later, we heard the situation mentioned on police radio, with word the dog had been rescued, so we didn’t head that way. Then late tonight Susan sent photos, explaining that the dog apparently is known to swim to those rocks and back, but for some reason got stuck this time, “until a paddle boarder and kayaker paddled out to it to coax it off the rocks and back to the shore.”

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