Testimony began Tuesday morning in a Dallas courtroom for the first of three murder trials over the October 2020 death of a Seattle tourist.
According to reports, 23-year-old Marisela Botello-Valadez had made a trip to North Texas to visit friends in 2020. She was last seen in Deep Ellum when she vanished. Months later her body was found in a wooded area outside of Wilmer.
Three were eventually arrested and today a jury will begin hearing testimony in the trial of the first defendant, 60-year-old Lisa Dykes of Mesquite.
Police say the case involves a complicated coverup, and that Valadez's body was put in the trunk of a Mesquite man's car, driven to Wilmer where the the vehicle containing the body was dumped, then the car was sold to someone in New York City where it was later recovered.
Reports says Dykes and her wife, Nina Marano, then fled to Cambodia to avoid prosecution. Both were found and extradited back to North Texas.
The two other suspect, Marano and a man identified as Charles Beltran are still awaiting trial.
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