A Dallas County jury found Lisa Dykes guilty of murder in the death of 23-year-old Marisela Botello-Valadez Wednesday and sentenced her to life in prison.
Dykes, 60, was also found guilty of a second charge, tampering with a corpse. For that charge, she was sentenced to 20 years. For both verdicts, the jury also imposed a fine of $10,000 on each charge.
Dykes, Her Wife, were in Three-Way Affair with 'Boy Toy' Charles Beltran
The married lesbian was accused of murdering Botello-Valadez after she caught the Seattle woman having sex with her and her wife's 34-year-old "boy toy" Charles Beltran.
Dykes and her 52-year-old wife, Nina Marano, were in a three-way affair with Beltran - the self-proclaimed "boy toy" who had been warned about bringing other women home for sex, as reported by the Toronto Sun.
Beltran met Botello-Valadez in October 2020 and the two were in bed at the home he shared with the lesbian couple. Dykes freaked out and stabbed Botello-Valadez to death. Her remains weren't found until the following March in a wooded area.
Earlier this week, prosecutors dropped charges against Beltran and Marano. Dykes' lawyer Heath Harris said his client maintains her innocence and has already filed paperwork to appeal the verdict.
Beltran Had Moved into the Lesbian Couple's Home
According to local reports, Beltran agreed to testify against Dykes if murder charges against him were dropped. Beltran told the court he met the victim at a Dallas nightclub and they later went to the home where he lived with Dykes and Marano and the pair had sex and went to sleep.
Beltran said he woke up to Botello-Valadez screaming and Dykes stabbing Botello-Valadez. The aspiring rapper had a sexual relationship with Marano and Dykes, who supported his aspirations. Dykes invited him to move into her home where they were later joined by Marano, and the two women were eventually married.
"Just months after the death of Nina's husband, Lisa Dykes and Nina Marano get married," prosecutor Robin Pittman said in opening statements. "They understood, though, that Charles Beltran would be part of this relationship."
Dykes Became Possessive, Warned Beltran Against Bringing Other Women Home
However, there was trouble in paradise after Dykes began acting possessive and told him he couldn't bring women home. He was not deterred and that culminated in Botello-Valadez' murder.
After the murder, the trio fled Texas. Beltran was arrested in Utah. Dykes and Marano headed to Florida, where they were arrested and released on bail. Then they skipped town for Cambodia, where they were arrested and later extradited.
