A third person was arrested in the Death of a Super Bowl journalist in New OrleansProviding new evidence of what the authorities described on Friday as a plot organized for drugs and steal people.
Kenner police, just west of New Orleans, accused Christian Anderson of having rented the car used by Danette Colbert, One of the two suspects previously accused of second degree murderFraud and flight crimes in the death of February 5 of Adan Manzano, 27.
The attorney general of Louisiana, Liz Murrill, described Colbert, 48, as a “series fraudster”.
In a press release, the Kenner police department said that Anderson, 33, has provided logistical support and spoke a lot with Colbert after Manzano was found dead in a hotel in Kenner. The department also accused Anderson of seeking to benefit from stolen assets of Manzano.
Investigators examined SMS and digital communications showing that Anderson would have “played an active role in a coordinated victim targeting model, drugs them and steal personal goods, including phones and access to financial accounts,” said the ministry.
Anderson was arrested for suspicion of simple theft, of handbag, access to the fraud of the devices, illegal transmission of money, banking fraud and computer fraud, the ministry said.
He was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer to speak on his behalf.
Manzano, a Telemundo journalist, was in New Orleans to cover the Super Bowl. He was seen for the last time entering his hotel room with Colbert on the morning of February 5, said Kenner police officials.
Authorities have partially blamed Manzano’s death On the combined toxic effects of Alprazolam, an anti-annual drug, often sold under the Xanax brand and ethanol. It is not clear how the drug, for which Manzano had no prescription, entered his system.
A device that would be Manzano’s mobile phone was found at Colbert’s home, police officials said, and has used her credit card in a New Orleans store.
The third alleged accomplice, Rickey White, 34, was arrested in Florida in March for fraud and flight. He was extradited in Louisiana and accused of second degree murder earlier this month.
A White lawyer denied the accusations. Colbert’s lawyers did not respond to requests for comments, but told court that it should not be tried on its criminal history.
Colbert has already been charged in several other cases of similar fraud, some of which included drug allegations. In a case, The victim accused her of having drugged her, letting him dead and stolen tens of thousands of dollars via accounts related to his iPhone.
Colbert was found guilty of computer fraud and other charges in October. Despite the victim’s pleadings, David Butler, whom Colbert receives the maximum sentence of what he described in an impact press release as his “continuous contempt for others”, she was sentenced to five years of probation in December, two months before the death of Manzano.
After NBC News reported on the case of Butler, the office of the prosecutor general of Louisiana intervened and asked for a more severe penalty for Colbert. Earlier this month, the judge who imposed probation judged that Colbert was a “usual offender” and sentenced him to 25 years in prison, said the prosecutor’s office.
“Danette Colbert will finally be responsible, and she will no longer be free to continue to attack the innocent people,” said Butler later. “I sincerely hope that this decision will bring some peace to other survivors and helps restore their faith in the judicial system.”
A Colbert lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
