Adan Manzano: Previous victim of woman linked to death of Super Bowl reporter says he tried to warn public

David Butler, aged 52, also said he had tried to warn both the public and the courthouse that handled his case against Danette Colbert that she might “end up killing someone” if she was left unchecked.

He added that he now wants “to see her go to jail for as long as she can” after she was let off with probation in his case.

Danette Colbert, age 48, from New Orleans is under investigation for her potential involvement in Manzano’s death. He was found dead in his hotel room on Wednesday February 5 while covering match between Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles in New Orleans for both Telemundo Kansas City and Tico Sports

Manzano was seen on surveillance footage entering his hotel room with Colbert just hours before his death. The reporter was seen smiling and carrying a plastic shopping bag as he walked behind her.

Investigators later found his cellphone and credit card in Colbert’s possession, raising suspicions that she may have drugged and robbed him before his death. Authorities are now working to confirm whether she fatally drugged Manzano.

In an interview with local media, as reported by The Guardian, Butler said: “I believe she’s very dangerous.” He added: “I want to see her locked up for the rest of her life” if she killed Manzano. She could still be bound for prison if deemed to have violated the terms of her probation in her case with Butler.

Butler spoke out about his encounter with Colbert, which happened during a night out on New Orleans’ famous Bourbon Street in autumn 2021, less than two weeks after Manzano’s ultimely death.

Surveillance camera images released by police showed Manzano and Colbert together on Bourbon Street before they walked into his room at a hotel near New Orleans’s airport in Kenner, Louisiana, during the early morning of February 5.

Colbert eventually left alone. Hotel staff then found Manzano, who was a widowed father of a toddler, dead after he missed a meeting about his work. Investigators later arrested Colbert on allegations that she had stolen the credit card Manzano had used to check in to his hotel along with his mobile phone.

They also thought that Colbert may have drugged Manzano before his death because of news stories documenting allegations that she had drugged and robbed men in Las Vegas.

The results of tests showing which substances may have been in the late reporter’s body remained pending on Friday (February 14), however. Those test results could lead to Colbert being charged directly with Manzano’s death.

Describing his experience with Colbert, Butler said he had been renovating a property he owns in the city and had gone out to Bourbon Street to unwind on the evening of November 5 2021.

Late into the night, Colbert and another woman accompanied Butler into a bar, where they shared drinks. He said he “started feeling woozy” unusually quickly, as police later wrote in a sworn statement filed in court, and he decided to go home.

When he got in the taxi, Colbert followed him in and said: “Let me get you home safe.” She then accompanied him to the property he was renovating, court documents said.

Butler’s last recollection of the night was walking into the home. His next memory was being woken by his leasing agent and realising that his gold ring, watch, cellphone and wallet were gone.

More than $80,000 (around £64,000) in cryptocurrency that he had been saving for retirement was missing, too. His credit card had been used to charge thousands of dollars at retailers.

Police said they eventually identified Colbert as the person who had stolen Butler’s items because she had been associated with the name of the digital cloud account to which his crypto savings were transferred: “QueenTX100.”

Authorities then charged her with crimes including theft and fraud. Butler shared a police release about Colbert’s crime on his social media with the caption: “She is going to end up killing someone.”

Colbert has a history of legal trouble. Nevada court records show that in 2022, she was charged with grand larceny and administering a drug to aid in the commission of a felony in two separate cases. However, both cases were dismissed after the victims declined to testify in court.

Colbert was eventually convicted at trial in Butler’s case. Butler submitted a statement to the court outlining how Colbert’s actions had “devastated [his] life” and said he hoped she would receive a harsh punishment. But Colbert did not get the punishment he had hoped for. She was put on probation for five years and ordered to pay $50,000 (around £40,000) in restitution – at monthly payments of $834 (around £662) for the duration of her sentence.

But, according to Butler, Colbert has not paid him a cent of restitution. He submitted a letter to the courthouse where Colbert was convicted that asked: “Why was someone with such a history of endangering lives given yet another chance? If someone dies due to her actions in the future, their blood will undeniably be on the hands of those who allowed her to escape real accountability today.”

It was a little more than two months after Butler sent his letter that Manzano was found dead and Colbert was arrested again.

Prosecutors in Butler’s case have filed a motion to revoke Colbert’s probation and send her to prison. Authorities have also said they are revisiting the death in New Orleans of a tourist from Maryland who was found dead in his hotel room in December after last being seen walking down Bourbon Street

John Jenkins’s death was ruled accidental, resulting from cocaine and ethanol toxicity, but his family reported to police that some of his belongings were missing, according to NOLA.com.

Butler added that all he could hope for now would be the need for people with histories like Colbert’s to face substantial consequences before it’s too late to be recognised. “I was afraid she would strike again and again and again,” Butler said. “I guess I would like to see some reform.”

Manzano's death follows that of his wife, Ashleigh LeeAnn Boyd Manzano-Aguilar, in April. KCTV5 sister station, WIBW, said that the reporter's partner had died less than a year ago in Topeka, following a car crash.