(KENNER, La.) — Text messages between two people charged in connection with the death of a Telemundo Kansas City reporter in Louisiana to cover the Super Bowl show they had been scheming for years to drug and rob victims in multiple locations, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
Danette Colbert was charged with second-degree murder in the death of Adan Manzano, who police said was found dead in his hotel room in Kenner, Louisiana, on Feb. 5 with Xanax in his system.
Colbert was found with Manzano’s cellphone and credit card, Kenner police said, adding that she and her alleged accomplice, Rickey White, “commonly use substances to drug their victims.”
Investigators are working to determine whether Colbert and White were operating an organized scheme that targeted men in New Orleans, other locations in Louisiana and Las Vegas, according to the sources.
They have already identified other men who appear to have been victimized, the sources said.
Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams told ABC News the Louisiana attorney general is involved in the case.
“This is a national, multijurisdictional crime spree. For that reason, we’ve asked and have been working with our attorney general to run point. Hopefully, we’ll have a better shot at solving it that way,” Williams told ABC News. “This was not random. There’s a certain pattern with having drinks or food and then saying to the person they’ll help him back to their room.”
Surveillance video shows Manzano and Colbert at his hotel the morning he was found dead, face-down on a pillow, police said.
Investigators said they found Xanax during a search of Colbert’s residence one day after the death of Manzano. The coroner determined the reporter died of the combined toxic effects of Xanax and alcohol along with positional asphyxia. The manner of death is undetermined due to the “uncertain circumstances” of the case, the coroner said.
Colbert was initially charged with property crimes, including theft and fraud-related offenses, after police said she had his cellphone and credit card in her home. She was subsequently charged with second-degree murder in his death.
White, who was arrested in Florida last month, is charged with robbery and fraud.
“Kenner Police Department detectives believe Colbert intentionally drugged Manzano to render him unconscious before robbing him, following a pattern seen in her prior offenses,” the Kenner Police Department said last month while announcing the murder charge in the case.
Colbert and White, who has since been extradited to Jefferson Parish, remain in custody on no bond.
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