He said she drugged him and could kill somebody. Now she’s accused of murdering a Super Bowl reporter

(CNN) — Sports reporter Adan Manzano was found dead in his New Orleans area hotel room while covering Super Bowl LIX. A previous victim of the woman charged in his murder warned a judge such a crime could happen.

Danette Colbert, whom Kenner Police previously described as a “career criminal” known for fraud schemes in New Orleans, has been charged with second-degree murder in Manzano’s death, police announced Tuesday.

One attorney who has represented Colbert declined to comment. CNN has not been able to determine if the attorney is representing Colbert in the case of Manzano, 27, who worked for the local Telemundo station in Kansas City and had traveled to New Orleans to report on the Super Bowl when he was found dead last month.

Colbert has “quite a record and rap sheet,” Kenner Police Chief Keith Conley previously said, including “allegations of drugging men, theft of currency, fraudulent use of credit and debit cards, and other financial crimes.”

Some of those allegations stem from 52-year-old David Butler, who accused Colbert of drugging and robbing him in New Orleans more than three years ago.

In a Kenner Police Department news release Tuesday, police wrote that evidence suggested Colbert and an associate commonly use substances, including Xanax, to drug their victims.

Manzano died in part due to the “combined toxic effects” of Xanax and alcohol, according to Jefferson Parish Coroner Gerald Cvitanovich. Manzano’s manner of death remains undetermined, Cvitanovich said.

Detectives believe Colbert drugged Manzano so she could rob him while he was unconscious, according to police.

In Butler’s case, a jury found Colbert guilty of theft, computer fraud, and illegally transmitting monetary funds. However, Orleans Parish Criminal Court Judge Nandi Campbell granted Colbert probation and ordered her to pay restitution, allowing Colbert to avoid jail time.

Last week, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said her office believes the sentence in that case “was not eligible for probation” and will seek to have Colbert’s sentence increased under the habitual offender statute.

In a statement to CNN, Butler said he is “deeply grateful that Attorney General Liz Murrill has stepped in” to question the sentencing in his case. He previously expressed disappointment in the “lenient sentencing” in a letter to Judge Campbell in December.

“When Ms. Colbert reoffends—and statistics suggest she likely will—how will the court answer the inevitable question: 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,” he wrote in the letter obtained by CNN.

After finding out Colbert had been charged with second-degree murder, Butler wrote in a statement to CNN on Tuesday: “If Colbert had been sentenced appropriately in my case, Manzano—and possibly others—would likely still be alive. Justice delayed is justice denied, and it is time for real, systemic change.”

In 2022, Colbert was twice arrested in Las Vegas on felony charges of grand larceny and administering a drug to aid in a felony crime, court records show. In both cases, she was accused of drugging men in their hotel rooms and stealing from them. The charges were dismissed because the victims did not want to testify in court, Colbert’s attorney for those cases, Daniel Lippmann, told The Associated Press.

“The world just went pretty dark”

Butler previously told CNN he was renovating a home in New Orleans when he met Colbert outside of a French Quarter bar around 1 a.m. on November 6, 2021.

Colbert and another woman asked Butler if he wanted to get a drink with them. Butler agreed and bought them a round of drinks at the bar, which he prefers not to name for the bar’s privacy.

As they were finishing the first round of drinks, Butler stepped away from their table for a minute to buy a second round.

At that point, he said the woman with Colbert stepped away.

When he returned to the table, he finished what was left of his first drink with Colbert and started the second one. He said almost immediately he started feeling disoriented.

“The world just went pretty dark. I felt woozy and I just knew that something wasn’t right for me and kind of panicked a little bit, you know? Like, I gotta get back to the place I was staying,” he said.

When he tried to leave, Colbert ushered Butler into a black Suburban SUV sitting outside the bar, he said. That was the last thing he remembers.

A friend woke Butler up that evening in his home. Butler had no knowledge of how he got there, he said. He felt like he “didn’t know what planet he was on,” describing the feeling as waking up from general anesthesia.

Butler’s phone and wallet were gone. Colbert had stolen $134,000 from him – about $85,000 from a cryptocurrency account and the rest from credit card charges, he said.

He tells CNN that he regrets not going to the hospital after the incident.

“At the time, like, it didn’t really even cross my mind. I mean, I was more concerned about trying to find out who stole my money,” he said.

When he reported the theft to the New Orleans Police Department, he said that the officer questioned if he really wanted to file an official report.

“You know, he was insinuating that I was trying to hire Miss Colbert as a prostitute. And he said, ‘You know, this is going to be public record, and your family will find out,’” Butler said. “I had to really be kind of assertive at that point for them to take my report.”

Butler said the interaction did not have anything to do with prostitution; instead, he explained that he loves the culture of New Orleans where people often make friends with strangers and share a friendly drink.

Within days, Butler figured out Colbert’s identify and gave it to police, he said.

Colbert had transferred the cryptocurrency from Butler’s Coinbase wallet to her Coinbase wallet, so he could see her username, he said. He typed in her Coinbase username in Google and found her Facebook account, he explained.

He also wrote in a victim impact statement that he has endured “physical and emotional trauma” from the incident.

“When my friend finally found me, he thought I might be dead, and even after I regained consciousness, I felt lost, unable to think clearly. The ordeal was a nightmare from which I have yet to fully awaken,” he wrote in the victim statement.

Butler said he also suffers from survivor’s guilt.

“It’s with me all day, every day. I’ve checked the internet once every week or every other week for her name because I knew that she was going to kill somebody,” Butler said.

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