A 38-year-old Florida nurse, Rene Perez, faces first-degree murder and evidence tampering charges for allegedly beating his 35-year-old mistress, Linda Campitelli, to death inside her Chevrolet Tahoe during a birthday meetup on October 28, 2024, then dragging her body with the vehicle and dumping it on a Palm Beach County road. Deputies found her lifeless body in a pool of blood around 11:15 p.m., showing a severe head laceration, facial bruising, and road rash on her heels from postmortem dragging; autopsy confirmed blunt force trauma to the head and torso as the cause.
Affair and Setup
Campitelli, a married mother of two and fellow nurse, exchanged loving WhatsApp messages with Perez—her ex-coworker and two-year affair partner—planning a 7:30 p.m. rendezvous to celebrate her birthday. She wrote, “I love you… I feel kinda weird… You’ve never done anything like this for me before.” He replied reassuringly about being “romantic.” A photo from her phone showed her Tahoe’s back seats folded down, covered in hospital sheets with a “Happy Birthday” banner on the ceiling, taken in a dim medical center parking lot.
Evidence Against Perez
- Vehicle Clues: Blood spatter soaked the Tahoe’s interior, permeating rear speakers, indicating profuse bleeding during transport.
- Deceptions Exposed: Perez admitted the affair but claimed he canceled via text due to his sick son—no message existed. Work surveillance showed him leaving at 6:30 p.m. (not 11 p.m. as claimed) in his Honda Accord, parking near the lot, and returning near midnight. He used a burner phone (hidden from his wife’s Life360 tracking) but deleted messages; he lied about losing his main phone, contradicted by store video.
- Other Lies: His shoes from that night are missing, presumed discarded; his Honda was tracked to the scene.
Perez, who remains in Palm Beach County Jail without bond, is due in court April 9. Campitelli’s obituary described her as adventurous with a photographic memory; her husband thought she was out with friends. No motive is specified in the 26-page affidavit.
