Telemundo reporter Adam Mananzo was pictured walking to a hotel room with the so-called “Bourbon Street Hustler” hours before his death — as it emerged she is being investigated over another recent similar fatality.
Manzano, 27, was seen smiling while carrying a plastic shopping bag as he walked behind Danette Colbert, 48, into the same room in the New Orleans hotel he would soon be found dead in while staying there to cover the Super Bowl.
Colbert was later found with his cellphone and credit card, and investigators have said they are investigating whether she drugged and robbed the reporter.
She is also being investigated over the mysterious death of a Maryland man — John Jenkins, 55 — who was found dead from cocaine and ethanol toxicity in a French Quarter hotel on Dec. 15, NOLA.com reported.
“We suspect she may be related to the case,” Kenner Police Deputy Chief Mark McCormick said of the earlier case, which was initially classified as an accidental death.
Jenkins was also in town for a football game — a Saints and Washington Commanders match-up — sparking concern from his friends who requested a wellness check when he was a no-show.
He was found unresponsive in his hotel room, McCormick said.
Kenner detectives are working with Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill’s office and State Police Troop Nola to investigate Jenkins’ death and possible ties to Colbert.
Several other alleged victims of Colbert have come forward following Manzano’s death, including David Butler, 52, who met Colbert in the French Quarter.
During their encounter, Butler said, Colbert offered him a cocktail that made him feel disoriented and in need of help getting home.
“She ushered me into some kind of black Suburban that was literally right there,” he told NBC News. “And that’s the last thing I remember that night.”
A property manager found Butler passed out on the floor and shook him awake, with the victim finding his phone and wallet gone and his credit cards used to make thousand-dollar charges at Best Buy and Walmart.
More than $80,000 that Butler stashed away in a cryptocurrency account for retirement was also gone, he said.
Nevada court records show that Colbert was charged in 2022 with grand larceny and administering a drug to aid in the commission of a felony in two separate cases. Both cases were dismissed after the victims refused to testify in court.
Colbert was convicted last October of computer fraud, theft, and illegal transmission of monetary funds, with Orleans Criminal District Judge Nandi Campbell forgoing prison time and instead ordering her to pay restitution and remain on probation for five years, according to court records.
Butler slammed the sentence and claimed Manzano would not have lost his life if Campbell had levied a harsher sentence.
“Had the court acted decisively by incarcerating Ms. Colbert or enforcing stricter conditions for her release, it is possible Mr. Manzano would still be alive today,” Butler told NBC.
