Suspect In Super Bowl Reporter’s Death Linked To Decade-Long Crime Spree Of Drugging And Robbing Men

Danette Colbert reportedly has a similar modus operandi of stealing men's belongings after following them to their hotel rooms.

Danette Colbert, a 48-year-old woman from Louisiana, has been caught using credit cards that belong to Telemundo journalist Adan Manzano after he was found dead in a hotel room. She reportedly has an extensive criminal history that includes a signature modus operandi to the crime against Manzano.

After being arrested for attempting to use Manzano’s cards at New Orleans stores, more facts about Colbert’s history have been released to the public.

On Feb. 5, Manzano, a journalist for Telemundo KC who was in New Orleans to cover the upcoming Super Bowl, was found dead and Kenner authorities found security footage that showed Colbert entering the hotel room with the 27-year-old reporter before leaving later that day alone.

Although Colbert has not been charged with counts related to Manzano’s death, according to authorities, she has a long rap sheet of drugging and stealing from men across the country.

New Orleans police described her as a “career criminal.”

Keith Conley, Kenner Police Chief, outlined some of her notable crimes at a press conference on Feb. 7.

Colbert was arrested in 2014 after she was identified by a tourist who claimed he’d met her and returned to his hotel room with her. He stated that he woke up the next morning to find $100 in cash, his credit cards, and a $4,000 Rolex watch missing.

According to People, Colbert then was seen making big cash withdrawals on surveillance footage with the man’s stolen card in a similar fashion as she intended to use Manzano’s. After she was confronted by the manager for using a stolen credit card, she called two other women to the store and physically assaulted the manager.

Colbert pleaded guilty to her role in the crime and was hit with charges of intimidating witness, second-degree battery, bank fraud, theft under $5000, and burglary.

While on probation in 2022, she was arrested again for a similar crime. Colbert was reportedly invited up to a man’s hotel room with another unnamed woman. The next morning, when the man woke, he was missing around $100,000 total, in cash, casino chips, jewelry, and luxury luggage.

Later that same year, Las Vegas police identified Colbert as committing a similar crime again.

As of now, Colbert has just been charged with fraud and theft-related offenses in Manzano’s case. However, according to police, the investigation into the Super Bowl reporter’s death is still ongoing.

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