Left: Rene Perez (Palm Beach County Jail). Right: Linda Campitelli (Palms West Funeral Home).
A 38-year-old Florida man allegedly met with his mistress to celebrate her birthday, only to beat her to death in her Chevrolet Tahoe and drag her with the vehicle before leaving her body on the road.
Rene Perez stands accused of first-degree murder and tampering with evidence in the death of 35-year-old Linda Campitelli in Palm Beach County. According to a probable cause arrest affidavit, deputies found Campitelli”s body around 11:15 p.m. Oct. 28, 2024, lying in a pool of blood on the road outside her Tahoe.
Campitelli had a large laceration on the side of her head, bruising around her right eye and scuff marks on her body that appeared to come from road rash by being dragged by a vehicle, police said. An autopsy showed she died of blunt force trauma to the head and torso.
“The back portion of the victim’s heels was completely worn down, disfigured, and distorted, clearly indicative of being compressed against the roadway, while being dragged or moved with force,” cops wrote.
Deputies went to Campitelli’s home and spoke with her husband, who said his wife was supposed to go out with friends on the night in question. But detectives spoke with her friends, who said Campitelli was having an extramarital affair with Perez, a former co-worker.
Investigators uncovered WhatsApp messages between the two showing they were going to meet up to celebrate her birthday.
“I love you,” Campitelli wrote to Perez the day before her death. “I feel kinda weird. I don’t know what to expect tomorrow. You’ve never done anything like this for me before and I feel a little nervous.”
Perez responded that there was nothing to worry about and he was trying to show that “I can be romantic,” the affidavit states. They agreed to meet at 7:30 p.m. the following day.
Cops also recovered a photo from the victim’s phone showing all the back seats down in her Tahoe with a blanket or table cover that said “Happy Birthday Hope your birthday is out of this world” affixed to the ceiling. The photo also depicted the back seats covered with hospital bed sheets, cops noted. Data from Campitelli’s phone placed her in a dimly lit parking lot outside a medical facility that had little foot traffic.
While processing the Tahoe, cops said they discovered blood spatter throughout. Blood had “permeated” through the speakers on the rear side of the vehicle, which indicated someone was “bleeding profusely” during transport, police said. Authorities believe the road rash injuries occurred after Campitelli died.
Detectives spoke with Perez, who admitted he and Campitelli had been having an extramarital affair for about two years, according to the complaint. He said they had planned to meet that night, but he claimed he sent her a message saying he had to cancel because his son was sick. But cops found no such message, the affidavit said.
Perez also allegedly told cops that he left work about 11 p.m. that night. Surveillance video from his work contradicted his account, police said. It depicted him leaving the building where he worked as a nurse around 6:30 p.m. and driving away in his Honda Accord. He returned to the office building shortly before midnight. Perez left the building roughly 10 minutes later and drove home, according to the affidavit.
The defendant allegedly told cops he would typically leave his phone at the office when he was supposed to meet with Campitelli because he shared a Life360 app with his wife. He carried a second phone to communicate with Campitelli, the affidavit said. However, detectives could not recover any messages with Campitelli, suggesting he deleted them. Perez also told detectives he lost his primary phone, but video from an AT&T store showed him holding it while buying a new one, proving he lied, according to the affidavit.
Investigators also believe he ditched the pair of shoes he wore on the night of the slaying, cops said.
Detectives said they placed Perez’s Honda near the medical center parking lot, where he and Campitelli had their rendezvous in her Tahoe. The 26-page affidavit does not include a possible motive for the slaying.
Perez was arrested on Tuesday and taken to the Palm Beach County Jail, where he remains without bond. His next court date is set for April 9.
According to her obituary, Campitelli grew up in Miami and later became a nurse. The victim married her husband in 2016 and they had two daughters together.
“She was smart as a whip and had a near-photographic memory,” the obituary said. “She was always up for an adventure and didn’t want to miss out on anything, her calendar filled with fun family outings, date nights, and time with friends.”
