Woman with history of drugging men arrested in connection to death of reporter covering Super Bowl

A woman with a history of drugging men has been arrested in connection to the death of a reporter in New Orleans to cover the Super Bowl.

A Louisiana woman with a history of drugging men and stealing their credit cards was arrested in connection to the death of a Kansas City Telemundo reporter while he was in New Orleans to cover the Super Bowl, police said on Friday (local time).

Danette Colbert, 48, of Slidell, a city in Louisiana, was busted after she was captured in surveillance camera footage leaving journalist Adan Manzano’s hotel room before allegedly using his credit card at stores around the Big Easy, NBC News reported.

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She was seen in the footage leaving the 27-year-old reporter’s hotel room in the suburb of Kenner before going on the alleged shopping spree, according to police.

Colbert has so far only been charged with property crimes, including bank fraud and theft — but she has previously been accused of drugging at least two men and swiping their credit cards, Kenner police said.

She has a rap sheet “that includes allegations of drugging men, theft of currency, fraudulent use of credit and debit cards, and other financial crimes,” Kenner Police Chief Keith Conley said.

Danette Colbert was allegedly using sports journalist Adan Manzano’s credit card at stores, cops said. Photo: Kennner Police.

Adam Manzano was in New Orleans covering the Super Bowl.

Colbert was “charged with introducing a substance, a foreign substance” into a victim in Nevada in 2022, Conley said.

“The other one was in Jefferson Parish, I believe it was two years ago.”

The security footage revealed that Colbert arrived with Manzano at the hotel room in Kenner around 4am on Wednesday, then left alone a few moments later, Kenner Police Deputy Chief Mark McCormick told the outlet.

Manzano, of Topeka, Kansas, was discovered dead in the room around 12 hours later after he missed a morning appointment and hotel staff performed a wellness check, McCormick said.

His cause of death wasn’t known on Friday.

Manzano’s 24-year-old wife, Ashleigh Boyd, died in a car crash in Topeka, Kansas, last April — and his death leaves their toddler daughter without parents, WIBW reported.

Adan Manzano, who died Wednesday, is pictured with his wife, Ashleigh Boyd, and daughter. His wife died in April 2024 in a car crash.

“Always in my heart Ashleigh Boyd,” Manzano previously wrote on Instagram of his partner, who was an elementary school teacher.

The Jefferson Parish Coroner’s Office is conducting toxicology testing to determine if Manzano was drugged, police said. His body showed no obvious signs of trauma.

“Obviously, there are allegations in (Colbert’s) past criminal history that make us consider that,” McCormick said of the possible drugging.

“But we don’t have anything at this point.”

Colbert was previously accused of using a credit card that belonged to a man who said the card and his mobile phone were swiped after he met a woman drinking on Bourbon Street in New Orleans in 2016, nola.com reported.

She allegedly tried to use the man’s credit card the next day to buy $1,600 worth of gift cards at Walmart in Kenner, where she was arrested, authorities said.

She was reportedly also busted in January 2022 for allegedly drugging a man and stealing $50,000 from him on the Las Vegas Strip, though McCormick couldn’t confirm details of the out-of-state arrest.

Colbert pleaded guilty to access device fraud and two counts of possession of stolen property in 2017 and was sentenced to three years in prison, according to court records.

This article originally appeared in the NY Post and was reproduced with permission.