A Florida nurse sent a haunting WhatsApp message to her lover the day before he murdered her on a romantic birthday date in West Palm Beach, prosecutors allege.
Rene J. Perez, 38, was arrested on Tuesday, more than a year after he allegedly beat his married lover to death in love nest he had specially for her birthday in 2024, WPTV reported.
Perez and his girlfriend, Lisa Campitelli, 35, were married to other people when they started a two-year affair, authorities say.
Perez had allegedly arranged a night out for her birthday celebration on Oct. 28, 2024, prompting Campitelli to send him a tender but cryptic message the day before she was killed.
“I LOVE YOU, 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,” message read, according to an affidavit viewed by WPTV.
Campitelli’s battered body was found on an isolated roadside not far from her still-running Chevy Tahoe, according to the affidavit from the West Palm Beach Sheriff’s Department.
A photo from her phone shows a “happy birthday” blanket laid out over the lowered back seat, plus absorbent medical pads from the hospital where she and Perez both worked.
Campitelli’s body had a broken skull and ribs, along with signs of blunt force trauma on her back and neck.
The body showed signs of being dragged, authorities said.
The pair had been dating for two years and texted on WhatsApp almost every day, prosecutors say.
Perez claimed he had cancelled the meet-up and wasn’t there when she was killed, but investigators found no messages calling it off.
Perez was arrested Tuesday in Miami; he faces charges of first-degree murder and tampering with evidence.
