Palm Beach County investigators say video, phone habits and conflicting statements helped solve the 2024 killing of Linda Campitelli.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A 17-month homicide investigation into the death of nurse Linda Campitelli ended with murder charges against Rene Perez after detectives pieced together surveillance video, vehicle evidence and what they say were false statements about a planned meeting on Oct. 28, 2024.
The case matters not only because of the brutality described in the affidavit, but because investigators say it was solved through a careful timeline rather than a single eyewitness or confession. Campitelli, 35, was found dead beside her Chevrolet Tahoe on Lyons Road in Palm Beach County. Perez, 38, is now charged with first-degree murder and tampering with physical evidence. Detectives say the two had been carrying on a secret affair and were supposed to meet that evening for a belated birthday celebration.
The chronology laid out by investigators begins before dark. Surveillance footage, according to the affidavit, showed Perez leaving work at about 6:30 p.m. in a Honda Accord. Campitelli’s Tahoe was later captured arriving at the Retina Group of Florida building in Wellington, a location detectives said matched phone data and fit the couple’s plan to meet in a low-traffic parking lot. The SUV then left at about 9:59 p.m. Around 11:15 p.m., deputies were called to the 6100 block of Lyons Road, where Campitelli was found unresponsive outside that same vehicle. Investigators say Perez returned to his office shortly before midnight and left roughly 10 minutes later, a trip they say conflicted with the account he later gave police.
That account became a major part of the investigation. Detectives said Perez acknowledged that he and Campitelli had been involved for about two years, but claimed he had canceled the meeting because his son was ill. Police said they found no such cancellation message. Instead, they recovered WhatsApp exchanges showing the pair discussing the birthday encounter. In one exchange, Campitelli said she loved him but felt strange and nervous because he had never done anything like that for her before. Perez answered, investigators said, that he was trying to prove he could be romantic. Detectives also said Perez described a method he used to avoid being tracked: he would leave his main phone at work because he shared a Life360 account with his wife and use a second phone to talk to Campitelli.
The digital evidence was paired with physical findings in and around the Tahoe. Investigators said a photo from Campitelli’s phone showed the back of the SUV set up for a private celebration, with hospital-style sheets spread out and a birthday greeting fastened overhead. Once they processed the vehicle, detectives said, they found blood spatter throughout and blood that had permeated the rear speakers, suggesting heavy bleeding during transport inside the SUV. Campitelli’s injuries included a large laceration to the head, bruising and abrasions that police said were consistent with dragging. The autopsy found blunt force trauma to the head and torso as the cause of death. Detectives added that the worn-down condition of her heels indicated compression against the roadway while she was dragged or moved with force.
Investigators say Perez’s efforts to explain away other details only deepened suspicion. He reportedly said he had lost his primary phone, but detectives cited video from an AT&T store that showed him holding that phone while buying a new one. They said they were unable to recover messages with Campitelli from the second device and concluded they may have been deleted. Detectives also believe he discarded the shoes he wore that night. Even so, the affidavit does not offer a public motive. What it does present is a procedural map of how police moved from a nighttime death scene, to a homicide finding, to a suspect whose timeline, devices and movements they say could not be reconciled with the evidence.
Perez was arrested March 10 in Miami and later brought to Palm Beach County, where he remains jailed without bond. He made an initial court appearance the following day. The next court date is April 9. Prosecutors are now expected to begin testing the same record detectives assembled over months: videos, message logs, location data, forensic findings and the statements Perez made while denying he kept the date. For Campitelli’s family, that court process opens after a long stretch in which the public knew only that she had been found dead on a roadside.
The investigation has now named a suspect, but not a motive, and that missing piece may become one of the central questions as the case moves ahead. For now, authorities say the sequence itself tells the story: a planned meeting, a killing inside the Tahoe, an attempt to cover tracks, and an arrest made only after the timeline locked into place.
Author note: Last updated April 7, 2026.