Nurse accused of killing married co-worker as messages reveal secret birthday rendezvous

A Florida nurse is accused of brutally killing his married co-worker and leaving her body in a busy roadway following a yearslong affair between the pair. 

Rene Perez, 38, was arrested in Miami on Tuesday, March 10, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. 

Perez’s arrest comes nearly a year and a half after authorities allege he beat 35-year-old Linda Campitelli, a married mother of two, to death in October 2024, police said. 

The pair – who were both married and had been having a two-year-long affair while employed at the Wellington Regional Medical Center– met on Oct. 28, 2024 to celebrate Campitelli’s birthday, according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Fox News Digital.

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Both Perez and Campitelli regularly exchanged messages with each other, with Campitelli complaining about having to share time with Perez with his wife, according to authorities.  

Just one day earlier, WhatsApp messages between the two showed Campitelli was feeling “a little nervous” about their planned rendezvous, authorities said. 

“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,” Campitelli wrote, according to the affidavit.

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“LOL, IT’S NO BIG DEAL. JUST TRYING TO SHOW U THAT I CAN BE ROMANTIC. IT PROBABLY WONT BE AS GOOD AS WHAT YOU’VE DONE FOR ME,” Perez responded. 

Campitelli left her home that night wearing a red dress and black heels after telling her husband that she would be going out to dinner with friends, court documents revealed.

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Shortly after leaving, her Chevy Tahoe arrived at Perez’s former job, the Retina Group of Florida building in Wellington. 

An image obtained from Campitelli’s iPhone showed a blanket reading “HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOPE YOUR BIRTHDAY IS OUT OF THIS WORD” placed by Perez in the backseat of her Tahoe, along with Ultrasorbs Medical Sheets commonly used to absorb liquids, according to the affidavit.

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Around 10:20 p.m., several 911 calls were placed to report an unresponsive woman lying in the southbound lanes of Lyons Road, with one caller telling authorities the individual appeared to be “bleeding profusely from the mouth,” authorities said. 

Authorities found Campitelli’s lifeless body about 50 feet from her vehicle. She was wearing the same outfit she left home in, and there was “blood leading away from the passenger side of the Chevrolet Tahoe to the victim’s body,” officials said. Her bloodstained Apple Watch was recovered from the center console.

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Following an investigation by the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner’s Office, Campitelli’s death was ruled a homicide resulting from blunt force trauma to the head and torso. 

She sustained four lacerations to the right side of her scalp, several contusions throughout her body and a lacerated lung, among other injuries. Severe road rash and scuff marks on her heels also suggested she had been dragged.

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Upon being interviewed by investigators, Perez claimed he had canceled the birthday celebration with Campitelli because his son was sick – though investigators did not find any messages that corroborated his alibi, according to the affidavit. 

Following a lengthy investigation, Perez was subsequently taken into custody on charges of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon and tampering with physical evidence, according to PBSO.

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Perez was transported to the Palm Beach County Jail where a judge ordered he be held without bond. 

Perez’s attorney did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.