Murder Suspect Arrested In Beating Death Of FL Nurse

WEST PALM BEACH, FL — Two days after authorities revealed the arrest of a murder suspect in the beating death of a Florida nurse, an alarming text message sent the day before she died has been uncovered.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office on Tuesday said they arrested Rene J. Perez, 38, in Miami in connection with the October 2024 death of Linda Campitelli, 35.

“There’s a million emotions," Edina Russo, Campitelli's mother, told WPTV. "I’m obviously always sad, but there’s a sense of closure."

Perez and Campitelli were a couple, though they were married to other people at the time, WPTV reported, adding they had been together for two years.

Campitelli's death was ruled a homicide, authorities said.

A KOMO News report citing a local medical examiner said her body was found at Lyons Road and was "caused by blunt-force trauma to the head and torso. The affidavit lists extensive injuries consistent with significant applied force."

WPTV reported Campitelli also suffered a fractured skull, rib fractures, blood accumulation in the skull and upper back and neck contusions.

"There were also postmortem marks consistent with a body being dragged," the news outlet reported.

The day she was killed, Perez had a date night planned for Campitelli's birthday; however, a prior WhatsApp message revealed her thoughts ahead of the belated celebration, WPTV reported.

"I love you, I feel kinda weird," Campitelli wrote, according to the media outlet. "I don't know what to expect tomorrow. You've never done anything like this for me before and I feel a little nervous."

News reports say Campitelli's Chevrolet Tahoe was caught on surveillance video leaving a medical center where Perez formerly worked around 10 p.m. on Oct. 28, 2024, and a photo from her phone showed a birthday blanket and medical sheets laid in the back of her Tahoe.

The medical sheets were similar to those used at Perez's job, WPTV reported.

Responding deputies found Campitelli's lifeless body and her running Tahoe with a front driver's-side flat tire in the 6100 block of Lyons, the news outlet reported.

That night, surveillance video captured Perez throwing something in the trash at the medical center where he worked before heading home, the news outlet reported.

"After 14 months of working diligently, our detectives from the violent crimes division were able to establish a suspect, obtain an arrest warrant for him and bring him to justice," Col. Talal Masri with the local sheriff's office told KOMO.

Perez on Tuesday was arrested on charges of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon and tampering with physical evidence, authorities said. He was taken to the Palm Beach County Jail.

"If there's any further information into Ms. Campitelli's (death), any other witnesses that were on Lyons Road in that area, we still want to talk to you. Just because an arrest is made doesn't mean the investigation's over," Capt. Michael Ott of the local sheriff's office said in the KOMO report.