Naman Shrestha
NBC’s podcast ‘Dateline: The End of the Affair’ explores how a secret love affair with a powerful businessman’s wife cost Camilo Salazar his life in the summer of 2011. The discovery of his partially burned remains at the edge of the Florida Everglades, the authorities were pulled into a complicated investigation that led them to Manuel Marin, who had hired three men to help him carry out the crime. The episode goes into the depths of the investigation, covering how his wife, Jenny Maureen Marin, helped unravel disturbing details about the killer.
Fueled by Jealousy, Manuel Marin Plotted the Murder of Camilo Salazar
Born on January 7, 1954, Manuel Marin moved from Cuba to the States in pursuit of the American dream. By launching a string of Presidente Supermarkets in New Jersey, he realized his dreams and earned himself a lot of recognition and respect from the community. The co-owner of Presidente was married when he crossed paths with Jenny, for whom he divorced his first wife. After marrying Jenny, the couple moved to a lavish waterfront house in Lighthouse Point, near Miami, Florida. In the following years, they became parents to two children. Although he provided his wife with everything materialistic, she felt he devoided her of his love. With a rocky and dysfunctional marriage at hand, Jenny found comfort in her friendship with a married man named Camilo Salazar.
Soon, their platonic relationship transformed into a secret romantic one. Despite their best efforts to keep it concealed from their respective families, Manuel learned about it and confronted Jenny. A few months later, he brought up the subject of her infidelity again and instructed her to end it for good. Instead of obeying him, she reportedly decided to get divorced and contacted a divorce lawyer. Meanwhile, Manuel got in touch with a mixed martial arts fighter named Alexis Vila Perdomo and two of his associates — Ariel Gandulla and Roberto Isaac. Manuel reportedly hired them and devised an elaborate plot to have Camilo murdered for dating his wife.
Manuel Marin Was Arrested in Europe After a Seven-year Cat-and-Mouse Chase
According to Ariel, on the fateful day of June 1, 2011, the trio of Alexis, Ariel, and Roberto abducted Camilo from near the office of his wife, Daisy, and drove him to a secluded industrial area where Manuel waited for them. The co-founder of the Presidente supermarket chain then reportedly drove him to the Florida Everglades, where he brutally murdered the 43-year-old man before disposing of his partially burned body on a dirt road. Soon after the murder, he reportedly fled the country and flew to Paris. When the police found Camilo’s remains and learned about Jenny’s accounts related to the victim and her husband, they connected the dots and identified Manuel as the primary suspect.
With the help of his phone records, they managed to tie the three accomplices to the crime. Finally, by 2018, the authorities had gathered enough evidence against the four suspects — Manuel, Ariel, Alexis, and Roberto — and charged them with murder; the former two in absentia. When the police learned that Manuel’s son, Yaddiel Marin, was in contact with him from somewhere in Spain, they charged Yaddiel with aiding and abetting. Not long after his arrest, the prime suspect surrendered himself in the Spanish Embassy on August 24, 2018, and confessed that he was wanted in the US. Finally, he was extradited to Florida and taken into custody for the second-degree murder of Camilo Salazar.
Manuel Marin is Serving His Sentence at a Florida Prison Facility
In the spring of 2023, Manuel Marin stood trial for the horrific killing of Camilo Salazar. The prosecution called multiple witnesses, including Camilo’s wife, Daisy; Manuel’s wife, Jenny; and one of Manuel’s accomplices, Ariel Gandulla, who testified against the defendant. The prosecutors claimed that Manuel was enraged by his wife’s affair with the victim and masterminded the entire murder. On the other hand, the defense argued that the defendant did not participate in the murder and only witnessed Camilo take a beating.
Claiming that the cell phone data provided by the prosecution was inaccurate, the defense told the jury that he was not at the murder site. Nearly two weeks into the trial, the jurors deliberated for six hours before returning with a guilty verdict. Finally, on March 30, 2023, Manuel Marin was convicted of manslaughter instead of second-degree murder. He was also found guilty of conspiracy to commit kidnapping and kidnapping charges. Less than a couple of months later, his sentencing hearing took place on May 22.
During the hearing, Camilo’s ex-wife, Daisy Holcombe, addressed the court and stated, “We didn’t get a chance to say goodbye, we didn’t get a minute, we didn’t a hug, we didn’t get to tell him he was loved and that he would be missed.” In the end, 69-year-old Manuel was sentenced to life in prison, in addition to 30 years for manslaughter and 15 years for conspiracy to commit kidnapping. The judge stated, “Although you are not convicted of murdering Camilo Salazar, you are convicted of setting in motion the events which resulted in his death and of killing him, and that too is part of your character.” As of today, the killer is being held at the Dade Correctional Institution in Homestead, Florida.
Read More: Jenny Maureen Marin: What Happened to Manuel Marin’s Ex-Wife?
