Supermarket mogul Manuel Marin found guilty of hiring pro MMA fighters to kill love rival

A court in Miami-Dade County, Fl has found Manuel Marin, co-founder of the Presidente Supermarkets chain, guilty of organizing the killing of Camilo Salazar in 2011 (per 6 South Florida). Salazar had been involved in an extramarital affair with Marin’s wife.

The jury convicted Marin of hiring former pro MMA fighters Alexis Vila Perdomo and Ariel Gandulla, as well as boxing coach Roberto Isaac to abduct Salazar and bring him to the Florida everglades, where he was tortured and killed.

Manuel Marin fled to Spain in 2011

After Salazar’s burned and mutilated body was discovered on June 1, 2011 Manuel Marin fled to Spain. He was arrested in Spain in 2018 while trying to renew his passport in and extradited back to the US.

Marin is expected to be sentenced in May.

Vila was sentenced to 15 years in prison after being convicted of conspiracy. Vila previously fought in Bellator, WSOF and Titan FC and reached the Bellator bantamweight grand prix final in November 2011. He is also a former Olympian who represented Cuba in freestyle wrestling at the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta.

In 2004 Vila crashed a vehicle into Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. That incident lead to a three year prison sentence for airport violence. In an interview with Luke Thomas in 2014 Vila suggested he had suffered a psychotic break at that time and that the airport crash was an attempt at suicide.

Isaac was found guilty of kidnapping, conspiracy and taking part in the murder and was sentenced to life in prison.

Gandulla, who fought in WEC and Battlefield Fight League, was given a 36 month prison sentence for kidnapping as part of a plea deal agreement. As part of that deal Gandulla agreed to testify against Marin and the others.

Jorge Masvidal campaigned for Vila’s freedom

This weekend’s UFC co-main eventer Jorge Masvidal is a former training partner of Vila and Gandulla. At UFC 261 in 2021, where Masvidal fought Kamaru Usman for the UFC welterweight title, Masvidal entered the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville wearing a t-shirt baring the slogan ‘Free Alexis Vila’.

Tim Bissell

Tim Bissell is a writer, editor and deputy site manager for Bloody Elbow. He has covered combat sports since 2015. Tim covers news and events and has also written longform and investigative pieces. Among Tim's specialties are the intersections between crime and combat sports. Tim has also covered head trauma, concussions and CTE in great detail.

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