Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
- Mark Edward Santanello is charged with manslaughter and drug distribution.
- He allegedly sold fentanyl and methamphetamine to a woman who overdosed and died.
- Investigators found incriminating messages between Santanello and the deceased woman.
CEDAR CITY — A man investigators say sold fentanyl and methamphetamine to a woman, which ultimately led to her overdose death, is now facing criminal charges.
Mark Edward Santanello, 42, was charged Thursday in 5th District Court with manslaughter and drug distribution, second-degree felonies.
The investigation began on July 25 when Cedar City police were asked to do a welfare check on a 51-year-old woman at her apartment.
"It was reported that the tenant in that apartment had several packages that have not been brought inside, they have not been able to get ahold of her, and the downstairs neighbors were starting to smell something," according to charging documents.
Police found the woman deceased in a bedroom. Drug paraphernalia and Narcan, or naloxone, used to help when someone is experiencing an opioid overdose, were found next to the bed, the charges state.
An autopsy helped investigators determine the woman likely died on July 18. Fentanyl, methamphetamine and other drugs were found in her system.
Detectives went through the woman's phone and found messages between her and a person later identified as Santanello in which she asks if he has any "energy," which police say is slang for meth.
"She then asks if they were regular or cartel? (He repsonds) 'they are cartel ones so I wanna be around with Narcan when you try them ... But (please) dont rush to do them let's check it out when is good for us both and when we have at least 4 narcan,'" the charges state.
Police reviewed additional messages, the last of which was on July 17, "where Mark states he has 'a big chunk of energy' and offers it to the decedent for $40. She responds that she is heading to the bank, then that she 'has it.' This appears to be the last time Mark and the decedent communicated thru text before her death," according to charging documents.
Prosecutors say Santanello, who has previous felony convictions, "expressed knowledge that these substances were dangerous based on his comment about not wanting the decedent to try them alone and without having Narcan present. Despite this knowledge, he provided them to her repeatedly, which ultimately led to her death. These dangerous substances were then found in the decedent's system in lethal amounts after meeting with Mark to purchase said substances the day before she is believed to have died," the charges state.
