Calif. ‘Butt Lady’ Convicted After ER Actress Cindyana Santangelo Dies from Her Silicone Injections

A California woman known as the “butt lady” has been convicted in connection with the death of model and actress Cindyana Santangelo.

On Thursday, Oct. 9, Libby Adame, 55, of Riverside County, was found guilty of second-degree murder and practicing medicine without certification by a Los Angeles jury after Santangelo, 58 — known for her roles in Married with Children and ER — died at her Malibu home on March 24, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Authorities said Santangelo suffered a fatal embolism after receiving silicone injections administered by Adame.

The verdict follows Adame’s previous conviction with her daughter, Alicia Galaz, in March 2024 for involuntary manslaughter in the October 2019 death of Karissa Rajpaul, 26, according to NBC4 Los Angeles. The pair had been acquitted of murder in that earlier case.

Rajpaul died after an unauthorized butt-implant procedure performed by Adame and Galaz, officials said. Her death was ruled a homicide caused by acute cardiopulmonary dysfunction resulting from intramuscular and intravascular silicone injections.

Investigators determined that Adame and Galaz — who presented themselves as specialists — used materials similar to those employed by licensed cosmetic surgeons but mixed them with unsafe chemicals, ABC7 reported.

Both women were sentenced to prison for Rajpaul’s death but later released after receiving credit for time served and electronic monitoring following their 2021 arrest, according to Fox 11 Los Angeles. Adame was reportedly out of prison and working within a year.

During closing arguments in Adame’s latest trial, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Lee Cernok said Adame had been warned during her 2024 trial that she could face murder charges if another client died, NBC4 reported.

“Did she know better?” Cernok asked jurors, answering himself: “A resounding yes,” the outlet reported.

Adame’s attorney, J. Michael Flanagan, argued that his client “did not do it” and that “there were no injections this time by her,” NBC4 reported. He claimed Adame was aware she couldn’t legally perform “butt work” in California while on probation and was acting as a “consultant” for doctors legally performing injections in Tijuana, Mexico.

Flanagan alleged that Santangelo already had bandages on her buttocks when Adame met her in the “beauty room” and suggested someone else had performed the fatal procedure, NBC4 reported.

Adame testified in her own defense, denying that she had administered the injections and claiming she didn’t know who had.

Santangelo’s husband, Frank Santangelo, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Adame, according to the Los Angeles Times. The complaint alleges that his wife was “killed in the prime of her life in her own home after being unlawfully injected with unsafe and unapproved substances by Libby Adame, an unlicensed individual falsely holding herself out as qualified to perform cosmetic procedures.”

“Tragically, her death not only could have, but should have been prevented,” the lawsuit states.

Mr. Santangelo testified that his wife appeared fine before her meeting with Adame but later began “struggling to breathe” on a massage table, with “blood coming from each butt cheek,” according to NBC4 Los Angeles. He said Adame told him, “This has never happened to a client of mine before,” before leaving the house, allegedly saying she needed something from her car but never returning.

Adame is scheduled for sentencing on Nov. 5, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Under California law, second-degree murder carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years, and practicing medicine without certification can result in up to three years in jail. Adame was also found guilty of a special allegation of causing great bodily harm, which could add an additional three to six years to her sentence.