For around two weeks, Jazlynn Roush — a Las Vegas woman accused of killing her 68-year-old roommate with fentanyl-laced cocaine — allegedly went about her day with the slain sexagenarian’s body stowed away in her freezer, according to police.
It wasn’t until an office manager at the property where victim Monique Gilbertson’s mobile home was located began noticing things, such as Gilbertson’s car being parked differently and her dogs barking louder than normal, that Roush’s chilling secret was exposed, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department reports.
On Nov. 6, authorities got a call from the manager to perform a welfare check on Gilbertson after attempts to contact her were unsuccessful. She had been living with Roush — who was identified by cops as Daniel Roush, despite her legally changing her name in Nevada’s Eighth Judicial District in 2022 — after meeting her at a Home Depot and hiring her to do handy work, according to her arrest report, which was first obtained by the CBS affiliate KLAS and Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Police went to the 5500 block of Tres Piedras Road where the pair lived, about eight miles east of the Las Vegas strip, and tried knocking on the door to see if Gilbertson would answer, to no avail.
“Officers entered the home and located two individuals inside who could not provide officers with the location of the elderly female,” LVMPD officials said in a press release. “While officers searched the home they located a deceased female in a freezer. Both individuals were detained as investigators determined their involvement.”
Roush’s wife had been staying at the home on and off with her and Gilbertson, according to police, and was the other individual that officers encountered. In interviews, Roush admitted to finding Gilbertson dead roughly a week before Halloween and said the “elderly” woman had taken drugs, the arrest report said.
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Feeling scared about what to do after Gilbertson’s death, Roush allegedly told police that she put her body in the freezer and went about her day. “I put her in the icebox, because I didn’t know what to do,” Roush allegedly said. “Until I could figure it out, I had her in the icebox.”
What Roush refused to tell police was that she had allegedly given Gilbertson cocaine laced with fentanyl, according to her criminal complaint, with prosecutors accusing her of “willfully, unlawfully, feloniously, and with malice” causing Gilbertson’s death. Law&Crime obtained the complaint on Wednesday afternoon.
Roush’s wife contacted police and told them she saw Roush give Gilbertson fentanyl-laced cocaine, according to the arrest report. Investigators believe Roush — who identifies as a “trans female just trying to find [her] place in this world” on Facebook — continued living inside the mobile home for about two weeks with the woman’s body in the freezer.
Gilbertson allegedly hated living with Roush, as she failed to take care of her things and constantly left drug paraphernalia out, their property manager, Demecia Lopez, told police.
Lopez said Gilbertson informed her “about how filthy Roush was” in the weeks leading up to her death, allegedly saying she was “upset” and had kicked Roush out, in addition to changing her locks.
On Oct. 22, Lopez said Gilbertson called 311 while she was with her to try and have Roush’s belongings removed, according to the arrest report, but she hung up after waiting on hold. That was allegedly the last time Lopez saw Gilbertson.
“I stayed calm you know, I didn’t trip out on her at all,” Roush told police about their living with Gilbertson, despite admitting to bouts of infighting and disputes over eating peanut butter, the Review-Journal reported.
During interviews, Roush’s wife repeatedly insisted that she had nothing to do with Gilbertson’s “murder,” the arrest report said. The woman told cops she allegedly saw Roush give Gilbertson a line of cocaine before she overdosed in front of them.
Coke, methamphetamine and fentanyl were all found at the mobile home when officers executed a warrant to search the residence.
Roush pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder on Wednesday and is due back in court on Nov. 28.
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