LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A woman found dead in a freezer reportedly called police about her ex-roommate weeks before that person allegedly killed her, according to a 911 call obtained by Nexstar’s 8 News Now Investigators.
Daniel Roush, 37, faces a second-degree murder charge for the death of Monique Gilbertson, 68. Gilbertson’s cause and manner of death remained pending as of Friday.
Gilbertson met Roush, who identifies as Jazzlynn Roush, at a store and invited him to live with her, police said. Roush would help Gilbertson around the house but she later became “upset about how filthy Roush was,” documents said. Around Oct. 22, Gilbertson kicked Roush out of the house and changed the locks.
On Nov. 6, police responded to Gilbertson’s home, which is located in a 55-and-older community near Nellis Boulevard and Vegas Valley Drive, after an employee on the property called for a welfare check.
“She called you guys about two weeks ago,” the person told a dispatcher in the 911 call. “She had a roommate issue, and she called because in her roommate’s stuff, she had found a gun, but I don’t know how far she got with that phone call. She said that she couldn’t get a hold of you guys she was going to like throw it in the trash.”
It was not immediately clear Friday if the roommate mentioned was Roush, though there was no indication Gilbertson had another roommate or had an issue with any other person in the weeks before her death, according to documents.
The caller also told police Gilbertson would call the property management office several times a day, but stopped calling around Oct. 22.
It was unclear how Roush gained entry to the home after Gilbertson changed the locks. Police said they found Roush and a woman inside the home during the welfare check.
While speaking with officers, Roush reportedly asked if police had “warrants to look at the freezer,” documents said. Roush then told officers he found Gilbertson slumped over in a dining room chair and decided to “put her in the icebox” because he did not know what to do. Roush suspected Gilbertson overdosed on cocaine and fentanyl she purchased from him.
The employee who called 911 told the dispatcher she did not believe Gilbertson used drugs or drank alcohol.
Documents did not indicate further details about how police suspect Gilbertson may have died, other than saying her body was located in the freezer and there was a little blood. Documentation regarding Gilbertson’s call to police was not immediately available Friday.
At the time of publication, 8 News Now was using the name and sex provided by Las Vegas Metro police and the Las Vegas Justice Court when identifying Roush. Roush declined an interview from jail.
